We must have walked for days, maybe even weeks. I had lost track of all time ever since that fateful day when the world was blown to hell. Every once in a while the three of us would take a break to get some sleep or to find something that was edible. There was no filling yourself up on cheeseburgers from McDonald's. There were only scraps left behind, eating like a scavenger, and never feeling full. There was no hospitality, no lodging, and no comfort of any kind. If we were lucky, we would find a bed somewhat intact and sleep in shifts, the other two of us on guard while one slept.
We had to stay on guard because the people had gone crazy. There was no government. There was no police. There was absolutely no order. I was so surprised that it wasn't incredibly chaotic. Sure, the people would kill someone without thought now, but for some reason, they all seemed to be controlled. It was as if some law had been put in place to keep them from acting out. We were outsiders in an unforgiving world. They mostly ignored us as they walked on. We could never get a good look at them because they simply paid us no attention. It wouldn't be until later that I would actually learn what was happening.
"Wake up JT, we have to keep moving." Georg shook me awake. I merely threw my hand up and smacked him upside the head.
"My name's not fucking JT so stop calling me that or I'll have Gustav shoot your other fucking arm." I growled as I stood up and wiped the sweat off of my forehead.
Every since the explosion destroyed and changed our world, it had been about as hot as the sun's surface. I had long abandoned my three layers of shirts, carrying them in a backpack I had found, along with other supplies I randomly picked up. It was tough as hell living in the world we were in. It had only been a week since we came out from the shelters and I already had a crazy tan.
"Ooh, someone's testy today." He laughed before he downed a fistful of pills, walking away from the bed.
I sighed and followed him to where Gustav was waiting. When I caught up to them, we started walking more into the city, our shelter having been a bit farther away from the city. I looked to the two guys I was traveling with, my only friends in this new world, listing silently to what they were talking about, but my mind was wandering elsewhere. I was thinking of Bill. What if he really was dead? What would I do if he was gone? Would I kill myself or would I live a hollow life without him? We continued to walk until we spotted a few outsiders like us. That's what the controlled people called us. Outsiders.
"Hey friends." One of them walked up to us. He looked to be in his thirties. "My name's David."
"That's Tom, and that's Georg." Gustav shook the man's hand. "My name is Gustav. Former police officer."
"Nice to meet you three. We're fleeing from the city. The Controls are forcing everyone out. If you don't flee now, they'll line you up for execution." He sighed softly. That's what we outsiders called the other people. They were the Controls.
"Is that what they call themselves?" I asked. I didn't know much about the Controls. "Can you tell me everything you know about them?"
"The formal name that they call themselves is the Loyal Subjects of the King, Children of the New World." He rolled his eyes with a shrug. "They're brainwashed is what they really are. They are a group from the other side of town. The other bomb shelter caved in and killed nearly all of 'em. The ones that survived, the Controls killed off. The Controls found shelter in an abandoned mental institution near the shelter. Surprisingly, it wasn't bombed. It did leave them all mutated though." He sighed softly.
"Wait. Did you say that the other shelter caved in?" I groaned loudly as David nodded. There was no way that Bill was alive. I was sure of it. "How did it mutate them?"
"Their voices have changed. They don't sound anything like they used to. It's almost like their voices were kissed by angels. They almost sing as they speak. Only a few of their voices changed though. Those one's we call the Deceivers. They sound like angels, but kill like devils. The Controls call them the Voices. Then there are the Lookouts. Their eyes were affected. The color of their eyes are bright red and they can see much better than any human with perfect vision can. They call them the Eyes. Some of them couldn't handle the mutations and just died off." He continued.
"So what's the deal with them though? They just all hang out together and worship each other?" Georg asked with a blank expression.
"No. Remember their name? They are the Loyal Subjects of the King. The one who started the rebellion has been named their king. He isn't just a normal human anymore anyways. He's a Deceiver, a Lookout, and a Snake." He sighed.
"A snake?" The three of us asked in unison.
"They call it a Charmer. He's the worst of them all. He has this charm that he won them all over with. He's the only one who has it, so I doubt it really was a mutation. He was probably just a charming guy who could easily persuade others. They say he looks like an angel though. They say he was handed down to them from God himself. They worship him like the air they breathe. He gives them an order to kill, and they kill. They protect him with their lives. The Controls walk around in all black cloaks with the hoods up, but not covering their faces. They wear war paint as well. I think the different symbols mean different things to them but I'm not sure. But look, the Controls will be coming this way in any minute to chase us off. We've got to get going. It was really a pleasure meeting you all and good luck." David nodded to us before he and his group had started to run for the hills.
"What the fuck is that shit?" Georg had laughed. "As if I'd believe that. What is this? A fucking fairytale?" He rolled his eyes before he began to walk towards the city, spinning around when Gustav stopped him.
"I think it's safer for us to go to the hills. If this cult really is there, I don't think we want to risk getting killed. I only have my issued gun and a taser. They probably have machine guns and since I'm a cop, they'll probably have an out for us to begin with." Gustav sighed.
Gustav and Georg argued for a moment before they turned and began to head towards the hills, obviously expecting me to follow them. When I didn't, they turned to see what was up. But I wasn't there. I had run full force towards the city. I had to find out if Bill was still alive or not. There was no way I could possibly run to the hills. I had been waiting for a year to have this chance. I had to know.
I could hear Georg and Gustav's voices in the distance calling for me. I knew I was out of their vision, but that's what I wanted. I found myself on a city street, looking around at the destruction of the city before I could hear unfamiliar voices growing louder. I looked around and spotted two figures in black cloaks with war paint on their faces. One had red eyes. So, maybe David didn't lie to us. He was right.
I looked around before I noticed an empty trash bin, climbing in it and closing the lid. I waited until the two were out of my vision and out of my hearing range before I jumped out, groaning at how horrible I smelled. I smelled like foul, rotten garbage. Before I could figure out what I should have done with my foul-smelling self, I heard an amazing sound. Music. I hadn't heard real music in over a year.
Naturally, my feet began to wander towards the sweet melodies of rock music. I could hear guitars and drums. I began to run towards the sound before I stopped at the building where the sweet melodies had to be coming from. It was a club. All the skyscrapers were nearly demolished and almost all of the places were demolished. I was shocked to find a nearly fully intact building in front of me. My hand went out to the door knob, twisting it before it opened, hitting me square in the face and knocking me on my ass on the ground.
I groaned and rubbed my head before I looked up, my eyes widening at the sight above me. It was a Control. Their eyes were bright red and they had different patterns painted onto their face in different colors. I couldn't help but wonder what the different patterns and colors meant. It was a girl, no older than sixteen, glaring down at me as if I was a sewer rat they were going to kill. To the Controls, we outsiders were nothing.
"An outsider, eh? You were given an hour to evacuate. Were you not aware of this?" She growled down at me.
"No…" I spoke as if unsure of myself, hopping up to my feet as I towered over the girl.
"So you're just going to play dumb, outsider? You were to evacuate to the hills. Do not make me alert the king. He will send out an order for your death."
"Who is this king anyways?" I growled down at her. She was wasting time that could be spent finding Bill.
"It's none of your concern, outsider. You will never be allowed to see him. Why fill your head with things that will never matter to your life?" She asked me.
I gave her one long glare before I turned around and ran, ignoring the yells that came from the girl. Her orders for me to stop meant nothing to me as I ran at full speed to hide inside an abandoned office. I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the ground and curled my legs up to my chest, staring down at the floor. I had to find Bill. But then it dawned on me. The king may have known where he was. If Bill had survived, maybe they took him in as their own. It was worth a shot.
I broke off a leg of a chair and left my safe office building, looking for something to light it up. I finally found fire. The Controls had to be lighting the streets with torches instead of electricity since electricity didn't even really exist anymore. I lit up the chair leg and began to walk down the street. I had stolen a few sticks of dynamite from a dead guy when walking with Georg and Gustav. I took them from my backpack and lit them, throwing them into buildings as I kept on walking, making as much noise as possible. I walked past an old crowbar and picked it up, swinging it and knocking the remaining glass out of windows. I continued to blow things up and break things before I saw the Controls coming at me at full speed. I turned around to run, but more Controls were coming. I was cornered.
"Do you really want to die that much, outsider?" One of them asked me, pulling out a rather large and intimidating gun, pointing it at me. "Because I can make that happen."
"Take me to see your king, or I'll blow us all up." I growled at him as I pulled my last stick of dynamite out and held it threateningly close to the fiery chair leg I held in my hand. He must have been a Deceiver because his voice sounded almost angelic. It made me sick.
"Easy, easy. Very well then. We will take you to where he is…but don't think he won't order us to kill you the second you're in there." He frowned.
I nodded and dropped my weapons as one of the Controls poured the green liquid that was now our water on the fire, extinguishing it immediately. The Deceiver motioned for me to follow him while other controls formed sort of a formation around me, to stop me from escaping. I was now playing by their rules, but that was okay. If I could find out how Bill died, I could die in peace. I just needed to know.
"We will tell him of what has happened and of your request. But for now, you will wait with the other prisoners marked for execution. Should he be in a merciful mood, we will come and retrieve you." He ushered me into the abandoned mental institution and lead me up to a white padded room.
"Gustav! Georg!" I called in surprise to see my friends in there. They had been arguing, but shut up the second they saw me, their eyes wide before they glared at me.
"This is all your fucking fault, you know." Georg growled at me. "What the fuck man?! You just fucking took off. We went looking for you but the Control fucking got us." He growled as I sat next to him.
"Excuse me?" The Control guard that had led me up to the room growled at him. "That is not our name. We are called the Loyal Subjects of the King, Children of the New World." He nearly spat out.
"Whatever Deceiver." Georg rolled his eyes, obviously making the guard even angrier.
"Is something wrong twelve?" Another guard came up to him. "The King is willing to see you." He spoke to the guard.
"Whoa! Your parents named you twelve?!" Georg blinked and laughed at the guard. The guard simply rolled his eyes and walked off to wherever this "King" was.
"The King has given us all numbers as our new names. The King has said to us Loyal Subjects that our previous names reflect who we used to be. Our names are now numbers, which gives us an easy way to identify ourselves." He left us before he shut the door on us.
"They really are brainwashed." Georg sighed softly. "This 'King' sounds like a real mental patient. Pretty fitting for this building isn't it?" He frowned.
"Yeah." Was the only word I could manage to let slip from my lips as I sat back and looked up at the white walls. At least they were more comfortable than the places we slept at.
It was at least three hours before the guard had come to get me and escorted me to a rather huge room, in which there was a sort of see-through material draped over a bar. Behind it sat a figure that I couldn't make out because of the fabric. It must have been the King. Next to each side of the king stood a bodyguard, eyeing me down and studying my movements to see if I would try and attack their King.
"You may sit." Came the most angelic voice I'd ever heard in my life. I cleared my throat and nodded, sitting down on a cushion on the other side of the makeshift curtain. I was quite glad to sit anyways. His voice made me dizzy and forced butterflies to fly in my stomach.
"I need to ask you something." I started slowly before I gained up enough courage to say it. "I know you're going to kill me, but you must answer my question so that I can at least die in the right place of mind."
"I will do as I please, outsider. You may ask what you wish, but I may refuse to answer if I choose to do so. Please keep this in mind." He spoke in that angelic voice again that had me swooning. Now I know what David had said about how they called him a Charmer.
"I'm sorry. It's just…I was separated from the only love I've ever known. I need to find him…I need to know what happened to him. If he's dead…I need to know." I sighed heavily and twiddled my thumbs, looking down at my lap. I had hardly noticed that I was crying.
"So your love is a 'he' then?" He asked. "You do not need to cry, outsider."
I nodded as he spoke to me and sniffed. "Wait…How can you see that I'm cry-" I cut myself off before I remembered what David told me. "Oh…The Eyes right?"
The King laughed softly, and what a joyous sound it was. "Exactly. I've taken a liking to you, outsider. Perhaps I should keep you as my jester?" He laughed again softly.
"I just need to find out what I happened to him…What happened to Bill…" I whispered softly.
"What did you say his name was? And your name?"
"His name was Bill. My name is Tom. We met about eight years ago…Since we met it was as if we were drawn together like a magnet. It's a punishment worse than death to not know where he is."
"I'm sorry. I cannot tell you what happened to him." The King sounded a little strained as he spoke, making me all the more curious.
"You know what happened to him don't you?! Please! You must tell me! Please…I love him…" I had begun to cry once more, not really feeling the hot tears drip down my weathered face.
"Yes, I know what happened to him, Tom." He sighed softly.
"Please. Where is Bill?" I begged him.
"Fear not, Tom." The King's voice sounded joyous once more. "For he is talking to you right now."
