Chapter 1

Her feet hurt, pain shooting up and down her legs as if the ground was electrified. Everything was cold and the sky was an unforgiving black. In front of her where her parents and older brother, shadows against the rolling and warping landscape.

What were they running from?

Who are they running from?

Heat flared up behind her back, so scorching that it felt like somebody inches away from her was ready to stay current with a fire poker.

"Please, slow down!" She cried out the voice came out like a crackly whisper.

Every step was a pain, there was no destination ahead of them. Her family wouldn't look at her, always moving forward into the blackness.

Eventually every step became too much as the sensation behind her grew stronger and stronger. She stood there like a trembling rodent, her family drifting further away from her as the heat behind her came barreling towards her like an out-of-control vehicle.

Tears made her vision useless as she shook and trembled all alone. With a shaky breath she resolved to herself that she would never be able to continue on, the sensation behind her changed less hot and threatening.

It was warm, a muscle relaxing warmth that reminded her of a mountain hot spring. A nostalgic feeling that hit her down to the core. She wanted to look back, back behind her to the things that the people she trusted the most were running from.

Despite her mind and body screaming for her to move forward. That the warmth and promise of comfort behind her was a lie her head began to move back over her shoulder.

"Journey!"

A voice angry and were all ringed in her ears. Her eyes burned at the site that captured her gaze.

She had made a mistake looking back.

"Journey!"

She felt her body become stiff her entire body losing feeling. She tried to move each muscle turning to stone as she tried to lift her hand. She struggled to look down at her hand, unable to breathe as she saw salt crystals engulfing every inch of her skin. Seeing the thousands of tiny opaque crystals growing on her, growing inside her filter her body with the pain that she had never imagined to be possible.

"Journey Eliot!"

Journey jumped in her seat clipboard nearly falling from her grasp as she was jolted from a daydream. Eyes wide she looked around and relaxed seeing the other nervous girls around her, she wasn't in any real danger in this place. Her mind simply turned her per-evaluation jitters into another fear induced delusion.

She couldn't wait to be cured and never have another nightmare ever again.

Journey stood up and walked over to the wall where the front desk sat behind a security window. The receptionist was giving her a dirty look with her nose scrunched up in distaste at Journey's delay.

"Yes, ma'am." Journey whispered not wanting to speak up and disturb the quiet in the room.

Protected by the glass the receptionist rolled her eyes and said "Paperwork." Pointing to the clipboard in Journey's hands.

Journey his face felt hot with shame and it double checked the papers on the application before sliding it through the open security slit in the window.

Receptionist looked over the papers and then up at her several times with pursed lips. It made Journey's skin crawl on how she was being judged and she hadn't even entered the evaluation chamber. There was the sound of the buzzer as the door that separated the lobby from the rest of the laboratory swung open.

A nurse in bright blue scrubs in a laboratory code stepped out and waved to Journey "This way." Their voice was monotone and almost rehearsed.

Journey nodded following after the lab worker into the laboratory, the whole way the nurse let her down was even colder than the lobby. If it was the summer time the increasing chill would've been welcomed, but it being in November the ridge communities of Arizona she didn't understand the necessity of keeping the laboratory so cold. In the valley communities there would be a reason because it never snowed down there in the community that was the closest to the United States border.

Her heart sank when the nurse opened the door, not to a changing room but what appeared to be another waiting room with a small coffee table and a series of computers lining the walls. While she should have been surprised by the amount of computers, Journey's high school only had a computer lab with only three devices one of them being the school's printer and the another being a phone. She had really hoped to be done with the evaluation and get back home as soon as possible.

"Congratulations Miss Eliot." The nurse said in that clean well-practiced tone "The Consortium, is unveiling a computer algorithm that will make finding your pair a lot more of an expedient process." The nurse smiled at her expecting journey to say something.

Journey simply smiled back and nodded and walked to one of the unoccupied computers.

"You will still need to take an in-person evaluation." The nurse continued answering questions that the teenage girl didn't ask. "Just proceed through the door number thirty-one when you're done with the computer."

"Thirty-one." Journey gave a softer smile, as she acknowledged the nurse's words. Thirty-one was her lucky number, her birthday was on January the thirty frist and her identification number ended with the digits three one. It eased her nerves that her lucky number followed her all the way to her evaluation.

She then sat down at one of the computers and clicked on the start evaluation button on the screen. Then typed her name into a flashing box that appeared on screen, and hit enter as it disappeared.

"When being informed about the news whether by, reading, listening or watching a news broadcast. Have you been made aware of increased invalid activity after the incidents that had occurred on the East Coast? How do you feel about your safety?"

The question appeared to faded and grainy against the white of the rest of the screen. A small text box blinking below it awaiting her answer.

"Who hasn't." She said to no one but herself. The East Coast had been plunged into chaos sense January when several correctional facilities were bombed releasing hundreds of invalids and people who desperately needed help into the wilds. Then all the trouble that went on with the DFA in New York who had tragically lost the leaders of their adult in the youth divisions. She felt a great deal of pity for Julian Fineman, after what happened in New York the church did a service on invalids. On how it's a lot easier to give in to the devil's disease when you were fearful of God's plan. Julian feared that the cure might kill him so he decided to be dead to all of society.

Journey wondered where he was now? Winter was coming once again and surely if he hadn't already starved to death in the wilds he would freeze when the snow starts to fall.

Realizing she had gotten distracted Journey typed a short paragraph on though she is aware of the troubles in the North East she wasn't afraid for her safety.

She then hit enter and another question appeared.

"Do you consider The Cure to be the best treatment for Amor Deliria Nervosa? What you be willing to dedicate your time and or life for the continuation of research into treatment of the delirium?"

Her throat went tight at the question, stumped on how to even process the thoughts it gave her. The Cure was the only treatment for the deliria, while there were symptoms that affected everyone differently with a few outliers that would never be able to adjust to society afterwards. It was efficient at doing its job for the majority of the population.

Perhaps it was a subtle question to see if those taking this computer-based evaluation wanted to work in the laboratories? The verified communities in the ridge shared one laboratory and didn't have enough certified surgeons to administer or the cure in a timely manner. She was expected to wait three months to whole year, after her birthday until there was any space to receive the cure. Though there was a part of her that couldn't shake that there was more to the question.

She decided to go for something patriotic along the lines of how shoot be willing to do anything for the greater good. Hopefully that will give her an edge in getting a higher rating on her evaluation.

"Choose three words that you would like your neighbors to describe the relationship with your pair as?"

Finally, a question that actually had to do with getting paired, and it was a simple question to. Journey had worried that these questions were going to become more cryptic and off-topic to the evaluation. She typed the three words that she would her relationship with her pair to be like.

Teamwork: It always bothered her how some couples once they were paired never did anything with their lives besides the bare minimum. No moving up the social ladder, no goals being met, not even trying to ensure their children did better on the evaluation then they did. Her and her pair, whoever he may be, would achieve something in their life even if she had to fight with him to do so.

Companionship: So, she wouldn't end up in a relationship like her grandparents that spent ninety percent of their days off in their own little worlds never talking to each other are doing anything with each other. While the Cure might change her, Journey new she didn't want to spend her life feeling isolated especially when she didn't live alone.

Compromise: Journey knew as a female, she had certain roles she would have to fill in as a new proper member of society. Everything beyond that however that her pair might expect of her would be a give-and-take, after all that's what being paired pretty much was a business exchange that lasted one's entire life.

"You see a classmate to display symptoms of the delirium? What do you do?"

Journey rolled her eyes at the next question, she had been pretty much asked this question since kindergarten and knew exactly what to say.

Alert a cured adult as soon as possible, then pray depending on the adult to talk to.

"Based on your education on the human reproductive system, do you consider the process of conceiving and giving birth a painful or distasteful process?"

The question made her feel shameful and kind of gross, a part of her really didn't want to have kids. She didn't hate them, honestly when she volunteered to help out with the elementary school teachers or babysat for families that only had girls, she enjoyed their company.

Her apprehension to having children was more of a medical based problem than anything else.

Uncomfortable letting that be her answer however, she wrote down something along the lines of her education on the reproductive process was limited and how she was fearful about it being painful or damaging long-term. She didn't think the evaluators would take her answer seriously anyways, since families were always expected least to have two children on the ridge, they will probably think her opinion will change when she undergoes The Cure.

She hit enter and a thank you message appeared on screen, she said wondered why the Consortium didn't put in any more questions. Was the pairing algorithm so new that it couldn't handle a couple more variables? Or maybe she answered the questions in such a way where the program sought no need to ask her any more questions. Getting up from her chair journey swallowed a preemptive gasp as she saw somebody was standing behind her.

Perfect straight dark hair, with large acorn colored eyes and skin that kissed by the sun. Victory Sanchez was the beauty queen at the Sedona girls' school. Despite only standing at four feet and six inches she had a commanding presence which made her popular among her peers.

"Hey girl." Victory set up to her with a big smile.

"Hi Vicki." Journey answered before looking to the ground "I just finished with this computer if you want it."

The other girls smile faltered before she said "No thanks." She then peered up into Journey's face "Just wanted to wish you luck on your physical evaluation."

Even though the other girls' words sounded genuine, it felt like a barb had been stuck into Journey's side "Thanks." The polite thing was the only thing Journey could do, sometime in the past her parents and Victory's parents were both close. So close it was the reason why they were named the way they were set of being called something like Julie or Veronica. If times were different, then maybe Victory in her could have been friends.

Victory nodded before playing with a strand of her straight and locks "Listen, about what happened the other day. Vanity should be a listed symptom, of the deliria." She then let out a nervous giggle "Once you're cured, you might even look back on it and laugh."

"Maybe, see you at school." Journey said before heading to the door that the laboratory worker had pointed out earlier.

"Your beautiful Journey, just not in the same way all the models and actors are." Victory is said Journeys back.

Journey flinched at the other girls' words, and how desperate they sounded. "Thanks Vicki." She said again and not being able to look the other girl in the face.

Entering the changing room, Journey dreaded changing into the plastic gown that was standard for evaluations. It was still so cold and the facility, and she shivered at the thought of peeling off her jacket. It was one thing to have to go through the evaluation be so exposed it was another to do it all while becoming a popsicle. Tough if she kept the evaluators waiting it would look badly on her, so she relented to get the ordeal over with as quickly as possible.

Her stomach flopped like a suffocating fish as she put on the gown, while she wasn't necessarily fat, she was ineeded larger than the majority of other girls in her class. She was already five foot nine, and because she was a late bloomer there were parts of her body that were still growing. She bit the inside of her cheek as she debated whether or not if asking for a different size gown would be worth the risk.

It wouldn't change her hair, which was a wavy mixture of caramel and copper colors drowned out by a dirt brown color. She had tried keeping it up and styling it so it didn't seem so dirty, but no matter what she tried it ended up falling down in curling whatever way it pleased around her shoulders. Neither would it the gown stop them from noticing her eyes the disgusting color of witch hazel which sometimes would be spotted a muted turquoise color.

She slowed down the chewing of the inside of her cheek and went to the door of the evaluation chamber. Any confidence boost that the questionnaire on the computer had given her was quickly falling away. She entered and looked at the desk of the three evaluators dressed in lab coats staring directly at her.

"Journey Eliot?" A blank faced evaluator asked.

Journey did her best to move at a normal pace, the cold floor stand her feet "Yes." She answered with a smile.

The evaluators smiled back and the single female one said "We'd like to start to with some simple questions. Just relax, and answer the best you can."

"I will mam'." Journey you responded politely.

"Tell us, what motivates you to work hard?" The evaluator asked.

"Fear." Journey inhaled softly as she picked up to try to elaborate on the answer "I have a phobia of seeing myself feeling in my studies or being useless. It motivates me to do the best I can."

The evaluators nodded with big half-moon smiles "Good, good, what is your proudest accomplishment?"

"I represented in my grandmother's Book of Shhh study groups for wives in church. I got to do a short sermon on how good mothers should be trained in CPR and first aid. " It actually wasn't her proudest accomplishment, Journey didn't have any event in particular that filled her with pride. Her grandmother actually scolded her about how she was the last possible choice she would want doing the sermon, and always reminded her about how bad she did at it.

"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

There was a sense of relief when the evaluator asked that question and she said "In five years I see myself being finished with a degree at local regional College and begin job searching for a stable career."

"What skill would you like to master?"

"Cooking." She cooked for her grandparents, and did a small amount of baking when there were supplies available at the store to do so. Though both her grandmother and grandfather complained about how lackluster her cooking ability was and how her skills never matched up to her mother's.

"Favorite chocolate candy?" A male evaluator asked with mild interest.

Journey shifted slightly and said "I've never had a chocolate candy." I didn't mean she hadn't ever had candy; cactus fruit candy was plentiful in Arizona along with a hard candy made out of a syrupy mesh of citrus fruit and mint. Chocolate however was rare to come by and when it was available it's it was quickly sold out.

"Well, favorite food of all time?" The evaluators seemed disappointed, and for a brief moment journey wondered if she should've lied to keep them happy.

"An omelette with spinach and mushrooms." There was a small restaurant in Sedona that only served breakfast, but had over 100 omelette options. Whenever she had enough money for personal spending, she usually spent it on an omelette and then the rest for a notebook and some pencils.

"Favorite book." Another evaluator said more of a statement than a question.

"The New Religion of the Holy Trinity of God, Science, and Order Book of Transcribed Debates." She rattled off the title of the last book she had read from her school's meager library.

"That's a newer one. Any particular debate you enjoy reading?" And evaluator tested her.

Journey kept up her smile, knowing that she had an answer that would most likely please them "The Return to The Garden. The debate between Thomas Fineman fonder of the DFA and Evander Lynton of the HUNS, on the nature of the connection between the deliria and other sins." She continued on "I did a paper on it, my teachers approved of it so much copies of it got sent to both to the Deliria-Free America and the Holy Union of New Science Headquarters." Even though the copies of the papers were sent through the mail, the school didn't really receive anything back from either organization. Her teacher's quickly coming to the conclusion that the contents of her paper was is not suitable enough to leave the community's borders.

"Interesting." The evaluators smiled and nodded at each other "The very interesting." Each of them looking at each other for a long time as if knowing a secret Journey was not aware of.

Journey began to feel on easy as the this interested placid half-moons of their smiles became something more predatory.

"Tell me Miss Eliot, Evander Lynton is unpaired. What do you think of this?"

"I'm not surprised, he's a very ambitious man and due to his history, it must be rather difficult to find a fitting match for him." She answered it, though unsure how the question pertained to the rest of the evaluation. Evander didn't live in Arizona so she wouldn't be his pair, even if she desired to be married to somebody who is constantly under the microscope both the public and the government.

"Are you aware of where he is right now?"

Journey began to shift awkwardly "In transit back to Seattle?"

It was quite a commotion when Evander had announced that he would be speaking at Thomas Fineman's funeral going as far to say that he would be happy to take up the pallbearer position which would have been reserved for his sons. The two were political adversaries, each having radically opposing views on how the nation should handle the deliria. The DFA believes that the cure should be administered to every citizen as soon as possible. While Lynton was quickly gathering popularity on the West Coast for varying reasons one of which being his research into a potential drug that would lessen the symptoms of deliria in children under eighteen.

Another reason was his rare history with the cure Evander had to go under the procedure when he was very young but also had to undergo the cure three different times. Which was extremely rare, sense multiple procedures tended to cause brain damage but in Lynton's case is seem to have the opposite effect. He became a prodigy and a very charismatic speaker and even though he wasn't officially supported by the church he was given many unofficial titles by the media that betrayed him as a holy figure.

One of the male evaluators opened his mouth as if he was going to ask a question but a loud buzzing noise filled the room startling everyone. The noise stopping and staring at an aggressive speed before the room fell silent once more.

Instinctually journey looked up seeing the entire ceiling lined with reflective mirrors each of them reflecting an image of her staring down at her with a flustered red-faced expression.

"What was that noise?" Journey asked confused her eyes still fixated on a single point of the reflective halo above her.

"Nothing to worry about." An evaluator answered, acting the noise had never existed.

"Did we ask you what your favorite color is yet?" Another asked shuffling a piece of paper.

The sky was a painting of pastel blues that mixed with the reds and oranges of the setting sun. Journey covered her mouth with her scar as the horse drawn cart pulled into the shadow of a vortex mountain, she was very fortunate to catch a real shuttlebus to Flagstaff laboratory making the journey to her evaluation last only about an hour. Though knowing how the fall chill was growing into familiar winter it wasn't safe to drive buses the twenty-five-mile distance down the hill, making horse-drawn cart shuttles popular to get between the small towns that made up the ridge community. The down side a one-way trip by horse took about five hours and it was already getting dark.

While each town could have been separated off into their own contained communities in the northern part of Arizona, the amount to the railroad tracks and mining operations along with several farms made it more lucrative for there to be a one massive border covering the perimeter of Flagstaff to Cottonwood with small security checkpoints between each town. The downside to such a massive border is that wild animals came in and out as they pleased, mountain lions and the occasional territorial back making their way into people's homes. Though there hasn't been an animal attack in nine years that, a coyote broke into the back of a convenience store and started ripping up all the package to meet in the storage area.

She looked up at the orange and red mountain ranges around her, snow had already begun to dust the top of some of the cylindrical mountains.

The cart lurched to a stop and the driver called back to Journey "This is as far as I go for Sedona, if anybody's getting off get off."

Journey looked up the road, it would be a probably another hour walks before she got into the center of town "Thanks for the ride." She hopped off the cart, walking up to one of the one of the horses who looked away from her nostrils flaring as she tried to touch it.

"Do it yourself home before curfew." The driver glared down at her, almost looking offended that she tried to touch one of his horses.

"I will sir." Journey said before putting her hands in her jacket pocket and started to move more into town. While journey couldn't really pride herself on being fast or having a high stamina, she pretty much knew where to go and how quickly to get there so she was never late or in trouble. A talent she had developed from constant planning and re-planning daily schedules to ensure nothing went wrong for her. She would definitely get home in time before curfew, since regulators didn't start using the winter curfew schedule until late December, when it was usually deadly for children to be wandering around at night anyways.

As she made her way into town a sense of dread filled her steps as she looked to the street ahead of her. There are two boys, significantly younger than her possibly in middle school riding their bikes towards her. Before she could fully weigh the pros and cons of diverting her route home so she wouldn't have to encounter them they had already caught sight of her.

"Hey girl." A boy called to her circling his bike on the road.

Journey didn't say anything, and kept walking. She knew as long as she didn't acknowledge that they were there she wasn't breaking any laws and did her best to keep heading home.

"Come on fatty Patty answer us." The boys friend continued their call

she began the to the inside of her mouth reading something to do but give the boys any acknowledgment or attention.

One of the boys circled close to her and the can to taunt "Did you have your evaluation today? Did yay say you wanted to be somebody's mommy?" He sneered at her "You're done and up wiping asses when you get cured." He let out a laugh "Baby bums, old people bum, your bosses' bums."

The other boy laughed and said "Yeah get used to seeing spread cheeks."

A the first way onto his brakes and shouted "Shit!" His eyes focused on something I had of them "It's crazy eyes."

"I thought he died." The other boy whispered

'crazy eyes' was a cured homeless man that for some reason hadn't been taken in to a correctional facility. He tends to just linger around on street corners and take naps and regulated parks, why he did those things instead of seeking help. Journey wasn't quite sure, only that that he was cured and completely harmless. Though his mental faculties were no longer there, and usually being noticeable by the way his eyes seemed to jitter in their socket, like he was unable to look at anything for a long time.

"Oi!" The homeless man shouted " Why you boys talking to my sister-sister?" He moved towards the two boys his balance uneven "She's too shy to talk in less she has her pancakes."

The two boys muttered some more obscenities before pedaling off out a sight. Journey continued on her path, looking down at the sidewalk and hoping that the homeless man would continue on his way. Sadly, that was not the case.

"There's going to be a falling angel tonight, I'm gonna make a wish for you." The homeless man continued to walk beside her.

She didn't answer him, more in part about how she was still feeling terrified from being so close to the other two boys. Then being able to glean what the strange man was actually talking about.

"I saw the MorningStar today, he's gonna take somebody away gonna drag them down the hell. That's why I'm gonna make a wish for you." His jittering eyes look to her as if expecting a response.

Journey gave him the courtesy of a brief nod before turning down a smaller road to her grandparents' house, still lying on the inside of one of her cheeks. Her grandparents house for it wasn't anything spectacular, a small one-story with broken brick and dilapidated yellow coloring.

She made her way into the large living room and conjoined kitchen, both her grandfather and grandmother sitting on the couch watching her.

Her grandmother was frail with bright overly died orange hair her eyes narrow slits as she said "Were have you been?"

"I had my Evaluation today, I needed to attend." Journey answered, it was the truth after all. She had planned to go to and from the evaluation by yourself because her grandparents were very late sleepers usually not waking up and help late afternoon.

"You should of rescheduled, don't you understand how I couldn't get any work done without listening to your grandfather whine about how hard it was to go golfing without a caddy!" Her grandmother hissed shaking it a hand at her.

Journey could feel her teeth grinding against the skin inside her mouth as she remembered did that her grandfather went to golfing once a month, which she usually had to carry the golfing materials for him. She was sure that it would've happened the next weekend and leaving on her own would not have that negative consequences.

"Also how dare you leave the house without doing your chores!" Her grandmother continued to shout.

"I did I even made you breakfast and lunch, they should have been in containers in the fridge." Journey you whispered uncomfortable by the woman who raised her scolding her for nothing.

With a whistling sigh her grandfather said "Jolene Marie Turner, stop arguing with your mother and go to your room!" Using journey's mother name instead of her own.

Journey bit down hard on the inside of her cheek and moved down the hall to her bedroom, the smaller of the only other two rooms in the house. Closing the door behind her as quietly as possible in order to not get yelled at anymore, a bitter taste of copper filling the inside of her mouth.

(Author's note: made this chapter in a rush, I had a spark of inspiration to do this in fact. If you come across this and read it please leave a review sense, I want to know what people think of it so far. If you have any questions comments or concerns my private messages are always open.)