Lino, Nox and I

The world was slowly crumbling away in front of our eyes. Not by aliens, zombies, or by lava or volcanoes… but rather, by us. Humankind itself. After the governments decided to join Hendrick’s rule, everything began to fall apart. They began to kill the innocent, the weak and the poor. They thought that those who fell behind were going to slow down the progression of the human race. Now, they were hunting us down. 

“We don’t have anywhere else to go…”

Lino cradled Skipper in his arms, hugging the baby retriever close. I slumped down beside him, in the dim carpark. After being chased out of our apartment, I lost my family among the chaos. Not knowing where to go I ran to the carpark hoping to escape only to find Lino with his puppy in his arms. He was younger, by two years at least. Now, abandoned and with nowhere left to go, we sat together beside a van, hiding from sight.

“We can’t stay here forever though,” I muttered quietly. 

Lino set Skipper down and let him snuggle on his lap, petting the dog’s head gently, luring him to sleep.

“But where do we go? We can’t just run out into the streets with no parents, and no money. They’ll find us and take us away too.”

I pursed my lips. He’s right. We can’t do much without money. And when the soldiers see two kids wandering the city, they’ll take us with them and check our backgrounds. Then an idea came to my head. It might not work, but it was better than staying here. 

“We could go to an abandoned place somewhere and hide out there,” I told Lino, looking over at him. 

He nodded, “I think it’s a good idea.”

He got up, still holding Skipper. I followed and we slowly crept through the car park, keeping to the darkness that covered half the underground. By the time we got close to the door, Lino poked my arm to try and get my attention.

“Is there even an abandoned place near here?” He asked quietly, eyes filled with doubt and worry.

“I heard a rumor… might as well take the chance…” I replied. With a slight nod from Lino, we continued on. 

To be completely honest, I didn't know for sure - if there was even a place we could go - and it scared me. I wanted to stay, but it wouldn’t do us any good at all. I had to lead Lino though. I should take care of him, even if I wasn’t very good at it.

Walking out of the car park, the two of us tried to keep hidden by walking through the alleys. Everywhere we looked, only the rich and strong walked. Everyone else… they just didn't exist here anymore. The two of us tried to keep our heads tall in case of an emergency escape through the streets. Luckily, that didn't happen to us. We continued on, towards Wells street, where I heard there was an abandoned factory. 

I looked over at Skipper often. He was small and obedient. He didn't bark much either. Lino managed to train him to keep quiet. He was fragile and was a baby, ripped from his mother at a young age. I felt sorrow, sympathy for the little guy. 

As we walked, we soon came upon a factory, the windows all boarded up.

“This should be it…” I said, glancing up at the looming building. Lino nodded and I started off. Instead of going to the front door, I walked to the back, hoping to find an entrance. The door will definitely be boarded up and everyone would be able to see us from the streets.

As we shuffled to the back, we scoured the building. The building was old, dusty, and seemed desolate. When we got to the back, we saw that one of the windows was not boarded up.

“Do we break in?” Lino asked, setting Skipper on the ground. I walked to the window and stepped on the garbage can right beneath it to lift myself higher. I put my hands on the glass and pushed it a little, to see just how strong it is. 

“There are a few missing panels here. We could break a few more to get in.” I said, after realizing that there were missing panes of glass.

Lino climbed up beside me with a rock in his hands.

“Are you breaking the window with that?” I asked him. 

“Yeah… I could only find this to use.”

With a sharp inhale he swung his arm, with the rock in his hand when… I stopped him.

“Wouldn’t we make too much noise?” I asked, suddenly filled with worry. He lowered his hand, concern lining his own face.

“Then what else can we do?” He asked, his voice now barely a whisper. I turned away. I made him worry with my stupid, stupid comments. 

Then just as I was about to answer, footsteps sounded behind us and someone pulled us off the garbage can by the back of our shirts. I tumbled to the ground and someone pushed my stomach first onto the floor. Then they put their knee on my back, digging into my back.

“Don’t move!” They said, containing their volume to a minimum. I struggled to move. It hurt. Their knee pressing into my back - it hurt. I wiggled a little, trying to ease the weight.

“I said, don’t move!”

Then something cold pressed into the back of my head. A gun. I glanced over at Lino and he looked back, fear radiating from his eyes. I stilled and laid flat on the ground, afraid of what may happen if I didn't oblige. 

“Now tell us what you were doing by the window.”

The voice was a woman’s, stern yet elegant in a way. I opened my mouth, wanting to explain, but nothing came out. I was frozen with fear.

“I said explain!” The woman hissed. She pressed the gun harder into my head. 

“I- We… we were-”

“We were trying to break the window to get inside!” Lino interrupted, “Please don’t hurt us!”

The woman withdrew her gun, “And why is that?”

“W-we needed a place to stay. We ran away from… the government,” Lino cried. A man, who I didn't see before walked over to Lino and clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Be quiet boy, before they come.”

The woman who was still forcing me down, got up, dragging me roughly up with her. I took a glance at her. She was tall, her hair length near mid-back with curls. And she wore tight clothes that defined her body. Her hair was brown - hazel. She dragged me with her as she strode over to the window. 

‘What was she doing?’ I thought, glancing at her worriedly.

She climbed onto the garbage can, letting go of me as she did so. 

“Don’t run,” Was all she said. I watched her as she reached her hand in the gap with the missing panes of glass. She slipped her hand onto the other side, on a separate glass of pane - from the inside - and slid it upward. It came out and she held it, looking down at me.

“What are you waiting for? Get in.”

I clambered up beside her and slipped into the now open window - or more so - missing. I almost fell when I climbed through. There were crates on the other side. I carefully made my way down and turned back around to see the woman coming in with the man and Lino in tow. She slid the glass back in and jumped down, grabbing my arm as she passed. 

“We’re going to go somewhere to sit, and you, you’re going to tell me all about yourself.”

The woman sat us down and interrogated us. We answered, telling her all about our experience and what we went through for the past couple of days. She was pretty forgiving but stern and cautious. She gave us food and a room to sleep in. Days passed and we started getting antsy, even a little bored.

“Is Wilma and Mage still out?” I asked Lino, looking up at the roof of the factory. Throughout the days here, we learned the woman and the man’s name. Lino and I were laying down on some machinery, bored out of our minds. We both wanted to help them get supplies and work to get money but they refused to let us outside. In fact, we weren’t allowed outside. 

“Yeah. They’re still out.” Lino replied. I looked over at him. He was twiddling with a rubber band he found laying among the rubble.

We both laid there for a while longer, not saying much to each other. Then, there was a clang, echoing from somewhere else in the factory. I shot alarmed looks at Lino. We sprung onto our feet and climbed down.

“What was that?” Lino asked, wide-eyed, “Something fell right…? It’s not someone?”

I shook my head and pointed to the way to the window, “Be quiet and follow. There might be a chance that someone stumbled in here.” 

I crept along the machines and belts with Lino in tow. 

When we first came here, Wilma and Mage told us no one came here. Now, I was slightly scared. Could it really be someone? Or did something just fall like Lino suggested?

Either way, by the time we arrived at the window, we saw a figure dashing over belts and crates. 

“Look! There!” I pointed. There was no use being quiet anymore. We could see an intruder and I knew they could see us. 

“Stop!” Lino cried, running after the intruder.

We ran through many hallways, through doors, past, and over machines until we caught them at a dead end. They were short, with short blond hair, standing with their back to us. By now, we were panting, sweat rolling down our foreheads. 

“Stop running!” I managed to shout. The intruder raised their hands in the air. I was relieved when I didn't see a weapon in their hands. There was a short moment of silence.

“N-now turn around!” Lino added, fidgeting with the frayed hem of his shirt. The intruder turned, slowly. When we saw their face, we didn't say anything. It was unexpected. A girl my age, with blood staining the front of her shirt.

I looked over at Lino and he frowned. 

“Did you kill someone?” Lino asked, looking up at the girl. As he did so, he secretly took out the rock that he usually kept in his pocket. I snuck a glance. His hand was shaking.

“No.”

Despite the girl’s haggard look, her voice was smooth and soft. 

“Why did you come here?” I asked her.

She shook her head, “I was going to die. I ran.”

Then another thought struck me, “How did you even get in here?”

The girl looked away, “I fell from one of the walkways up there.” The girl pointed at the ceiling, the metal walkways beneath them broken and rusting away. An awkward silence enveloped the room. 

“Let’s go,” I said, turning away. I started to walk back the way we came. Lino followed, glancing back at the girl.

The girl looked up at us and her face lit with alarm. She thought we were going to leave her.

“Well, are you not coming?” I asked her. She ran to catch up, not wanting to be left behind.

The days passed quickly and soon, Wilma and Mage let us go out to run errands. We had to be clothed like the rich, however, and it took a while for the whole set up to happen. I started being friends with the girl. Her name is Nox. She’s nice and I really like her. We haven’t been caught by the government yet. And hopefully, never will be. And not going to lie, I think I like Nox. Like, more than someone should.

“So are you coming?” Nox laughed, tugging Lino along. 

“I’m coming! I am! Just give me a minute!” I snapped back. I finished tying my shoes and followed Nox back out through the window. We walked out into the streets, after making sure no soldiers were around and walked side by side, heading to the supermarket for groceries. Lino skipped ahead, while Nox and I walked in step with each other.

“It feels nice out here,” Nox said, turning to grin at me. I smile back. 

“It does.” Slinging an arm around her shoulder, the two of us walked down the street, catching up with Lino, who we consider our little brother. When we arrived at the market, we strolled through the aisle lazily and bought the things we had to before we headed back, food in our hands. 

“Hey Eryn, why are you so clingy to Nox?” Lino asked, frowning. Nox laughed as I flushed a light pink.

“You jealous Lino?” Nox asked, guffawing. Nox slung her arm around my neck and pulled me closer, “She’s mine!”

Lino scrunched his face up in irritation and walked on ahead.

“What was that about?” I asked her, turning my head towards her. She smiled and said nothing, pulling me ahead to catch up with Lino.

Back at the factory, Wilma and Mage were lounging on chairs, flipping through the pages of a book. We had just arrived.

“What’re you looking at?” I asked as we walked in. We put our groceries down and hurried over to see what they were looking at.

Wilma glanced up at us, “Nothing much. Just news about the ‘strong’ and the ‘weak’.

“Well, what does it say?” Lino asked, peering over Wilma’s shoulder.

“The weak are being sent to factories and to work on farms. The government is also holding a meeting to see what else they could do with them.”

Neither three of us spoke.

Mage looked up at us and got up, “Alright, might as well help around the factory. We’ll leave Wilma here to think about… things.”

Mage looked at us, edging us to follow him. We did, but not without worry for the woman who took us in.

Soon enough, we started to blend well with the rest of society. Our past lingered with us, but we were able to get past that. We also built a water system in the factory and took apart some machines to make room for well… rooms. Now, we could do anything we wanted. Before long, we were at legal age and all we had to do was to earn enough to live and blend into society. The weak also have started to fight back against the government officials. Many of them were killed that day, but many more were willing to step up and take back their rights. And I was going to make the best out of my time. With Wilma, Mage, Lino, and Nox. Especially Nox. I think I love her.