Growing up in the Outlaw Division
Up until the age of 23 I belonged to the Cultivator division. I would work long 12-hour days in the fields as a farmer to help feed all the citizens of Toronto and contribute back to our community. To me being a Cultivator was truly fulfilling as I knew I was contributing to helping the land and to feeding those in other divisions who keep up safe. In order to keep society safe from the collective, everyone had to do their part, as other divisions had to put themselves in danger to protect our society, something I would never have the courage to do.
Meanwhile, in the Cultivator division, the farmers including myself would have to work long days in the summer heat where little water and food was provided. If you asked me 5 years ago what I thought of the Outlaw division, I would simply have nothing kind to say as I would have never imagined myself to be a part of that misfit division.
Now back to the real question, how was I forced out of the Cultivator division? Well, one day in the midst of the summer heat I had an idea. Each day in the summer I would head to work and by midday I was so hungry to a point where I could possibly faint. The hunger made me think about how I am surrounded by fruits and vegetables. Why wouldn’t I simply snack on some of them? This started the beginning of snacking on the crops we were growing which was strictly prohibited by the Peacekeepers as they had to ration the food for everyone in the society. Although I knew the risk involved I naïvely thought no one would catch me and continued to snack on the crop during my long workdays. Soon enough, other farmers noticed what I was doing, and we made a silent agreement to allow this small group of farmers to each the crops and not tell authorities. Months later, one of the farmers told the authorities of what was going on as they were scared to be thrown out of the division and I was the one who was blamed for everything.
I awaited my trial day in front of my whole division to see what the verdict would be on breaking the law and eating the vegetables. As I had no prior offences, I assumed I was going to get off the hook with a simple warning and possibly probation. However, that was not the case. The Peacekeepers wanted to use me as an example to all the farmers that eating the fruits and vegetables was prohibited. This resulted with the dreadful news of being sentenced to become an Outlaw, this was devastating to me as I love the division I belong to and simply ate the food to be able to work more efficiently. However, the Peacekeepers did not care about my reasoning as to why I ate the food and stuck to their decision.
Which leads me to today, for the last 5 years I have been an Outlaw as my life has changed drastically from having clothing, a bed, home and meals each day to simply being dropped off in a deserted part of the city with none of my belongings. Now, I have the responsibility of finding all the necessities to survive including food, shelter and clothing by myself with no support from the Peacekeepers. Some days are easier than others as other Outlaws often work together to hunt food and create shelters during the days. Each day is still extremely challenging as we never know when we are in danger of another attack from the Collectives.
