A terrible situation gets worse.

As Alice ran, she could feel herself getting weaker and weaker. Her breathing was laboured and she felt a sharp pain up under her ribs. The Blood Pool was only about 5 more minutes away at this pace but Alice wasn’t sure if she could make it. People stopped and stared as she ran but Alice didn’t care at this point. Her Yellow Status wristband was making a glowing yellow line as she swung her arms with each step.

Worse was yet to come as Alice’s Status-Bracelet started to pulse yellow. Alice came to a complete stop as it turned red. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! She had left everything back at the Ration-Mart. She hadn’t stolen anything. Alice started to cry as she bent over double, her hands on her knees as she leant back against the walls of a high rise.

As she looked down through tear-soaked eyes Alice could see something sticking out of her jacket pocket. With a deep sense of terror, Alice pulled out the chocolate bar she had been intending to treat herself with. She had forgotten it when her Status-Bracelet turned yellow. She had stolen it. She was a thief. She deserved the Red Status she was now branded with.

Coming down the street on his patrol was an officer of the Department of Citizen Care. His eyes roved from person to person. This was a green neighbourhood and all he could see were green wristbands. Almost instantly his eyes narrowed on Alice’s red Status-Bracelet. Here was someone he could dispense his Citizen Care on.

“Hey, Reder! Stop,” he called out to her and started to jog over to her.

“Oh no!” Alice murmured to herself. She couldn’t be caught by the Citizen Care. They would throw her in lock-up or **** her into Danger-Labour to earn back her Green Status. No one was likely to survive that. Especially not a small female like her.

The part of the building she had been leaving against was near the corner. There was a small alleyway that ran between it and the next building. Alice prayed she would be able to find a way out as she ran off down the alleyway. The Citizen Care officer changing to a run behind her. The alley was about twenty metres long before it turned at a 90-degree angle to the left. Tall high-rise building rose up all around her. No sooner had she turned the corner than she saw 15 metres away was a tall chain-link fence at least three-metre-high that was blocking any further passage down the alley. Alice looked back and saw the officer was already turning the corner to chase after her. She ran to the fence and attempted to climb up.

Her total lack of energy meant that Alice was barely off the ground before the Citizen Care officer caught and pulled her back down off the fence. Alice landed with a heavy thud that left her winded and desperately trying to bring in air. The running and the fall leaving her barely able to breathe.