Desolation Reigns

Chapter 11

I have never enjoyed the likes of walking or running, but today, that was all my legs wished to do. They had a mind of their own, taking me and my baby with them. Past the store on 84th, around the flooded areas of downtown, and finally, to the great wall including a glass dome covering and surrounding the forever raining city. Vast was the wall, ongoing farther than the naked eye could see, stretching over the largest city in the known world. The bricks holding the wall together were not bricks at all, but a hologram to cover the real uglyness of pure Super Cement, a product made shortly after The Upbringing. Stronger than cement, Super Cement has magnets holding the molecules tighter together while simultaneously used to let certain items be engulfed inside, like a starving tiger or deadly crocodile.

I stood in front of the vast doors, sopping wet, cradling my baby while protecting her from wind and needle-like droplets. There were no guards, strangely enough, maybe no one wished to leave. Maybe the safe haven built here is too perfect. Or there is another means of guarding. An alarm or trigger, perhaps. One with flashing red lights, strobing quick enough to cause seizures.

Maybe the wall ate them or, you know, maybe not. Hehe. Too outlandish. Though its nice to have a little fun once and a while.

I rested my hand on the wooden part of the doors, giving a meek push to test the force used against it. To my surprise, the door gave in just a teeny bit. Unfortunately, though, this set off a blaring noise filling my body with a mix of fear and panic. One of my hands was paralyzed while the other slid off the door to cover my baby's ears, who was now wailing. My brain was shutting down faster than i would have liked it to and i knew that if i was caught, i could be beaten dead. On an impulse, i geared up and rammed my way through the door using my paralyzed side for extra force. I sprinted my way into the darkness having no idea where i was going or how to get back. I just knew that whatever waited for me in the Darkness was better than any "paradise" they could have cooked up in there.

I sprinted far, miles away from the city, until that atrocious sound was just a faint whisper. I could now hear the screaming of the infant cradled in my arms. Oh, how could they do this to you, my dear child. I am sorry for your delicate ears, that you had to have listened to that...that noise at such a young age. What a prime example of how the spiders care for us lowly flies. We are nothing but a meal to them, fresh blood rushing through our veins, a delicacy wrapped in cellophane skin.

My baby had no name. If i died out here, she would be a nameless child, an unidentifiable nothing. She was my baby, what else could i do for her.

As travelled, i noticed an oddity in the sandy ground and dry air surrounding me. Something was off but i could not quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the finally fresh air or the lack of cities. Maybe the quietness that finally reached my eardrums. Was it the darkness or the nothing ahead of me? There was no certainty here, no map or guide.

I was not built for this. Years of living in the harsh city has left me broken, weak, and glass-like. I was a crystalline glass on the edge of a table, teetering between safety and sudden death. No longer was my child crying but now snoring in tune with my thoughts. Now was too eerily quiet, like a beat of Something was missing but i could not place my finger on it.

The stumbling sound of my feet was all i had, there was no destination but i had to believe i had been dragging on for hours on end. Darkness surrounded me, darker than the light of the city, brighter than the night sky. Then i saw it. One could have thought i was hallucinating, but there it was. As real as you or me. A light. Either it be a new city or the missing people, at this point I didn't care. Squeezing my little girl tighter, i charged like a bull towards the light, hoping it was real.

As i grew ever closer to it, i could see the outskirts of a military camp, but it was not military personnel inside. Instead, standing guard the main entrance was a young adult dressed in cargo pants and lined face pant.

Slowing down, i finally realized what was wrong about this whole place.

There was no rain