Should We Just Keep Driving? [Zarry Stylik AU]©️

Chapter 1

In five years, a lot can change.

At five years old a child can have the concept of speech, walking, and a sense of self.

You can spend five years (or more) to get specialized in any field.

Five years is almost the length of time it takes to go from Earth to Jupiter.

Five years ago, technology wasn't anywhere close to it today. And probably will be at another level five years from now.

Five.

Five years in jail.

And today was his last day. Today, as he walked that corridor, he had walked through on his first day, he couldn't believe it. It was over. Five years of sleepless nights, stressful moments, and fighting to keep mental sanity and physical strength.

It was not for the faint of heart.

It was only for the brave.

He was not the same man he was before. He was changed, atoned, and a better version of himself. Isolation could do that to you. He found comfort in old books and journaled for most of his days. He flew under the radar, thanks to the protection cloak in effect within the thick walls of the jail, but still, he kept to himself. No friends. No acquaintances. He had breakfast, dinner, and lunch alone. Sat in the yard with a book by himself. Did his pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups on the cold floor of his small cell. The guards respected his good behaviour. The other inmates didn't dare to even look his way. Despite all of that, it was rare for him to have a good night's sleep.

Five years ago, he walked into prison with the same clothes we wore today and nothing else. A deal he had no idea had to go on, led him under the bus his friends had. He was yet to forgive them.

Instead, he decided to ignore it. He made a promise to himself that the day he walked out of the jail, he would never fall into that category again. He would be good. That life of crime, robbing, lying, kicking, and screaming was over. He was done being an integral part of London's crime.

He was done.

On that day he walked out of the facility with those same clothes, but with emotional baggage too heavy to explain. When he stepped out of that terrifying building, and the door closed behind him, he felt a sense of relief. Finally, the ordeal was over. And he cried. Tears of relief, of joy, of anger...but mostly, he allowed himself to cry as a prize for holding back his tears for five years. Right there, on the other side of the walls that had kept him.

Getting back into the world after five years proved to be a challenge.

A lot had changed. There was a war in this old continent, another brewing across the sea, and two viruses, one of them ever-changing and another attacking a community, looming in the background never really leaving. Economic, social, and health crises. The environment was screaming for help, and no one was listening. The far right was coming around again. Everything was more expensive, toxic, made of plastic, and worse for your health.

Despite all that, he tried.

He met with an agent who gave him his first task: get his documentation in order. So, he spent two weeks in and out of government official buildings getting his life back together with the necessary files, stamps, declarations, and reports. All so he could come back to life as a rehabilitated human being.

The second step, which proved to be the hardest one, was getting a job. And that was a challenge. He went to interviews that the job centre got for him: jobs that required his strength and agility, but nothing he hadn't done before.