"You okay?" said Woods to Robert who was curled up in his corner, "Yeah, I'm just living", both of them share an awkward silence, neither one of them was expecting to have a conversation, through due to what they both had been through.
"You know, this is not the first time we've experienced something like this," Woods was trying to comfort Robert in his own way, who still couldn't assimilate what had happened clearly.
Woods lets out a sigh and starts speaking:
It was summer of 2315, the See Green you're familiar with wasn't always like it, still, it was the same old buildings, same old foliage, New Day hotel shone brighter than ever, what was different was, the lying ragdolls, corpses in every nook and cranny, the air was always filled with a repugnent odor, the terror of radiation was at its prime; daily riots shook the hierarchy and made it fall to its knees, family memebers trying to salvage the next of their kin, nobody dared to hesitate to trample one life in order to save one of their own, it was an unvarying struggle. Some wanted medicine, some wanted food, some wanted money, we just wanted sympathy.
The New Day hotel that you know today, was once an orphanage, specifically for people who were effected by ARS, that's why it was the lone pariah, an abandoned hope for people who were 'abnormal', a burden, to most people it was just something that took space and they would have happily obliged to remove it and its poeple from their sacred city which was being contaminated, it was just a matter of time the tables would have turned, the slaves would become the masters and vice versa. That day is etched into our memories but every time we are reminded of it we yearn to forget it. It was a day of celebration, everybody was ready and well suited, our little friend group, 'Audellia, Zacchaeus, Alvin, Catarina, Aileth and me', we were all a happy bunch who couldn't have cared less about the celebration and festival due that day. Little did we know, that festival might have eased us of the tribulation that followed our carelessness.
Aileth was my little sister, she and Alvin were always together when we all used to have our 'play dates' and that day she ran off together with him to enjoy themselves separately, of course I had a way to keep contact with her but I really shouldn't have let them go, all of us who were left decided to play our usual hide and seek. I was it and I had an whole half hour to myself while others went and hide, in this time I decided to take the cab to the place Alvin and Aileth were playing to.
When I arrived there, there was nothing to be seen, absolutely no one, not a soul, just the grassy hill and the lone tree, but their I heard a voice, "Big Brother!"
"Huh?"
I hear it again, "Big Brother Theo!"
"Aileth! Where were you, I thought to check on you, I had some free time...."
"Oh, you shouldn't have....I wouldn't want to waste your time....I was just playing house with Alvin, there in that shed....."
"Well....I'll, leave you to it...."
It was an eerie feeling I had, it was as if there was no soul in her words and expression. It was different from her normal bloomy personality she has had all the time, her appearance was a perfect compliment to her mindset, her innocent cyan eyes, light short brown hair, a fair and soft skin, it gave a peek into her entrancing and frabjous soul, and her malleable and hushed personality.
"What was she?", was the one thought floating in my mind, keeping me in delirium. Someone who has been with you since your birth can discern even the slightest thing off, and that was definitely not my Aileth.
I return back to find the hiders who had been waiting, but when I got back at the spot, I find Audellia and Catarina waiting who told me the game was called off, and for some reason Zacchaeus wasn't there.
"Man! Alot can happen in 30 minutes can't it, wha....whats going on, where's Zach, Audrey? Cat? Why the long face guys?"
"Woods, we need to talk...." and there Catarina took me to an isolated place, away from Audellia, and started saying stuff like, "She's not in her right mind, Zach left us, We won't be able to comfort her, We'll only stretch the pain, Zach betrayed us, Zach is with the enemy" It was all unacceptable to me, all of a sudden, after 30 minutes, I'm hearing these things that go straight over my head and I couldn't do anything, I was a lousy kid, there was obviously nothing I could do.....Then.....I just ran off on my own and hoped to never come back, but I didn't know that the way back, wouldn't exist after I ran away....as.....The enemy came.
I think of going back to the hill to see my sister and take her with me, but when I reached there it was just like before, no soul in sight, but soon came a voice, a faint voice from a rusty shed, and out came a little girl, with tears, a red face, red hands, and a knife, it was on the spur of the moment, I didn't think or evaluate, my cowardly and vulnerable heart just signalled me to run away even more which I did, I came to another isolated sight, with a beautiful view of See Green CIty.
*BOOM*
An explosion, gun shots, screams, rivers of blood. I couldn't believe my eyes, I went to check the aftermath, as I moved one step after another, I saw a corpse, injuries, I heard squeals of agony, and right there, at the edge of the city, looking down to us from the highest point, was Audellia, with her, was a guard lying down and screaming, the guard had the crest of the falcon and the crown, Audellia grabbed the man by his shoulder and threw him down from the mountain's height they were standing on, the guard splattered on his landing and didn't move a muscle after, and Audellia gave a speech, "We are the ones to choose, what does or does not happen to this city, not these tyrants, I will make this place whole again, and you all will follow me!"
EVeryone heard her loud and clear, as she turned around and left their sights.
******************************
"We all remember that day, it was the day everything collapsed, and it was the day See Green would see itself better than ever before. Hey! Are you crying! Rob, Hey, don't cry, Rob!"
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't think you guys would have experienced this much pain, I'm sorry I put you through this, I shouldn't have created that bomb, I shouldn't have created this damned radiation, I'm sorry, I'm really really sorry..."
"Wha.....What are you...?"
And as Robert was weeping and apologizing, a slight change in Wood's electrocardiogram was seen.
*Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep*
'Wha....Oh no! I said it didn't I, SOMEBODY, CALL THE DOC, CALL DOCTOR PALMER, SOMETHINGS HAPPENING TO WOODS!"
A nurse comes in and pages Doctor Palmer, she starts doing chest compressions but Woods' state didn't seem to change, Doctor Palmer arrives and prepares Woods for a caedioversion shock,
"Three, Two, One"
*ZAP*
"Again, Three, Two, One"
*ZAP*
"Just one more time, Three, Two, One"
*ZAP*
*Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep*
"His heart rates normal, we are gonna have to run some tests to see what really happened."
The doc approaches Robert, and says, "Do you know what could have caused this?" and Robert hesitates at first with some little stutter but in the end conveys to him that they were just talking and in the blink of an eye this happened.
Everyone leaves the room and again Robert and Woods are left together. Their Rob whispers to himself, "I need to leave...."
*******************************
"Oye Kid! Where did you run off to this time!" A strange face is seen strolling around on a barren land filled with dunes and such, he wears an old tored scarf and a rugged cargo with a rusty shirt, all befitting of the deserty environment he was in, a voice answers him from a nearby dune, "ROBBY! LOOK WHAT I FOUND!"