In Hope Of Light

The time of the event was hard to ignore for a lot of people. Most people who came before us don't remember when the sun shone in the sky or how it felt. On the day of Pre-Flash Week, a bang came out of nowhere and wiped out an entire civilization. Years later, it happened again. People who survived the flash called it Post-Flash Week. It was the day when light was scarce.

When we find light, we harvest it before it burns out. Photos are reaped into jars or lamps that are sealed tightly and shipped out to towns and cities. I work with a large team of Light Hunters and go to a hot spring outside of town where light glows inside a geyser. How it's produced. No one knows. 

We don't question it or say anything about it. Everyone is searching furiously for light to keep us warm and to see in the dark. I engaged a small group, and they found another hole full of light. They pulled out a grabber and scooped it out. The light falls gently into the glass jars. The photos have a soft glow, so it doesn't blind our eyes. Helping myself to some light, I scooped some out for my younger brother and Haruto. 

I got all I needed and followed behind them as they moved away from the geyser. "Hey, Holland!" I turned around, trying to find out who called me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl wearing bulky clothing and a mask to cover her face. She removed her mask. She was covered in deep soot. She must've come out of the factory not too long ago.

She wiped it from her face. Seeing her more clearly, I almost didn't recognize her, and her hair was longer than I remembered. Chihiro. Chihiro waved at me, making her way over to where I was. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the group had already left.

"Hi, Chihiro. How's work?" I asked her. I held onto my jar tightly. "I'm doing well, and it was tiring. I came to pick up Misaki. He already saved me a jar." 

"Oh, okay...how are you two doing?" I shouldn't have asked her that. The two had been separated for some time. Weirdly, I popped the question so suddenly, and after all, they're friends now.

"We're fine now. Thanks for asking, Holland." Chihiro's voice sounded strained, so she rubbed her arm, looking away from me. I changed the subject. 

"Any updates on getting the light back?"

"No...not yet. But, there have been rumors of a sky from the outside world where light is attainable."

"The outside world?" I had never heard about it before. "Mhm, some say that we are living under it." She leaned in close to me. I could smell the scent of sweat on her. I looked up at the 'sky' above me. Murky like the river not too far from here. It almost looked like an illusion. 

I had been told that Post-Flash Week made the sky like this, which is why it was devoid of light altogether. A chill runs down my spine just thinking about it.

My watch goes off. Break time.

"Chihiro!" We turned around and saw a man. He was older than me, and his long black hair hit his shoulders, masked by the rugged suit he wore to protect himself from the photos. He walked towards her. Chihiro catches up to him. I saw the two having a conversation out of earshot. 

The two looked like nothing had ever happened between them. Chihiro and I have been friends since Post-Flash Week. She lived in my neighborhood, and we walked to school together with Haruto. Until she met Misaki. Haruto thought she would end up marrying him after college. 

They didn't get married, and suddenly the two seem estranged. I didn't see a ring on her finger or Misaki.

I pushed the thought back as she carried a medium-sized jar in her hands. She looked so proud. For some reason, I let out a small laugh. She looked ridiculous.

"What's so funny?!" She spatted. "Nothing, you just look funny carrying that jar...you want some help?"

She stomped on my foot.

Ow!

"It's not funny to laugh at someone who's trying!" Chihiro scolded me. It didn't matter, yet we were all trying to get by. A man called out and told us that our break was over, and headed back to the trucks to load up our lights. The photos that we have in hand, we keep that for our family and friends. The rest gets converted into a heating source. Chihiro and I walked back with the rest of the Hunters.

I was dropped off at my house in my neighborhood. A suburban area covered in dark clouds and light rain. One thing that Flash Week didn't destroy was water. Water is safe to drink around here. You have to be lucky to get water. I headed to the flat and saw my brother Johan sitting outside in the rain. He looked tired. He probably just got out of school early. 

"I'm back, Johan." He turned to me with a sleepy look on his face. He gestures for me to come in. "How was school?" I asked him. He rubbed his face and shrugged. "It was okay." That's all he ever says to me.

"Learn anything?" 

"Same stuff...like last time."

He ends the conversation there. He gets up from the stairs and opens the door. I walked inside, and he trails in from behind.

When we first walk in. On the left, there is a red meter box. I opened the lid to the jar and the meter and watched the light fall like leaves from a tree. The meter has lines where it gets filled in, depending on how much it's put in and how long the light lasts. I put in enough to make it last all day. The rest is stored in a pantry.

"I made dinner..."

"And I heard a rumor." Johan's ears perked up as he turned around to face me, and I smirked at him. He hates it when I do that. He wanders into the kitchen and takes out some leftovers. We split it together and conversed by the nook.

"What's the rumor?" Johan asked.

"Chihiro told me that the sky does exist." Johan squinted his eyes at me. He takes another bite of his food. "Come on, you act like she's lying. Aren't you curious? A second sky...right above us."

Johan hesitates a little. He stops eating and places his head down on the table. "...I mean...you got to at least believe it's true. It feels like we're living under an illusion." 

Johan doesn't respond to me. I grabbed my fork and poked him. He snatches them and throws them on the table without looking at me. "Illusion..." he mumbles. "Heh, you might be onto something, Holland." 

"The illusion theory?"

"Yeah, what if it was controlled by a machine?" 

Johan gets told that he's smart but not that smart. I didn't think of it. After school, Johan works part-time in the Elecoms Factory, where they operate on photos.He quit his job because of sleep deprivation. He says that machines are pumping out electricity like clockwork. After that, he comes home looking like roadkill. Some say that it's the symptoms of the Post-Flash Week. 

"Do you think that it's possible? A machine that can open the skies to an outside world?" I heard light snoring coming from him. Every time I see him. He's always tired. I don't blame him. Post-Flash Week got everyone.

The next day of work was different. The head boss mentioned cases of skin diseases reported near the geyser. Everyone present was a little apprehensive. 

"Excuse me, sir? Where did the outbreak occur?" A woman spoke up.

The boss responded to her, saying that it happened yesterday. Heavy reports of patches of sunlight breaking through the clouds started to burn people's skin. It didn't come from the geyser lights?

I felt someone touch my hand. I turned to see Chihiro. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"Haruto...I saw him with dark marks on his arms and face. I think he might be infected." She whispers. I shuddered at the thought of seeing him. "He's being treated now." I didn't say anything to her. She takes her head off of my shoulder. I looked up and saw Misaki. He's pretending not to see what just happened. I didn't want to cause trouble between them.

"Holland, I have more updates on the lights." Chihiro looked so pleased telling me that. "What's up?" She led me away from everyone else as we sat on a bench. Everyone looked like tiny cattle out there. There are millions of geysers everywhere. Across the hot springs is where the lights are heavy. If you look anywhere else, you won't be able to find them.

"I heard from Kees that the outside world is deep in the forest, outside the town." "How does he know that?" I asked her.

Chihiro told me last night that Kees and some of his guy friends were out during late curfew in search of the outside world. They came across an old warehouse that hadn't been touched in years. He thought that it must've been Pre-Flash Week. Before everyone was wiped off.

She also mentioned that Kees was the one who started the rumor. Word of mouth didn't get to everyone in town. He made sure the rumor got passed to her first. 

"What was inside?" I inquired. 

"Let's see...an old journal from a scientist studying the cause of Flash Week. Her name was Manon, a woman. Kees told me that the findings were pensive yet shocking."

"Shocking?"

Yeah, Manon said that the cause wasn't from some blast. The blast came from that warehouse controlled by a reactor that used to run on the outside world."

"Are you saying we are under a reactor, and the outside world exists?"

"Sounds like it, but...during Pre-Flash Week. Someone silenced Manon. I guess someone didn't want a word of this to get out. Until now."

"Anything else?" 

Chihiro tried to remember and said that was all he found out. Kees said that the anonymous person who silenced her died in Pre-Flash Week.

After work, I went to the healthcare center to meet with Haruto. I saw him in the doctor's room, waiting for the test results of his condition. His face was covered with gauze on his left cheek. There were splotches on his arms. He smiled when he saw me. 

"I look like a mess. The infection isn't that painful." He played it off like it didn't hurt him. "Did you wear your gear?" I asked him. "I did...until I took it off because it was getting heavy, and that's when I saw the patches poking out of the clouds."

"Did it hurt?" 

"It feels like touching a hot stove...you think the gear would protect you from the sun...maybe I have skin problems?"

We both fall silent. It's been two days since we haven't spoken to each other. Haruto is a Light Hunter like me. "I sat down and thought about the outside world...Holland." I could barely understand him.

"Before everything flashed before my eyes. I saw a blue sky, and then I woke up and saw the clouds turn into a wasteland. Holland...word of mouth said that the outside world is real? Wouldn't it be funny that there's a curtain waiting to be lifted?"

A curtain? I could see that. A curtain full of illusions just waiting to be lifted. I heard the door unlock and saw the doctor. 

"Sorry about that, Doc," Haruto said. "Holland wanted to check up on me. What are the results?"

"The results are good, but I will give you medication so those spots can be cleared up." He said. With a sigh of relief, I waited until Haruto was released. 

Haruto walked out of the building and spotted me sitting outside. He said, "What's going on?" "A rumor by Kees," I told him. I told him everything. A small smile spread on his face. He looked at the sky above him and whispered, 'Finally' and 'Mika, you can rest now.' 

Nighttime came about. Johan and I ate dinner, and he cleaned the kitchen while the TV was on. Johan went to his room and stayed there while I was in the living room. 

Suddenly, someone knocked on my door. I got up from the sofa, heading towards it. To my surprise, Chihiro wore baggy overalls in front of my door. I looked across and saw the truck from the Hunters on the street.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. She crossed her arms and said, "I'm conducting my search...since Kees won't help me. Either way, he gave me information on where the warehouse is located and the journal, too."

"Is anybody with you?" 

"Just Misaki..." Her voice trailed off. I should've known. 

I told Johan I was leaving for a bit, and he said okay, and I quickly tagged along with Chihiro. She opened the front door to the truck. Sitting on the driver's side was Misaki, looking pissed off. I climbed beside him while Chihiro sat in the back with the grated windows. I put my seatbelt on. I can sense Misaki staring at me...harshly.

"Come on, Misaki. Less glowering and more moving." Only Chihiro can make a tense situation lighthearted.

We made it to the forest right outside of town. The three of us climbed out and trekked up the path before us. The walk to the warehouse wasn't very far, just hidden well. The house before us had seen many terrible things. Windows busted out, and pieces of burned wood lay there. Misaki opened the door with easy access as we looked inside. 

Everything seemed fine on the inside. On the table lay a journal. Chihiro picked it up and scanned the pages while Misaki glanced around the room. I followed behind Misaki to a shelf full of burned books. He picks up a burned book and pretends to read. 

In my peripheral vision was a door covered in overgrown vines. I turned my attention to it and walked up. "What did you find, Holland?" I brushed the vines off and tried to open the door. It wouldn't budge. 

Misaki ran up beside me, trying to open it, but he couldn't get it to open up. "Hold on, you guys!" We turn around and see Chihiro in a running position. She told us to move out of the way, and we did. She yelled like a madman, sprinting towards the door, and Chihiro then kicked the door down with her heel. The door fell with a slam, echoing in the next room. 

We all stepped over the door as Chihiro flipped the light switch. The lights came on, flickering in and out. In the middle of the floor was a reactor. The reactor had two metal-shaped domes and a glass ball in the middle. From the looks of it, It's probably a core reactor, and it's probably dead.

"Now what? It looks like it's not going to come on." Misaki said. He looks around, trying to search for a switch. "Well, as I read the journal, the reactor is dead. It got destroyed during Pre-Flash Week, so it's not turning on." Chihiro stated. "Any other information?" Misaki questioned her.

"There was mention of a machine created by scientists who wanted to protect the earth's atmosphere. It didn't go well. They thought what they were doing was for the good of the people but ended up reversing the situation. Instead of helping, it harms millions of people." She said.

"Where is that machine now?" 

There was nothing to be found. Expect another door. I opened it, and it led us to the back of the forest. We got to scour the area. We searched endlessly and couldn't find the machine.

The three of us were about to give up. I gave it another once over. I walked deep into the forest. A quiet sound of rattling catches my attention. I yelled out to them, and I didn't think they could hear me. I moved in closer.

Near a stream, there was something that looked like a fog machine. Usually, it sprays low to the ground, but it was spraying fog upwards, creating a gigantic funnel in the sky. Attached to the back of the machine was an aerosol can. It smelled like burning gas and chemicals. 

"What is that?!" Yelled Chihiro. "It's an old fog machine spraying toxic chemicals," I told her. "It's being released into the air."

"Well, turn it off!" I got down, trying to pull the can off. It wouldn't move. I looked for a switch, and there it was. I flipped it off, and it stopped. The funnel started to fade away. It was too easy.

The clouds stayed the same the next day. We concluded that this was their plan. To help protect people from the sunlight. Manon wasn't able to add in her entry that day. She probably knew that this was their plan all along.

To keep people safe, they had to wear protective gear to shield themselves from the sun's harmful effects. The cause of the Pre-Flash was the blast of the reactor, and in the aftermath of the Post-Flash, a fog machine was created to wipe out the sun, which caused light scarcity and other health problems. 

Everyone was angry, hurt, and astounded by what happened. 

Weeks later, the sun broke through the clouds and created a big hole, causing the clouds to dissipate and reveal a clear blue sky with white clouds.

This was the first time that I felt the sun on my skin.