The Truth About Tomorrow

[Nalax]

The Truth About Tomorrow
One x One


Yoki & Nalax

People do crazy things when they know they are about to die. At least that is what my Grandmother used to repeat in the dead of night, over candlelight, as she rocked back and forth in a chipped up rocking chair. She used to explain the chaos of the first dying days in rhymes known only to her longing eyes. Once a great nation stood on these soils, she used to say, and now nothing is left but destruction and loss. No one has been outside in over one hundred years, closing in on two now. The leaders of our shelter claim there is poison in the air. Only those of a higher rank realize that this is a stretch on the truth. Being apart of the military has its perks. The air is not as poisonous as people think but it still isn't damn well good for you. If word ever got out of this revelation than things would go mad. People go crazy when they know there is a threat - or the lack of one.



​

 

[Nalax]

Hot water hit her skin and clung to it with such a passion that a gasp left her lips. The steam rising from the tiled ground of the showering room created a fog of unknown around her fit body. It had been such a long time since she had been able to take this luxury that the burn of the water was a good sensation. Far to warm for her, as her skin protested in the light shade of red it was turning, but she loved the feeling of finally being able to burn off all of the grime she had accumulated from the outside. Rosa hated the feeling of being dirty. It was in these moments, however, that she had to remind herself of just how lucky she was. Not everyone knew there was another world outside of the vault. Dirt was only a small inconvenience.


Still, her military clearance was not as great as those of the higher generals. She was allowed one shower every two week, spanning a thirty minute period, and she took it with gratitude. Rose didn't even mind the flickering of the light above her. Some may think it spooky to stand in the middle of the giant open shower room without the light, as it so often failed, but Rosa thought it to be more freeing than that. At least she didn't have to see other people when the lights were out. Most of the time there was no one else in the showers when she was here anyhow. Rosa liked to wait until the night to take them, when most were asleep.


Stepping out of the water, she dried off and dressed herself in a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. Neatly she folded her all black uniform and laid it with her boots. Slipping on a pair of socks, she signed her name to the self-report sheet that showed who had come to take their allowed shower. Finally, Rosa tied her medium length blonde hair in a ponytail and walked out into the vault that had once been her whole world. She adored the outside much more than she did the safety of this drab place. Grey walls was all she could see when she was inside. Much like some kind of prison, even though she was supposed to think of it as her safe home. Rosa walked down these halls and to her room, which she shared with another soldier to the vault, and put away her uniform. Eden was the other woman's name who shared the room with her. They had not been friends for very long, both having volunteered their bodies to the service about a year ago, yet their friendship felt like it had been everlasting.


Laying down on the twin bed she was supplied with, it didn't take long for Rosa to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. It was a dreamless sleep tonight, like many nights, awoken only by the sound of commands over a old busted radio in the morning. This was how the officers of higher rank communicated with their lower grunt. Rarely were they seen in person. "Code Yellow," The voice spoke loud and clear, "Numbers 400 through 410 should report to the briefing room immediately." Rosa groaned as she forced herself to sit up in her bed. Eden had also awoken, shaking her head in unease, "Dammit..." Eden mouthed, "I thought we were going to be able to stay inside for a couple of days.."


"Guess not," Rosa shrugged and quickly dressed herself. Together the friends made it down to the room they had been called. Ten people stood inside, waiting for orders. They all knew for sure they would be sent out today. Code Yellow meant there was a suspicion that a civilian had made it outside the vault. It wasn't as bad as a red warning, which meant someone definitively had, but it still meant it had to be checked out. "Search for this person," An officer stood in front of them, as they had lined up in their row to listen intently to what he had to say. The man wasn't hard to find, a giant scar gracing his face from the bottom of her chin up to his cheek. No one dared to ever have asked him why. "I want them back alive if you find them, understand me? And you will find them if they are out there. Is that clear?!" Everyone shook their head in agreement and quickly left the room.


Making their way down a maze of hallways, and then up the stairs, Rosa done what she had once thought was impossible. The sound of the loud metal door creaking open into the air hatch was one she would never be able to forget. It meant freedom to her, but it would never meet many others in their worlds. After they had been in the air lock for a moment another door opened to allow them out into the out lands. From their they dispersed, Rosa and Eden staying together as they wondered into the nearby tangle of trees. The land was dry, much drier than Rose had been taught it once was, a radiation effect. The trees were not nearly as massive as they could of been, the tangle being rather dense, but Rosa would never know that. What was here now was her reality and no one liked to focus on what could have been. It was to much to think about in these times.

 

[Yoki]

"Are you worried?" A teenage boy looked down to a younger male, smiling brightly. They sat on top of a small wall of sorts, looking out across the rubble covered ground, it was night time and there was no one around, just the two boys and silence.


"About what?" The other boy furrowed his eyebrows, confused to say the least, he didn't seem to get what the older of the two was trying to say.


"About seeing what else is out there of course." The teen laughed and nudged the younger, swinging his legs, before sighing and looking up to the sky.


"Dylan... You heard them...we can't leave, it's dangerous." He seemed worried, shaking his head and looking down at the ground, "We could...die..."


"They say that...but have you ever been outside?"


"No..."


"So how do you know?"


"Mama said so."


"She doesn't know either Cole, she just wants you to be good and not get into trouble."


"She doesn't want me to be like you."


"Huh?"


"That's what I heard her say to Dad."


"She..." With a sigh, the older sibling shook his head and shrugged, "Y'know Cole, she doesn't want you to be like me...because she doesn't want something bad to happen to you."


"She doesn't want anything to happen to you either..."


"Mmn... Maybe. But if she doesn't want you to follow me, don't. Listen to her, she loves you." He turned to his brother and smiled, "But don't forget, some rules are worth breaking little brother, you don't wanna die here, do you?"


"I...dunno..."


"There's a whole world out there, Cole! Just wait. One day I'll show you, one day we'll see the rest of the world, but only when it's safe. I promise. Okay?"


"Okay."


"I said one day he'd see the rest of the world...maybe he did, I don't know...but I can't take this... I can't take waking up every day and wondering whether that kid is alive or not... When they shipped him off with the others I didn't think it would be this bad, but...I don't trust any of these bastards, especially not with my brother's life. I'll find him. Whether it kills me or not."


Dylan had a plan. That's all that needed to be said, Dylan had a plan and he thought it was perfect.


For awhile the male had had a suspicion about the people who ran their little 'safe haven', they were never allowed out of the vault, as they called it, since the air outside was said to be poisonous and very dangerous. Whilst this explanation seemed perfectly easy for everyone else to accept, he never could, he'd always wanted to know for himself what was on the outside... He always knew that it couldn't just be some awfully toxic air that kept them in here, the rules were so regulated...everyone had to abide by the same laws, well...apart from the people in charge, obviously they got special privileges. Was he meant to know that? No. Then why did he?


He'd always been someone intent on finding out more, and as a child Dylan loved to sneak around, it's how he learned the layouts of a lot of places in the vault, every nook and cranny was known to the male. Always having so much time on his hands meant that there was a lot of time for him to explore places, see what was around, usually it was just a matter of learning the layouts rather than finding new things, but occasionally he went somewhere he shouldn't, or heard something he shouldn't. He was never afraid of getting caught, he had believed he never would... One day on one of his 'adventures' he happened to overhear a conversation between two military soldiers, you know, those people who, for some reason, decided to offer themselves up to serve in what they called the 'military' here... Another thing he'd never understood. Why did they need a military? Why did they need soldiers? Back then he'd been thinking a lot more about the conversation than why they needed soldiers, however. He heard these soldiers talking about the 'outside', which shocked Dylan since they weren't allowed out, and how they'd been on regular checks out there, even had a few people escape, apparently it was an interesting land to go to. This, of course, made Dylan even more suspicious of their highers, if the military was going out there...then it couldn't be all that dangerous... From that day on he made it his goal to find out.


It was when his brother was taken from their vault and apparently transferred somewhere else through 'safe means' that Dylan couldn't sit around and wait anymore... It was just too hard, his little brother had been the only family he'd had left, and most of the people hadn't even known of children being taken and shipped somewhere else...only the families of those children knew...and they were forbidden to tell anyone... Dylan kept his mouth shut, but not because he was scared of any backlash, simply because he didn't want to worry anyone else, and he didn't want anyone else catching on to what he might do.


For these reasons he was getting outside that day, it had been a day of plotting and planning, deciding his next more and making sure that he was aware of every step he was going to take and the consequence of his actions should he be caught. At this point it was worth the risk, he'd weighed it all up...and to him the pros were worth the cons. He knew he could execute it, he just had to make sure that once he was out he was ready to bolt.


The first job was to spread suspicion, he walked around, telling people that someone had disappeared...apparently he'd seen them head towards one of the exits to the vault...but they never came back. Of course people got talking, they told others, and eventually the 'missing person' was reported to the military. Dylan knew they'd act on it, and whilst he wasn't the one to personally report it, he couldn't tell himself be that obvious, he did call an officer out after claiming to have seen someone else running around near the walls. As soon as he got this officer into a quiet enough area he knocked the guy out and took his clothes, it was a bit of a scuffle, but he took the man by surprise and so ultimately he won.


In his attire it would be easy to sneak through to the military's sector, and it was, just as he got there people were heading out of what seemed like a meeting and down a corridor of sorts. He chose a person and fell in behind them, following quietly. As long as he made himself look like he fit in then he'd be fine, it was a nerve racking thing to do...but...somehow he was able to achieve it.


They group were brought to a metal door that he'd never seen before, if he'd been there on his own...well...he might have marvelled at it, but he didn't have time to do that now. The male stood with a straight face, perfectly following everyone else as they were brought into an air hatch and then dispatched outside... So... He was right, they really were allowed outside. Stepping out, he noticed that it was strangely different to what he'd expected...but...it smelled like freedom. The wide expanse of land, and tangled trees gave off a wild feel, making him feel as if he could do anything. Now, of course he wasn't stupid, he had some supplies with him, but...they weren't much, you couldn't really fit much in this gear.


The second everyone spread out Dylan headed towards the trees, if he could find cover then he could take some of this gear off and make his escape... This honestly was the perfect plan, although there had been no one outside, there certainly was now.

 

[Nalax]

Rosa and Eden had been walking a few minutes before they realized that someone was definitively following them. For Rosa it wasn’t all at once, just a lingering feeling of being watched. They had been walking out into the wooded area for a couple of minutes now. The tip of the ice burg, from Eden, was a snap of a branch behind her. Swinging around, Eden narrowed her eyes – straight into combat. “Who’s there?” She growled, Rosa turning to meet the gaze she had made. What stood before them was someone who looked like their own, dressed in a full uniform, but yet didn’t seem to quiet fit in. Everyone went out in teams of two when they were on a search mission, and whoever this was had just made a team of three. Maybe this was one of their own and they had gotten separated from their formation.. Which would spell an even bigger problem than if they were not. That would mean someone had gotten hurt in a fight.


Rosa kept her eyes concentrated on this new member. The way he stood put her off. There was only ten of them in their formation so she knew almost every number that ranged from 400 to 410. The number on this uniform claimed this was person 406, right below Eden and her who had the number 407 and 408. “Axel?” Rosa questioned, her lips pursed, “You look awfully… quiet today.” That was the truth. Axel was a fired up red head with striking green eyes. Rosa had been close to those eyes before – close enough to see the hazel brown outline of the inner iris. If this was Axel she would know it. In fact, she knew a lot about 406, almost too much for the restrictive guidelines put on the military. No one was meant to have a romantic relations with one another inside of the squad but sometimes it was worth bending a few rules to have a little fun. Especially in the middle of their grey dome home.


On top of this revelation, Rosa knew for a fact that Leah would never had just left Axel out in the open. Leah was Axel’s sister, a duo in the military who had fought for their right to be stationed together as 405 and 406. They were both built from years of training together and worked as a perfect duo out in the field. Something was most definitively wrong here. It was clear to Rosa especially that this was an imposter.


“What happened to Leah?” Rosa’s voice grew more attentive, yet she kept the aggression from her eyes. If this was the escaped person than it meant they were not dealing with a regular civilian. A regular civilian would not have gotten into a uniform – especially Axel’s. This man was either very strong, very crafty, or very determined. Eden was getting tired of the small talk. Sometimes the way Rosa operated annoyed the hell out of her. Rosa was more contemplative – Eden was ready to shoot and ask questions later. Which was one of the reason why the only military personal allowed to carry a heavy weapon were the higher ups. Aside from the fact that weapons, as well as many other resources, were hard to come by.


No one could have denied Eden her right to feel a cool metal in her hands, anyway. Her hand reached and grabbed the pistol holstered at her side. “Tell me right now who you are,” She hissed but was cut off at the sudden sound of gun fire off in the woods. An eruption of men’s voices came through the trees along with it. Rosa and Eden stood in tension together listening to the sudden noise. That couldn’t be just an escaped civilian. “What the hell?!” Eden exclaimed and then looked back to the imposter, “Was this your doing as well!?” Her body ached in the direction of the noise, wanting to go join the skirmish, it seemed more important to her.


“Go,” Rosa offered, “I’ll stay here and watch this one.” Eden looked back and forth between them and then took off into the woods. Rosa turned to her hopeful hostage. Her lips pursed and concentrated, “How did you get that uniform?” Her voice was cool and steady, her own hand now rested at her side and weapon. “You need to get back inside,” Rosa warned, “You know the air is… contaminated,” The awful lie slipped through her lips roughly. Rosa didn’t know if she believed it was right to spread something that kept people from the outside – but it was what she was told to do by her officials and so she complied.

 

[Yoki]

Dylan hadn't meant to end up following others, but it seemed that he'd taken the same path...and they looked like they knew where they were going a lot better than he did... So what did he do? He followed them, silently of course, and a little way away, as well as no directly behind. That would definitely be very suspicious... Whilst the male knew a more than he should about the military, he didn't know everything...he didn't even know if these people would recognise something about him and then end up identifying that he wasn't one of them... So...of course he had to be careful. More careful than he'd like to be.


It was as they were a little way in, and he was starting to think it would be a good time to cut off, that he messed up. Whilst trying to split from the two he stood on some sticks on the ground, cracking them in half and making too much noise for it to not be heard. After cringing at his own idiocy, Dylan turned around and tried to act as natural as possible. Two women stood in front of them, one looked calmer than the other, but...they both seemed to be a little confused about what he was doing near them.


Axel. So that was the name of the guy that should be waking up in some back alley around about now, he wouldn't realise what had happened... Honestly the guy should have been able to easily take Dylan out, he was just...smart about how he handled situations, and it wasn't like he was a rookie when it came to things like that. Sometimes you had to get passed people, that had been one of those times... Honestly, he felt bad for the guy, waking up in nothing but his underwear, well...that's what he got for being so gullible.


However, using the man's name for him definitely seemed out of place... They must know there was something wrong. Each of the uniforms had a number on, this woman must have seen the number and immediately realised who the uniform belonged to... To Dylan it seemed like a warning, she was telling him she knew that something was wrong. She'd never seen Dylan in her life after all, and...he looked nothing like that man... It wasn't hard to work out. Still, he kept his eyes locked with hers for a moment, suspicion. There was definitely suspicion there. Maybe he should make his leave...but...these people had weapons, right? If they shot him he had no change of getting back to his brother.


What happened to Leah... As if he knew. Who was that anyway? Dylan wasn't about to come up with some strategic lie, not when it was so obvious that they knew the truth... Their questions so far indicated they knew something was up, it would have been different if they hadn't, but now...he had to find a way out of this... And he might have been able to, had he not seen the more aggressive of the two grab for the gun by her hip. Instinctively he took a step backwards, who was he, well...he could say any old name... There was no way she would actually shoot him, was that how they operated? Or was she just trying to keep him in his place? Did he want to take the chance?


Just as Dylan was about to say something back gunshots resounded throughout the forest, his head immediately turned to the noise, as did the women's in front of him. Well that was a way out, one of them seemed very intent on leave...and the other told her to, whatever was happening over there sounded important. Of course she needed to leave, but that left him with one.


For a few seconds after the woman left he stayed quiet, but of course the female who had stayed started to ask questions. "Hm?" Dylan's head snapped up, his eyes holding slight amusement to their gaze, "How did I...?" He looked down, messing with one of the sleeves of the uniform as if inspecting it himself, "Well...this would usually be the part where I make up some extravagant lie to make myself look good, or to get out of this situation...but I think we both know that won't work." Wit and sarcasm, his only lines of defence, and of course he was going to utilise them. "If you want to know about your friend, he's fine. His head'll probably hurt for a day or two, but he's fine. Naked...but fine." As he spoke Dylan slowly took small steps backwards from time to time, if he could get far enough away...he could run for it.


This conversation didn't interest him at all, well...not until the...'contaminated' air was mentioned. "Really?" He snorted, almost laughing, "We're...out here and you're still going to try and feed me that obvious lie? How stupid do you think I am? I'll have you know my IQ is more than forty, therefore I am able to deduce for this situation that no, I will not die from stepping outside." He sighed, rolling his eyes, "I mean, come on. Do you really think I would have staged this entire thing if I knew I'd die by stepping outside? Of course not." Keep her talking, a distraction... That's all he'd need to do. "When did you learn they were lying to you, huh? Known your whole life? Or...did you just learn recently? Because I'm about...eighty percent sure I've known longer than you have. Sad, right?"

 

[Nalax]

It was clear to Rosa that something was definitively off about the strange man. Not only that but there was no way the other wasn’t aware of their suspicion. He didn’t say anything to them and Rosa knew it was the better choice. Eden was a loaded gun ready to go off and honestly one bad word and she would. If the outcast even opened his mouth it would probably give Eden all of the information she needed. His voice wouldn’t mimic Axel’s, the deep husky sound of a man Rosa had been once very involved in, and Eden would know it from all the times he had been around. No one could mimic such a sound to Rosa. Sometimes she questioned if she missed it and if it was really over between them. Right now was not the appropriate time for that, but seeing the number of her ex-lover across the chest of another made her feel rather.. odd. Meaning Rosa didn’t like the situation either – but she wasn’t willing to just shoot the man because of it.


When Eden took off it looked as if someone had just took the strangers brand new toy and smashed it. Had he been planning on something? Surely he wouldn’t just run away into the wasteland. Rosa thought that wouldn’t be such a good decision. While exposure to the air wasn’t as toxic as foretold, the Wasteland was filled with raiders and all out chaos. No written word of government existed out there. Totally anarchy is what Rosa would have described it as if she had known the word. Anarchy was not even mumbled in the compound because no one knew of it. At least in Rosa’s narrow view. No one would defy the ones that kept them safe. Listen and learn, obey and execute, abiding by every law that was presented to her. Even now as she mumbled the words of a lie she had been told as an infant. Rosa did not know to think for herself in these matters. No one had ever thought to tell her any different.


She was a mindless drone committed to the commands given to her. The most rebellious thought she had was of how free the outside felt. The vast open plain of nothingness that sprawled out around them. Rosa felt tainted to think about it sometimes, almost sinful, and the man in front of her definitively was inciting this same feeling. Eden took off and now she was left alone with that very man. His words were a strange mixture of sarcasm that Rosa didn’t appreciate. Usually the military was not questioned by any civilian. “I don’t appreciate lies,” She warned, although a hypocrite in this, “It wouldn’t work even if you crafted one finely.” Axel’s fortune made her feel a certain way as well. Revengeful in one respect, although also humorous. She would have to bring it up later that he, the unbeatable Axel, had been left naked and lonesome in the compound by a mere civilian.


However, what Rosa did not know yet, this civilian was no mere or ordinary individual – but one with a plan. The snort was enough to make her narrow her eyes at this individual. What was this? An obvious lie? Rosa took a few ginger steps towards the other, having watched him back away from her. “It’s dangerous,” Rosa tried to convince once more with more power in the back of her voice. Being outside for too long would cause trouble for a person not prepared. What Rosa didn’t know was being inside also had it negative consequences. “No one is lying to me,” Rosa said but not as firm as before. Her voice dipping in the middle of the statement. Even Rosa couldn’t completely believe herself. Sure, she had noticed some things were not right about the way their compound operated. Being so religious on bringing the escaped back inside when there was such beautiful trees and flowers without reach, for example. Still, the compound was home, outside was not. Rosa repeated this to herself all too often.


“I am a person of the military,” Rosa stated, more for herself than anyone else, “And you should trust that I have you best interest in mind.” Hard to believe when her partner had just been about to point a gun at the man. “Tell me what your name is and we will head back inside and sort this thing out. If you come… Now then we will write this all off as a misunderstanding.” More firing sounded from the way Eden had ran off to and Rosa was sure this meant raiders. There was no other explanation. It was best to get back inside as quickly as possible. Her whole body seemed to tense with the new mission in mind. No one had to tell her it was best.


Rosa walked lengths towards the other. Her eyes were not as hostile as Eden’s but very serious. She had to keep it this way in order to maintain the dominance she hoped to have in the situation. “This place may be beautiful but it is also deadly,” Rosa explained, although her hands did not leave the holster at her side. Potentially this man was more of a threat than she wanted to peg him as.


In a way this threat wasn’t as physical as she would like to believe. The fragile barrier that laid between herself and knowing the truth about the place she lived was getting weaker and weaker every day. Interestingly enough it had begun to wither away when she had joined the military. When they had allowed her outside into the freedom she desperately desired but yet lied to herself about every day. Rosa would be easy to break down from this, although she tried to say she was firm in her actions. Her body told the story of a firm soldier, but the suspicion and doubt rose in her eyes more and more with the passing time.

 

[Yoki]

"Oh... You obviously haven't seen a master of deceit at work then." Dylan's grin grew as he stared at the other, "I've fooled people when the answer was right in front of them, literally." It was true, as a child he'd done a lot of manipulating and deceiving to get where he wanted to be...honestly it was quite a useful thing to learn, and it especially helped in situations like this. "I'm like a blacksmith. Only...my craft is a lot more dangerous. Give me a call if you need to buy a lie some time, I'm sure I can come up with some stupid sales pitch and a catchy slogan that'll grab your attention enough for you to be hooked." Over the years Dylan had learned that keeping someone talking to you was a good way to make them miss small details, it meant they had to focus on you, which meant sometimes they missed other things... He was just trying to work out what to do without getting shot, after all, that would hinder his plan...


Something that surprised him more than he'd like to admit was when the woman said that no one was lying to her, was she an idiot?! Could she not see what was right in front of her face?! She was in the heart of it and she still couldn't see! She was blinded! Completely blinded! "What? Do they brainwash you guys as well as recruiting you? Or are you all just cleverly designed robots?" The comment was obviously a jab at the woman's inability to realise what was right under her nose. "Don't tell me you've never questioned it all... Have you never felt as if a law is unjust? Never felt awful for doing something to someone you thought was unfair? Do you really believe they tell you everything? Just...think about this. If you hadn't joined the military you'd still be clueless, they'd still have told you nothing, you'd still believe that this air was truly contaminated. Is that not...strange to you?"


He honestly found it hard to understand people who couldn't question things when it was so obvious that there was something wrong with them... She must know, she must have at least thought about it once. "My best interests...did you just say..." Dylan almost laughed, "Well, at least you have a sense of humour, right? Right?! Oh...yeah...you weren't joking...um... I mean that one from before, yeah, she had my best interests in mind too, right? Obviously I'm in a lot of pain and she just wanted to put me out of my misery." He put a hand behind his head, scratching it, "Well now this is awkward... I'd tell you my name, but... I've found that usually it's better to keep your identity a secret, so I'm afraid I cannot do that... Maybe later, yeah?" As he was walking backwards, she was walking forwards...he didn't like that, how was he beer meant to get away?


Dylan didn't understand the military, why did they need to bring him back so badly... It wasn't like he was an issue of any sort. "Say...here me out on this one. You could just...let me go, say there was no one. It's not like you really need to be bring me back after all...I'm useless to society, and I have no likeable traits whatsoever. I'm just a nuisance. So...it obviously wouldn't be a problem to leave me out here to die... It's not like I intend to come back." He knew that if she decided to raise her gun on him he wasn't going to argue, but until she did that...Dylan was going to find any possible exit that he could.


She didn't understand why he had to go...she didn't understand that he had so much to protect...and that the person he needed to protect was no longer here... Every second that went by was another second where that boy could have been killed, he needed to know...she couldn't deny him that... No one could. That wasn't fair...it was all he wanted to know, he just wanted to know his brother was safe...