Chapter 11: Making amends

Mark and Niko lay dormant on the hard, cold floor of that wretched tunnel, their eyes cracked with red lines and puffy from the amount of tears they let out, their throats are all but sore from the wails they screamed to try and conjure a reply.. from anyone... but to which no one answered.

I think both you and I have had enough of this, don't you think? Mark and Niko felt a nice cool breeze blow across them as they slowly began to emerge from their slumber, their eyes beginning to take in the glow of city lights "WHAT?!" Mark exclaimed as Niko was slowly beginning to rise "wha-" Niko tried to utter before Mark promptly replied "Niko LOOK!".

He said this while putting his arm around the child and Niko, like Mark, was amazed by the sight and the realization after it.. "WE'RE FREE!" Niko shouted into the wind, arms raised high, to which Mark joined in. They shouted their success into the skies until their throats almost gave out.

"Well let's keep moving then, we don't have much time after all" Marks voice was on the verge of cracking "right!" Niko replied, his voice cracking as well. They began to walk along the thin catwalks that seemed to be on the verge of breaking down.

The two then stopped near a large automaton that guarded the upper heights, the machine still fully functional "HELLO MESSIAH" "hi" Niko replied, and cusped his throat due to the sudden pain "Niko are you- *cough-wheeze*" "YOU SHOULD BOTH SEEK ATTENTION TO THE CARE OF YOUR THROATS, IT WOULD BE A WISE OPTION" Mark and Niko continued to try and speak, but their throats would not let up.

Mark then looked at Niko and gestured that they should go, to which they went on to the main platform of the web of catwalks, Mark then whispered "we should make a stop over at the cafe first before we move on" Niko simply tried to nod while controlling his outbursts of coughs.

They then proceeded down a low catwalk and payed no attention to anything else but that soothing beverage, that waited for them ahead. They stumbled into the hallway and continued until they finally passed that final door, the two had only a drink on their mind until they were seemingly pulled back into reality by a soothing voice "Messiah?".

Mark and Niko both snapped their heads to the waiter behind the counter, and he simply looked puzzled by the two "you alright?" and then Niko simply went back to being himself "hi!-" Niko then gave a small cough.

The boy sat down at a stool at the counter while Mark joined him and sat down as well "can we get a drink to help our throats?" Mark uttered trying to hold his coughs in.

The waiter then grabbed some coffee and poured the two a drink, they then put it down the hatch as quickly as they could "Woah! don't put it down too fast you two!" the two then finished the beverage. Niko though had a sour face from the taste the both of them were content with the lukewarm coffee.

The waiter then let out a small chuckle as he looked at the two and their wide grin's of pleasure "So I have to ask..." the man started "who are you?" to which Mark then realised about his presence "He's Mark!" Niko spoke up with a precise voice. The waiter then took a closer look "I guess you don't live here" to which Mark saw an out "yeah, I've never been over here much".

The waiter then gave him a small smile "Nice to have yo-" a familiar small robot then stumbled in with it's clanky feet and glowed a radiant pink, much like the city lights. The robot spotted a round news boy cap so its purpose was all the more obvious "URGENT NEWS" everyone in the cafe including the people Mark and Niko failed to pay attention to, looked towards the robot in remorse.

"TWO HOURS AGO, THE POWER IN THE GLEN HAD FAILED AND LED TO THE REST OF THE GLEN'S UNITS TO MALFUNCTION AND DEACTIVATE" the room began to murmur "AND NOW WE HAVE JUST LEARNED THAT SEVEN MINUTE'S AGO, THE ENTIRE ISLAND, AS THE BARRENS HAS GONE COMPLETELY DARK" the rest of the cafe began to talk panickdly.

Mark and Niko then realised what they just barely avoided, and what fate has steered them away from. Or has it?

The waiter then turns towards the two "wait, didn't you guys just get here?" to which the two looked a bit unweary "we were stuck in a cave" Niko replied "was it because the island went dark?" the waiter replied "No i'm pretty sure we weren't stuck in the entrance" Mark said with a heavy regret. "*sigh* well at least you two made it out" a spark went off for both of the two and then jolted out a question in unison.

"Did the people of the glenn make it out?" and the room went silent, the waiter then felt his heart grow heavy and his throat lock up and one of the voices of the cafe called out for him instead "We only got a few survivors, and what they said was... Unruly to say in the least"... Mark and Niko could get an understanding of the situation.

"So does that mean we're all doomed!?" "No it can't be!" "What do you mean? There is nothing going to save us!" the voices began to say as the cafe began to argue, the waiter then looks at the rest of the cafe and then back at the two "Has it always been like this?" Niko asked "after the new sun died, everyone has lost hope" and felt himself beginning to tear up.

The waiter holds it in however "I mean what ARE we supposed to do?" the cafe then grew silent once again "The world is vanishing before our eyes and there is nothing that can be done, so what else can we do but pray that it ends quickly?" tears began to run down his cheeks. I suppose he is right you know? If the end of the world was imminent and there was no hope to stop it... why bother trying to progress even though there is nothing?