Walls surrounded the fort, it ranged 10 feet vertically, almost as twice as tall as Kyle. Two heavily armed guards stood outside the fort's entrance, it was a gate that could open to let inside small cars along with people. Inside the walls, roofs poked out on top, exposing some of their tall buildings. Not one building seemed to have more than 4 floors, the government had basically surrounded one of their nearby towns with walls to hopefully keep the infection at bay. Enough to try and discover a cure. "That's Fort Foxtrot?" Justin asked Hans while pointing at the pretty large structure. "I'm very certain." Hans replied as he began to run for the fort. The group exchanged glances, they were still not sure to trust Hans, but with no other option, they followed. Running, the dirt mushed as they ran along, the walls seemed to grow taller, they were getting near. The excitement filled each and one of their chest, but horrible anxiety ate away their positivity. "Halt!" the guards yelled aiming their weapons at them, they were rifles, blood covered the barrels of their guns. The group along with Hans stopped their legs, the sudden order confused and startled Justin, causing him to stumble and fall flat on the ground. Kyle laughed, it seemed as if karma had caught up to him. Justin stood up, glaring at Kyle, he shook off the loose dirt that had gone up on his shirt. "Hey, it's me Hans, tell the boss that we've arrived." Hans said, shocking the guards, one of them hurriedly reached for their radio, they whispered something into the small device. It seemed as if it had been minutes of them standing there until the gate began to slide inwards, the group had been welcomed inside. "Get in, he's waiting for you." The same guard whispered to Hans, motioning for the group to enter their fort. "Come on, guys. We didn't waste half a day to stand outside." Hans joked, not helping the group relax, not even by a little. Hans noticed his joke had no effect, giving up and just gesturing them to follow. They entered the man-made structure, one by one. They were at awe, people, actual healthy people, they roamed the fort about. There were children, adults, teenagers, along with old people, it seemed strange to see normal people now. "Hey!" a voice snapped them out of their gaze, the group looked towards who said it, it came from a man that was carrying a small flashlight. "You, come here." He said, pointing at Kyle, then at a spot on the ground that was right in front of him. Kyle walked to where the man pointed, hoping not to get on his bad side. The man then proceeded to turn on the flashlight and then scanned Kyle's right eye, then his left. He was about to ask why when the man interrupted him. "One of the early symptoms of the North virus is the redness of the eyes, which you don't have." the man seemed to have read Kyle's mind. "North virus?" Justin asked, trying not to chuckle. "That's what we named it, do you have a problem with that?" the man said, the tension of his serious tone smacked sense back into Justin. "Oh no, I-I don't have a problem with it." Justin stuttered, scared of what the man might do to him. "Okay. You, you're next. Come here." The man continued on, this time it was John's turn. Kyle ignored the group going on with the procedures and shifted his attention towards the beauty of the town. Cheering and laughter, it filled the fort's atmosphere, it gave him hope. He was absorbing and enjoying the peacefulness when he noticed a man standing and leaning on one of the nearby building's wall, he was pretty overweight and had a bald spot in the middle of his hair. The man was tall, his face, although wrinkled, still meant business. His eyes, it was focused on Kyle's group, when they made eye contact, Kyle felt as if his eyes were about to burst.
He just stood there, waiting for the group to finish their health inspection. Kyle was about to alert his friends when the man started walking towards them, his instincts went off, something felt off. "Hans! You're finally here!" The man shouted, excited, the serious expression on his face disappeared, replaced with... joy? Hans separated from the group, reaching his arm out to shake his friend's hand. "Guys, this is Romero. He's in charge of all of this." Hans said as he gestured around the fort. "Oh... cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, no doubt, no doubt, no doubt, no doubt." Kyle muttered, as nervous as a man juggling 5 chainsaws in the middle of a pool filled with alligators. "Here, let me show you to where you're assigned to live in, feel free to rest, we'll assign you with tasks next week. We need people to contribute what they can so that we can remain functional until we find a way to end this sudden outbreak." Romero said as they walked along the town, heading into a building that had 4 floors, the tallest one in the town. "This small hotel here has been reserved and given only to those who are important in this place. Consider yourselves lucky that you ended up finding Hans, or rather, lucky that Hans ended up finding you." He continued, "Your room is at the fourth floor, room number 420." Romero handed the keys to John, gesturing them to go to their newly-assigned room. "Hans and I have... business to attend to." he said as he and Hans walked outside of the building, Romero's right arm wrapped at the back of Hans' neck and shoulders. The group continued to walk up the flight of stairs, eager to see their room. When they finally arrived at the doorstep of what seems to be their new temporary home, they opened it. Two sets of bunk beds lined on the opposite wall that had large windows, a square table surrounded with chairs on each sides were on the center of the room. Another door on the left inside lead to the bathroom, it consisted of a toilet, a sink with a mirror, and a shower. On the right, there was a kitchen, it had basic cooking materials and items and tools. Excitement, it had once again filled their chest. They raced to their beds, closing the door behind them. They jumped onto what bed was still vacant of any sweaty person lying on it, Kyle and John had gotten the bed on top, which they loved. "I could get used to this!" John said loudly, relaxing on his twin bed, moments had only passed and he had already fell asleep. Kyle and Arkin had been sharing bunk beds, while Justin and John shared the other one. Arkin was sitting on a chair on one of the sides of the table, eating away at one of the junk foods he had brought a day before. Justin was resting, trying to follow John into slumber. Kyle could sense Arkin's joy, but it was mixed into other feelings, one he couldn't identify. He hopped down his bed and continued to sit down on the other side of Arkin's seat on the table. "So... how are you holding up?" Kyle asked, trying to break the awkward silence. "I'm fine, really. Just thinking how this could be the most comfortable I have ever been." Arkin replied.
YOU ARE READING
Apocalyptia: Rewritten
Action(This was a story where I tried too hard to be smart, it came out as forced and unentertaining. While it was also fun to write, I strongly believe that the absurdity of the original edition was more entertaining.) Four friends that were never used i...
