The Maze

Travis

I fell asleep before I was able to watch the video that Zeke sent me. The next morning, he stopped by the restaurant. Normally, he comes up to the counter and talks to me for a minute before sitting down and waiting for his food. Today, he came in and sat in a corner booth, his eye darting around in a frantic way. He looked pale and there were dark bags under his eyes like he hadn't slept last night.

I went ahead and sent his normal back to the cook. After a few minutes, I grabbed it from the window and walked over to Zeke's table. His head was resting on his arms and there was some light snoring. I set the plate down and shove his shoulder a bit. He lifts his head up and mumbles something before laying it back down. I sigh. I look back at the counter and wave to get the other servers attention. I make a motion with my hands like I'm breaking a stick. She nods and goes back to working. I slide into the booth across from my sleeping friend.

"Zeke." I hit the table a few times.

He jolts upright and looks around somewhat confused. "Huh? What?"

I tilt my head. "Hey. It's me. You good?"

He looks at me and his eyes focus. "Hey, Trav. Aren't you working?"

"I'm on break now." I push the plate of food at him slightly. "You look like you didn't sleep a wink last night."

He shakes his head and picks up a piece of bacon. "I didn't" He takes a bite. "I was freaked out, dude" His words were somewhat garbled.

"Freaked about what?"

"The video! Did you not watch it?"

"No, I fell asleep."

He shook his head before taking another bite. "You gotta watch it."

"I'll watch it when I get home."

"Promise?" His brown eyes looked directly into mine. They had a somewhat wild look to them.

"Promise." The look made me increasingly uncomfortable, so I looked around the shop. It seemed to be getting more and more crowded. I told Zeke I needed to get back to work, gave him a fist bump and quickly slid out of the booth.

The rest of my shift, I couldn't keep the look on Zeke's face out of my head. I kept glancing over to check on him. He didn't stay as long as he normally does. Today, he ate his food and left, glancing around before walking out the door. The need to get home made my shift seem extra-long.

When I finally got home, I made myself a quick bite to eat before sitting down in front of my laptop. I opened my messages from Zeke and scrolled up until I found the link I was looking for. Before I was able to click it, the messages scrolled down to the bottom to show me a new one from Zeke.

M.U.Z123: Did you watch it???

TCD: I just logged on. Give me a sec.

I scroll back up and click the link. A new tab opens to YouTube and the video begins to play.

"Fairfield. The territory that defies the odds. The only area in what was once a great nation to come out triumphant after two world wars, back-to-back. This is the history of Fairfield."

I watch as the screen pans through our territory.

"2040. World War III is starting to be set in motion. The ultimate world power, the United States of America, has begun to lose power. They settle into a depression and their government shuts down." The video shows clips of the USA. People walk through crowded streets. Newspapers fly onto the screen; some show a white building with a big lawn and some show destruction. The headlines read: 'Major shut down', 'Depression strikes again'. A news reporter comes on stage and talks about things like, 'Can the US come back?', 'Japan develops bomb', and 'World War III'.