Imperfection

Imperfection Chapter 6

We've been driving for what feels like hours and still no one has spoken. The scenery hasn't changed at all since we left the train: dry scarlet mud, old trees withering away, boulders slowly turning into dust. No one else has fallen off the truck. At least, not yet. 

Strong gusts of wind whip my hair across my face, making it almost impossible for me to see. The wind rushes past my ears so violently, my eardrums ache and ring. 

The sun has begun to rise in the east, warm and bright, crawling ever so slowing into the depth of the shadows. 

In the morning light, I'm able to see the dry, dust covered bones scattered over the cracked landscape- maybe of those poor souls who fell off. I imagine Truth, lying on the dirt, her face and hair powdered in reddened dust. Her body is too weak to, her lungs filled with sand. It must be so hard to breathe, so hard to try and fight off death, so hard to escape fate's merciless claw.

I gaze up at the pink-orange sky, squinting against the dawn's early light. Streaks of shimmering sunlight penetrate the clouds, making the sky have a golden glow. The golden light reflects beautifully against the rose-colored dust. 

I lean on the edge of the vehicle, making sure I can't fall out, and stare down at the cracked ground beneath the vehicle's wheels. 

When I look back up, the sun is high in the sky. The golden streaks are hardly visible, now. They're swallowed by the cyan clouds above us. 

I continue to stare down at the red dirt, my eyes drooping slowly as they unfocus themselves on the cracks. 

When my vision sharpened again, I gaze back up at the sky, but something is different. The sun-tinted clouds have disintegrated. Instead of cyan, the sky is shadowed. Instead of dust, the air is crisp and clear. Instead of the sun, a dim light bulb hangs low, swinging slowly on a thin wire. I squint, making sure I'm not hallucinating. We seem to inside now, in a tunnel. The ceiling is lined with cracks filled with forest-green mold. 

The vehicle is slow now, carefully creeping along. I straighten my back and look around. There isn't much to see between these damp cement walls.

The lone light bulb hardly aids our straining eyes in seeing past the darkness beyond us. In fact, it's too dark to even see any of the other people's faces. 

Now, the light bulb is far behind us. The only light that guides us through the dark tunnel is the grimy, dust covered headlights on the vehicle.

There is an uneasy atmosphere shifting around us as the vehicle slows to a stop in front of a metal wall. Everyone tenses but it is clear that no one knows exactly why. Despite all the confusion, I have a theory. 

A Dux Ducis in the front of the vehicle reaches out a window and punches a pass code in a keypad adjacent to the wall.

The keypad dings and the sound of gears spinning destroys the silence. Following the sound, the metal wall itself begins to move, splits in two. 

Sudden realization hits me hard, sending an icy shiver down my spine. 

My theory was correct.

We've been driving straight to 

our deaths. 

Happy Boxing day :)