Dreamer in the Apocalypse

008 – The One with the Other Protagonist (Part 3/4)

The door to the bathroom swung open, and Marcela came walking out in full uniform, full black pants and a buttoned up shirt.

The shirt was black as well it just had a set of ethereal speckled dots on it that glowed lightly, it was the uniform that all Equanoxian’s wore, their superiors said that the dots were to give them an idea of what the stars looked like.

Dalis’s eyes were fixed tightly on the starry pattern as well as the round globes that were underneath, “Gotta get em,’ he muttered again with a light twitch of his eye.

Marcela blushed and sat down next to him, “Stop it, we have company,” she said placing a hand on his arm and cast a nervous smile at Cabear.

“Yeah, cause that can stop you two,” he retorted sarcastically, which only caused her to blush even more.

She cleared her throat and grabbed her bowl, her eyes widened when she saw it, “There’s so much,” she said looking at the colourless goop with gusto.

“I ran out of real food two weeks ago, I’ve been stuck on just the nutritional fluids,” she said, “You guys are so lucky,” she said in a slightly bitter tone as she took in a mouthful of the food.

“There’s no luck involved, you just don’t try hard enough to reach the top, there’s always more rations for the top achievers,” Cabear said with a lazy shrug.

Marcela pouted and looked at him, “Between your absurdly large muscle’s and Dreamer’s inflated brains there’s no room for an ordinary gal like me to get very far,” she sighed in defeat.

Dalis put a hand around her and whispered in her ear in a sarcastic tone, “I’m sure that you were picked to set up a terminal because your ‘ordinary’,” he said.

Marcela’s face lit up slightly with a proud smile, and she blushed slightly as she looked at him, she knew what he was getting at, it was only the very best that were given such an honour, it was a dangerous mission, but for those who succeed it meant eternal honour in the dome.

The dome was the place in which they all lived, it was a special place that had but one function, it allowed them to live in this lightless world.

“Speaking of food,” Dalis said with his eyes lighting up, “I can’t wait to reach the other side, do you guys think the stories are true, that there is food wherever you go?” he asked as he looked at the other two he could see them trying to suppress the desire in their eyes.

They like any Equanoxian child wished for the stories to be true, but at the same time, they felt like the tales must be exaggerated, after all the amount of food they had was so little that everyone grows up rationing every last bit of food they can get their hands on.

And their entire mission was to go to the other side and set up new terminals so that they could bring in more food.

Dalis continued, “You know General Mirijha told me the food on the other side can make what we eat here look like dirt,” he said with a dreamy grin.

Cabear eventually nodded himself giving in to his fantasies, “Yeah my dad told me that after his transfer he considered staying on the other side and becoming a ‘Blighted’, just so that he could continue enjoying the food,” he said with a soft sight.

“What!?” Marcela half shouted and gapped at Cabear, “The Chancellor actually did that,” she said in a disbelieving tone.

Cabear shrugged, “My dad was once a kid to you know,” he said finding her disbelief funny, as for Dalis it was a story he had heard straight from the mouth of the chancellor.

Marcela quickly turned to Dalis with an excited smile, “Don’t tell me that it’s the same with your dad, I mean there’s no way the great hero actually considered becoming Blighted?”

Dalis’s face instantly turned complicated at the mention of his father, but just as quickly he forced the dour look away, “Of course not, he’s the hero,” he said forcing a grin and gave Cabear a desperate look to change the subject.

Cabear didn’t even need to look at Dalis to know what he wanted bringing up the hero in front of Dalis had always been a bit of taboo.

Unlike everyone else he was the one person who Dalis told everything too, including that despite being the son of the legendary figure who every Equanoxian carried in their hearts, he never so much as exchanged a single word with his dad.

To the Equanoxian’s first came Kaizel the father of their people, second came Hirozen the great hero who saved their race from the brink, third came the Chancellors who ruled over the dome’s, fourth came the Marked those who managed to successfully lay a terminal, and fifth were the mothers who carried the future.

Dalis’s father was Hirozen the great hero.

“You know before we get too excited about the food, it would be best if we learnt some self restraint,” Cabear uttered crossing his arms with a bit of a serious air to his words.

“There are several cases where people on the other side have been able to get our people to perform all kinds of acts just for certain types of food,” he said in an extremely severe tone.

Marcela stuck a finger under her chin with a pondering look, “Now that you mentioned it some of the Marked have told me that the food on the other side can be almost like some sort of a drug, if you don’t keep your head in check,”

Dalis chuckled lightly, “I think we are safe on that account; I mean those things mainly happen to the ‘Wiped’, unlike them our memories will be completely intact, and we have been trained to resist all kinds of temptations” he said with a shrug.

“It’s mainly because of you that I mentioned self-restraint,” said Cabear as he cast a glance between Dalis and Marcela his meaning clear.

A short silence followed as the little trio downed their meal, probably the last meal they would share for a very long time, with no small chance of them never having such a moment together again.

Marcela was the first to finish, she slowly got to her feet albeit there was a trace of unwillingness in her eyes, “I…I should get going now… we’ll be departing soon,” she muttered unenthusiastically, “I’ll see you at the ceremony,” she said going in to kiss Dalis.

As she pressed her lips against his she felt him pull her in, their kiss quickly became a battle of passion that she had no desire to resist as she allowed herself to sink against his body.

“Ahem,” Cabear suddenly cleared his throat, when their hands started wondering around each-other.

They stopped abruptly and pulled back, Marcela’s face was tinged red as she breathed out roughly, “What was that for?” she asked with a beautiful smile.

“Just that I’ll miss you,” Dalis replied putting on his most charming and reassuring smile.

Marcela walked to the door, and looked back one last time, “If you already miss me so much already, I can’t wait to see what you do at the ceremony,” she smiled and ran out down the corridor.

Cabear glanced at the door then looked back at Dalis, “You didn’t tell her,” he said, it wasn’t a question.

Dalis shook his head and walked back into the small room, “I don’t want her to worry,” he said and bent down to pick up a book that was lying on the floor in the corner of the room.

The book was made of a brownish leather and the cover had an image of a raven stamped into the front, as he picked it up he gave it a reproachful look but nevertheless he held it firmly.

The book was special in many sense’s, for one it was from his father, a gift he received for his thirteenth birthday, for another it broke the rules of this place, the place in which the Equinox lived.

He put on the rest of his uniform and grabbed his only other possession a pocket watch, that he fashioned from little scraps he collected throughout his entire life.

As he turned back he saw Cabear looking at him like he would die at any moment.

“You know people will laugh at you if they hear you cry,” he joked, but his eyes that were starting to well up gave away his true feelings.

They looked at each other with awkward expressions, neither of them quite sure what to say, they both knew that the odds of them seeing each-other again were not in their favour.

“You really have to risk taking that,” Cabear broke the silence and pointed at the leather bound book.

Dalis looked down at the book and nodded, “I either take it with me willingly or the higher ups will force me to take it,” he said shaking his head with a glum look.

“Maybe it will help you out on the other side, I mean it is from your dad,” Cabear said trying to be positive.

“Yeah maybe, if it doesn’t get me killed in the transfer,” he said with a heavy look in his eyes.

“I transfer out before everyone else… I… I better get going,” he said and walked past Cabear and opened the door.

“Yeah… I guess this is good-bye,” Cabear said biting his lip lightly as he looked at Dalis’s back.

Dalis suddenly stopped and turned back wrapping Cabear in a hug except even at his full height his head just barely reached Cabear’s shoulders, “Come back in one piece… brother,” whispered Dalis his voice trembled as he spoke.

Cabear patted his back with his massive hands, “You too brother,” he replied his voice quivered ever so slightly despite his desire to hide his worry.

Dalis pulled back and headed in to the corridor, “Hey Dreamer,” Cabear called from behind him.

Dalis turned around and saw a mischievous twinkle in his eye, “When you cheat the Records and get with a girl on the other side try not to use your ‘Penis Strike’ on them,” he grinned.

Dalis almost choked, he knew what Cabear was up to, trying to force on a new tic, and it most likely had something to do with how he distracted Marcela earlier when he said the other forbidden phrase.

“There’s no way that one will stick,” he chuckled while secretly gulping a glob of saliva.