Alternate: 300 years into the future

Chapter 14

So I stared at him for a good twenty seconds.
My butt was just casually sticking up and he was staring at me strangely.
I couldn't tell if he was just staring or if he was staring as if I was a piece of gum  stuck on his shoe.
"I'm sorry." I got up and attempted to be civil.
He continued staring at me. Do I have food in my teeth or something? At least don't make it obvious that your gawking at me.
I turned around and pushed the button on the door. Locked.
I pushed two or three more times. This is probably the most awkward moment I've ever experienced in my two decades of existence.
I turned back around and faced him.
"The door's locked." I mumbled, looking down.
"I know, Alyssa."
Seriously, dude? Open the fucking door.
"Well, how do I open it?" I asked tiredly.
"The button to open it is behind my desk."
He's doing this on purpose now.
"Can you press the button so I can leave?"
Silence.
He didn't answer after thirty seconds. Yes, I counted.
I walked over to the desk and reached my hand over to press the button.
I swear, the tip of my fingers barely touched it before he grabbed my wrist.
"Dude, what the fuck." I said calmly.
He rolled his eyes and let go of my wrist. I've been so angry at him recently, I almost forgot how physically attractive he was.
Almost.
"What do you want me to do? Apologise? Again?" I raised my voice and crossed my arms.
"Alyssa-"
"Shut up." I interrupted him. I don't know if anger flashed in his eyes or not because I was too afraid to look directly at them. I was on a roll. Seeing him angry again would probably make me burst into tears. Yes, I'm that kind of person.
"I know you guys are trying to help but this is basically kidnapping. I can't even go outside. And Nyla. God, she's such a little bitch. But seriously. I can't even go outside without being somehow punished. I don't understand anything here and you're punishing me for exploring."
I think at this point I was just searching for stuff to be angry about. But again, I was on a roll.
And then he smiled. I'm ashamed to say he has a beautiful smile.
"You want to understand?" He asked me.
I opened my mouth to speak and then closed it again. I'm such a little baby. One second I'm on fire and I'm perfectly argumentative then the next I'm as passive as a two year old.
I nodded and uncrossed my arms, then sat infront of him.
"Alyssa." He spoke softly.
I looked up into his eyes. I was so scared but intrigued at the same time. His eyes had a light green tint and a youthful gleam. I still didn't understand anything about him, but I could already see myself falling deeply.
What the fuck am I doing?
It's like his stare but me in some sort of trance. I'm about ninety percent sure he was either trying to hypnotise me or seduce me in some way.
"I'm sorry." He spoke softly again.
There was about ten different things he should be sorry for.
"I'm sorry for 'kidnapping' you and for doubting where you came from and for screaming at you unnecessarily on two occasions."
I had no idea if he was being sarcastic or not. I'm just going to say he wasn't.
I didn't want to say sorry too. O, calm, dishonourable, vile, submission.
I'm not that weak.
"Okay." I whispered, breaking eye contact with him. "Are you going to educate me now?" I asked.
I sounded like a lost puppy. Maybe that was his talent. Making people feel less, or weaker. That's probably why he's the captain around here.
That last comment sounded oddly sexual. Forget I ever said anything.
"Okay." he smiled slightly. Why the fuck does he keep smiling? I'm pretty sure there's something in my teeth now. I swear, like an hour ago, he was screaming in my fucking face.
"What do you wanna know?" He asked. "Everything." I said shamelessly.
He looked up at me.
He's unreadable. I can't tell if he's about to smile or cry or scream.
"How did all of this happen? How was this place built? Why exactly are you guys at war with the police?"
He looked up at the ceiling.
"My Dad built this place." he started. I leaned back in the chair, getting ready to listen to his story.
"January third, 2016. He built a time machine and a military base in a day. If you would even consider it a day. I'm pretty sure he travelled back and forward through time to make things easier for himself."
January third, two thousand and sixteen. That was the date about nine months ago. Well, in my time, that was the date.
"He changed the future by building this place. He was from 2016, built a time machine, travelled three hundred years into the future and built a military base. I swear, he was an idiot."
I got comfortable in the seat, resting my head on the table and looking up at him as he spoke.
"I was already in my early twenties when he made the time machine. He said to me that it would be an adventure or something. After nothing looked up for me three hundred years back, the only thing to do was to focus on the future. Literally."
I was confused, but continued listening despite not exactly understanding what he was saying.
"He wanted to build a society where nobody was controlled anymore. Clearly, that was happening here. Everyone listened to Malis. It was crazy. You could say we started a rebellion - except it was obvious that in between the people who lived and breathed everything Malis said, there were people who opposed lurking in the shadows. People who rebelled."

"We wanted to find everyone who agreed with us. Find everyone who knew the same as us - that Malis was trying to use us like toys to get what they wanted."
"He went outside and searched. He searched for people who didn't do what everyone else did."
"Then, they took him." his voice grew deeper and harsh.
"They took my Dad. They captured him. And to this day, I don't know if he's dead or alive." he squeezed gently on my hand.
I didn't know whether to let go or hold on, but I didn't stop him.
"I vowed to do something great for this place. It was hard. The police were searching for me everywhere. So, I changed my name. They didn't know how I looked like because I came from a different time. But they knew that he built a time machine, so they destroyed it. They didn't want anyone to go back and undo what they've done. They didn't want anyone to fix their mistakes."
"So I went out, quietly looking everywhere for resources."
"And then eventually, people. I searched for people who hated Malis. Of course, it was simpler back then. Now? One in about ten people are Malis Spies."
"First, I found Nyla. She was angry and fiery - I needed someone like her to fight. I got Spire next, who was smart, Hero who was strong, Queno who'll surprise you at times. Feras was clever and quick minded, and Beam came last."
I waited. And waited. And waited.
"And then when Dolly came," he began.
His eyes saddened.
"It was something else." He stared into space for long and then sighed. "And now she's gone."
I was never good at situations like this.
He stood up and walked to the other end of the room. I watched him as he picked up a picture frame and then dropped it on the floor, smashing it to pieces.
"Zion,-" I stood up and walked towards him.
"My Dad's gone, Dolly's gone, and on top of that I promised to help these people. I promised to protect them and now I'm putting their lives in danger."
I looked up at him and shook my head.
"It's not your fault." I spoke quietly.
He looked down at me and sighed. "You don't know how it feels to put your trust in someone and them completely letting you down."
Actually, I do. Remember when I walked in on my boyfriend and my best friend?
Of course I wasn't gonna bring that up. Relationship issues clearly differ from trying to save a society filled with people.
"I'm sorry." he snapped out of his emotional state and leaned back on the table.
He's done that twice already. Completely ignore his emotions. I wasn't going to call him out or anything. Last time I did that, it caused a lot of shit.
"Can I ask you something?" I said to him.
He looked at ms, waiting for a question.
"You came from 2016. You're emotional - like actually emotional and not stiff or artificial like the others. You're human, aren't you?"
There was a pause of about twenty seconds.
"They don't know." he whispered.
I fucking knew it.
I wasn't even surprised. I don't know whatever the fuck everyone here exactly is but I know Zion isn't like that.
He's real, he's emotional, he doesn't have plastic sadness or forced expressions. He's real.
"Dolly didn't even know. I didn't tell anyone. I was afraid that they'd look at me differently. That they'd view me as weaker. God, I didn't tell anyone."
The crying, the care he has for others. He's human. I guess I can stop feeling alone.
I could hear my heart beating in my chest.
"They wouldn't view you weaker. They wouldn't look at you differently, Zion. You've helped them, for crying out loud. You gave people a place to stay and food to eat and when nobody else would, and you're afraid of them thinking less of you? That's probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth." I ranted.
"Come on. You're helping them get rid of some big mind control government thingy and you're still scared of them treating for differently? On top of that, these uniforms are pretty nice, too." I added.
He smiled and looked down at me. My heart almost leaped out of my chest.
"Thanks, Alyssa."
His eyes brightened up again and I smiled back. His breathing slowed down as well as mine and I stared into his eyes as if trying to read his thoughts.
He stared back at mine and the only sound in the room was the sound of    our heart beats.
You know, it's probably a bad idea to become emotionally attached to someone three hundred years further on into the future, but me being here was a bad idea in the first place, and I'm still here - aren't I?
What the hell.
Without thinking, I got onto my toes, cradled my hand around his neck and then I kissed him.
And to my surprise, he kisses me back.