The Real Villian

Year: 4055; Day: 292

{Song of the chapter: LOST BOY - Troye}

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My feet ached. My breathing was labored. My legs were burning-- it wouldn't suprise me if they were actually on fire. And all the while, Lake was spewing interesting and unnecessary facts about stars or artificial grass.

"Did you know," he would murmer from beside me, pointing at the sprinkled stars against a purple sunset, "that stars are always in perfect balance?"

"No," I would reply gruffly. "Nor did I need to know."

And we'd trudge on, wearing down the soles of my shoes further. It had been precisely seven days since him and I left-- I kept count through the rising and falling sun. We were falling short on our supplies. There were only so many artifical sandwiches and only so many canteens if water we could hold.

It didn't help that our plan lacked any organization or actual layout; we were just heading east, I supposed. I wasn't sure what good it would do us-- where were we leading ourselves? To another City just to be imprisoned? Or, even worse, they'd recognize me and let me go, and then keep Lake.

What would I do in that case?

The people I relied on, the people I loved and trusted, they were all being plucked out of my life one by one like weeds in a garden. Jove, dead. Javi, gone. Cassi, gone as well. Parents, dead as well. And then there was one-- Lake.

The only one who hadn't died or left me in this long ordeal of a plan.

Instead he walked beside me, observing every motion, every feature in the distant-- all with the same small smile playing his lips. He'd point out a stick and tell me what type of tree it came from, he'd tell me his wonders about a certain flower sprouting out of scrubs. Life itself fascinated him, and I'd put every ounce of effort into keeping that moral alive.

"Hey, sweetheart?"

Snapped out of my thoughts, I lifted my head from the dead grass beneath me and turned towards him. The sun was beating down on us, and Lake's cheeks were flushed and glistened with sweat. "Yes?"

He wasn't looking at me. His eyes were set on something in front of us. Until, of course, his head jerked towards me, a glowing smile brightening his features. "Look!" he beamed, pointing ahead of us. "There are actual people!"

I followed his finger and sure enough, there seemed to be a small... village? City? Though, it didn't seem like a City. The houses were quite nice, but they were shades of all colors. I could hardly make out a navy blue cottage, something that would allude the idea we had only gone in a full circle, but beside it laid a slick red sleeper house. The town seemed to be buzzing with life, although the figures scurrying around just looked like blobs from our distance.

"What... What do you think that is?" I whispered, not daring a step closer.

"I'm not sure," he admitted with a slight sigh of defeat. Mr. Knows-more-facts-about-stars-than-NASA-ever-did didn't even have the answer.

"Should we go find out?"

He pondered the idea for a moment. I could tell that he was skeptical-- I was too-- but he finally said, "Well, what other choice do we have?"

My lips pursed. Lake had a point. Inhaling a nervous and shaky breath, I said, "Well, okay, let's go."

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It took us nearly 1,000 seconds to arrive close enough to the small village. We could hear voices, but it was hard to understand what anyone was actually saying. Once we were actually in the town itself, Lake and I hid behind the blue cottage we saw earlier.