They say that once food grew from the ground and was sold in marketplaces. That people picked who they married and had children when and if they wanted to.

That doesn’t happen anymore. All of our food comes from the factory. Not a factory, THE FACTORY. I live in Zone 7. There are 20 zones in our country. There are 20 countries in our land. There are 5 lands. At the learning center, we learn to speak like people in the old ages. The old ages were the times before the Population Wipe. When 9/10 of the population died due to a plague they had thought extinct. Now, we have two meals a day. At 10:00 a.m. all minors report to the Learning Center. In Ancient History I learned that they used to call it ‘School’. They give us four small mini-nutrients. These are small pills and give us enough minerals and nutrients to go theoughout the day. At 6:00 p.m. us and our parents go to the food supplier for our zone. Down in rows comes small packages. I wait for the package labels “Charlotte Esther” and pick it up. After I peel back the cover, I see five cooked carrots, two bread pieces and a nutrient drink. None of this is to be wasted. Wasting food is considered one of the worst crimes. Once I finish, I slide the empty container into the ReUse bin and my napkin into the incinerator. We waste nothing. The bits of paper shall be compressed to be reused. I then head to my living space. I walk down the street of identical while homes and stop when I reach the twelfth one. I walk in and stop as I see my mother and father working on business. My mother looks up and gives a smile. “Charlotte Esther. How was the learning center?” She asks. I give the answer I give every day. “Very educational, mother.” My father looks up. “How are you feeling, Charlotte Esther? Nervous?” My mother scolded him. Such words are not precise. “I am anxious and eager, Father.” Tomorrow is my seventeenth birthday. I shall be matched with my soulmate, and I will be required to have kids before the date of my twentieth birthday. “How are you feeling about having kids, Charlotte Esther?” My father asks. I give the rehearsed answer. “I am proud to serve This zone by helping to increase the population, Father.” My father nods. That was an acceptable answer. I go to my sleeping quarter. I unroll the mat and lay on it, covered up by the small white blanket. I have allready changed into my sleeping clothes, a white dress that stops at my knees. I cannot sleep, so I reach into my pack and withdraw a small white pill. They give you five pills a month, in order to ensure there isn’t no calamity in the Zones. They calm you down. I swallow it, and drift into an uneasy sleep.