Fantasy ((Closed)) Breaking Free

[Michibear]

Michelle scanned the city outskirts from her perch atop the manmade, makeshift wall. So far, this morning, from the time the dark started turning into light, things had been uneventful. The uneventful days were blessed days and hopefully meant quiet nights as well, although anything could go wrong at any moment.

She looked around at her surroundings. Before her was an almost empty road that lead to the neighboring city, as well, as the road stretched on it branched out to reach other cities further away. To her left were a mix of new people and town vets. It seemed that the new people were getting a tour of the town, showing them why this place is more desirable than going back outside the walls. She sighed a bit as she looked away, glancing to the front for a moment to make sure nothing had appeared in the short time she had been looking away.

To her right side was her twin brother, who was staring out into space. He had the same weapons as her, a small pistol with just enough bullets to be full and a five-inch hunting knife. Michelle smiled slightly, giving her brother a nudge. The last thing the two of them needed was one of the higher-ranking guards to yell at them.

A familiar racket was coming from down in the city, coming towards the stairs. The trolley cart with lunch for the guards. Before she knew it, an older lady came up the stairs with a basket of food on her arm and tray of cups in hand. “Oh, hello Michelle, Alex.” The old lady said with a smile as she nodded in each of their directions. “Hello!” The twins said excitedly as they each took a cup off the tray.

Michelle took a small sip of her water. It wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t cold. That was good enough for Michelle. She hated hot water, but of course drunk it when she had no other choice. “How are you today Miss Debbie?” She asked as the old lady handed the two each a lid-covered bowl of soup. “I am alright,” replied Miss Debbie, her smile faltering a bit when she saw the new people being shown around. “It is potato soup today, or boiled potatoes, whichever will make it seem more appetizing.” The twins nodded and thanked Miss Debbie as she hurried along to feed the rest of the guards on this wall, but not before reminding them “Leave the bowls and cups there like always, Mr. Rudy will be around to pick them up shortly.”

Michelle and Alex began to wolf down their food then drink. The food might not be that great, but it was better than what they used to get. It was especially better than going hungry for days on the outside of the walls. Michelle will always eternally thank whoever was keeping the town garden alive. Growing vegetables seemed hard enough to her before the apocalypse, let alone afterwards.

Another familiar noise came, but this time it was on the other side of the wall and did not mean anything good for the town. Michelle and Alex turned to see a small horde of zombies in the distance heading towards town. A few feet in front of them were a group of people running away from the zombies. One person in the group stumbled and was quickly pulled up by another in the group, but the person stumbled again. This time the other person did not notice until it was too late.

The person who stumbled was grabbed by the leg. A zombie started chewing on the leg while other zombies started grabbing other body parts. The person was screaming bloody murder. Alexander fired a shot, hitting the person in the head to put them out of their misery and to keep them from returning. The unintentional sacrifice allowed the rest of the group to reach the gates of the city since the zombies were slowed down due to the catch.

Once the group was safely inside the city walls, a group of trained people from the city were sent out to fend off the zombies with melee weapons while being covered from the people on top of the makeshift walls with guns. This was done to create the least amount of noise possible when dispatching zombies and to not allow the zombies to live on to create more trouble for the future. The town leaders had a motto that they liked to preach: ‘the fewer zombies, the better’.

Before all the zombies were dispatched Michelle and Alexander heard their names being called from down below. The two were puzzled. Why would they be needed? The voice was coming from the front gates, so that is where the two went. It was one of the leaders of the city. He didn’t have his usual scowl on his face. “I need you two to show these last two around the city. The normal people for this job are sick, and everyone else able is too busy.” He said in a monotone voice.

Michelle and Alexander just nodded. The leader left once he seemed satisfied, and when the leader was out of sight the twins turned to the two new comers. The rest of their group had probably already been paired with people to show them around the city. It was policy that each individual new comer must have a person assigned to them until they decided to stay within the city walls or leave.

“So…” Michelle started, unsure what to do. She bit her lip and fidgeted with her fingers as she was feeling a bit awkward. Her brother chimed in, “We haven’t done this before, so bear with us please.” He held out his hand to shake the hand of both the female and male. “My name is Alexander, and this is my twin sister Michelle.” He motioned to Michelle.

 

[llSunflowerll]

Kira sat on the edge of a second floor building that was missing a huge corner. There were a few zombies off in the distance but that didn’t worry her as much as their dwindling supply stache. Last she checked it was getting low and they had mouths to feed. They’d have to get a move on and find someone to help or get lucky and find a store still full.

Before they ended up in this destroyed building they had control of an entire mall still full of supplies, but all good things come to an end. A much larger and more armed group of people took it from them and forced them to either leave or become slaves. Their first “leader” wanted to stay and just survive but a small group didn’t want that life. So Kira took the people and went off on their own.

It was hard in the beginning but they somehow managed to find a full gas station. There was a car there too but a few people deflected from their group and took the car for themselves. The sound of the car seemed to attract the zombies and that night they forced to leave with as much as they could carry. Down 4 people, it was barely enough for them. That was maybe a month ago and now here they all were slowly dying of starvation.

“I say we track back and see if people live in that big walled part.” Jae said sitting down next to her. It wasn’t ever said but he was considered her second and would often give her ideas of what to do. Kira looked up and shook her head. “How do we know they’ll take us in? They could just kill us and take our supplies. Who knows how many mouths they have to feed. Or if they’re still there.” Kira said still looking out watching the distant zombies.

“Hey, it’s worth a shot. We’ll all die anyway if we don’t try. I’ll get everyone rounded up.” He said standing back up. She huffed but stood up after him. They needed hope. Hopefully everyone was aboard. She let him deliver the news and everyone perked up happy to be on the move again. 'Well that was easy' She though to herself glad Jae had a way with words. It was often hard for her to convince people of things. The only reason she was in charge was because she actually got things done and never hesitated to do what she though was right. And with help from Jae she was often right.

Once they were all geared up and ready to make a break for it they left the safety of building and started back towards the walled city. She didn’t like their chances but Jae had a point. They would die if they didn’t try and get help. Maybe there were some good souls left in the world.

After a good few hours of walking the walls were in sight though still far out. Everyone had this excited buzz and for once Kira felt like they were doing the right thing. She prayed this would be good for her people and not end up backfiring later on. That was the last thing they needed.

As they grew closer the walls seemed more and more ominous and almost evil looking but she blamed that on her pessimistic outlook. She was about to speak to Jae before there was a call from the back of the group.
“They’re after us!” A woman yelled getting everyone attention.

Everyone started to panic and run. Kira’s heart started to race as she followed them and started to run. She glanced back and noticed Tommy fall to the ground. She stopped and tried to help him up but he fell again. This time the zombies made it to him first before she could get a hold of him. Knowing she couldn’t save him she started running again towards the walls. Right now those walls looked safe and that's what her people needed.

As they were taken into the walls Kira caught her breath and looked over at Jae. He looked equally shaken up and distraught at who died this time. She knew that he and Tommy had a close relationship and it hurt to think about how he must feel. He glanced up at her and shook his head. Kira knew that look. He was blaming himself for all this, that it was his idea.

Kira sighed and looked up when two people walked up to them. When the man introduced himself and his twin Kira struggled to smile. “Kira,and this is Jae. We are the leaders of our small band of people. Thank you, if we could just get some-”

“We need a place to stay for a bit then we should be on our way.” Jae cut in glancing over at Kira.
She bit her cheek. She was just planning on maybe taking a few supplies and going back not to stay for a long period of time. Asking for so much made her nervous, but she trusted Jae’s judgement.

 

[Michibear]

“That is fine.” Alexander said, looking at Jae. “usually new comers can stay a few days or so before they decide whether they want to stay or if they want to leave.” He looked around and noticed people showing the rest of the group around. “The city will provide you with food while you are here, let you take a shower, and provide you with new clothes if needed or allow you to wash your current clothes.”

“We could show you to the canteen.” Michelle said with a smile. “The canteen is near the center of the city. Usually people start from the front and work their way to the back, but it’ll be easier to avoid the crowd if we go now. It is an old restaurant that they use the drive through to distribute food. They look the doors to deter stealing that happened frequently when the city was first built.” She didn’t mention how the two looked so hungry as it would be rude. “We will eventually meet back up with your group at the sleeping quarters.”

Alexander motioned in the direction of the canteen. “If you are ready, we are too.” He said with a smile. It hurt him to have to be this nice. It was not per say that it hurt him being nice to the strangers, it hurt him to be nice in order to get them to stay. He never wanted to be the reason people decided to stay. He hated spewing the hypocritical garbage that the leaders and higher ups wanted them to do.

 

[llSunflowerll]

Kris turned her head when they mentioned whether they decide to stay or not. As far as she knew they were just passing through. They were here to rest and eat. They would then somehow repay them and leave. She had no intention of staying but she let them continue on. When they mentioned a canteen her mouth started to water and her stomach growled. She looked over at Jae and made eye contact.
Jae was willing to trust these people 100% but he knew that Kris wasn't as easy to please. "Can we speak for just a moment?" He asked with a smile. He then grabbed Kris's hand and walked a few steps away. He didn't care if they were still in hearing distance, he had to make sure Kris wouldn't do something stupid. "We need to trust these people. I know you don't plan on staying long but you're not the only one here. If they can feed everyone then we need to stay as long as we can." He said with a hand on her shoulder.
"And if they turn out to be slavers?" Kris said more hushed not wanting anyone to hear. "Look I don't care, but at the first sign of danger we leave. And I will leave with or without you." She said pulling away from his hand. It feel to his side. They both stared at each other making a silent agreement and looked back at the two others. "Sorry about that. Lets get to this canteen." She said the first to walk back over. Jae followed close behind and smiled, glad he could convince Kris to stay as long as possible. Hopefully she was wrong and these people weren't slavers, that was the last thing he wanted to happen.
"So, this place is like an oasis in a desert. How in the world haven't you been raided yet? I'm sure we passed a couple groups of raiders in the past few months." Kris asked looking over at them as they walked. "I have to say I'm impressed." She added though she regretted it as soon as it slipped from her lips. She didn't want them think she wanted to stay, well because she didn't. This place seemed almost too perfect and too nice. It definitely put her on edge. Jae loved it though. He was in awe at how such a place could exist in a world falling apart around them. Kris knew that he wanted to stay.

 

[Michibear]

Michelle and Alexander watched as the two moved slightly away. The two then looked at each other. They could tell by the actions and expressions, that at least one of the them were hesitant about this place, which should be the case. This place was something to worry about, but they could not let these people know without risk of harm to themselves.

“Ah, yes, canteen!” Alexander said as he turned in the direction of the canteen. He began to walk and talk. “I do not know if you guys will stay, but if you do, there are simple rules that I need to make you aware about. Do not start trouble, for obvious reasons. Contribute in some way to the community, such as help prepare food or teach children.” He tried to think of other important rules.

Michelle answered the question about the city not being raided. “Well, part of it is size. Just any rag-tag group cannot raid a city this size with living people. It also helps that most people here are armed, and the wall always has people on top who watch for unusual things.” She glanced back at the two. “I hear the city always had a lot of people but was not always so big. It is told that people who were in downtown when the apocalypse started built the wall, and our five leaders were apart of those people. It first started as part of the main downtown street, but they expanded the walls when they were able. They still are expanding walls. It will take a while, but their goal is to cover as much land as possible, while taking out as many zombies as possible.”

The group of four reached the canteen within a few minutes. It wasn’t crowded as most had already gotten their food for the morning. Alexander walked up to the drive through window and asked for two newbie packages. Once he was given the food and water, he made his way to a picnic type table near the building. He laid the food and water out with utensils. “It’s just boiled potatoes and water to drink. If it makes it seem better, you can think of it as potato soup.” He laughed a bit. “That is what they told us.”

Michelle followed Alexander to the table. “Yea, they are working on growing some herbs though, so soon maybe it can actually be similar to a potato soup.” She sat down on the bench her brother was sitting on. “If you are allergic to potatoes or something in potatoes then we can exchange it for something else as well. Most people don’t think about allergies anymore, but I would hate to see someone on the ground or not eating. Though, I would hope someone would point out their allergy.” She felt a little silly mentioning this, but she had heard a story once about someone who didn’t tell the guides they were allergic to peas, or maybe the person hadn’t noticed the peas. Either way, that story did not turn out well.

 

[llSunflowerll]

The two listened to what Alexander had to say about some rules. They seemed fairly basic and easy to follow, at least those ones did. Kris knew that there were more rules and figured he was just holding more strict rules. Jae nodded knowing he could apply easily to those rules and so would the others. Only one or two of their people didn't have a certain skill that helped. Even then he was sure on was a singer and the other a painter. He knew that art brought happiness to people.

Kris nodded along as Michelle spoke. The walls did seem like a huge advantage but she could still think of ways people could get in. She kept those ideas to herself of course. As much as she didn't want to stay forever she still wanted to eat something and fill up with a few supplies before they left. Pointing out all of their weaknesses wouldn't help their case. "I'm sure once this place is at it's peak size, it would be a sight to see." She said. Jae looked over at her confused. He never took her as someone to compliment so much. Though she was smart, smart enough to suck up when she needed help.

As they all reached the canteen both of their mouths started to water. They could smell the food from outside and it smelled amazing. They watched as Alexander walked up to the drive through and grabbed them both some food. They both sat down at the picnic table and looked down at the food. "Boiled whatever it smells delicious." Jae said with a smile. He started to dig in and shovel the food into his mouth.
"This sure beats soaked noodles and expired beans." Kris said digging in as well. They had had food from the gas station but due to poor rationing all of the good stuff went by fast. Near the last two weeks all they had was a handful of noodles each night and some beans.

Kris looked up when the woman mentioned allergies. She had a point but in times likes these it was hard to be picky. She knew from experience that hunger will drive you to do crazy things. "I watched a man eat a small handful of beans. Didn't say nothing about being allergic and he nearly died that night. Said he was too hungry to stop himself." She said and took a chug of water.
"How many meals a day do you get? And is water rationed out as well?" Jae asked as he took his last bite. "And medicine, do you have any medics or anything? I was in med school before this whole thing happened so I'd love to help where I can." He said with a smile. Kris sighed and finished up her food as well. She didn't like that he was already offering himself up to them, but she knew that he just wanted to help. It was just a matter of time before he was for sure going to stay.

 

[Michibear]

Michelle and Alexander had forgotten how hard it was to be outside these walls. Even if they were still here against their wishes, the city was so great sometimes that the two forgot life outside the walls and were grateful for everything the city provided. "Wow. That man was brave. I knew some people before the apocalypse that if they ate something they were allergic to, the person would throw up. I cannot imagine that throwing up would be great for someone who has not had much to eat to begin with." Michelle said, looking at the woman. As she was talking, she noticed the girl seemed to be more nervous than the boy. Was she the one worried about staying here?

Alexander looked at the man. "You get two meals a day. Every other day they try to offer a snack to everyone on top of the two meals. The snack is usually a boiled veggie. Sometimes it is chips or candies found from scavenging, but as you can imagine things like chips and candies are slowly running out. They have tried to keep that stuff to 'holidays'. A cup of water is usually given out at meals, but every person gets a rill on a canteen every few days so people can stay hydrated. The scientists of this city are trying to find better and easier ways to purify water with what supplies we have, while the leaders are trying to get closer to the river of fresh water near by."

"We have a few medics." Michelle piped in. "Medicine is usually saved for the worst cases, so sorry if anyone gets a headache." She tried to joke, but it probably failed horribly. "This city probably seems like an oasis in a desert,but it is real. You just have to play your cards right." She looked at the man then the woman. "I cannot emphasis enough to stay out of trouble." Michelle knew what happened to troublemakers, unlike most of the commoners. "Don't make any higher ups mad, especially not the leaders."

She sighed a bit and glanced over. A higher up was passing by the table. She waited until he was gone to finish. "Otherwise this city is pretty safe and the best you will find around. Most people will try to work together to keep this city alive as it is their only hope left in this darkness. We are to keep growing and getting stronger." She could not believe all this was coming out so easily. She thought it would be harder to lie. She expected to be stuttering, her voice cracking, or having to force out the words. Although, she supposed it wasn't all lies. This city was a beacon of hope to the people here and most who end up here.

"I am sure the medics would be glad to have your help." Alexander said with a smile. "Maybe you can teach them something they don't know and they can do the same." He looked at their empty food bowls. He gathered everything emptied and dropped it off at the canteen. He returned and asked, "Would you like to see where you guys will be staying? There are a couple empty beds in our room. Well, more like mattresses than beds, but that is better than concrete."

 

[llSunflowerll]

The listened carefully to what the others had to say. Two meals a day sounded better then what they had been doing. This place seemed like it could hold its own while giving out a steady source of food to those who needed it. Kris felt her mouth start to water when the man mentioned chips and candies. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a bog of potato chip, hell the last time she a potato that wasn't in a soup.

When Michelle made her joke only Jae seemed to think it was funny. He gave her a bright smile and a small chuckle. He looked over to Kris to what she thought but she didn't understand. Jokes often went over her head. "I'm sure none of us are planning on starting-" Jae started back realized she was watching someone as they walked past. "Uh, starting any trouble." He finished once the man was out of ear shot. Staying out of trouble seemed easy enough especially when that's what it was like before the grid went down. He loved the sound of this place and was sure that he would stay at this point. They had been on the brink of starvation for and these people promised food and water everyday. They promised something to do so they would never be sitting around. To jae this place seemed like a well oiled machine.

Kris felt it was quite the opposite. Like the woman said it was an oasis, and everything in a desert is drawn to the oasis. Some people that came may not be so willing to help out and make life better for everyone else. She sighed as she looked over at Jae and saw how excited he was about this place. If he felt like this then everyone else would love it here as well. She might not be able to leave.

"I'm sure I could add some good ideas to your research groups. And thank you." Jae said after Alexander walked back over. "Mattresses sound better then the ground any day." He said agreeing to see their place to sleep. He stepped away from the table and looked back to see Kris following. She had to admit a good nights rest would probably make her less of a grouch. "Could you explain your government? Like how do you choose your leaders?" She asked as they walked to the place they'd be sleeping. "Would we ever get to speak to whoever is in charge?...Oh also what are your roles around here?" She added. She wanted to get a good idea of the jobs were like around here. Hopefully they would get to chose what they wanted to do or at they'd place you where your talents seemed fit.