"What?" He asked, surprise evident in his voice as he took a few steps towards her but silencing him with a hand to his face she said, "Listen, I know you are confused but we don't have time to waste. If you want to die here then be my guest but I absolutely detest dying by some flying insects that shoot measly laser bullets."
And then with a beckoning nod, she started running across the road, and without having any other choice Aksel cursed under his breath and sprinted after her. It only took him a few seconds to match her pace as he had bigger legs at a height of six feet and looking down at the figure clad in black he asked, "Where are we going?"
"To my home," she replied shortly taking a sharp left just evading crashing into an Exter who pointedly looked at the two. He shouted an apology hoping that he wouldn't come after them and with annoyance ticking in his head at her short answers he asked again, "And where exactly is that?"
"Believe me you wouldn't know," she said, and then in a kinder tone, she replied, "Sorry man, I know I am being elusive but just spare me a few more minutes and then we will answer all your questions. You will have too many of them, trust me."
It didn't escape his mind that she had used 'we' instead of a singular pronoun and that made him wonder who else was there with her. She was right, he had too many questions but it was partly because she refused to answer any.
He would have been pissed by now if it had been anybody else but seeing that she had saved him and also seemed to know about the mysterious drones he decided to compromise. She wouldn't possibly save him just so she could kill him again so going to this unknown mysterious place didn't bother him as much. After all, trusting her was his best bet.
Realizing that they had been getting further and further away from the main city he saw the tall buildings left behind and being replaced by smaller, brittle buildings. The poor and damaged condition of these buildings was nothing that he had ever seen in his life and watching a human pass him by with a normal brand shining in his arm he realized that this area was the living quarters of the Debilis.
It was worse than what he had ever imagined it to be, having forever lived a life of luxury and comfort. His parents had been Contrivos, both working as accountants in a bank that had them loaded with money.
Suddenly it struck him-
'Could she be a Debilis?'
He had always identified Debilis to be lowly creatures who were not worth batting an eye at but if she had been one then he couldn't help but start admiring this specific class of people again.
Stopping at a disoriented two-storied house the two huffed, out of breath, as they stared at the gloomy building with broken windows and dim glowing light. He was about to step towards the entrance of the house thinking it to be their destination when he was stopped by a firm grip on his hand as the woman admonished him, "Are you crazy? You just can't enter anybody's house."
"I thought it's yours," he excused himself, and then looking around he continued, "If this is not it then why did we stop here?"
"It would be a luxury if we could live in this," the woman sighed making him confused as he wondered how she could ever consider this atrocity of a place to be a luxury.
'Where the hell did she even live to be claiming this tattered house to be good?'
"Follow me quietly," she instructed, and looking around making sure that nobody was watching them she slipped into the alley next to the house. There she crouched and removing some cardboard boxes strewn on the ground she revealed a shiny metallic lid.
'She lived in the sewers?'
The thought disgusted him and removing the lid she immediately jumped down. Peering inside he saw that it was completely dark and he wondered if it was worth climbing down or for that matter even safe.
Suddenly a light flickered and he saw the woman holding a solar-powered lamp in her hand.
"Climb down and close the lid," she whispered to avoid making her voice echo and although it didn't smell as bad as he had expected it to be, he found himself following after her.
He must be crazy he thought but the curiosity that usually took charge of his mind won again and he needed to get answers to every question he had.
"Don't tell me you live here-" he had started to say when cutting him off in a sharp tone she stated, "It will also be your home from now on."
The tone of her voice had finality in it and his curiosity turned to worry.
'Did something happen to my parents? Why did she say that I have no home and that I will have to live here?'
She started walking ahead without another word and even in the light of the small lamp that could only show the way for a few steps further, she confidently walked ahead. How long had she been living here to know this place so well?
But before anything else who was she?
He suddenly realized that he didn't even know her name and wanting to break the silence he hesitated when he saw her stop and hand him the lamp. Patting the wall she then pulled away a piece of cloth that let escape some light from inside.
"I am back home," she called out to someone as she stepped in and beckoned him to follow her. She pulled away more such curtains until at last, they reached a small rectangle room. The place was dimly lit by four lamps equivalent to the one that he had been holding. A small movement in one corner caught his attention and suddenly a figure arose from behind a curtained partition in that room.
"Sorry I was taking a piss," the new face said as he strode in and stopped short on seeing Aksel. He was not a very tall guy and as he stepped closer and Aksel could make out that one of his arms was missing. The man seemed to asses him with his eyes as he then directed his question to the woman and asked, "Another one of us?"
She nodded making Aksel confused.
"You must be mistaken I am not a Debilis," he said, irritation evident in his voice.
The man with blonde hair paused and then laughing said, "Neither am I." Turning his attention to the woman he said, "You didn't tell him anything?"
"It's a pain to explain," was her excuse as she plopped down on a set of folded blankets on one side of the floor.
Shaking his head at the woman the man guided him to sit on an old tin box as he retrieved another for himself and handed him a bottle of water as he apologized, "I am sorry, Yve is going through something."
More confusion was evident on Axel's face at those words and narrowing his eyes the man suddenly shouted turning to the resting figure as he said, "Seriously Yve? You didn't even introduce yourself to him!"
The woman, 'Yve' in question just grunted and rolled to the other side to avoid facing the two men.
"Oh man, you must have been so confused, let me make it easy for you. Firth things first, let's introduce ourselves, I am Daren Jacobs, and that woman there is Yve Adley. She isn't usually like this but one of our members recently died and she hasn't been taking it well."
Clanging could be heard at the mention of this statement, making Aksel startle as he saw her getting up and kicking a tin box towards the two and finally taking a seat as she scoffed, "Nothing happened to me, I am completely fine."
She was denying the truth, that much was obvious, and rolling his eyes at her antics Daren shrugged and smiled at Aksel to continue.
Taking the hint he said, "I am Aksel Bruwes."
"Now Aksel let me tell you one thing, we three present here are unbranded people," he revealed making Aksel's eyes widen. He was sure that what happened to him had to be one of a kind case but to find more people like him he was transfixed and terribly relieved.
"Those drones that were after you were sent to kill you by The Branding System. There is no proper answer to it but we are partly lucky and partly not, to be unbranded," Daren said staring at Aksel with tired eyes. The guy certainly looked older than him and most possibly had seen more suffering if he had to be living in a place like this. He felt bad for him and he was sure that if he could find his parents then they could help provide for these two people as well.
"Listen, I don't know why I was unbranded, or for that matter we all are but if we can contact my parent then they will help us out. You both can even stay at my home till then. It is really big so it won't be a problem."
Aksel was a sympathetic young man who took pride in his parent's wealth and power. He wanted to help these two people who had shown kindness and would possibly help him to get home.
He heard Yve let out a chuckle at his words and for the first time, he saw her face as she rolled down her hood. She had short red hair, a sharp nose, and big eyes the color of which he couldn't recognize properly in the dim light. Currently, those eyes were laughing at him.
"Yve," Daren warned her, making her stop saying anything but a sarcastic smile was tauntingly placed on her face as she looked like she knew something that he didn't.
He hated that look and he wondered if he had been making fun of her all this while from under her hood.
"Man, this part is always tough," he heard Daren mumble under his breath as he glared at Yve who had newly started to dislike.
"I am sorry to say this Aksel but your parents aren't your real parents," Daren said making Aksel shoot his gaze at him. He didn't quite understand what the man said and continuing instantly Daren explained, "I don't know how to explain this but everything you have believed to be true thus far is a lie. You were never born here in this city and the memories that you have of your parents aren't true. Nothing that you come to believe till this date, of your previous life before you came out of the branding room, is true."
"What the fuck do you mean by that? Are you crazy?" Aksel shouted standing up at once. Listening to these mindless rumbles by a guy who was living in a small hole in the wall in underground sewage, he decided that he had made a mistake following the strange woman there.
Daren stood up, with a calmer expression on his face than what Aksel liked as he said, "See, I understand that it is tough for you to believe me but-"
"What is there to even believe? You are speaking absolute nonsense, that's all!" Aksel thundered unable to keep himself in check. He had not waited for the past half an hour running around the city following a woman just to meet a mad man who was spouting nonsense.
He was about to curse again when he felt the tip of Yve's cold staff under his chin and turning to look at her he found her looking at him with a smile. This time her smile wasn't a sarcastic one it was more dangerous and he stopped when he heard her say, "If you want to live then you better quit shouting."
He hated that she had power over him but he had to listen to her. His blood boiled and he wished he hadn't followed this crazy woman who had seemingly befuddled his mind more than ever before.
Turning her head Yve then addressed Daren as she said, "He wants to meet his 'Mommy and Daddy' then let him meet them; it will be funny to see his reaction."
"But what if they hurt him; you remember what I told you about-"
"Yes, I remember Daren but it was his choice. He could have believed you like I did, but if he wants to face death then who are we to stop him?"