The City | Zouis

Chapter 2

This chapter was just a small filler because we and britishmusiclover(the co-writer of this story, if you haven't followed her already I suggest you do that now) feel like we shouldn't rush into it all. But yeah. This chapter was written by Aphrodite and we hope you love it!
This chapter is dedicated to Rebel_Girl because she is the one who made this collaboration happen and she is amazing, plus she left a long and gorgeous comment on our previous chapter!

  Moments like these were ones Zayn always hated the most. Moments when he just couldn't keep himself from breaking. He was doing his best. He really was, it's just so hard. But he knew that this was something he wanted, something Matt wanted. Ever since they were little, the Villages had been the topic of their conversation. They talked about how amazing it would be to forget everything about the City; the technology, the weird people, all the unneeded products which everyone bought and talked about. These things were just in the way. They wanted peace. They wanted to have friends without needing to be cautious all the time, without being scared that they might not be who they say they are. It was always hard for Zayn especially. Since his father was such a high ranked man he always had to be on alert, never letting his walls down. Because inside of that place all people cared about was who had the most stuff, who was the highest ranked, who was the riches. That's one of the reasons why they love the Villages.

  They've heard stories about the Villages. Often. How they had TV's and computers, but that was pretty much how far it went. Apart from that people didn't need anything else. As long as they had friends and family and people to love, it was all good. Kids there met up maybe once, twice or thrice a week, often going to the theaters or having parties or going on a walk. Zayn himself had been to a couple of parties in the City, so at first when he heard about Villagers often having parties he wasn't too impressed. He'd always remember the crappy electronic music, the girls wearing these disgusting clothing, the touchscreen computers on the walls always lit up so there was always someone in them, being the party killers. There was nothing fun about City parties, and that is a fact. But when Matt told him stories about the parties in the Villages Zayn was immediately attracted to the whole idea. Sure, people were still dressed in clothing which were a little too short and there was always someone in the corner having a horrible time, but appart from that everything was basically heaven. People danced with each other, having an absolute blast, others drunk until everyone was their best friend, the music there was good and classic, and nobody ever came out with a negative thought in mind. And that's what Zayn calls living the dream.

  But now that he's here, Zayn doesn't know how good of a dream it is. It only ran up to him a bit too late that he couldn't go out with his non-existent friends and watch movies on a big screen that was not a part of their house, and neither could he go out to party because he had to stay inside all the time. If he didn't people would start talking – which they without doubt already had after that woman saw him buying groceries – and if people would start talking he was absolutely screwed. It meant that if anybody came looking for him they would immediately find him thanks to these lovely ladies. Note the sarcasm.

  If all that hadn't been enough he realized something a few minutes after that he came back home – if he could even call it that – only to notice that he had lost his shrink pack. His fucking shrink pack.

  “This is not good. Not good at all.” he muttered to himself again and again, tugging at the roots of his hair not to panic. He knew he should've been more cautious. That shrink pack is very important and if it was gone for good he was absolutely done with. It wasn't a normal shrink pack. It was a special edition which was made for putting other smaller ones inside. And the thing is, one of those shrink packs includes his clothing, the other one includes his Hoverboard, and the third one is something that just appeared there. Not literally, he just doesn't remember ever putting it there. And that's why that pack is the most important. Because he knew who put it there. Matt did. It was something so typical for him to do, and Zayn knew that whatever was in that pack was very important and could definitely not get into the hands of a stranger. Especially not one that would misuse whatever was in there.

  “First day here and everything's already going downhill.” Zayn muttered to himself, rubbing at his forehead with bruised hands. On the way to the Village he had to go through woods that were so endless and confusing, and around every corner there was something to pump into, something that would cut you, sometimes something that would bite you. And for some reason Zayn's hands were the victims to all the abuse.

  A various amount of loud voices, speaking over each other as if it were a race, came from right outside the small apartment. He walked over to the window, making sure not to be noticed as he looked through the sheer glass. There was a group of teenagers passing by. They all looked so happy. They smiled, they laughed, they goofed around and yelled. Everything Zayn had wanted. Hopefully it would happen one day. Hopefully he would be able to forget about the City and make friends who he could get into trouble with. Hopefully there would be someone out there interested in finding him. Hopefully.