A•N•D•R•O•P•H•O•B•I•A

Trust • Part One

  I was already half a mile away from my house. I just had to run a few meters away more, then I'd be completely rid of my burdern for good. My feet were in good condition, and the road was perfect for running. So why wasn't I? Why was I still wasting time, looking back at the house that held a group of monstrosities? Why was I hesitating? Did the unknown feeling in my gut had something to do with it? The feeling of... Guilt? I clenched my fingers...Here I go.

---- ----- ---- 4 HOURS EARLIER ---- ----- -----

 After Clancy and the others had finished gathering, whatever it was they needed, we quickly began the road back to Sector 1, Area 16. Prior of course, after we had agreed to bury Professor Halo's body. The trek didn't took that long at all. Traveling with hybrid robots increases the ground one is covering. In a matter of, probably minutes, we were now standing before the walls, that was once the dome that covered Area 16. But now, it wasn't anything like a dome. It looked like some kind of deformed volcano. When I had said that the sight of the fake sky of our dome was heart-piercing, I had no idea seeing it destroyed, would give me an equal feeling. Or perhaps even more heart-piercing. "Let's keep moving." Clancy said, his voice wavering with a small tint of anxiousness.

 As we made our way inside the Area, one horrible sight, met us with another. The inside of the Area looked like a dump. The city was all but destroyed, with its' debris in a pile where the skyscrapers had once stood. The debris that came from the dome, were scattered on different parts of the city. It was like a garden of destruction. "Miss Amber." Clancy whispered, knocking me out of my thoughts. I struggled to face him, ignoring the horrible carnage, that these people themselves have caused. "My house is somewhere over that spot." I pointed, to the residential town of Area 16. "Pyxl." Clancy ushered. Pyxl crouched low in front of me, opening the familiar metal cage on his back. I hesitantly got in it, and the metal bars closed in on me. Leaving just enough space so as to not crush me. "Let's go." Clancy ordered.

 We continued the trek to my house, which took a lot faster than the trek to the Area itself. When we got to the residential town, it looked just as trashed as the city. I had to gulp several times to keep myself under control. "It's like a ghost town." I said. Dir came up beside me and Pyxl. "The people who were evacuated were quickly rellocated to other Areas, even while the incident was occuring." He said to me. I looked down to the ground with downcast eyes. Who were evacuated. Meaning, there were people who didn't get to safety. "It's this way." I said, distracting myself from my horrible thoughts. I slipped my hand  through the metal bars, and pointed straight ahead to the direction where I knew my house was. It was surprising how I managed to remember the location of the house, even when the road was practically forked by all the broken down houses and burnt down trees. We walked for a while, before we stopped in front of an ashen house. "This is it." I said.

 The house, Uncle's house, was black with ash, and there were marks of fire on its' sides and shingles. It was the only house, practically standing amidst this massive wreckage. Pyxl opened up the cage for me to get out.  "Come on." I told them, as I quickly got into the house. Everyone followed me in. I took my time to recollect my senses, before proceeding up to my room. The others' metal feet, clanked on the steps as they followed me. When I got to my room, I was surprised to find it, the same way I had left it. When Dominique came to get me. Before I got into the company of these people. I shook my head. "It's somewhere in here." I said. I scanned the room, trying hard to remember where I had hid the box. "Ah. It's under there." I said, pointing towards my bed.

  I walked to my bed. "Help me move this." I told them. Clancy went beside me and kicked the bed away. I knelt down and examined the floor. I ran my hand on it and felt a crease. "Here." I said, drawing an imaginative square with my index finger. "Move, Miss Amber." Clancy said, gently pushing me aside. He held back one arm, and brought it down crushingly on the floor, breaking it instantly. I hurriedly looked in on the hole he made. There was a box inside. I hurriedly took the box out. It was a small grey box, the size of a shoe box. Everyone huddled around me as I opened it. The contents inside were typical stuff. Pictures of Mom and Dad; some jewelry Mom used to have; Dad's old jar of collected coins. But so far, no documents. I continued to fiddle through the contents of the box, wary of the staring eyes around me. Vee was starting to look suspiciously at me. "What's taking so long?" She asked. "I'm trying to find it." I said firmly. Her stare at me became so dangerous, I felt like she was piercing my eyes with hers.