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  The Town

  By Oliver Zettas

  Copyright © 2012 Oliver Zettas

  The Town is dedicated to my mom, for all her personal help and support. You made this book possible. -Thanks, Oliver

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: The Town

  Chapter 2: Max

  Chapter 3: The Escape

  Chapter 4: Infection

  Chapter 5: The Worry

  Chapter 6: Purpose

  Chapter 7: The Family

  Chapter 8: Red Death

  Chapter 9: Max’s Parents

  Chapter 10: The Plan

  Chapter 11: The Canyon

  Chapter 12: The Fountain

  Chapter 13: Going Home

  Chapter 14: Protection

  Chapter 15: Recruits 

  Chapter 16: Training

  Chapter 17: The Box and the Cross

  Chapter 18: Five More Days

  Chapter 19: The Defense

  Chapter 20-: True Love

  Chapter 21:Katherine

  Chapter 22: The Last Day

  Chapter 23: Max's Lucky Night

  Chapter 24: The New Plan

  Chapter 25: The Wall

  Chapter 26: Water

  Chapter 27: The Last Stand

  Chapter 28: The Rescue

  Chapter 29: Mayor Max

  Chapter 1: The Town

  There was a small town built at the end of a large forest quite a number of years ago. A town surrounded by a solid black wall. A wall designed to keep the people of the town inside, and whatever was outside the wall, out. The town had many specific rules and guidelines that everyone followed without question. In the town there were exactly two-thousand people, five-hundred houses, ten schools, five supermarkets, and one town hall. Every citizen was born into his or her job, house, and even matched with a spouse. Everything was already chosen for them. Each and every day the father of the house would wake up, go to work, get food, come home, eat dinner, and go to bed. The man’s wife would get up, make breakfast, take the kids to school, make dinner, and go to bed. The son of the house would wake up, go to school, learn the job he was destined to receive, come back home eat dinner, and go to bed. The daughter would wake up, go to school, and learn cooking, cleaning, and taking care of a household. She would return home, help with dinner, and go to bed. Every citizen had the exact same name as his or her parent for each gender. This meant there was a balance of one child and one adult with the same name. There were one-thousand adults and one-thousand kids. A child became an adult at age twenty, and an adult retired at age sixty. From ages thirty-five to forty every couple was given a son and daughter. The son would take the same job as his father, and the daughter would learn how to maintain a household. Six days of the week each citizen would work, on the seventh day every citizen was allowed to do as they pleased. There was running, swimming, biking, reading, and much more. But no one was ever allowed to leave the town limits, except for the town mayor and truck drivers to get supplies. No one had ever even thought to leave the town, because they were told when they were very young that there is evil lurking outside of the town walls. The town measured five by five miles across with a huge black wall surrounding the entire place. There was no money in the town. All exchanges were made with special cards. Each person was given three cards at the age twenty, when you were finally an adult. There was one card to obtain food from the market, another card to show your citizenship and age, and a third card to open your designated house. Each house was painted white, with a small blue picket fence surrounding it. There was a small river running through the middle of the town and the people used it for water and food. The most common jobs for the town’s people were fishing, security, or truck driving. Truck drivers would go in and out of the town, and pick up food from farmers. These trucks were heavily armored and could withstand almost anything, but no one ever talked about an attack on the drivers or their trucks. The fishermen would go out every day to the same spots around the river and would fish for many hours. Those in security provided the protection for the town. They were the only people with guns, and they would constantly be on patrol for suspicious activity inside the town, and watch from raised platforms for any suspicious activity outside their walls. No one had ever committed a crime in the entire history of the town, and no one spoke of ever seeing anything happen outside of the town. As far as everyone knew, each and every person was content with the lifestyle chosen for him or her. There was only one problem in the entire history of the town, a boy who decided to leave the town. This is his story.