The Children: The Beginning of Our Story

Chapter 14 Ditoa - Mining, Surviving and STILL no llama

Her head was spinning and the glass breaking noise wouldn't stop ringing in her ears. She had been walking for days on end without food, water or any sort of rest. Her fingers were blue from frostbite, he breath was clearly visible, and her body was constantly shaking, this planet was very different to Rust, in more than one way.

She gazed around for the billionth time today. But for the first time since she had crash on this earth forsaken place, she saw the first signs of civilization. A large wall stood in front of her it looked about fifty feet high and to be made from solid concrete, dim lights lit up the barb wire that was splashed across the top of the wall. Ditoa's eyes were fixed on two iron gates that were barely visible through the thick storm. Then everything was still, a soft chirp of a bird was heard as it passed by but besides from that everything was silent. The dizziness stopped and she finally regained hearing, her feet tramped through the knee-high coldness. She placed a hand on a nearby tree and paused for a second as her vision focused. Continuing towards the gates the sounds of men yelling were heard in the distances accompanied by the cracking of whips. The yelling got louder and louder, yet before Ditoa could look up to see what was going on she was forced to the ground with a 'whack'. Her vision blurred once more and barely made the silhouettes of two guards that were pinning her down.

Ditoa's eyes fluttered open as she glanced down to find her jeans slightly ripped and covered in dirt, her head leaned back, and her neck cracked suddenly. Her back was rested up against a blood-stained concrete wall, she moved her head slightly to the side to find that she was in a two by two-meter square room surrounded by iron bars. A cell. She stretched out her arms and yawned feeling like it was a casual Sunday on Rust, but it wasn't and she was just being an idiot. Before she could do or say anything her rusty iron cell door was swung open and two items were chucked in her arms. She looked up to find a tall man wearing a dirty white singlet with a grey jumpsuit swung around his waist. Dirt was smudged on his face, his grey beard filled with grot, and through his Cheshire cat grin yellow stained teeth were visible.

"Get up girl, You have work to do!" And with that one line he chucked an old iron pickaxe into her hands and stormed along as more of what Ditoa assumed were prisoners tramped down he hallways each carrying a pickaxe of their own. They all wore the same dull dark grey jumpsuit which was covered in silvery dust and dirt. She looked down at the three objects now in her arms; a faded yellow plastic helmet with a dying torch strapped to the front using duct tape, the same awful grey jumpsuit which she was dreading wearing and the old pickaxe with a splintered handle and a rusted blade.

She slid into the jumpsuit, keeping her original cloths on underneath, and buttoned it up with trembling fingers. Bone chilling screams were heard accompanied by the occasional crack of more whips. Though this time the sounds were heard from bellow and above her. She placed the helmet on her head, only to find it was way too big for her and picked up the handle of the pickaxe. She placed her free hand on the handle of the door to find it unlocked.

Once outside of the horrid cell she made her way down the long halls towards a white light that was shining down from a hole in the ceiling. With every step closer she could make out just a bit more of what her surroundings looked like. Cells lined the walls, frightened boys whispering about their mothers, creepy children with dark eyes screeched at her and tried to reach for her through the bars yet only managed to grab at thin air, but then there was him. A boy around her age stepping out of his cell with the same fear that was in her eyes. Though he carried no pickaxe, and no helmet. She stopped quite promptly a few meters away from the stranger, continuing to scan him for any signs of a threat.

The boy's brownish blonde hair hug down to his shoulders with slight waves curling through it, his head turned to face her and Ditoas brown eyes met his. Purple skin. He had the all too familiar purple skin of the Earth Clan, he was like her.

Yet just as she was about to open her mouth to speak the same grey bearded ass from before came past and dragged the two in the opposite direction while muttering something about 'kids never getting to work'. He took the two Earthans down more and more halls until the three reached a ladder going both up and down.

"Up ya go," The man said as his blue eyes stared down into Ditoas soul. Finally, after a few looks up confusion from the two children he pushed the boy forward towards the ladder in encouragement. "Urry up I ain't got all day ya now!"

Her eyes followed the shoes of the boy as he disappeared into the blinding light above them. She then stepped forward knowing it was her turn to go up and placed a foot on the metal ladder feeling it shake slightly underneath her weight. As her hands gripped the cold metal with each step her heart beat quickened from excitement and fear of what was above them. Yet, the sight only disheartened her even more.

Men, women and children of all ages and clans were being forced to dig, she could only imagine what it was like even further below ground. The large concrete walls encaged them all, like one massive cell. She was pushed towards a large pile of crystals which workers were packing into carts with extreme care, just in front of her was the boy from the tunnels who seemed to be forced in the same direction she was. They're pushed towards the piles of crystals and told to put down their helmets and pickaxes to be able to have both hands free for handling the white shimmering crystals.

Ditoa kept her head down as she stacked crates white the fragile objects, though as she glanced upwards, she notices a small girl who looked to be seven decaquads of age. She had long black hair and soft green eyes and a bandanna covering her mouth. Making a mental note to find out why everyone except her and the boy had bandanna she continued to work while watching the girl. The small girl was picking up things off the ground, smaller white crystals. Her gaze fell back on the child trembling face, Ditoa finally made sense of what the child was doing.

'Oh zapnarg, she'd dropped the crystals.' Ditoa thought and stacked yet another shining crystal into a wooden crate.

Then out of nowhere a guard with a helmet made of what looks to be cheap metal scraps grabbed the girl, harshly, by her arm and pulled her up to standing position. He yelled at her multiple times and tears started to prick the young girls' eyes when he reached for the whip which was to the right side of his belt. The man raised his arm to strike her but something in Ditoa told her she couldn't allow this to happen, so out of pure rage Ditoa dropped her crystal and let it shatter on the ground, tiny pieces flying everywhere. She dashed in front of the girl and took the full blow, but no Earthan wouldn't give up so easily. Her hand curled into a fist and struck the man in the stomach.

The man groaned and hugged his stomach. All eyes were on the two Children, but before anyone could say a word three identically dressed guards appeared out of the blue and jumped on Ditoa forcing her to the ground. Her face was dug into the Earth and whips stuck her back, each one stinging her skin as she yelped in pain. But then they stopped and the force of the guards keeping her down was gone. She spun her head around and sat up to see the same boy on the back of one of the guards slightly strangling him. But it didn't last long as two more guards ran over. It was too much, and soon the three Children found themselves all in the same cell. A wandering girl, the mystery boy and this random kid.

At that moment they knew, the zapnarged the hell up.