"I don't know how you do it, Mary."
The voice barely made it to me over the screeching of the wheels below, and I looked up to a see a man covered in soot, just like everyone else on the train, including myself.
"What do you mean?"
"You're a single mother, who works day in and day out. It takes some real strength; I'm surprised you haven't broken. I don't know how you manage."
Truthfully, I didn't know either. I couldn't find the words to reply to the man, and instead I turned my head to look outside the narrow windows lining the sides of the train. I'm not sure if I expected to find the answer in the bright blurs of light that sped by in the darkness, or if I thought I would suddenly wake up from a twenty-something year long nightmare, but just like every other night, neither happened.
When the train finally stopped a few minutes later, the doors were opened by station operators outside, whose faces looked as tired and irritable as the rest of ours. I stepped out and onto the metallic platform, and then let out a deep sigh as I began traveling on the cobblestone streets weaving unevenly through the tightly packed buildings. The air was cold, and thick with smog from long hours in the factories. In the distance, peaking out over the silhouetted rooftops, was the Castle.
The Castle was a towering bronze structure, overlooking every inch of the city and its people. At day, the sun shined brightly against it, and at night it would be dotted with lights from inside; it was almost like it was ensuring that you would never forget that it was there, watching.
Inside, somewhere near the tip top, was King Wells II. He started out a benevolent ruler, making sure that the people were happy and healthy, but that only lasted about a year. There was a big war to the east, against another kingdom. King Wells II called for hundreds of factories to be made in Sector 4, the one that I lived in, and forced the people to mass produce weapons for his war.
People were immediately unhappy, but he trained more soldiers, and had them stationed in each factory to suppress revolts. After the war ended in stalemate, he ordered that all factories remain active, which launched Bosworth into an industrial revolution. A year later, he had the Castle built to commemorate himself for his part in starting the industrial revolution. It finished construction the years before my son, Edward, was born.
I smiled at the thought of my son. He was a sweet little boy of eight, and he deserved better than this world. But he was here, and so was I, and so I kept fighting.
Up ahead of me was a gap in the buildings lining the streets, and inside the gap was a Soul Tree. Soul Trees were beautiful trees, which popped against their cold, dark surroundings. Clear jars with ornate designs hung beneath the green leaves from the branches hidden within. Inside these jars were Pure Soul, which gave a warm, golden glow to the tree and its surroundings.
The trees were beautiful because of the Pure Soul, as they gave life to everything around it. Though death is sad, it gave many people comfort to know that their remains brought life to the world. It was a beautiful tree, but I didn't have time to sit and stare at it, the shops would be closing any minute now.
I found my way to an opening in the dense city, where a circular wall of shops surrounded several small stands. Most of the stands had shut down, but luckily I hadn't went for those. The shop I was looking for was Kensmy's Armory. If you couldn't tell it was a gunsmith by the name, then you could probably tell by the array of weapons in the shop windows. He had guns, knives, swords, and even a few bombs. How he managed to acquire so many weapons was beyond me.
I went into the shop to find him counting his stock, but he soon stopped once he noticed me enter. He was a portly fellow, over the age of fifty. He wore goggles around his neck, and a dark green apron that had seen many years of use. He hobbled over to me with a grin, and embraced me in a hug.
