Enigma Source: Grey Area

Chapter 11: Quiet Refugees

November 24, 2531
Grey Morrison
Slums of Everest

Three days without eating. Three days. I'm starving: More than I have ever. Infact, I never knew one could feel this way just because they didn't eat. Sinclair and I have been hiding for three days straight in a crappy, rundown apartment complex in the slum areas of the residential district. I didn't even know a place like this existed in Everest. The building we were currently "living" in was a condemned apartment, scheduled to be demolished in a few weeks. The water and light were cut off, leaving us in total darkness and frigid coldness.

We hunkered down in a compartment in the middle of the twenty story place. The rooms themselves weren't all that bad in actuality. Most of these places had two rooms, a kitchen, and a single bathroom with a shower. Of course, none of that mattered since everything was turned off. So we mostly stayed in the living room area.

Sinclair led us here after that fiasco. I had to help him walk for most of the way. I don't even know how we were able to escape the Corpus building, let alone escape that district. We were chased for several hours throught the city streets. They were on our tail for the longest time, but they suddenly vanished. Not a hint of security forces was left after we got to this district. I guess we just got lucky: Robots and security officers were no match for our stealth. We traveled for miles, dodging and weaving between alleyways and buildings. The whole ordeal took the entire rest of the day. Hell, we even traveled through the night too. It wasn't until early Thursday morning that we made it here.

The first thing Sin did once we got to this building was destroy my phone. I understood why, but it was still outta nowhere. The next thing he did was fall to the ground and pass out. For two days no less. I went to sleep too, only for Thursday though. On Friday, I sat and stared at a wall for a few hours. It wasn't until midday that I explored the entire complex to see where he had taken me. I never left the building, as to not get spotted and such. Just in case, I took one of Sin's PetPods, Lux, with me in case something did happen (Nothing did). Around five, I returned to our room. After hours of negotiating, I convinced both Lux and Echo to send a coded message to my Blythe and my mother. I don't know if they received them, but at least I got some kind of word out.

"Today's Saturday, right?", I asked myself. I laid on the floor in a weakened state. The hunger pains were surreal. I felt my stomach begining to devour itself. As a boy who grew up having almost anything I wanted, this definitely was a wake up call to how the world could be to others. There wasn't any food in this place when I explored it. Any edible food that is. Sinclair was still passed out next to me. I thought he died honestly, but I checked if he was breathing and whatnot. "I want to eat something real badly". I looked over to Sin and imagined him as a nice, juicy hotdog. "Oh no. I'm actually considering eating him". I let out a forced laugh. "What am I thinking?", I said to his unconscious body.

Lux and Echo hovered around Sin, slowly circling him like vultures. I sat up, causing myself a ton of strain. "Oh my. I feel like I'm gonna pass out again". I stood up, and dusted myself off. If I didn't find something to eat soon, I would likely go crazy. "There's got to be a way for me to go out without being recognized. Maybe a disguise of some sort?". I did find lots of worn out clothes around several different places here but I didn't like the way any of it looked. "It's better than nothing", I said as I tried to get up to find some of said clothing. My body wouldn't budge thought, so I decided to just lay there some more. "I'll just sit here and die I guess". Lux began to chirp at something. Echo did as well, but he approached me as it did. I turned to check what the heck was going on.