Neal Shusterman - Unwind

The Second Civil War, also known as The Heartland War, was a long and bloody conflict fought over a single issue.

To end the war, a set of constitutional amendments known as The Bill of Life was passed.

It satisfied both the Pro-life and the Pro-choice armies.

The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen.

However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively abort a child . . .

. . . on the condition that the childs life doesnt technically end.

The process by which a child is both terminated and yet kept alive is called unwinding.

Unwinding is now a common, and accepted practice in society.

There are places you can go, Ariana tells him, and a guy as smart as you has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen.

Connor isnt so sure, but looking into Arianas eyes makes his doubts go away, if only for a moment. Her eyes are sweet violet with streaks of gray. Shes such a slave to fashionalways getting the newest pigment injection the second its in style. Connor was never into that. Hes always kept his eyes the color they came in. Brown. He never even got tattoos, like so many kids get these days when theyre little. The only color on his skin is the tan it takes during the summer, but now, in November, that tan has long faded. He tries not to think about the fact that hell never see the summer again. At least not as Connor Lassiter. He still cant believe that his life is being stolen from him at sixteen.

Arianas violet eyes begin to shine as they fill with tears that flow down her cheeks when she blinks. Connor, Im so sorry. She holds him, and for a moment it seems as if everything is okay, as if they are the only two people on Earth. For that instant, Connor feels invincible, untouchable . . . but she lets go, the moment passes, and the world around him returns. Once more he can feel the rumble of the freeway beneath them, as cars pass by, not knowing or caring that hes here.

Once more he is just a marked kid, a week short of unwinding.

The soft, hopeful things Ariana tells him dont help now. He can barely hear her over the rush of traffic. This place where they hide from the world is one of those dangerous places that make adults shake their heads, grateful that their own kids arent stupid enough to hang out on the ledge of a freeway overpass. For Connor its not about stupidity, or even rebellionits about feeling life. Sitting on this ledge, hidden behind an exit sign is where he feels most comfortable. Sure, one false step and hes roadkill. Yet for Connor, life on the edge is home.

There have been no other girls hes brought here, although he hasnt told Ariana that. He closes his eyes, feeling the vibration of the traffic as if its pulsing through his veins, a part of him. This has always been a good place to get away from fights with his parents, or when he just feels generally boiled. But now Connors beyond boiledeven beyond fighting with his mom and dad. Theres nothing more to fight about. His parents signed the orderits a done deal.

We should run away, Ariana says. Im fed up with everything, too. My family, school, everything. I could kick-AWOL, and never look back.

Connor hangs on the thought. The idea of kicking-AWOL by himself terrifies him. He might put up a tough front, he might act like the bad boy at schoolbut running away on his own? He doesnt even know if he has the guts.

But if Ariana comes, thats different. Thats not alone. Do you mean it?

Ariana looks at him with her magical eyes. Sure. Sure I do. I could leave here. If you asked me.

Connor knows this is major. Running away with an Unwindthats commitment. The fact that she would do it moves him beyond words. He kisses her, and in spite of everything going on in his life Connor suddenly feels like the luckiest guy in the world. He holds hermaybe a little too tightly, because she starts to squirm. It just makes him want to hold her even more tightly, but he fights that urge and lets go. She smiles at him.

AWOL . . . she says. What does that mean, anyway?

Its an old military term or something, Connor says. It means absent without leave.

Ariana thinks about it, and grins. Hmm. More like alive without lectures.

Connor takes her hand, trying hard not to squeeze it too tightly. She said shed go if he asked her. Only now does he realize he hasnt actually asked yet.

Will you come with me, Ariana?

Ariana smiles and nods. Sure, she says. Sure I will.

Arianas parents dont like Connor. We always knew hed be an Unwind, he can just hear them saying. You should have stayed away from that Lassiter boy. He was never Connor to them. He was always that Lassiter boy. They think that just because hes been in and out of disciplinary school they have a right to judge him.

Still, when he walks her home that afternoon, he stops short of her door, hiding behind a tree as she goes inside. Before he heads home, he thinks how hiding is now going to be a way of life for both of them.

Home.

Connor wonders how he can call the place he lives home, when hes about to be evictednot just from the place he sleeps, but from the hearts of those who are supposed to love him.

His father sits in a chair, watching the news as Connor enters.

Hi, Dad.

His father points at some random carnage on the news. Clappers again.

What did they hit this time?

They blew up an Old Navy in the North Akron mall.

Hmm, says Connor. Youd think theyd have better taste.

I dont find that funny.

Connors parents dont know that Connor knows hes being unwound. He wasnt supposed to find out, but Connor has always been good at ferreting out secrets. Three weeks ago, while looking for a stapler in his dads home office, he found airplane tickets to the Bahamas. They were going on a family vacation over Thanksgiving. One problem, though: There were only three tickets. His mother, his father, his younger brother. No ticket for him. At first he just figured the ticket was somewhere else, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed wrong.

So Connor went looking a little deeper when his parents were out, and he found it. The Unwind order. It had been signed in old-fashioned triplicate. The white copy was already goneoff with the authorities. The yellow copy would accompany Connor to his end, and the pink would stay with his parents, as evidence of what theyd done. Perhaps they would frame it and hang it alongside his first-grade picture.

The date on the order was the day before the Bahamas trip. He was going off to be unwound, and they were going on vacation to make themselves feel better about it. The unfairness of it had made Connor want to break something. It had made him want to break a lot of thingsbut he hadnt. For once he had held his temper, and aside from a few fights in school that werent his fault, he kept his emotions hidden. He kept what he knew to himself. Everyone knew that an unwind order was irreversible, so screaming and fighting wouldnt change a thing. Besides, he found a certain power in knowing his parents secret. Now the blows he could deal them were so much more effective. Like the day he brought flowers home for his mother and she cried for hours. Like the B-plus he brought home on a science test. Best grade he ever got in science. He handed it to his father, who looked at it, the color draining from his face. See, Dad, my grades are getting better. I could even bring my science grade up to an A by the end of the semester. An hour later his father was sitting in a chair, still clutching the test in his hand, and staring blankly at the wall.