The Abandoned Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Kaz

Raton District; Earth

 

Kaz could vaguely hear talking and shuffling around him. His eyes were shut, and his head was pounding. Where am I? he wondered. If he was in his pod he wouldn’t be able to hear anything. Could he be dead? He entertained that thought for a few moments, but ultimately dismissed it.

Kaz began to focus on his senses, keeping his eyes closed. He could smell something…earthy. Almost like the soil from the flowers in Arkacia, but drier. He could feel a rough blanket that was lying on top of him. He heard the shuffle of feet, and lowered voices. His mouth was so dry he thought he was going to die of thirst. He heard one prominent voice stand out above the rest. Male, about 18-20 years old. He analyzed. It spoke in a language he didn’t know. It was strangely melodic, but all the more confusing. He could hear footsteps come closer to him. The same voice from earlier touched his forehead. Again, he spoke, and a young girl’s voice answered. He thought he heard a name, Raffe? Suddenly the hand yanked the blanket off of him. “I know you’re awake. Get up.” said the voice. Kaz obliged, and opened his eyes. Before him stood a young man with tanned skin, the color of caramel, and deep brown eyes. His hair was nearly black, and cut in a…unique…way. His left side was cut nearly to his skull, and the rest was long, almost to his chin, almost hiding his face. He had multiple piercings, on each ear, and a hoop pierced through his left eyebrow. “Who are you?” He asked.

“That’s a little rude, aren’t you supposed to introduce yourself first?” Kaz said back. A few people murmured around him. I guess that means he’s in charge here? Kaz thought to himself.

The young man raised his arm, and the crowd fell silent. “Everyone get back to work, we’re on a timeline.” He said simply, and they got to work.

They sure respect this guy. Kaz observed, looking around at the now dispersed people. “Anwer me. Who are you? I know you’re from Arkacia.” The young man said.

“my name is Kaz. Now will you answer my question?” Kaz said.

“Raphe. What are you doing here?” Raphe answered, jumping to the next question. Jeez, what a stickler. Kaz thought to himself. He didn’t think lying would do him any good so he told Raphe the truth. “Depends on where here is. I was on my way to Cotrella when my pod malfunctioned.” He explained while gauging Raphe’s reaction.

 

Raphe looked at this Kaz, if that was even his name. His explanation explained his earlier question, but was suspicious. Arkacia was known for infallible technology that couldn’t be hacked easily. Especially not pods. Only Archive can hack their system but they would never hack a pod. His eyes narrowed on this guy. His skin was tanned, although it wasn’t from the sun. His eyes were blue and bright. His hair, a symmetrical cut aimed to make his hair look messy and long, was a sandy brown. Raphe had to guess around maybe 18. He’s either lying to me, or he’s telling the truth. Raphe knew he couldn’t trust this stranger.

 

Kaz watched the suspicion cloud Raphe’s expression. He watched calmly, trying to not aggravate his could be captor. Wherever he was, he was stuck. Only by looking around Raphe did he see blueprints being handed off. “Are you building something?” he asked. Raphe turned around and saw the blueprints. “At the orders of the representative here, yes.” He answered curtly. “What is it?” Kaz asked, curious. It would be trouble if I met with the representative. I’ll have to be careful and keep a low profile. He thought to himself. “If you need to know, then I’ll tell you. For now, I’m on a deadline, so I need to get to work. Sit here and don’t move. Touch anything and I swear I’ll hand you over to Jezebel myself.” Raphe threatened and walked toward a table in the center of the room filled with various wires and metals. Kaz sat down on the cot he was lying in earlier and watched. They all moved so fast, and so sure. He looked around at his surroundings. He was in a run-down building made from some sort of brown stone, filled to the brim with cots, blankets, wires and metal. The roof was made of the same stone, but had holes and pieces of cloth covering them. There was no door, only a wide open frame leading outside. It was hot, and though his clothing was torn, it was cool against his skin.

Based off of the wires and metal, there’s no way I’m in Cotrella, Kaz surmised. If they’re building machinery, then the only district that does that is the Raton District.