Steam from the coffee maker filled my vision as I poured another cup of the bitter, hot, drink into a white mug.

"Here ya' go Archie."

I slid the cup down the stained linoleum counter to a husky old man in a beat up leather jacket. A red beanie cap covered his gray hair and the colour complimented his ageing blue eyes. Quickly he scratched the scruff on his chin before taking a sip.

He grunted in appreciation.

"How 'bout ya', 'nother cup Rupert?" I asked the man sitting next to Archie. He wore a brown jacket over a blue sweater and his ageing scalp was also covered by a blue cap.

"Why not?" He said in a gruff voice and slid his mug down the counter to me where I filled it up and then slid it back.

I checked the clock on the wall behind me. 8:47. Thirteen minutes until closing time.

"El ya' orders ready." I heard the impatient voice of the boy behind me and rolled my eyes.

I turned around to take the plates from under the heat lamps that barely worked and was met with the face of the curly haired boy that annoyed the living hell out of me. His eyes were a plain green and it paired nicely with his brown curly hair. His skin was pale, but who was I to judge, and it was mostly clear except for a few dots on his forehead.

"Yeah Greg." I said as I took the two plates off eggs, sausage, and toast and placed them in front of the two men at the counter.

"Ya' usual." I said in monotone.

The two men grunted again and began to shovel the food into their mouths. The little diner was quiet except for the sounds of forks clicking against plates and the static of an old radio in the kitchen.

I tried to listen to what the people on the radio were saying but it was nearly impossible.

I went and re-positioned the antennas and turned up the volume until i was able to hear it more clearly.

It was just another economy report, they aired every hour and held absolutely none of my interest. I tuned out again.

"Will ya' turn it down?" Greg said behind me in an annoyed tone. I wanted to smack that attitude right out of him but refrained myself. I reached beside me and turned down the volume, giving him a glare.

I heard Greg open the back door to the diner and the door slam shut as he went to go dump out the grease from that day. I glanced to check on the two regular customers at the counter and they were both rummaging in their jacket pockets for their wallets.

They placed crinkled paper bills and random coins onto the counter and stood up.

"See ya' tomorrow. Night Rupert. Night Archie." I bid them goodnight as they made their way out of the diner and into the freezing air outside.

I pulled the damp wash cloth from my apron and began to wipe down the counters. With a quiet crash I rudely placed the dishes into a bin and went into the kitchen to wash them.

Greg was behind me silently cleaning the kitchen.

I untied my apron and placed it on the counter before taking my black peacoat off of the wooden hook on the wall by the door and shrugging it on.

When I was done I went to turn off the neon open sign and then waited impatiently until Greg emerged from the back. He turned off lights as he went until the diner was dark. I opened the door and we both stumbled out into the bitter cold. I locked the door and then bid Greg an insincere goodnight and we walked our separate ways.

I began the routine trek through the harsh wind and snow to my flat.

Checking my watch quickly as I hurried along, the time was 9:13. I still had around ten minutes more to walk until I arrived home and approximately 47 minutes until curfew.

Law number one : Always be inside your home by ten o'clock P.M. or face punishment.

No one was stupid enough to be outside in the streets or let alone in their yard after ten o'clock. That was how the law had been for as long as anyone could remember. I had heard stories about people who got locked outside of their homes after ten and they were never seen or heard from again.

Just the thought of that made me walk a little faster. The street lamps cast an orange glow on the snow covered sidewalk and the last few stragglers of people were out on the streets hurrying to get home.

To my left I noticed a Minder standing on a street corner. If it wasn't his black uniform that gave him away it was the gun strapped to his back that did.

Minder's were our protectors. They were the police of the citizens, though they mostly just ignored us.

I looked ahead to see my building just a block away and i sped up my steps in order to get out of the cruel weather. I basically jogged the rest of the way home and slowed down when I reached the metal stairs of my building. I grabbed on to the paint chipped,navy blue, metal railing and carefully made my way up the icy stairs.

My flat was the first door on the second floor. The gold letters against the same blue paint as the stairs read out 2C. I dug the key out of my pocket and unlocked the door, quickly fumbling in along with the flurries of snow.

I shut the door behind me and locked it, turning on the lights after that.

My flat was nothing special, just a basic two room space with a kitchen and lounge area being the main room and to the right was a little hall that led to my bedroom and a bathroom.

It was quaint and quiet, just how i like it.

I brushed the snow off my coat and hung it on the hook beside the door. I set my keys on the little table next to it and then slipped off my dirty white converse.

I padded over to my kitchen and took a glass out of the cupboard next to the refrigerator. I filled it with water from the tap and then snatched the bottle of pills sitting on the counter. I took one and swallowed it down with water, seeking relief of the migraine I had received from working with Greg all day.

After I downed the medicine, I headed towards my bedroom and began to rid myself of the dirty yellow dress i wore. The diner uniform was about as hideous as it could be and i couldn't wait to take it off.

A pair of gray cotton shorts and a plain white shirt were placed on the dresser and i changed into them quickly.

The mirror above the dresser reveled my snow white skin and chapped lips. My black hair reached just above my collarbones the jutted out from under my skin. I ran a brush through my straight locks and then used a damp cloth to scrub my face.

The clock in my room said 9:30, thirty minutes until curfew.

It was just enough time to make my dinner. I headed back to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to find an apple, a half-full carton of milk, two pieces of raw chicken, and a slab of butter. Not much to work with but there never really was. I sighed knowing I'd have to wait two days until it was Sunday in order to order food.

I took out the chicken and butter and then a pan from the cupboard next to the stove.

Once the burner was lit I cut a pice of butter into the pan and watched as it melted before I placed the chicken in the pan, a loud sizzle filling the once dead silent room.

I stood by stove as it cooked, flipping the chicken occasionally until it was brown on the outside. The heat was then turned off and I plated my food eating it at the counter. I washed down my dinner with the rest of my water and quickly washed the plate and pan and set them on a towel to dry.

It was 10:00 now.

I made sure my front door was locked on my way to the old sofa in the lounge room. Sitting down, the ancient springs creaked at the slightest bit of my weight, which wasn't much. I wasn't skin and bones but I wasn't the average weight for people my age and height. I was about 10 pounds under weight. It had always been that way for my whole life.

The static crackle of the television tore my thoughts away from the creaky couch to the screen. Black and white lines ran all over the screen in a crazed manner until finally a blue screen arrived chasing the static away and the music consisting of brass horns began to play.

I inwardly cringed as I watched the face of our nations news anchor appeared on the screen. He was young, in his thirties I assumed. His shiny black hair was styled into a combover. Tonight he wore a dark blue suit with a red tie. His makeup was done to perfection, per normal.

"Good evening citizens of Karnevia, I am your news anchor Jetta Romanoff! Welcome to our daily screening of the evening news." His deep, fake voice resonated throughout my flat.

"We have breaking news this evening of a Zoloid sighting at the western gate. Two Unremarkable's reported the sighting at 7:00 P.M." A picture of a Zoloid took main focus on the screen.

Zoloid's were creatures that were twenty feet tall and massive in width.It's body was similar to that of a spider but with only four legs. Two red eyes were the main focal point of the hideous face it bore. Brown and black fur covered their entire body and venom coated their crooked teeth. It was a genetic mutation gone wrong and was feared by all. The constant threat of Zoloid attacks that lingered over the nation had become normal.Too normal. Normal to the point that we had almost forgotten of the real danger of them until they came too close.

"The Unremarkable's stated that three Zoloid's arrived in a clearing near the western gate looking for food. No one was attacked and the people went into hiding. The Zoloid's left around thirty minutes later. Now as all of you know, a Zoloid bite is fatal to a human. The Minder's are investigating the sighting and keeping the Unremarkable's sector of the nation on lockdown," Jetta Romanoff said as it returned back to the image of his face.

"I would also like to announce that tomorrow evening, our gracious and humble leader will be making an announcement on this 10:00 broadcast. All citizens must tune in or will face punishment." He said with the widest smile.

I sighed in my head. I wouldn't dare speak during the broadcast.

"Now it's time to repeat our contracts," Jetta announced and I cleared my throat in preparation.

"As a citizen of Karnevia I here by decree my loyalty to my ruler. I will not disobey the law of the King, nor will I defy his orders in any way. I will know my place in my classification. Long live Karnevia and long live the King." I repeated the words after Jetta, my eyes fixating on the circular microphone implanted into the television set, listening to my every word.

The microphone was there to make sure we all repeated our contracts. If you didn't well...I didn't want to find out.

"Goodnight and we will see you tomorrow for the announcement from our King." Jetta signed off the broadcast and the outro music began to play and then it was over.

The television went back to black screen.

I sighed now and got up off the couch, making my way to my bedroom. A bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach as I laid down. I stared at the ceiling on the dark room. Something about the announcement from the King tomorrow made me nervous. It was probably just the announcement of another law. Besides, there hadn't been a Gathering for a while now.

Gatherings.

The bane of my existence. Gatherings were the single solitary thing I dreaded the most, along with the rest of the nation. Gathering were where everyone in the nation "gathered" in the center of the country. We were all sectioned off into our classifications and forced to watch patriotic commercials about our nation until finally the King made a speech. After his speech everyone was dismissed into a building certified for their classification only. In this building we were held in waiting rooms until it was announced that we could leave. The wait could take hours, minutes or sometimes a day.

Once we were released back into the town square thats when it would begin. Hunter's of the King would invade the square, catching 10 people and then taking them away. We didn't know where the people who were captured went to because no one ever heard from them again.

Forty people were captured at each Gathering, ten from each classification. It was rumored that they were made servants of the King. Other rumors stated that they were killed off or fed to the Zoloid's; but no one knew for sure.

There were four classifications. The bottom rank were called the Undesirables. These were the homeless, the bottom feeders, the ones who had no job and no where to go. The Undesirables were considered unwanted by most and therefore they were usually captured by the Hunters of killed off.

The second classification was the Unremarkable's. They were the one's who supplied our food, tools, supplies, clothing and infrastructure. They were the one's that no one bothered to remember the names of, therefore their name the Unremarkable.

The third classification was the Unexceptional. These were the people that had the better jobs. They made money, had decent living spaces. The Unexceptional were the average ones, but they were stuck. They would never be anything more than average.

I was born into the Unexceptional classification. My mother and father were born into Unexceptional as well and generation after generation of our family line had been Unexceptional's.

In the last Gathering I had lost my parents. They were hauled off by the Hunter's and I never saw them again. That was years ago. I had only experienced two Gatherings in my entire 17 years of life and I feared for the time I had to experience another.

The fourth classification was the Untouchables. These were the rich. They had power, money, and even input on governmental decisions. They were the economists, business owners, politicians, and royalty.

When it came to the Gatherings, the Untouchables were selectively chosen. The Hunter's only took the unworthy politicians and business owners who thought they were sneaky enough to get away with stealing from the Nation.

Gatherings were random and unexpected. When you were in that town square running and hiding for your life, everything you thought ever mattered to you suddenly didn't. The only thing you cared about was getting the hell out of there. That is until your family is torn away from you, leaving you to fend for yourself.

I sighed lightly and tried to clear my mind of the worries about tomorrows announcement. It couldn't be another Gathering, it just couldn't.

But I knew it was.