We walk in silence until we exit the Black Block. The sun is setting and everything is bathed in a beautiful orange glow, making me feel light and fluffy. Suddenly, the silence between me and Tyran seems inappropriate. We step into the orange sunlight and together watch as the sun slowly drops.

"Man, that's beautiful." Tyran mutters and I nod. The sky is different shades of purple and pink and orange, and the colour filtering through the dome just looks incredible. Most whites avoid this time of day, when everything is colourful, but all the blacks knew they were missing out. I would rather be a black my whole life than never be allowed to see something like this.

I watch as the sky changes as the sun starts slipping behind the horizon, then look over at Tyran to find he is watching me with a smile on his face. It isn't a cruel smirk, but rather a genuine gesture of happiness at seeing something so beautiful. I smile back at him then start walking again in the direction of the nearest CD entrance. Tyran follows, and this time, we walk beside one another.

"Can you believe that the Complex tries to hide us from that? That they believe beauty makes you unstable?" I ask, shaking my head in disbelief. Tyran nods.

"I know. The bullshit the complex tells us is unbelievable." He says.

I nod, unsure of what else to say, so we slip back into silence. We reach an entrance to the CD and encounter a problem. Just like last night, I can't use the ladder because of my injured hand. Tyran just purses his lips and steps onto the ladder, then gestures for me to climb down into his arms. I do so, and like last night, we make our way down the ladder together. It's longer this time and I almost fall multiple times, but eventually in a haze of relief, we reach ground again and turn to the door.

"You need to go to the hospital about that, Maedana." Tyran mutters. I just nod wearily. He was right.

The gas comes hissing out and Tyran doesn't wait for anyone to come get us but instead just pushes open the door. Light fills my vision and he turns back to me and smiles softly.

"Come on, Mae." He says and offers his hand. I hesitate for a moment then take his hand and step into the CD. Reese is in the back of my mind but I don't let myself think about her too much. I can't let grief control me anymore.

Tyran lets go of my hand and leads me into the CD. People pass us in the halls and stare at me. Tyran glances back at me a few times to make sure I am following. I smile at him, wondering where we are going. I suspect he is taking me to the CD head, where I was taken last time. But to my surprise, he pulls me to a large cafeteria-like room. I think I recall being in here a few times when I was younger. It is full of people in black, white and even some in grey. Tyran gestures for me to follow him to a table with a few jugs of some sort of dark brown liquid next to rows of cups. Tyran grabs a cup and fills it with the liquid then hands it to me and pours another cup for himself. I stare at the drink suspiciously. Was it alcohol? Why was there so much of it? Tyran starts drinking his cup then stops to look at me expectantly. I look at the drink for a moment, then drink it.

I almost spit it out straight away. The horrible taste brings back my memory. This was the stuff that made you stay awake.

"That's just as bad as I remember it." I mutter.

Tyran smirks and finishes drinking his cup. Not wanting to feel tired later, I drink the rest of my own, pushing aside my disgust.

Tyran takes my cup and places it on another table then turns to look back at me with a serious expression.

"I apologise, Maedana, but I need to speak with someone. Just wait here and I'll be right back." He doesn't wait for me to respond but slips away, heading for a table of middle aged men and women in grey. I awkwardly watch him for a moment then look at the rest of the room. I'm not surprised to see a few faces watching me with curious expressions.

I look away and at the walls. They're adorned with colourful pictures, and although the paintings are slightly faded, they're beautiful none the less. They remind me of Calix, and the first time I met him. He kissed me.

I feel dumb thinking about it now. I was so desperate for a person to spend time with that I kissed a boy I barely knew. Then again, maybe every moment I spent with him counted, no matter how dumb that kiss was. It led to so many things.

Even though I have been through so much pain since I met Calix, I would rather have known him.

I immerse myself in memories while Tyran talks with the people in grey, then he returns with an annoyed look on his face.

"Come on Maedana. I want to leave this room." He mutters. I frown.

"What's wrong?" I ask. He doesn't answer, instead just shaking his head and moving to the door. I follow, curious as to why he is annoyed.

He leads me out of the cafeteria and then starts making his way through the tunnels. I wonder where we are going, but I don't ask. We are silent again, and I notice how big the CD is. We walk and walk, and the hallways change, the doors we pass are different, yet it's like being lost in a maze. How did Tyran even know where he was going?

I suddenly realise that maybe he doesn't. Maybe he just wants to get lost.

As we walk, the walls get older. There's a defining point where the stone halls turn to dirt tunnels that look like simply leaning on the walls would make them collapse.

I am just considering to ask Tyran where we are going when he stops in front of an old wood door with white paint chipping off it.

He glances at me, looking tense, then pushes open the door to reveal a dimly lit room filled with dirty couches and miscellaneous furnishings. The dirt walls and ceilings in here have been supported with metal poles and wooden supports. There is a piece of wire about twenty centimetres off each wall, presumably to stop people going near the unstable walls.

People. There are people in here, blacks, whites, and again, some in grey. They're all teenagers, some sitting on couches, some standing, and some lying on makeshift beds, either sleeping or just staring at the ceiling. When we step into the room, I see Tyran visibly loosen up.

"Where are we?" I ask him.

He smiles. "This is the CD's unofficial chill zone. There's an official one in the newer space but it's full of uptight CD officials that believe anyone over the age of ten should be doing something, not just chilling. So all of us just come here."

I nod and look around the room, mostly at the furniture. There are no lights on the ceiling but there are various lamps and candles scattered randomly around the room. Someone has found or made a string of fairy lights and hung them on the wire beside one of the walls. "How did all this stuff even get in here?" I wonder aloud.

Tyran shrugs. "I have no idea, Tala showed me here. Speaking of..."

I look to where he is staring to see Tala and Elyria sitting together on a couch in the far corner of the room. For a moment I think Tyran is going to go to them but instead he sits on a nearby vacant couch and I follow suite.

We're lucky to even get a seat. It's a big room and I'm surprised at how many people are cramped inside it.

"Why is it so busy? The sun has only just set." I ask and Tyran shrugs.

"Most of these people will still be day dwellers. They'll clear out soon enough." He answers.

I frown. "What's a day dweller?"

"Just someone that hangs out in the defiance during the day. People that have a day off or live underground. They don't usually stay in here for very long when everyone else comes at night." Tyran explains.

I stare at him. "People live in the CD?"

Tyran opens his mouth to say something but then someone cuts in, with a loud, perky voice. "Yeah, that's me."

The owner of the voice is a blond haired girl, wearing a light grey shirt and charcoal baggy pants, now standing in front of us. She has striking blue eyes and a clear face, with not a pimple in sight. She has full cheeks and red lips, curved in a smile, showing off starch white, straight teeth. Her blond hair falls over her shoulders in smooth waves and cuts off just before it reaches her stomach.

She reminds me of one of the independent models that show off the latest white clothing. Sometimes I see advertisements of them while on patrol.

The girl sits down on the couch between Tyran and I, staring at me.

"I'm Svana," She glances at my bare shoulder with a roll of her eyes to see my black mark. Her face goes sour and she continues in a less than impressed voice, "and you're the F. Well, when I imagined the girl everyone has been fawning over, I didn't think of you."

I don't say anything as she looks me over. She then turns to Tyran, who is visually uncomfortable. "Hey." She says.

He just nods in response.

"Where were you last night?" She asks.

He shakes his head, this time answering. "I had sewerage patrol with Mae."

Svana looks at me with an expression of disgust, then conceals it and looks back at Tyran. "Alright." She says slowly, then her tone lightens. "How terrible that they sent someone so handsome like you into the sewers!" She laughs.

Tyran laughs awkwardly for a moment and looks at me, as if apologising for something.

Svana starts talking about her day and how boring it was. I stare at her, but she is now just ignoring me.

I clear my throat but she doesn't stop talking, so I tap her on the shoulder. She pauses and turns, a look of annoyance on her still-smiling face. "Yes?" She says.

I want to ask about what she meant by living underground but the look on her face makes me second guess myself. "Nevermind." I mutter and look away as she goes back to talking to Tyran.

I wonder how a girl I just met can make me feel so bad.

I revert to trying to count how many people are in the room, then my eyes land on Tala and Therei. Therei is lying across a couch, her head resting in Tala's lap, who is smiling and playing with a strand of Therei's hair. They're talking to each other with grins on their faces. I feel like I'm intruding on a special moment, so I look away.

Svana is flirting with Tyran, sitting in a way that completely cuts me off from them. Tyran seems awkward but is not doing anything to get her away, and I don't know why but that annoys me. He should stand up for himself. He is always doing so to me, so why is Svana any different?

She places a perfect set of nails on Tyran's arm and says something to him so softly I can't hear any more than the word 'leave.' Tyran looks at me with an expression I can't read. Then he mutters a curse and stands up. Svana looks at him with eager eyes and a wide grin she moves to stand up next to him but Tyran looks at me instead of her and holds out his hand. Confused as to what exactly is going on, Tyran leads me away from the couch and to the door.

As we are about to leave I look back at Svana to find she is glaring at me like I deserve to die. It's a look that makes my skin crawl and I quickly look away.

When we are out of the room and again walking through the corridors of the CD, Tyran sighs and let's go of my hand. "I'm sorry Maedana. Svana can be nice occasionally but most of he time she is a real pain." He glances at me for a moment, then continues talking. "Ever since Reese died, she has been clinging to me, constantly flirting. I'm sick of it."

I roll my eyes, feeling suddenly bitter. "Yeah, right. You probably led her on. From what I could see you two were pretty close. I don't doubt you were close before Reese died, either."

He went red with anger, and I could see the hurt in his eyes. "Maedana, I never cheated on Reese, and Svana and I are not a thing, even if she wishes we were." He shakes his head.

I stare at him for a moment. "Are you serious? You're so stuck up. You act like every girl is drooling for you when really the only girls that do are dumb idiots."

Tyran glares at me. "Well, one of those 'dumb idiots' was your best friend, Maedana!"

I roll my eyes again. "Oh, please, as if Reese even liked you. The only reason she dated you was for the popularity!"

Tyran stops walking and stares at me, his eyes filling with hurt. He hesitates, then asks in an almost vulnerable voice, "Is that really true?"

Even though I know it isnt, I nod anyway because I'm so worked up it don't care if I'm being insensitive. "Yeah, it is, Tyran. Not everyone likes you."

He takes a deep breath in and looks like he is about to explode. "Don't you think I know that already, Maedana? To everyone I'm just a short tempered, cocky idiot. You made that perfectly clear the moment you first met me. I am black scum, nothing more than the mark on my shoulder, aren't I Mae?"

I scoff. "We're both nothing better than the marks on our shoulders. Knowing you, I bet you got yours from doing something completely stupid."

His eyes go wide with shock and disgust. "Knowing me? Guess what, Maedana, you need to get off your high horse because you don't fucking know me, and have not tried to learn so you can't make assumptions over how I got my mark."

I am caught out by the emotion in his voice. He looks like he is about to hit something but at the same time like he is going to just start crying. I almost want to hug him. Instead, I place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." I say sincerely and his face softens a bit. "I shouldn't have said that. You're a good guy."

He scoffs softly and shakes his head. "I'd hardly say that. I have my problems."

I shrug. "So do we all. It's okay, Tyran. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."

He nods and sighs. "It's fine. Come on, let's do something." He pauses to think for a moment then grins and grabs my hand. There seems to have been a lot of hand grabbing and dragging tonight.

Tyran pulls me back the way we came and the tunnel goes from dirt to concrete again.

He tugs me around a corner then we come to a crossroad. Instead of turning back the way we got here, he turns in the opposite direction.

Confused, I ask where we are going. Tyran smiles back at me.

"The village." He answers, but he just makes me more confused. Were we going above ground?

To my surprise, we stop in front of a set of wooden double doors that have been carved like doors originally were. The words 'the village' have been painted in a pastel yellow colour on the centre of each door.

Tyran smiles at me then pushes open the doors to reveal, not a staircase or a ladder like I was expecting, but a long, large hall, bustling with life. I struggle to take in everything around me. The people all wear grey, white and black, like everywhere else in the CD, but that's were the similarities end. On the ground is bright green synthetic grass, and the walls have been covered in planks of brightly coloured wood. It's lit up by bright hanging lights dotted through the area. People buzz around, doing various activities. In one corner is a stage where people are playing music, and in another there are shelves of books and beanbags where people are reading. Some people are kicking balls around, some are just standing, and some are sitting. It's all just very peaceful.

Along the walls are a few doors and for a moment I wonder what they're for.

"This is the village. Not technically a chill out spot but it's so nice in here that everyone treats it so." Tyran says to me, moving to a clear spot on the lawn.

"Why is it called the village?" I ask as we sit down.

"It was made a couple of years ago as a trial for underground living. The CD pulled a collection of people from above, mostly people in trouble with the law, and made 30 or so rooms for them to live in down here. They have meals at the dining hall, where we went earlier. When that group worked well enough, they built more rooms and got more people down here. Now there's a whole heap of greys. Three hundred and fifty or something. There's even some families that are living down here, bringing back the relationships of the time before the dome."

I nod. "That's pretty cool. Being able to turn your back from the complex and get away from the oppressive system."

Tyran shrugs. "Hardly. The CD is almost worse. There's no black and white labels but I wouldn't say everyone is equal. They still want you to work if you're a grey, or they don't think you should even be down here. The people that live down here also have schedules and jobs, and a law system that is pretty much just as f*cked up as above."

I frown. "What do you mean?"

He shrugs. "If you stuff up, they don't put you in a cell or something, they physically punish you, just like above. Once, a kid that was living down here with his mother broke into a locked room during the day and made a mess, so, even though he was nine, they whipped him." He looks at me and must see the shock on my face. He sighs.

"I know, it's bad. They talk about freedom but really the only freedom the majority of the CD wants is the freedom to kill someone without being killed."

I purse my lips, unsure of what to say. I had always thought of the CD as better than the complex in terms of violence but what Tyran is telling me is changing my entire point of view.

For a few moments, Tyran and I are just silent, and I'm not sure of what to say. He is about to speak when someone calls my name from the entrance to the room.

I turn to see a woman dressed in white walking towards us with an annoyed look on her face. I recognise her face, but I'm unsure of who she is.

I look back at Tyran to see he also has an annoyed look on his face. Whoever this woman was, Tyran was not pleased to see her.

He stands up so I follow suite. The woman reaches us and addresses only to me. "Hello, Maedana and welcome back to the Defiance." She says. "My name is Dyna and I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me."

She turns and starts walking back to the door. I frown and look over at Tyran. He sighs and follows Dyna, so I have no choice other than to go with them.

From the sour look on Tyran's face, I can tell that my night is about to change.