Notes

Iris sat on the cold, wet pavement, the brick wall behind her chilling her spine. The water on the dingy sidewalk seeped into her jeans, but she didn’t notice as her body was already numb from cold. She pulled her feet out of the trough of water just off the sidewalk and sighed as she surveyed the state of her favorite shoes. The once yellow-brown suede was now the color of sewage, there were tattered holes in the fabric just above her toes, and the supposedly tough laces were frayed and almost torn through in several places. Iris shook her head and pulled her knees into her chest, attempting to reclaim some of the warmth that had been stolen by the damp night air.

Iris scoffed as she thought back to when she thought this was a good idea. Being on the streets, being an outlaw who went against the will of the companies, was nowhere near as glamorous a life as childish daydreams made it out to be. There were supposed to be subversives dealing top secret information in every alley. There were supposed to be daily raids on suspected locations of illegal activity. Everything was supposed to be very black and white, everyone not with the resistance was for the companies, and everyone in the resistance was supposed to despise the companies with a burning, uniting passion.

News flash, none of this was true. No member of the resistance magically appeared to offer Iris help as she ran, and everyone who did notice her had no interest in assisting someone who was seemingly just another homeless teenager. Iris was left begging for scraps of food and finding any shelter from the cold that she could, whether it be a discarded blanket or a cardboard box. This had been her life for months now, a living hell of frigid weather and constant hunger.

Wind howled down the alleyway, bringing with it icy raindrops and the sound of footsteps. Iris figured she should probably move and stood up. She huddled under her ratty jacket and hung her long, strawberry blonde hair about her shoulders, then made her way out of the alley with her head down. She’d found that staying under the radar was best, no one had qualms against shooting an unarmed teenager if they thought they were a threat.