"Life After 17", an Unwind fanfiction

"Unwind" on Amazon

((For those of you who haven't read this amazing book by Neal Shusterman, I would highly recommend reading it before reading my fanfiction, for understanding purposes, and if you don't like spoilers. Other than that, I hope you enjoy! Constructive, honest reviews are appreciated. ^^"))

Life After 17 on Fanfiction.Net

Disclaimer: I do not own "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman.

Chapter 1: Unexpected

Risa

It was difficult to figure this out on her own, with her limitations. She didn’t like to think of it that way; what she had done was fight the system. Her and Connor had been protected, they had defeated those who had been against them. He’d turned 17 soon after the incidents at Happy Jack, and the two of them had led non-violent protests with the Graveyard kids, even when they’d wished it was a little bit more than that. Entire harvest camps had closed down because of them. They’d been in legal battles.

They were winning. It had been five short years since Connor had taken control of the Graveyard, and things in the outside world had been dramatically changing. And it was good, incredibly good. Adolescents were getting their lives back. Laws were starting to change and shift a little; she supposed the first nurse back at the StaHo was right: you couldn’t change laws without first changing human nature. It had been the way it was back when unwinding was first introduced, and it was that way now. She had hope that one day, unwinding would be entirely eradicated.

Yet it seemed now that her and Connor might be taking a little detour from this protesting, a little trip away from it. Far from a vacation, however. This little discovery reminded her of that day, five years ago, running through the trees to the doorstep, staring at Connor with boiling rage, concealed as she “revealed” that the storked baby was hers. She remembered the cold words of the lady at the door, and she remembered the day at school. The discovery gave her a flood of memories from that day and several others.

The days in the cellar, with three out of four kids she would never see again. Feeding the child, having all her attention on it. And the moment when the teacher… Hannah, that was it, took it from her.

This time, she had a feeling it wasn’t going to happen that way.

Her and Connor had violated one of the “Ten Demandments” the Admiral had put into place years ago, the one that said that boys and girls were separated in many important instances. They had waited years for this, and she’d just passed her 17th birthday, and since they and the Admiral had once wished his group would not violate his rules, and most of the teens were smart enough not to, they hadn’t as well. And now that they were the leaders of the Graveyard, they enforced the “Demandment” as well. They weren’t as tough as him, but they were close, although things had changed, and not all the kids who lived in the Graveyard only went off it for jobs anymore; a selected few protested with them. They flew in the planes and risked their lives and protested, with fake identities and a determined spirit.

Connor and Hayden had their own Goldens, and they worked hard to keep the safety and health of all that came into the Graveyard. The three of them, including her, did a great job of doing so. She spent most of her time practicing the piano, sometimes she checked up on the medical jet and such. She was still rather independent, despite her condition.

The thing was, however, now her and Connor had become hypocrites to the rules they enforced, though it had almost seemed worth it. But the time they’d done what they had done seemed to be the opportune time, they hadn’t had much time with each other, not alone like that, when they were trying to make sure that the Graveyard had the least problems as possible. Nothing was perfect, but it went well. She made her way out of the bathroom in the medical jet, after disposing of her… evidence, and wheeled out, down the ramp hesitantly. Connor was in the revamped-jet that had once been the Admiral’s home, perhaps alone, or having a discussion with a resident, or maybe just having a chat with Hayden about important matters of the Graveyard, or just about nothing at all; the two were great friends now, after all.

She had Tina bring her up to the jet, not sure whether she should confide in her what she’d just found out, but it seemed the girl had a sense of what it was. Ever since they’d become friends, she’d always been able to do that, with Risa being so similar to her and all.

“Good luck,” her friend whispered, as Risa passed through the entrance.

As suspected, he was having a conversation with Hayden, seemingly lighthearted. The day had been going quite well.

“Connor? I have something I need to… umm… talk to you about.”

Seeing the nervous and somewhat serious expression on Risa’s face, and hearing the hesitance of her tone, nervousness and hesitance being something uncommon to her, it appeared Connor sensed this might be something private.

“Hey, we’ll talk later, alright?” he said to his friend.

“Alright, no problem. See you two lovebirds later,” said Hayden, winking at the two of him. Risa gave a slight glare at him, before smiling weakly. This friend of Connor’s was so annoying sometimes.

“So, what’s going on Risa? Everything alright in the jets?”

“Oh, it’s not about that… it’s… something else.”

“Like what?”

“Well, Connor… I’ve got a bit of a surprise for you.”

((Chapter 2 is on FF.net, and I'll put it here in a post below. Thanks for reading!))