Chapter Text
This world has been ravaged by war and the outer lifeforms. Our character was born after the wars came down, undisturbed by the nukes, unphased by the death his family stepped over, and protected from the evil who swore to end this planet’s freedom.
The richest survived, obviously, and the common man was mostly unable to hide. The war was large enough for outside forces to notice, and come down upon the ruins of the once beautiful land, now only covered in dull browns and lifeless greys. What little green was left was saved for the rich who could eat their cash, and the lowest of the land was given to any who took it.
The aliens came down on the planet, finding the helpless beings that lived had no structure to survive, and slowly they too were dying with the planet. In a way, it could be considered saving them. In another, enslaving. The planet would have once defended itself, but with most possessions lost, they could only submit, and became the planetary equivalent of China's once-had outsourcing labor. They were not as strong and not as smart (most of them, anyways), and the richest were exempt, being the ‘leaders’ of the world to allow this, and getting few funds in return to keep their own wealth growing.
I’ve watched these aliens for many years, and I cannot say they have ever been particularly nice. There were always new humans to come along, so of course, the labor would start as soon as possible. Harsh, cruel, endless, perfection. Some aliens made homes there, schools, religious places, factories, but the world yet again faced another war, destroying all the progress. Most left after this, leaving it only a working planet. Each city a new product, each continent a new company; little humans made their way outside of this working environment. Some would even have to be extremely lucky to be born outside of it and never taken in.
However, our story instead starts with a boy, one raised in those camps. His parents made him stay strong, keep his rebellious spirit, and one day aided in his escape. They needed a savior who would one day return and save them from the new hell befallen their planet. If only they were sure he’d follow through. If he were loyal.
His heart raced with panic, his legs moving faster than he could balance with. His chest heaved and burned as he tried to escape, but he could hear the guards catching up. He had to escape, or he would for sure be caught. As much as he wanted to go back for his parents, to cry to them and be comforted despite the situation, they were most likely dead for their defiance, and he could not give up the chance they had given him. He either had to survive or die trying. He could not let this final chance at freedom slip his hands.
...
"Still nothing, Max. How much longer are we going to be out here?" Gwen sighed, the backpack weighing heavy on her muscles. They had been walking for what seemed like hours, and Gwen was already missing home.
"Just a bit longer, okay? A few more miles, then we can take the shortcut home," Max reassured her, smiling down to her unimpressed expression. She was indeed hard working, it was just the boringness of doing nothing that ruffled her.
They walked past the forest edge, where tree stumps acted like obstacle-course jumps. They were dark and rotting, but still so strong after all these years. Gwen was looking around for anything to be interesting, anything at all to keep her mind off all the walking. But soon, the sewer came ahead, but this time, she quickly noticed it was lacking the usual bars on the entrance.
“Look, Max,” she pointed to the entrance, “Weren’t there bars there a week ago?”
“Well, You’re quite right, Gwen,” Max hummed, stepping closer to the sewer head, observing the empty darkness inside. “Someone must have needed an escape.”
“But that’s not a fast way to escape. And isn’t there a leviathan living at the center?”
“Yes, but there could be many reasons why they could have gone in,” Max shrugged, then looked to Gwen, “and you know not to go in there, right?”
“Yeah yeah, I’m not that dumb.” Gwen sighed with a roll of her eyes, looking away to the forest again. “Can we just keep going? I want to get home quickly…”
“Of course, let's keep going.”
The two began to walk past it, but just before they got too far, there was a rustling and a small voice. “H-Hello?”
The two turned back, but didn’t answer. They knew answering any unknown voice could be a trap. Gwen stepped behind Max, who pulled out his gun in anticipation of the attack.
From inside the sewers, there was a shuffle, then a hop down on the concrete. The creature peaked around the corner, but it wasn’t an alien, just a boy obscured in darkness, clearly terrified.
“A boy?” Gwen curiously whispered, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Max put the gun back in its holder, stepping a bit closer to him cautiously. “Hey, what are you doing in that there sewer?”
The boy was nervous, refusing to speak to them, even if they were humans like him.
“We’re not going to turn you in, son,” Max took another step, gesturing for him to come closer. “You gotta’ name?”
The boy carefully stepped forward, his hands held together at his chest, and his posture slightly slouched. His clothing was dark and dirty, tattered and covered with holes. His body was bruised and scarred, telling more than any words he could say.
“Oh my god…” Though Gwen stayed back, she couldn’t help but whisper out her surprise. He had to have been from one of the camps nearby. She only ever heard about the alien camps being deadly and watchful, but how could such a scrawny, small boy have escaped on his own?
The boy wanted to speak to them, but it caught in his throat like a painful rock, and his chest clenched as instinct kept him silent. He didn’t want to be hurt again.
“Son, you should come with us, we have a safe base you can stay at,” Max tried to convince him, feeling his heart clench at the sight of him so thin and scared. “We have warm places to sleep, all kinds of food you could want; I promise it’s better.”
The boy was still hesitant to trust, as if somehow these humans would hurt him worse than the aliens. But what else did he have? He would die out here, and these were the only people who could possibly help. He let out a small sigh, and stepped closer, keeping his head down.
Max placed a hand on his back, carefully guiding him forward. “Gwen, we might just have to go back sooner than we thought,” He turned to her, his expression serious.
“That’s alright,” Gwen nodded, hiding her relief behind a sympathetic frown.
The two stood at his sides, cautious of the landscape for any danger, if whoever had let him go might still be around, waiting for them to reveal his place. Ben grabbed onto Max’s shirt, not wanting to leave their sides.
…
“Our camp is just ahead; It’s a small place, about 30 or so people. Do you think you’ll be alright there?” Max explained, looking down to the boy at his left.
He had slowly relaxed around the two, holding himself up with a bit more confidence now. “Uhm…Yes. I sleep in a room with many people.”
Gwen chuckled with a soft smile, “Well, you’re probably going to have your own room for a bit while you’re quarantined, so you don’t have to worry about being packed in.”
“...What’s…The uh…”
“Quarantined?”
“Yeah, what that?”
“Basically, you’re gonna be kept in a separate room so you can be acclimated to our environment first, and to make sure you don’t have any sickness or whatever.”
“I have sickness?” He looked up to her nervously, his eyes nearly becoming crescent-shaped.
Gwen didn’t seem to notice, and added, “Probably not, but I mean, you were in the sewers and an alien camp, so who knows what you have?”
“Gwen,” Max called her name with a warning tone.
“I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just saying what’s true!”
“But still, that’s not a nice comment.”
“Okay, okay…” Gwen sighed, looking away from the two into the forest.
“Who is going to be there?” Ben asked curiously. “Is there more in your family?”
Max nodded, “Yep, and a lot of other people. But in our family, there’s me, my son Frank and his wife Natalie, and then Gwen and Ken, who are their kids. But also Kevin, who’s Gwen’s little boyfriend.”
“Max!” Gwen protested with embarrassment. “We’re on break right now, you know that…”
“Yes, but you two were cute even before,” Max chuckled. “I wonder if Kevin will take a liking to him too.”
“If they’re anything like sewer dwellers, definitely,” Gwen crossed her arms over her chest, her face a bit red at the edges.
“Hey, be nice about that kid, he’s got some rough edges you can smooth outta him,” Max smiled at her, lightly nudging her behind Ben.
“Yeah, whatever,” Gwen shrugged, looking away into the forest again.
Ben smiled to himself where they couldn’t see. These people, even in the worst kind of life, could still be happy at times. He grew up with a kind of apathy that had taken him over, with only his parents and few friends watering it down slightly. But these people had a life he could only dream of, and he hoped they could be just like they imagined.
“The base is right up there, Ben,” Max gestured forward, and peaking around the corner of the turning trees, a tall wall could be seen, barbed wire along the top, even above the gate.
As they came closer on the dirt path, two guards could be seen. They had their faces obscured by their helmets, and their clothes were almost as dark as the wall they guarded, if a bit torn and charred from untold battles. Ben was a bit nervous by them, being quite tall and looming over him, but when they got close, they were much friendlier than they appeared.
“Hey, Max, Gwen, you two are back early, huh?” The left one spoke up, nodding their head up.
“Who’s this kid? A survivor?” The one to the right added curiously, looking down to Ben.
Max placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, bringing him forward despite trying to hide. “He ran away from the camp up north, we’re going to get him checked up to see if he’s alright. And maybe he can stay too.”
“The more the merrier, ey?” The left one chuckled.
“If there’s food left,” The right added. “But yeah, he looks like a good sport. Come on in, straight to the medical bay.”
The right one opened up the door, leading into quite a lush place. Ben was nervous, but Gwen pushed him in, leading him along. Inside the large base, there were a few outside tables near the path, and further down, a long, “n” shaped base, dark and with windows along the side.
Many people sat around outside, some not looking at them, others watching curiously. Ben kept his head down, feeling anxious at the eyes on his form. He never truly had this kind of attention on him, and it was like snakes along his back.
Once they went to and opened the door, a cool rush of air washed over them. He had never felt this kind of cold before, it filled him with an odd sense of wonder, something he never did or was allowed to feel before. What place could ever be this cold? Nothing was ever cold anymore, just hot. How was this place cold? It was even brighter than outside, but yet so cold? That was impossible!
The people inside were dressed like an angelic parade, and he hardly heard them speaking to him over his watchful curiosity of the inside building. He wanted to explore it all, unlike the outside that never accepted him. He was scared before, but he was now only amazed. White was rare yet so common along the walls, only the sun and beautiful gods could be it, yet it was everywhere–not sterile, beautiful.
…
As the night washed over the land in slow, dark waves, and the communal bonfire was lit, there was an uneasy question to be answered as everyone began to sit around the bright flames. Everyone knew it, even if they weren’t there. Word spread fast, but nobody was confident enough to speak up just yet. When the mayor came by, maybe they would ask for them.
The newcomer was still in the facility, being cared for by the two main doctors while they made sure he was safe. The boy was odd and quiet, like the rest of them. But there was hope for him yet.
Kevin usually sat with Gwen, but this night, he was with the few other kids that had lost their parents. Maybe it was because of an unheard rumor they kept away, or maybe Ken’s presence was enough to scare him off.
But eventually, the question was asked, and Mr. Shaw spoke up with, “Ey, Max, who was that boy you and Gwen came back with this evening'?”
“Oh, well, the boy must have escaped from the nearby alien camp,” Max explained, keeping his voice steady despite the hostility in Shaw’s tone.
“Really now? You know nobody escapes from that one—of all camps in the states.”
“He was roughed up and starving, you think I should have just left him there to die?” Max glared back to him, but did not raise his voice.
“I’m just sayin’ you should be more cautious! Who knows what that kid’s got, or who he’s leadin’ to us! I would've told the soldiers and had them look instead.”
“Well I’m not you, Shaw, so I’ll do as I damn please,” Max hissed to the disgruntled fisher.
Shaw scoffed, turning away from their direction to the front gate, “Well, I’m just saying, that if it were me, I wouldn’t be so quick to trust him.”
“And thank good hell you weren’t.”
“But he’s a good boy, Shaw, he’s lost his family, and he has a lot of potential here,” Natalie explained from beside him, her voice steady but serious. “He’s almost like Kevin, he has no family left, but nobody had a problem with him coming here. Where is this double standard coming from?”
“Well Kevin didn’t escape from a camp nor risk our safety. I’d rather trust Kevin to lead us into the pit's hell before I let some alien boy in here.”
“Really? Well, he needs a proper influence if he’s going to survive, so he’s going to be staying with us. And if you have a problem with him, you have a problem with all of us!”
“Uh…N-Natallie, w-we didn’t…” Frank spoke up quietly, leaning in close in quiet opposition, “w-we didn’t agree on that yet…”
“And we let that boy fall to people like Shaw?” Natallie added, keeping her voice down as well.
Frank squirmed in place, wanting to oppose her, but knowing she was right. He’d never let an orphaned child be taken into care of one who never cared for him.
Finally, once the talking came down and the fire replaced the ambiance, the Mayor eventually came forward. Mrs Liang looked over them all, quiet with the aftermath of their argument. They waited for her to be seated and to bring her own opinion to them all.
“Good evening, everyone,” she greeted them all softly, and a few answered back in kind. “I’ve been overhearing some of everyone’s opinion on the situation, and I want everyone to know that, if he is clean and acclimated, we will have a temporary trial-period for him to observe his worth as a member of our camp.”