The live stream buzzed for a bit before return back to life. It displayed Coventry, the ruins of Coventry.
We could all see clearly that our once beautiful city has been grounded; nothing left but rubbles.
I don't know what to say.
Back in Janda's room, I saw the disaster for the first time. The city was burning and the jets bombing the buildings. It felt like a dream back then. It feels like a dream now, a dream I wished to wake up from.
"Looking through a screen versus looking with my eyes..." I muttered.
"Ah... my city," an old man said.
He was holding a walking stick as he slowly approached my side staring into the screen.
"My father was there, he was there during the blitz."
"Ah..."
"And now I'm here, here for blitz 2."
"..." I looked at him.
His slouched back and messy grey hair was stained with blood, sweat and tears. His shaking hands held on to the walking stick as if it was the only hope for him to move forward and live on.
The old man said, "When my father was alive, he always talked about his past especially the blitz. He would talk about how terrifying it was and how many lives it destroyed and affected."
The elderly man wasn't the only one. Many people around got down on their knees praying for salvation.
Even kids.
Even kids understood that what they saw was truly terrifying.
"Well... apart from that 'one' kid I know..." I thought to myself.
I walked away. I didn't want to see this anymore.
* * *
I continued to walk aimlessly as I stumbled upon many buildings. Their appearances are very similar on the outside. It was like a big maze, I was lost.
"Ahh, it's no use. I can't seem to find my way back... I guess I'll just go into one of these buildings."
I walked into one of the buildings. There was a long corridor with a couple of doors. Surprisingly, they were not locked and I opened the first door on my left.
"Woooow..."
The different types of plants were separated into their specific colour as they lining up forming a glittering arc. It spanned the entire room and stood right in front of me.
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Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, the colours of the rainbow. A white, intense light shone upon the rainbow as the sprinkler sprayed water on to the vegetables. The vegetables gleamed brightly.
"What is this place... An underground... glass house?" I stated.
I walked into the place and touched the vegetables.
"They are all... fresh."
I walked around the arc towards the other side and picked up a big red tomato. It looked no different from the ones I saw in the supermarkets. If anything else, it looked fresher and more... tasty.
I took a bite. The juice exploded in my mouth. "What... what is this? who grew these here..."
Suddenly, I heard footsteps beyond the door. I took another tomato and hid behind the arc opposite the door.
I heard a bit of chattering and they opened the door.
* * *
"Aw, man... it's been so tiring lately."
"I cannot agree more, hahaha."
"Maintaining these place for 10 years now... I've basically lived my life here."
"Yeah... Although I've recently joined, it does feel like an eternity."
"Did you see the commotion outside?"
"Yes... It seems the entire surface was bombed."
"That's... well I don't have any family so to me, I don't feel anything. This here is my life."
"I get you haha."
After they looked at the rainbow for a moment, they left and closed the door.
"Phew... I should go check out the other rooms as well," I said to myself.
I approached the door and tried to open it but it won't budge. It was locked.
"..." I looked around frantically for a way out but there were no windows and no other doors; this was the only door in and out.
After panicking for a moment, I calmed down and thought, "Okay, so they would come back for these vegetables soon, right? I guess I'll just wait it out. It shouldn't too be long until they come back..."
I looked at my watch. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours.
11:00 pm, it was already night time.
I jumped up. "How did time pass by so quick???"
I only dozed off for a moment and it's already 11:00 pm!? That's really strange. Did I... fall asleep?
I hid back behind the rainbow arc and looked at my watch again.
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11:01 pm.
11:02 pm.
...
11:20 pm.
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I started to count, "1..."
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11:21 pm.
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"2..."
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11:22 pm.
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"3..."
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11:23 pm.
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Minutes were passing by like seconds. "This is ridiculous!" I shouted.
Suddenly, I heard a lot of footsteps in the distance and the door swung open. I peeked through the gaps while keeping myself hidden.
The soldiers were wearing a fully body white suit. But that wasn't the most unusual thing; the soldiers were walking too fast. It was as if I was watching a video that has been sped up multiple times.
I could hear them talking but it was so fast I couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Blah... blah... blah..." was all I could hear.
A couple of seconds later, they walked out of the room with a truckload of fresh and colourful vegetables.
I sneaked a couple of fruits into my bag and headed off towards the door.
I waited for minutes and it was already 5:00 am. I still can't believe what is happening. I can't believe why I feel like time has sped up for me. Luckily the door wasn't locked and I was able to go out.
I looked left toward the other three doors. All but one was closed. I treaded towards it and took a peek inside. At the centre of the room, a gigantic machine was letting out some steam, or so I thought. I walked closer towards it and looked at the controls beside it.
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ASKLDskdakladsakldjaLKASDaklsdlkasdlkSADalskd
ASLKDaksldjalksdLKADakldjwoiajsdisakldAJLKSDLW
WIoi2eoJDSLKdjwoadLSADk;w;aosdklwas;dklwasdka
...
----------
All I could see was gibberish displayed on the screen. Well, it wasn't gibberish but I couldn't read fast enough... It was flickering like hell.
I looked back at the machine but now it was releasing the smoke at an even faster rate.
What is going on? What is this smoke?