Regime Reconcile Recollection.

Chapter 3

Keven pressed his outstretched hand against the sturdy wall, it's entrance was small and blended in with the rest of the wall. The main guarding the entrance from the other side slid open his small window to examine the two young people who stood before him.

"Can I... help you?" He requested, yawning midsentence and sounding bored.

Keven cleared his throat, "I think there's been a mistake. We're humans, we've been stuck for years trying to reach the other side of this wall safely. We may not be the only ones."

He watched, flicking his eyes back and forth in a silent conversation with the man behind the window. Stevie quietly chewed on the nail of her index finger; something wasn't right. The man's eyes were all that could be seen and they looked grim.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to admit anyone without a card." And with that, the window slammed shut, leaving Keven and Stevie in shock. She looked at her comrade, saying nothing, yet they were both thinking the same thing. How could they leave us.

Keven felt heat boiling up into his chest, his face hot with anger. He banged his fist against where the window had been, again and again, until he bled.

"You can't leave us out here! Please."

Their efforts were no good, the window never reopened and the wall was a huge let down. Keven, without saying anything, quickly walked down the length of the wall; his hand dragging against the concrete. He wanted to find another entrance somewhere, anywhere.

"I'm going back to that house, Kev." Stevie called, her voice distant and monotone.

"Don't, we can still get out of here."

She watched him take a few looks back at her, he didn't seem to want to give up the hopeless search for freedom, and she didn't blame him. It was going on four years now that they had been trapped with only eachother's company in this new, terrifying world where monsters lurk every street corner and food and water have become rare jewels. So why did she have this urge to explore the little cottage?

"I'm going, you can come if you like.." Stevie headed back down the cobble road, "What if they have information that could help us."

"You're naive Stevie, you're gonna get yourself killed." Keven stopped and watched her walk at a steady, yet wobbly pace on the uneven road. "I mean it, I'm not coming..." Like a parent threatening their young child, he kept his eyes glued to her as she continued walking away from him, ignoring his threats to abandon her. He spoke louder now with more taunting phrases as she was getting farther and farther from him.

"She's never going to learn." He muttered to himself as she disappeared from his sight.

The cobble road had been longer than she remembered, and Stevie's feet were aching by the time she reached the house. Everything around this area, outside of the town, was empty and barren besides this one tiny building. Smoke still billowed from the chimney, possibly even more than before. She creeped up against the wooden wall and tried to peek in every window, however there was just too much blockage. Next she pressed her ear against the house to try and listen for sounds of life, but that didn't give her anything to work off of either. Truthfully she hadn't considered how she was even going to get in, knocking seemed too formal especially when there was no way to tell how safe the inhabitors of the house really were.

Stevie held onto her knife with a tight grip, and made her way up to the front door, which wasn't boarded shut so she assumed they had inside protection. Slowly but surely her hand wrapped around the doorknob. With a hard swallow, she twisted the knob and the door, which to her surprise, practically fell open. Stevie toppled inside onto the door remnants, landing flat on her stomach; face first. With a groan she hoisted herself up, covering her bleeding mouth where she'd bit her lip.

The inside was small as expected, but what she didn't expect was a well furnished home. It was a little cluttered, dark and dingy, but somehow peaceful. The fire roaring to life, spreading light throughout the room, a soft looking chair placed close to the fireplace and shelves of assorted books, boxes, empty food cans, and small treasures. There was even a little refridgerator in the far corner with an old cooler sitting on top. Without thinking it through, Stevie stood up and looked around the room, realizing how cold she was by the time she approached the warm flames.

"Who the fuck are you?" A raspy voice growled from somewhere behind her. With a jerk Stevie nearly fell over again and let out a short, high pitched screech. She stumbled backwards after spinning around to see absolutely no one behind her. Her eyes frantically searched the room for some sort of movement but there was nothing.

"Hello?" She whispers, feeling her hands quivering in her sweater pockets. Keven couldn't save her this time.

"Seriously, leave, now," The menacing voice persisted. She felt a warm hand touch her arm from behind her. With a gasp she tumbled forward again, instinctively tossing her pocket knife towards the voice and she heard it hit with a thud. Oh my god.

He was human, or at least, he looked human. Tall and lightskinned with messy brown hair down to his chin and piercing blue eyes; one squeezed shut in pain. Using the light from the fire, Stevie saw her knife stuck in the young guy's shoulder, blood soaking through his clothing.

"A-Are you human?" She asked dumbly, still moving away from him. Stevie hadn't seen any other human besides Keven and herself in years. It was hard for her not to jump for joy if he was really one of them.

"No shit sherlock." The rude boy growled whilst yanking the knife from his shoulder. "Do I look decayed to you? Or like a fucking monster? And my teeth aren't stained with blood like your's."

"You tell em', Neil!" Another voice echoed, seemingly coming from above. Stevie glanced up to see a small person dangling from his ankles on one of the wooden planks stabilizing the home. He looked younger than this 'Neil'. His eyes were arched upwards, paired with risen cheeks, signaling a smile from underneath the cloth covering his mouth. The boy wasn't trapped, but rather just hanging there by choice like a gymnist.

"I'm.. I'm so sorry." Stevie stood up and headed for the door, self conscious about her bleeding lip, but still almost smiling. "I just can't believe I've found more humans here."

Neil tilted his head to the side, looking her up and down."I don't live here, really. People generally.. don't." He approached her with caution, cupping her chin in the curve of his fingers and staring her in the eyes. She couldn't help her cheeks blushing a rosy pink at the gesture, afterall, Neil was fairly attractive up close.

"She's human enough for me, Kenny." Neil shrugged, and the younger of the two hopped down from the ceiling and examined her up close too. He pawed at her and oddly ran his hand under her jaw line to feel for a pulse.

"Stop that, I'm not a led!" She swatted Kenny's hand away from her neck, ignoring the looks of confusion she got at her and Keven's made up word. "You say you're not from here?" She asked, switching her attention to Neil again. He nodded, and brought her outside, gesturing to the wall.

"We live within the Regime."

"That means you have a card, right? To get in." Stevie's eyes lit up with excitement, her and Keven, they were finally getting past the barrier. And it had a name, and there was civilization.

"Yeup. Now let me guess." Neil rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. "You want to go there?"

Stevie nodded quickly, like a child, unable to contain her smile of happiness. She couldn't wait to tell Keven. But, Neil wasn't so thrilled, and it made her smile slowly fade away.

"Well guess what, girly? No can do."