Ashes of the Future

Chapter 3

"Welcome to the peace management headquarters" Lela spoke with a welcoming tone, her arms spreading out as if she was trying to swim through the air. It was a large building, one like a factory or a warehouse. But one a lot brighter than that. No greys, or blacks, just colour everywhere. Shades of blue and red, tones of green and pink. On paper it might sound ridiculous, but in reality it was almost beautifully chaotic.

But Cody was quick to distort the image of happiness, tainting it with curses from the tongue. "Is this the generation of hippies or some shit"

"What is a hippy?" Alarmed, Lela quickly turned to face the four boys who just stood with strange expressions on their faces. Dan smiling, Matt enjoying the amusement Dan got from this, Charlie's blank, and Cody slightly disgusted.

"A tree hugger" Charlie piped in, his hands sliding into his pockets.

"I don't understand"

"Just leave it" Dan said to the other boys, as he snapped out of his daze. Jokingly, Cody lifted his hand up to his head, in somewhat of a gun shape while pretending to shoot himself. It earned a laugh from the other two, but Dan didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Is anyone allowed in here or what?" Always the inquisitive one, Matt began to ask questions. It was something he enjoyed doing. He liked to know it all, he needed to know it all. Or his brain would just implode with curiosity. But he did not liked being labelled a know it all, someone who's arrogant or big headed. Because that really wasn't him, but that was certainly how he was perceived.

"Of course they are, everyone's welcome everywhere" Lela chirped, a smile painted across her face. She couldn't quite understand the boy's confusion, their constant state of unhappiness or incontemptness with this time.

"Okay I don't know how much I can deal with this. Where are all the arseholes and twats, there must be some" But Cody immediately regretted his words, knowing what his friends would say. He liked to say controversial things, just to see what other people's reactions would be. However it sometimes came out as lies, or just something utterly stupid. And that's exactly what his friends had picked up on some years ago. Matt began to slide his arm around Cody.

"The bollocks you come out with sometimes mate-"

"Why the hell would you want to find someone that's a twat when you're here?" Dan quickly interjected, in an attempt to gain attention from someone. Laughing, Matt swiftly turned to Dan and high fived him, saying it was the 'best joke he'd made all day'. But Dan didn't think it was that funny?

"Just to balance out everything, not everyone can be exactly like this ginger gal" The end of Cody's pointed finger led to Lela, her face half unimpressed, but half joyful, like darkness polluting the light.

"The name is Lela, and not everyone is exactly like me. We just treat people equally, no matter what they're like" All four started to laugh at Lela's statement, thinking she was finally trying to crack a joke. But Charlie was the only one to stop, when he saw the serious look she had on.

"Hang about, is that like a rule or something?" The other three stopped as well, when they heard Charlie's voice. He had always been a sort of leader for them. Not one where they put him on a pedestal, but his voice was always the source of reason. He was a lot more grown up that the other three, having to basically become a father to his little brother, so he almost became that figure to the group as well. His insensitivity only left when his brother was around, his moody aura faded.

"There's only one law, and that's to treat everyone as an equal. No superiors, no leaders, just equals" Lela stated again.

"Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me" Matt states.

"Only people who aren't up for being equal to everyone say that"

"No Lela, he just means something is gonna go wrong, do you not watch movies? Dystopian societies always end up in the shit hole"

"Of course I watch movies Cody, but they're just a figment, a story. They don't represent real life" The four frowned at Lela's words, all of them being big movie fans. She watched as they started to ramble on about movies, ones she'd obviously not heard of, but they continued anyway. Their voices layered on top of each other, creating a sound so fractured that Lela could block it out. But she saw Dan doing the same. He was a strange one, sometimes over excited and hyperactive, while extremely calm and timid at others. Dan was the only one she liked really, but she knew some of her friends would thoroughly enjoy the others.

"Guys shut the fuck up" Finally stopping their chattering, Dan shouted at them as they came to a halt.

"We're here"

"Well this was anticlimactic, it's just a box" Cody immediately stating what all the others were thinking, as he began to poke it, watching if it changed in anyway or did anything strange. But it didn't

"You'll see when you get inside, now who wants to go first?"

"Why not lads, I'll do it" Clambering in, Matt sat down on a frigid chair, laced in thick but soft leather, black like everything else in the box. Darkness swallowed Matt up as the door was sealed shut behind him. He wasn't nervous, but he knew someone who would be. Someone who will be. The shadows soon lit up, a screen in front of him turning on, displaying a series of questions. All very basic. Matthew Chann, 17, Caucasian, Heterosexual, 16th June, Swimming, Cooking, Maths.

Daniel Keyas, 18, Hispanic, Homosexual, 21st December, Hockey, Skiing, English.

Charles Matteson, 17, Mixed Race, Heterosexual, 25th July, Reading, Football, Hockey, PE.

Cody Siddos, 17, Caucasian, Bisexual, 20th May, Kickboxing, Movies, Science.

It was a sense of privacy for the boys, for them to put things that they might not want to say in front of their friends, but yet some remain scared. Scared to be who they truly are, in fear of unacceptance, in a world where everyone was accepted.

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AUTHORS NOTE
A little bit of a short chapter but imma try and update every Friday for y'all. And I'm almost at 400 views so that's pretty lit. Also it's a little shitty bc I wrote it in like fifteen minutes but it's chill.

I'll leave the fancasting here again:

Matthew Chann - Harry Lewis
Daniel Keyas - Tom Maden
Cody Siddos - Laurence Coke
Charlie Matteson - Reece King
Lela West - Bridget Satterlee

ALSO my close friend Autumn has just published her book today and I'm so proud of her. It's available as an E book on amazon, and will be available as a paperback next week. So go check that shit out.
Hope everyone mildly enjoyed it.
- Court