when the sun goes black (old- will probably revise)

8

The silence had become so unbearable and persistent that when Frank eventually returned, Party jumped a little at the sound of the door. It wasn't as though the two were best friends or anything (anymore, at least) but Frank was his only companionship, even if they both knew he was there with an agenda.

Party was about to make a snarky comment, as usual, but paused. Frank... didn't look so good.

He was holding it together, but Party was more perceptive than people gave him credit for. He somehow looked paler than usual and his hair and clothes were a mess, as if he'd thrown himself out of bed after the world's most restless nap and army crawled backwards the whole way there. There was a sway to his stance, as if his legs were ready to buckle.

"Yeesh. You alright?" Party asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine." Frank replied bluntly, sitting on the floor as he usually did, vehemently avoiding eye contact. "I've been a bit sick these past few days. I'm feeling better."

Party didn't believe it for a second. The medicines BL/IND scientists produced, especially for employees, could cure the common cold in the time it took to fire a raygun. There was no way they'd allow one of their precious soldiers to wallow in bed and recover the long way. But he didn't want to pry.

"M'kay..." Party responded dismissively. "So, hey. When's something gonna happen? Rotting on my ass in this room is super exciting and all, but I figured you guys would have come up with something by now."

The silence that followed felt ominous. "I can't tell you." Frank finally settled on, and his tone said that that was final. "I have a few questions."

The subject changed, Party tilted his head. Unless it was some kind of passive-aggressive beration or attempt at guilt tripping, Frank wasn't much for questions. Party usually did the asking. "Oh?"

"Outside." Frank said it in a hushed tone of voice. "You've talked about it before, and..."

"You wanna know more?" Party asked.

He bit his lip and nodded. "Whatever you're willing to tell."

"Oh." Party blinked, not really sure how to process this sudden change of heart. "Well, okay. I'll give ya the whole spiel if you want."

Frank didn't reply, so Party took that as a sign to start talking. He took a deep breath. After some time in this blank whiteness, the sun on his skin and sand in his hair and all the life of his home seemed foreign. Describing it to someone who'd never seen or experienced it... he wasn't sure where to begin.

"It's beautiful. To me, anyway." He stated. "Dangerous, unstable, but beautiful. There's so much color and life and different kinds of people and... it's hard to explain, unless you've been out there."

Frank pursed his lips. "They only ever tell me that it's a bleak, lifeless desert. I've never seen over the wall, so I guess I wouldn't know."

"I'm not surprised," he muttered, contempt lacing his voice. "BL/IND doesn't like to open their minds to anything outside of what they know. The Zones aren't neat or orderly, and they don't have authority there, which scares them more than they want to admit."

Party continued. "But there's so much they don't see. So many different kinds of people, culture, life. We take care of each other as if we're kin." He stated. "I have Kobra, my brother, so I'm lucky. But a lot of us are alone. We make a family for ourselves, out of the people around us. It's a last speck of hope, but we'll keep fighting until the sun burns out if that's what it takes."

He looked almost on the brink of tears, sighing. "Sorry," Party chuckled. "I got a little overwhelmed, I guess. I know none of that matters to you." That hit Frank like a punch to the heart. "It'd be hypocritical of me to hate you for your choices. More than anything, we believe in the right to choose. I don't hate you, Fu... Frank. I really don't. I don't hate any of you. I just wish they would let you see everything, unbiased, and let you make that choice for yourself."