Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

I couldn’t get the burned memory of what I had just seen out of my head. The explosion from the Wall, the man, everything that had just happened seemed as if it was just a nightmare.Maybe this is just a dream I thought. Maybe I just have to snap out of it. I tried pinching myself, even smacking myself in the head. No luck whatsoever.

So...This isn’t a dream...This is real life. I took in a few deep breaths and exhaled at ease, my mind swirling with questions and concerns.

Who was the man standing on the Wall? Was it true when he said the Leaders were not who we think they are? The thing that really bugged me was the part when he said “If you are one of them, one of the six, you need to leave immediately or else the Leaders are going to find out about you and kill you.” Who are one of the six? Why were the Leaders going to kill them?

It could also be possible all of the stuff the guy was saying was completely false. Maybe he lost his mind and started rambling on and on about nothing. But everything seemed too precise and detailed to be lies. As strange as it seems, I felt as if what the man was saying was true. As if I trusted him, believed every word he was saying.

Another feeling started to swell up in my stomach. Anger. Angry as to why the Leaders had shot this man. What could he have possibly of done to deserve death? Maybe the Leaders knew this man. They knew he was dangerous and capable of doing things they couldn’t handle. Endless scenarios formed in my mind and I couldn’t quite get a finger on what seemed as the most accurate reason.

Maybe his plan was to escape to the other side. As if he was trying to escape from Micklemant and possibly to the other side of the Swatly’s, but while he was trying to escape, he was spotted and the sensors to the bomb went off. At that point, the man must of known he was going to die, so he said everything he could while he could. No, no David that’s impossible! I thought to myself. I was either thinking in the right direction, or the complete opposite.

There was one question that my mind kept reflecting back to, but I couldn’t even come up with a senseful answer to it. That is, Why was the man standing on the Wall? What terrible thing had made him so desperately want to escape?

                                

    *                  *                *            

I presumed to nervously walk into my house as I met a worried gaze with mother. I could tell she was trying to act brave, trying to stay strong in front of Annie and I, but it was one heck of a struggle.

“David are...are you okay?” Mom stuttered as she stepped forward to embrace me.

“I’m fine, but I can’t say that for the others. I didn’t see anything - all I heard was the explosion and saw the gunshot but it was berserk back there. People screaming while at the same time running and shoving everybody out of their way.”

“I would bet” Mom said through a depressed look. “I heard the gunshot but couldn’t quite see what or who it was directed to. I hate to ask you this, but did you see…”

“It was a man” I interrupted, already knowing what she was intending to say before she said it. “He was standing on the Wall but I’m not sure why. Then the Wall sensors exploded and the man was shot down.”

I decided to leave out the part about what the man was saying about “the six” and the “to get out of here” and the part about the “the Leaders are not the people they seem to be.”

“That is odd” Mom said in confusion. “Well it’s a good thing you’re okay and on the bright side, at least you don’t have to go to the rest of school today” Mother let out a soft giggle.

How sick David thought in disgust. How could someone be making jokes about something so serious as death? It’s almost as if the Leaders are manipulating us into thinking death is a good thing.

I flashed her a fake smile and made my way upstairs and into my bedroom. It took me a solid thirty minutes to finally position my thoughts away from me and fall into a deep and dark sleep.

I woke up drenched in sweat. The sweat stained my clothes and drops of sweat beads streamed down my checks. The nightmare I had now and the one I had previously both caused me to wake up in sweat and fear. Only this time, it was a completely different story.

It was pitch black outside and the town was deserted. I was outside by myself at the Wall, plainly staring at it’s depths and features. As if the David in my dream was in charge, I placed my right hand on a flat, rectangular surface on the Wall. The sirens did not ring when I placed my hand on them, which is also very peculiar since they should of. It was a small scarlet material, as if the rectangle perfectly fit the size of my hand. I have seen the Wall before, and I am certain that that red surface was never there before. With my hand on the scarlet surface, the words “We are one” flew out of my mouth like water flows out of a faucet. It was strange. Like the me in the dream was saying it perfectly fluent, perfectly normal, but I wasn’t forcing it to. The words just naturally came out.

After I said those words, a passage the exact length size of my body revealed itself in front of me. A bright light shone from inside the archway. The same glaring yellow mixed in orange light meet my eyes for the second time. Once again, as if I was mimicking the same feeling I felt in my last nightmare, my stomach started to twist and my whole body rumbled. A tense state of freeze spread in and out of my body.

And here I am again, sweat stains covering every inch of my body and the shocking fear of what had just happened. The thing that was even freakier was that I felt like I had to open that passage. That whatever I just saw in my dream was a mission I had to accomplish.

The next few hours were just a complete series of incoherence. Deep down inside of me, my brain was telling myself to get up and do something. Anything to get what happened at the Wall earlier today off of my mind. Another part of my mind told me to go check on Elias, make sure he was okay. But the one thing that was even deeper down in my brain and was really urging me to undertake was going to that Wall. I had to see if what was in my dream was real.

What if everything I saw in my nightmare was true? What if this passageway was a sign? Although I knew I didn’t want to, there was only one way to find out.

I headed out of the house at 10:00 pm. The darkness outside made it almost impossible for me to be seen, which could possibly save my life later just in case something goes wrong. As scheduled, no one was outside. The smell of dirt and rotten metal filled my lungs. I continued my journey to the Wall, the side directly in front of me and the side I saw during my dream. The side of the Wall where I was headed was located about a quarter mile from DTA.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the back side of the school was damaged. I didn’t have time nor the desire to check after the explosion. The memory of the explosion only made me want to throw up, so I deliberately pushed the thought of it to the side.

I was hushed while I made my expedition to the North side of the Wall. I made it to the point where DTA was located and was surprised to see not as much destruction as I thought I would see. Scanning the front and ride side of the school, it seemed as if an explosion never occurred. Maybe some people were put to work and cleaned it up so quickly, but that was impractical.

That was when I made my way to the back side of the school, and to my expectations, it was destroyed. An immense hole was smashed into the center of the brick building. Rubble from the inner walls of DTA were scattered across the ground. Glass was distributed across the floor and as if transparent, I could see right through the hole and into the school. Caution signs were scattered across the incident and a lengthy banner was spread a few feet in front of the crater.

The image was a very miserable site to see. Who knew how long it would be until the school was back up and running?

I toughened up and pushed the thing I had just seen to the back of my head. I was not here to see the school.

I made my way to the North side of the Wall. The Wall was not destroyed, not even a single crack. The Wall was so heavily built and sturdy, not even an explosion could break it. That’s why it’s impossible for anyone to escape their side of the Wall. Once you’re in, you’re in. There’s no more people coming in and there’s no more people going out.

Which is why my idea of finding a passageway through the Wall that could potentially lead me to another place outside of Mickmant was bizarre. But there was something inside of me saying it was real. Almost as if I had to do it.

My feet pulled to an abrupt stop as my eyes were met directly in front of the Wall. It’s metallic stone was dispersed on a completely even surface. Not one crack nor one line was found on the Wall. The shadowed dull gray surrounded me and the feeling of desperation and anticipation raged throughout me.

“Hey! Who’s out here!” a stern voice called from behind.

My stomach sank and my whole body shivered from trepidation. The pain felt as if someone had taken three knives and smashed them repeatedly onto every inch of my body. Run! my mind shouted to me. Run! Run! Run!

I did as my mind said and ran as fast as my legs could take me. I tried my best at running my heart out while trying to keep my footsteps silent. I hid behind a house to the right of the school. To the left of me I watched as I saw the flick of a light shine through a cylindrical object. Since it was so dark out, it was grueling to see his face or any of his physical features. The man shone his flashlight at the North side of the Wall while simultaneously waving the light his circumference.

He walked across the Wall, past the back of the school and towards my direction. I held my breath, not daring to let it go for it could reveal my position. I sat as still as a statue, praying the man would just leave me alone.

As if God heard my prayers, the man stopped his journey about ten feet away from me

“I know you’re out here!” the harsh man announced. “You might of got me this time, but I will make sure this doesn’t happen again!” he said determined.

I could hear the man’s footsteps linger away from the spot and I finally was able to catch my breath. How did the man even find me? I thought to myself. Was he tracking me? I barely made any noise and it’s practically impossible to see, besides the fact that he had a flashlight. I waited a solid five minutes before getting up again and walking towards the spot I previously was at the Wall.

I began scanning the grey wall for the red rectangular surface. Up, down, left and right. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My hopes started to lower and lower by the second, and soon the dream I had earlier had soon become a hopeless effort. Maybe it all was just a dream I thought to myself. What if everything I’m doing right now is a complete and utter waste of time?

Just after a long 30 minutes of searching the Wall from the Northwest corner of it to the Northeast corner of it, I had given up on all hope of finding this red thingy-magigy. I was ending my way to the very end region of the Wall, feeling embarrassed for even thinking this was going to work. Right before I was about to end my endeavour, my eyes met at the very bottom of the Wall next to the line that divides the North Wall from the East Wall.

It was indeed the scarlet rectangle.

My body filled with relief and shock. Even a bit of fear bubbled up inside of me.  Why was this red rectangle put here? Has anybody ever noticed this red surface? This must of just shown up recently because when the Wall was built, that red exterior was not there. If it was, somebody was bound to of said it and sy something about it. A little part of me was fearful because if this red matter really existed, that means there was going to be a passage. And that light, that blinding yellow-orange light, what was that? Was it going to hurt me? Where was the passage going to lead?

There was only thing to do. With my heart doubling its pace, I approached the red exterior with fearful eyes. The image of it in front of me and the image of it in my dream were exactly identical. Same size, same distinguished red color.

What if the sirens go off? I wondered. What if the explosion from the Wall goes off and I could…

I didn’t dare want to finish that sentence. I haven’t realized how much danger I have really broughten myself into. I didn’t think the touch of a hand was going to make the difference between life and death. It was already too late to chicken out. This red patch was something, and I couldn’t just give up on it now.

Holding my breath, I reached out and placed my hand on the red rectangle. I braced myself for the worst, for the enormous ear-bending alarm that would signal. From the rage of smoke that would emerge from the Wall after the explosion occurred.

Silence. Nothing but absolute silence. None of the alarms went off, the explosions didn’t transpire. Relief fled over my face, while at the same time curiosity demanded to take control. Why didn’t the sirens come on? Why didn’t the explosion occur like it did to that man?

My hand remained placed on the red rectangle, not daring to move it for something bad could arise. I instinctively flashbacked to my dream and recalled how I did everything that had happened in the dream in real life. So far.

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes in anticipation. I remembered the required words I had to say. They were set in stone ever since that nightmare I had, it was nonviable for me to forget. Taking in one final breath, I repeated the words I had heard in my dream;

“We are one”

The screeching sound of steel grinding on metal ricochet off of my head and into the air. I was knocked back by the brightness of a light. But not just any light-it was the light I had seen multiple times in my dreams. The yellow-orange sun that made it impossible to see. The light felt as if I were 10 feet away from the sun and my death was only seconds away.

Then it went away. The brightness obliterated from wherever it came from and soon my vision was brought back to life. I opened my eyelids and my gaze met with a pitch-black passageway about my height. The exact same passageway I had seen in my dream. The tunnel of darkness was the only thing that lay ahead of me. I could slightly see the mossy-stone brick sides on the insides of the passage, but that was the limit.

A sudden urge of nausea and deja vu struck me instantaneously. The night from outside was much lighter compared to the darkness in the tunnel. Behind my I could hear screams and shouts of civilians only a minute away.

“What was that noise?!”

“What’s going on?”

Knowing I had nothing else to lose, I did the only sensible thing I could think of and stepped into the doorway.

Vibration developed throughout the tunnel from the slam of the passageway door behind me.