What About the Others

Present Day:

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat!” Finn cries angrily.

I look at him with somber eyes. He knows me better than anyone, and he can tell that I am at the end of my rope. I shake my head and turn away.

“Marlow knock it off, you’re scaring me.” He pleads. I can see how much this is hurting him. The pain is written all over his face.

“Whats the point Finn? This is it, there’s no more for me. I have to go.”

5 months Ago

I can’t believe it has actually come to this. They said on the news that we had years to prepare, decades maybe. They were wrong. I hadn’t anticipated having to enter a facility this soon, no one had. But here we are. I walk slowly through the entrance hall, looking for any face that might be able to give me some direction, or tell me where to go. I spot an older woman with with striking green eyes, she beckons me in her direction.

“Hello, Im Marlow. I’m not sure where…” I stammer.

“Follow me.” She says without allowing me to finish my sentence. She turns away quickly and begins to walk down a dark hallway, her small heels clacking as she continues forward. 

I follow her silently as she leads me to what I recognize to be living quarters. She walks into a room with a bunkbed, two desks, and a meager window that you can hardly see through due to all of the ivy that covers it.

“This will be your bunk from now on. This is the only bunk available, I want no complaints. Dinner will be at 18:00 sharp. Your bunkmate will get you acquainted with all the rules you must follow. If you have any questions, please ask your peers, otherwise you may come to me if the need arises.”

She walks swiftly away, without giving me time to get another word in. Not that I have anything to say anyway. I am so immersed in the scene around me, what it all means, when suddenly a tall, broad shouldered boy interrupts me.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I.. I’m Marlow, who are you?” I falter over my words, but try to remain confident.

“I’m Finn, this is my bunk. What are you doing in here?”

“The woman, she lead me here. Apparently this is my bunk too.”

“Damn. I’ve been here for months, no bunk mate. I thought I had gotten by unnoticed, I guess not. Well I guess you’ll be fine. You get top bunk. I already claimed the bottom months ago.”

I nod and slowly walk over to the bunk, eager to lay down. It has been a long day. I drop my bundle of belongings at the end of the bunk, and climb the ladder to the top bed.

Before I can get settled, I notice my new bunkmate, a complete stranger to me, pick up my bundle. It looks as though he is going to open it, but before I can say anything, he walks over to a small cupboard and puts the bundle inside.

I guess this guy isn’t as much a jerk as I thought. Living with him might be easier than I imagined. I nod thanks, before laying back down. I hadn’t expected such kindness from this brooding stranger. It puts me at ease and I fall into a dreamless sleep.

3 months ago:

At this point, life in the facility is second nature. Our daily agenda is as follows:

• Wake up 
• Go to training
• Clean up
• Meal 1
• Lessons 
• Meal 2
• Lessons 
• Duties
• Meal 3 
• Return to the bunk/Free time. 

Finn and I are closer than I anticipated we would be. He’s kind, and he’s funny. He’s my best friend. He acts like this place hasn’t torn him down, like it has the rest of us. But late at night I see him. I see how much all of this has affected him.

Our world has been torn apart by the Others. Though they won't admit it, our government has been falling apart for years. They started losing control when the Others first stepped in. The “Others” are human-like beings. They are more powerful than us. No one knows where they came from. Just randomly, they started appearing all around society, claiming that they had information that would help us be a more sustainable society, a better society. But they lied. Wherever they came from, they came here to destroy, to take control.

The facilities started popping up about a year ago by people who wanted to take control and face the Others. They were created in order for us to train and educate ourselves about the Others, and to prepare for us to fight. Although, now it seems like all our leaders want to do is keep us safe within the facility walls, not let us out to face our imminent battle. We’ve been learning more about what it is they want, and how they operate. It seems they are far more powerful than we initially imagined. Some say they have the power to control our thoughts, our actions. The only people who know whether that’s the truth are those who have been met with the others. Most of those people don’t come back to the facility, and those that do, return on the brink of death. We haven’t been able to save one of them yet.

2 months ago:

Everyone is dying. They are all sick, they just keep walking away into the abyss. Just two days ago a black fog erupted around our facility. It seems to be driving everyone mad. Only about half of the people in the facility remain.

There’s something about the fog that has been leading these people to their demise. It's almost as if it lures them, offers false promises that are more enticing than what the facility has to offer them. 

Finn keeps promising me that we will be okay, that we will figure out how to beat this. I want to believe him, but I don’t. The Others, they understand things we don't. How the world works, how to manipulate it, and us. Their minds stretch farther than anyone can imagine. They don’t need us. We are useless to them, a simple obstacle they need to dispose of. We are something that only lengthens the process of them obtaining our world.

I have to wonder though, what do they plan to do with it? What potential does it have that us humans have not already used it for? Is it better that they obtain the world, or is all of this just meaningless? I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of wondering. There is nothing left for me here. I can train all day and all night, I have never been as strong as I am now. Finn doesn’t understand. He wants me to stay, to live within the protection that our facility provides. But what kind of life is this, constantly wondering what else there is?

2 weeks ago:

I don’t think I can stay here much longer. The thoughts about joining the Others have prevailed my mind for weeks. Finn keeps telling me to push them out, but I don’t think I can. I have been making a plan to leave for a while now. I just don’t know how to go about it without alerting Finn of my plan. He thinks it's suicide. But I have to know what’s on the other side of the fog. Maybe if I can make it to the other side I can find out what it is we need to do in order to fix all of this.

1 week ago:

“Marlow that’s what they want you to think! They want you to think there is something more out there. They are luring you out there like all the others. You know what happened to everyone who walked into the fog. They don’t come back Marlow! I can’t lose you, please!”

3 Days ago:

“Finn the thoughts are back. They’re loud!” I scream, clawing at my temples as if I might be able to rip these thoughts out of my head. 

“Marlow stop. Listen to me. You are not a part of them. You are stronger. They cannot control you unless you let them in. Push them out. You have to stay strong, I don’t know what I’ll do if you let go.”

He’s holding me, hugging me tight to his muscular frame. I sink into him and try to focus only on my breathing. I try to sit still, but I can’t stop shaking.

“I’m trying” I sob. “I can’t Finn, it's too hard.”

Present Day:

And so I let go. I plunge into the ever encroaching darkness. I hoped that this final fall would release me from the suffocating darkness that has been inhabiting each corner of my mind, but to my surprise, it doesn’t fall away. It grows stronger as its sharp iciness encloses around me. And suddenly I realize that Finn was right. This is what they wanted. I scream, I flail wildly, trying to reach for something, anything that will pull me back to reality. I can’t. I feel my body go limp, and my heart beat begins to slow. The iciness doesn’t feel so cold anymore. I wonder what would happen if I just… leaned in.

Finns POV

I reach for her before she falls. And suddenly she’s screaming. Why is she screaming?

“Marlow! Marlow wake up!” She’s still screaming. How do I make her stop? I shake her. “Marlow it’s me, calm down. I know you’re in there.”

Her body goes limp in my arms. I panic. She opens her eyes. They’re black.

The others took her too.