Shattered

Chapter 4

Neira woke up in the middle of the night, her hands shaking just slightly. She got up and walked to the kitchen, turning on the faucet and getting some water. She drank slowly, trying not to go to fast as her body adjusted to an awake state. She put the cup down and noticed a slight breeze coming through near the door. She walked over and noticed a faint, little crack in the frame. She touched the doorknob, and to her surprise opened the door wide open. She looked around in the hallway, noticing the same thing hadn't happened to her neighbors. She closed the door until there was just a crack, and then walked to the stairwell and slowly crept down the multiple flights, trying to avoid noise. She got to the bottom and exited through the back door, where she knew no one would be. The moon was glowing dimly above her head as she crept through and alley. She paused and looked down an empty street.
What am I doing? Neira thought as a flash of clarity broke through the wall of curiosity, I could get a Breach for this!
Neira thought to herself for a moment, trying to decided what would be the best option, but what caught her off guard was the hand that clasped over her mouth.
"Mmmph!" Neira tried to yell, but nothing came out.
"Shh!" the stranger whispered, "you could get us both caught!" Neira had no idea what to do, so she bit down on the hand as hard as she could.
"Oww!" The stranger whispered in pain. It would have been a yell if he didn't try stay quiet. Neira put up her fists and into a fighting stance.
"Woah! Calm down!" the stranger said, putting up his hands in defense, "I mean no harm."
"Oh really?" Neira replied, "than why did you attack me?"
"Because that was the first way I thought of to get your attention." Neira must have still looked unsatisfied, because the stranger tried to make it better.
"Hi, I'm Pease Amwhit."
"Wow, for a guy named Pease you sure are an aggressive guy," Neira snapped.
"And you are?" Pease asked.
"Neira," she said, "Neira Faets." Pease laughed quietly.
"What?"
"Oh, lets the fates be with us tonight."
"Ok, so we both have weird names," she replied, "goodbye now!"
"Wait!" Pease yelped, quickly looking around to see if anyone noticed, "let me make it up to you!"
"How?"
"Follow me,"
"Yeah right!"
"Fine, you do you, but I am going to go have some fun." Pease began to walk away slowly as Neira stood there, not knowing what to do. At the last moment, she ran and caught up to Pease.
"So are you coming to join me?"
"I've done worse."

As they slowly crawled through the night, trying to avoid any hovercameras or human contact, they talked and began to learn more about each other. Pease was eighteen, and had been for the past four months. He had gone to Isuno School as well, and when he turned 15, he was accidentally chosen to live in the city he was already living in. The Government never noticed - or never bothered to move him - so he received an apartment a few miles from his parents. Pease had short, blonde hair and bright green eyes. He was a little taller than Neira at about six feet, and was a scientist as well. He had a slight muscular build, he wasn't to thin but wasn't to thick either. As they talked, Neira hadn't even noticed that they had arrived at their destination.
"Here we are!" He said gleefully, almost in a childlike way. They had arrived on a beach a little north of the city, hoping for nobody to bother them. Palm trees lined the coast as a cool, misty breeze welcome them. Neira had forgot that she had slept in her orange hoodie and shorts, and hadn't just realized that she was still wearing them until now. She shivered, enjoying the fresh air and splashing waves.
"Come on," Pease said, pushing Neira, " we are almost there,"
"What more can there be?" Neira asked.
"Remember the Old World and how it fell apart?"
"Yes, why?" Neira did remember the Old World's History. According to the Government, the Old World was a despised time were there were many areas and lands that always craved power over the others. Eventually, they started dropping bombs on each other and one hit a volcano. The volcano erupted into a giant ash cloud and blocked out the sun, setting a global ice age that almost destroyed everyone and everything. A few hundred humans survived however, and began to repopulate and remodel the planet into what it is today.
"Well not everything was destroyed when the ice age came,"
"Yeah, but it was mostly just photos and literature, why does it matter?"
"I found something more that Yokohashi hasn't." Pease smiled and stopped in the sand, he turned to the right, back to the forest and began to walk into it. They walked into the forest for about a minute until Pease stopped again and pulled out his hovergram. He tapped a small button on the screen and a bright light lit up a small area around them. Neira looked around as Pease crouched and tapped a small button on the ground. The button glowed and zipped away from Pease. Neira hadn't even noticed that in front of them was a huge tarp. The tarp slowly wrapped up inside the button as it flipped up and down. As the button fulfilled its purpose with the tarp encased inside, the button zipped back to Pease. Pease caught it in his hand and shoved it in his pocket. Neira gasped at what was before her.
"I present to you," he said grandly, "Aqualo"