Tears

Tears

           No one ever really knows when they are going to die. With the new technological advancements, it is easier to predict and prevent, but there was one group of people whom the machines could not Read. Many inventors have pored over books and tinkered with them, but no one could come up with anything. Mae was one of the Accidents, as they were called, an unrelated group of people whom the machines could not Read. Engineers, doctors, inventors, and many more were called in to try and diagnose the problem. No one could figure out anything. The only thing that tied this group together was the green-blue eyes they all seemed to share. They were enigmas. Others with similar eye color were tested, but it was only this particular group of people that the machines could not Read.

At first, everyone tried to work together to solve this problem, but, after a couple years of nothing, people started to disperse. The Accidents started to be regarded as freaks instead of mysteries that needed to be solved. They were made fun of, isolated by peers, and even attacked in some cases. Mae had read all about a family of Accidents who had their house set on fire while they were still inside. Luckily, everyone except the youngest child, a two-month old baby, escaped mostly unscathed. That child haunted Mae’s dreams every night. That could have been her in the fire. Her parents went hysterical shortly after it was announced in the news and sent her and her baby brother to a protection program organized by the government. Mae hated it there, but tolerated it for her brother. He was too young to be unsupervised and she did not trust any of the Nannies, so she stayed and took care of him.

It had been eight years since the day they were sent away and Mae was on her way to the supervisor’s office. Accidents were provided with minimal food and her brother had been thirsty that day. He was sick with the flu and had been eyeing another glass of milk, so, naturally, Mae went up and took it for him. This caused uproar with a couple who had a one-year old daughter. They had gone up ten minutes before and asked for another glass of milk for their child, but were rejected. This is where we come in, in the terrible, desolate office of Miss Turner.

“I have told you many times you only get what is on your plate. Nothing more, Miss Novak. Why must I keep repeating myself?” Miss Turner asked, one eyebrow raised. Mae rolled her eyes at the supervisor.

“My brother is ill and he needed more liquid. I don’t want him to get dehydrated and give you more problems to take care of, Lily.”

“Sweetheart-“ Miss Turner started.

“Drop the act. You’re two years older than me.” Mae snorted, interrupting an increasingly more aggravated Lily Turner.

“Mae, you can’t keep being a stupid, self centered idiot. I don’t want to see you in my office again or I will have you removed and your brother placed with the Nannies.” She hissed.

“You can’t do that…” Mae let a grin cover her uneasiness.

“I can, darling. You turned eighteen a couple of days ago, so you are now a legal adult. Given the circumstances, I can have you shipped out of here in a week max. Happy birthday, sweetheart.” Lily Turner gave Mae a curt smile as Mae’s eyes widened. Apologies started overflowing from Mae’s mouth, but were quickly stopped as Lily raised a finger to Mae’s lips.

“Shut. Up. And. Get. Out. Of. My. Office.” Lily said slowly, as if talking to a toddler. Mae did not even have time to feel offended as she darted out of the office, surprised she was let off with just a warning. She was usually screamed at for around an hour by the young supervisor and then suspended from the cafeteria for a week, but Lily must have been in an okay mood.

“Hah. She is never in an okay mood.” Mae whispered to herself. The supervisor was known to have a terrible temper. If you got out of her office without turning into a crying mess, you would be lucky. Seeing people shipped off for minor problems had become a normal occurrence. Mae finally stopped running when she reached the small shack she shared with her brother.

“Milos, I’m back!” Mae called through the door. Footsteps could be heard trampling from the back corners towards her.

“You aren’t dead?” Milos’s mouth dropped open, astonished. Mae laughed slightly and picked up her little brother. She quickly twirled him around and put him back.

“Are you ready for your lessons?” Mae smiled slightly as her brother ran through the shack to find his books. A small stack of books was given to any child under sixteen that entered the protective program. After that, you were forced to work a job at the facility. Mae had decided not to which was how she had met Lily Turner. The supervisor’s office had not always been so terrible. Lily was surprisingly fine with her decision to not take a job and told her to focus on her brother’s education. She had been providing for Mae and Milos ever since. Stacking his books on the table, Milos called for Mae. Lessons were his favorite part of the day and he was known throughout the camp for being able to spew facts about anything. They trudged through the lessons, only ending when it became too dark to read.

“Time for bed, baby brother.” Mae announced, laughing at his protests. After a while, Milos frowned, but begrudgingly made his way to bed. Deciding to stay up for a while, Mae’s thoughts turned to Milos. His flu was getting worse and Mae was worried. Medications for the flu took too long to ship to the facility, so most of the Accidents were left to either get over it or die. Her worried thoughts followed her into her dreams as she lay down to get some rest. Mae was awoken too early in the morning by the sound of alarms.

“It’s testing day, Mae! Get up!” Milos shook her until Mae let out a long groan. Inventors came on certain days to try out new versions of the machines on them. Very few were still hoping for a breakthrough. As soon as Mae got up, Milos was out the door. The realization made Mae dash out after him in her pajamas, ignoring disapproving stares from young couples and older neighbors. They got to the testing room quickly, among the first to be there. Mae found Milos bothering Lily and quickly pulled him away.

“Remember, you don’t talk to her. She’s the mean lady that doesn’t like me.” Mae whispered, glancing at Lily. Milos just shrugged.

“She likes you. I can tell.” Milos said quietly. Mae rolled her eyes and quickly moved forward as a girl started yelling about her not moving up in line. Too quickly, it was Mae’s turn. Some young dude with a caterpillar mustache took her to a machine.

“This might hurt a little.” He said flatly in an annoyingly nasal voice. He did not care about her wellbeing. None of these people did. They just cared about the next big breakthrough. Mae relaxed slightly in the chair and pressed her hand down on the rests where the guy told her to. He started it up and Mae stiffened a little, waiting for the pain he mentioned. Nothing happened. She waited a little longer, but still nothing. The man started turning red and screaming about how Accidents messed everything up until something sharp jabbed Mae in the hand. She yelled out in pain as blood started trickling off the armrests. The rest of the Accidents looked terrified as Mae’s face contorted in pain. She wriggled around in her seat as something started coursing through her veins.

“Stop. STOP IT!” Lily screamed.

“This is how it works, sweetie.” The man shrugged and smiled at the woman. Lily slapped him and started unbuckling the straps that held Mae in. Mae swallowed sharply as tears started streaming down her face. Lily brought her hand up and wiped them away.

“Lily…” Mae whispered.

“Shut up, you idiot. I don’t know what he did to you, but it’s going to be alright.” Lily growled softly. Mae grabbed Lily’s hand.

“Listen to me! Take care of Milos. I’m going to die, stupid. I can feel it in my blood.”

“No! No. No… You’re going to be okay. Just breathe.” A tear trickled down Lily’s face. Mae laughed hollowly.

“I thought you didn’t like me…” Mae teased. Her breaths were getting shorter and shorter.

“You are not dying thinking I didn’t like you. I was hard on you because you were better than this. Now, shut up and stop dying.”

“One more thing… Tell my parents that I’ll wait for them up there.”

“Anything for you.” Lily cried as the light left Mae’s eyes.