The Registration by Madison Lawson

Author:Madison Lawson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CamCat Publishing
Published: 2022-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

After arguing about the best way to do it, Daniel wanting Lynell to stay behind and Lynell refusing to split up, they end up heading to the sidewalk together. Daniel glances up and down the road before leading them forward. Their walk is brisk, and soon Lynell is breathing hard, sweat gathering on the back of her neck and the cut on her midsection throbbing. Each time a car drives past them, they turn and pretend to walk up the sidewalk to the closest house, Lynell sure to keep her bandaged hand out of view.

A few houses have signs in the front yards, either bragging about the many successes of their children or making political statements. The most popular sign seems to be in support of someone running to be a school district trustee. A few houses support the newest oligarch family and there are even a couple that say the Elysians should be official members of the oligarch.

That makes Lynell want to vomit.

A year ago, she might have agreed with the statement. After all, the Elysians have nearly as much power as the oligarchs without being tethered to the government. Having them be official members of the government would make the Elysians accountable to the checks and balances that are in place. Although Lynell never wanted the Registration to end, she didn’t want it to be a product owned by a private company. Instead, she’d hoped it could be a public service for the people. She’d always hoped that rebel supporters and Registration supporters could find some sort of compromise based on that premise.

Now, she’s not so sure. She’s not so sure about anything. None of the solutions feel like solutions. Every option seems like a different form of the same bad ending: people will be Registered and killed, and not all of them, she now knows, deserve it.

They enter two more neighborhoods before finally finding a house with a sale sign out front. Daniel heads up alone and knocks once, waiting for a reply. Nothing comes, and he rings the doorbell. Nothing. He returns to Lynell, eyebrows raised. “Ready to squat?”

“If you are,” she replies before they head around the back of the house and through the gate. The back door is locked and after searching for a key in vain, Daniel grips the doorknob, turns it as hard as he can, and slams his shoulder into it. It flies open with a loud crash and Daniel stumbles in after it. Lynell jumps and looks behind them, fully expecting an alarm to go off.

When nothing happens, Daniel reaches out and pulls her into the house, closing the splintered door behind them.

The house is large, completely empty, and so quiet Lynell can hear her labored breathing.

“Welcome home,” Daniel says after checking each room and returning to Lynell.

“It’s beautiful,” she says, looking up at the large ceiling. The living room has a brick fireplace, wood floors, and a window seat. The kitchen is large with an island and marble countertops.

“The water is on,” Daniel says, checking the kitchen sink.

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