Getting up, Grey answered the door. Standing in front of him was the girl staying in the last room, Although she was still emancipated, her skin looked more rosy and her face seemed to be a little brighter. She held a tray carrying multiple paste tubes.
" Ahem...Storm asked me to bring this for you."
She spoke, her voice sounding hoarse as though she hadn't spoken in a while. As her dark ember eyes sized up Grey suspiciously.
"Thanks and thank him for me."
Grey collected the tray, his voice sounded muffled as the mask was obstructing his mouth. he couldn't wrap his head around how she spoke clearly with that mask on.
" Alright, will do. The name's Ember by the way. What's yours?"
She asked quickly as though she had rehearsed that line many times.
" Grey, Grey Ash."
Ember slowly nodded her head while just standing there, leaving an awkward silence between them.
The silence lasted for a few moments, before she walked away, still nodding her head.
Grey stood staring into nothing for some seconds wondering what just happened.
' I guess she isn't the best at socializing. Not like am one to tell.'
Holding the tray in one hand, he closed the door before heading back to the bed. On his way back though, he heard heavy facepalming coming from the corridor.
'Poor girl, It's worse than I thought. '
Grey finally reached the bed, placing the tray on its surface. He looked at its contents with a slight grimace. The 'meal' in front of him was an edible artificially developed paste just termed, food paste. He had never really figured out how it was created, nobody had.
'At least they have different flavors.'
Grey quickly started eating, that was if anyone could call what he was doing that. He just sucked the paste in the tube before dumping them.
Having filled his belly, Grey felt a wave of fatigue wash over him. He hadn't done anything, particularly taxing today, it seemed the events yesterday hit him harder than he thought. Plus he hadn't felt like getting out of bed this morning.
Laying his head on a pillow, he guessed it wouldn't be a problem if he took a quick nap before evening. So slowly but surely he slipped into the land of nightmares, his mind constantly bombarded with guilt.
-----
Shooting up from his bed, Grey frantically looked around before he finally calmed down. Feeling his damp shirt clinging to his back, he finally realized it was all a nightmare. Although he couldn't remember what it had been about, he could certainly feel the lingering terror it brought.
Shaking his head, he looked at the time.
'8:00 pm..... Shit.'
"I'm way off schedule."
He quickly stood up, wearing his face mask. He couldn't even remember removing it.
Looking at the window, daylight had completely faded being replaced by pulsing multicolored glows coming from nearby buildings. If there was one thing the Bastion was notable for, it had to be its nightlife.
Giving the room a final conflicted look, he left.
'I'm not coming back here, this time for real.'
Stepping out of his room, he looked at the last room in the corridor. The door was closed with shoes placed in front of it.
Shifting his gaze, he went towards the elevator. This time he wasn't going to any floor, this was going to be his last time in this building. Looking at the buttons, he selected the roof.
-----
Coming out of the elevator, Grey found himself on the windy rooftop of the CCD station. Apart from the occasional air conditioner here or there, the rooftop was empty, giving him a partial view of the city's beautiful skyline.
Neon lights and holographic advertisements flashed around numerous buildings as 'stars' that normally wouldn't be found in such as scene shone down beautifully on the city, creating a strange but breathtaking scene.
The wind whipped off Grey's hoodie, letting his hair flow freely, as he approached the edge of the building. Looking around; most buildings nearby were shorter than the station. Though not by much, as taller buildings existed the deeper a person went into the city. On the ground, people were out and about selling wears or just minding their own business, as prostitutes lined around their prospective bars looking for customers. With multiple cars and maglev vehicles zooming on the road. Of course, this scene wasn't occurring near the CCD's compound, it would be tarnishing their image.
Removing his mask; Grey took a deep breath, letting the chill night air sink as he ruminated on how his whole world came crumbling down within the past few days. He had just been an ordinary kid living a somewhat blissful ignorant life before the curse took everything away from him. Though he knew he carried a portion of the blame for being careless. Now he was plagued with the fate of being cursed.
Being cursed was a very dreadful thing, although modern media had done its best to whitewash curses through any medium they use, it hadn't been enough to fool him.
His dad was a retired scavenger, on one of his expeditions beyond the walls or rather cage of the bastion, he was assigned to a unit led by a C rank new human or in other words a Broken. There were two different ranking systems for cursed, one assigned by the government while the other assigned the Curse. Most people knew the former but had very little knowledge of the latter. They both progressed like this;
Government/ new human system.
Rank E
Rank D
Rank C
Rank B
The Cursed system.
Cursed.
Damned.
Broken.
Inhuman.
That was pretty much all Ash could tell him. Both systems ran on the same power levels, the only difference was one had more ominous names that held implications for those unfortunate enough to find themselves in that rank of power. That was most of what Grey knew, he couldn't even fathom the implications of having a name like Horror or Eldritch but his father did tell him a little about the Broken. He said the broken he met was a young but frail looking man with numerous scars on his body that wore a white blindfold over his eyes, he had retired not long ago from exploring the Limbo.
He suffered from a severe case of post-traumatic disorder having lost his entire squadron during his last assignment but he was still stable enough to think properly and have a conversation. His story wasn't one of sacrifice or about his team being ambushed, it was very simple, they just saw something they shouldn't have. He was only alive because he was fast enough to impale his eyes before he ran mad like the rest of his team. That was the only thing he told Ash before he had a seizure and didn't wake up till the next morning.
That little bit was enough for Grey to see through the lies and propaganda done by the government, the power of friendship didn't mean sh*t in face of the abominations wandering within the Limbo.
Plus he had already made his choice, all paths in front of him led to damnation, it was only wise to choose the one that put him through less pain.
Stepping on the edge, Grey shivered as he looked down at the ground.
' It's pretty far..... No! I'm doing this, it's for my own Good.'
Shaking his head and stomping his feet to quell the shaking, he closed his eyes and exhaled.
' it's all gonna be over soon. It's all gonna be over....'
Repeating this mantra over and over in his head, he raised his leg to take his first step. However, before he could the elevator doors behind him swung open as a figure entered the roof.