Materializing into Eternium was like walking into a stadium. Everything was fine until you got inside. Then, Marlow couldn’t even move. It was challenging since everyone was packed together like sardines in a can.
Jabbing, wiggling, getting squeezed, or unable to breathe for a second when another soul entered the world. The only things that filled Marlow’s vision were panicked faces and hair. So many people attempted to make elbow room, which resulted in a few bruised ribs.
He could have sworn he’d seen a figure dressed in knight armor teleport in and immediately drown in the sea of people. He couldn’t even move his arms. At this point, the mob of people had become so dense that he wasn’t sure if he was even touching the street.
Not to mention the noise. It was like a rock concert playing a thunderous solo in his ear. It felt like a fate worse than death, surrounded by millions of people in the same itchy tunic and pants. He should have taken his chances with the mutated cats.
Marlow turned his head, attempting to find an exit. He instead saw a child riding atop his mother’s shoulders. The kid was crying. Marlow looked down at the kid’s feet, which were beaten red and swollen.
This caused a light bulb in Marlow’s head. He wiggled his shoulders and arms while kicking his feet. Finally, he shined on top of the person in front of him. He was getting vulgar profanities from the person he was now piggybacking on.
But now wasn’t the time to be weighted down with insults. Instead, it was time to start searching. Since Marlow hadn’t seen his family come through the post office he was at, they must have come through the other post office near them. So they must be here, somewhere.
“No family emergency plan included being transported to another world! Just breathe in and out. In and-”
Just as Marlow closed his eyes, his heart finally dropped back into his chest, creating a new portal. Sending another sudden surge of people into the tightly packed area. The compact's pressure began to overflow as waves of people started to be unwillingly hoisted on top of other people. Finally, people began crying out as they were smooshed by newcomers.
Marlow was even being pulled over by the constant wave of people, and he bonked heads with the person he was piggybacking. People murmured, saying rude things, asking if someone was moving off them and telling them they should put something where it shouldn’t belong.
This, to Marlow, was all background noise. He only had one objective: to find his family. Everything else was secondary except for eating, drinking, and finding a place to sleep. His family was his priority.
Crowd-surfing on top of the masses, he wiggled. Then, putting hands on faces and feet on overburdened shoulders, he slowly squirmed out of the Town Square. Slithering on top of the thinning crowd, he first touched the ground.
From his position, he noticed something shiny that looked almost out of this world: a ladder, untouched in an alleyway. After getting stepped on by a dozen people, he eventually stood up. He threw himself between a pair of bodybuilders and got hammered in the process, but he made it into the alley with the ladder.
He started running, jumped, and grabbed the ladder's first rung. Unfortunately, the ladder broke loose, which caused Marlow to fall back to the ground and forced the ladder to come crashing down on him. Turning red in the face from all the weird looks he got, he set it against the wall and climbed onto the roof nervously to finally begin his search.
The rooftop was empty, if you didn't count a couple of birds watching the action. Marlow stepped up to the edge of the building. Below him were thousands, if not millions, of people flooding the streets of this new world.
A literal sea of faces, but he only had eyes for three. The ladder rattled behind. He turned around and saw another person clambering onto the roof.
“Listen, I'm just trying to find my brother, man. You cool if I stay on your roof for a bit?”
“Oh! I'm looking for my family, too.”
“Oh, that's cool, man. I won't tell if you won't tell.”
With a mutual understanding, the pair began watching people. As time ticked by, more and more people found their way to the rooftops. It was like watching a flood in slow motion as more and more people began filling the streets.
Marlow scanned the crowd. Hoping that he could find a familiar face, haircut, whatever. Someone that he knew so that he wouldn’t have to be alone.
Other people also made their way over to the edge and began their search through the crowd. Others jumped to other rooftops, or at least those cramped with too many bodies. Marlow didn’t care that he was being bumped. He would find his family.
He heard a commotion behind him, so he checked over his shoulder and found a child riding on his mother's shoulders. He was crying. Thankfully, some adults were trying to comfort him. He turned back to the crowd. Some other good Samaritan would come along and save the day. But no Samaritan could help him spot his family.
He sifted through the sea of people and spotted a familiar brown wavy hairstyle. Excitedly, he yelled and waved his arms! He’d found his dad! The person turned around, and Marlow knew with a sinking feeling that just yelled at a random stranger for no reason. He buried his face in his hands and hoped the stranger would turn back around and forget his face.
Stolen story; please report.
Peeking through his fingers, he spotted a woman weeping across the street. Removing his hands from his face, he realized the woman was the mother giving a piggyback to her child earlier.
He could be THE good Samaritan and reunite child and mother! … But who was he kidding? What could he do? Shout at them and point them in each other's direction. How could they even hear him specifically over everyone else? He couldn’t help. He was just another face in the crowd.
He returned to the sea of people pouring out around the fountain. Once, he believed he had spotted his father, so he called out again, only to find that it was just another stranger with a nice beard.
The sun that was once high in the sky sank below the horizon. Bulled-over streetlamps lit up, illuminating the streaming mob. Once barren rooftops became occupied by other people overlooking the crowd. Sifting through the assembled mob, hoping to find their loved ones, with little to no success.
Marlow's thirst felt a nudge from behind him, then a second and another until he found his toes sticking over the gutter, then his foot, then himself as he tumbled into the mob without prompting or warning.
He came down on some poor sap, trying to free himself from a pair of Karens. Marlow wiggled himself upright before elbowing his way out of there.
At this point, Marlow decides he can try his luck somewhere with fewer people. So he began slowly, painstakingly, to edge himself away from the Town Square, getting bumps and uncomfortable lumps all over.
Having jammed through a pack of old geezers, Marlow finally found the space to stretch his legs. Weaving through the crowd now was like walking through the halls of his old school, challenging but doable.
He looked left, then right and noticed an odd line of people leaked out of a house. No, not a home, a barracks. The line stretched almost around the whole block. Waiting to see if the line would move, a guard left the overfilled house.
“FIVE WEEKS UNTIL WE CAN PUT YOU ON THE WAITING LIST TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR FAMILIES, FIVE WEEKS!”
A low growl rumbled from the assembled people. Marlow debated whether to join the line or not. He saw a familiar sleepy face standing at the back of the line. It was the child, motherless and alone. The only part of his face that was clean was the paths his tears dug out. Marlow turned around, compelled to find another place.
“Another great victory for Mighty Marlow.” He followed the traffic flow farther and farther out from the town square. The farther out he traveled, the more intricate the buildings became. They grew in length and size, and it seemed they could fit a whole neighborhood inside some. Eventually, Marlow came across a sign reading, ‘Refugees sleep for free. Making his way inside the building, he found coats lining the floor.
Not wanting to cause a Ruckus, he picked an out-of-the-way cot and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, not even pulling up a blanket for comfort.
The next day, he was offered a small slice of ham and an egg for breakfast. Then he went back to the town square. After scanning the masses for any familiar faces, he forced his way through the mob of people with no success. The homeless shelter also provided a slice of bread for dinner. He discovered this when he called it a day and returned early. His cot neighbor asked if he had any crumbs to spare.
Each day, traveling the town square became more complicated as the mob of people grew endlessly. Not to mention his appearance: First, his hair became slick with grease since no showers were available, then his peasant clothes became compressed with wrinkles and sweat stains as there was no way for him to do laundry without bumping into someone or stealing it. With each passing day, the waiting list grew so much that it eventually plateaued around one year.
Six days after he arrived, one of the portals diligently dumping out people by the droves suddenly closed. This would have caused such a ruckus if there hadn't been so many portals. But the closings continued, and five days later, half of the portals were gone. One week later, the last portal finally blinked out of existence.
Marlow saw it with his own eyes as an Indian girl fell from the portal, landing on a jam of people with the sky now clear behind her. No more survivors were coming, or so it seemed, at least as far as he knew. Now was an excellent time to finally get on that waiting list. Crawling on his way back down doesn't matter. He had set up oh so long ago. He felt a rumble in his tummy.
He'd already gotten his allotted morning breakfast. But that was all he was getting. Now is the time to go and explore. Then again, he could begin to sift through the masses instead of waiting a year.
They might have come while he was asleep and had gone to a different homeless shelter. Or maybe they were sleeping on the streets! In that case, it would help if he would go and explore! It's not like the growing pit in his stomach was uncomfortable. So, no, that couldn’t be it.
Slithering through the packed rooftop. Marlow made his way down the ladder and into the cramped street below. He had to put his arms above his head to push through the crowd. It only took him about three hours to get out of the Town Square, a new personal record. He was getting good at this, or at least he thought.
Marlow traveled. He’d walked farther than any he’d ever had. He found so many black alleys that looped around on each other, which could be good and helpful when he was being chased if it ever came down to that. Hopefully not.
He noticed a large building that changed colors every few seconds, just a short distance away. He began to work his way towards it. Traveling down an unnamed street, he saw a door slightly ajar. Glancing around, he saw a few windows broken, a couple of hand railings bashed in, and a foul stench akin to spoiled milk.
He was about to turn back when he heard a crack behind him and some unfriendly voices talking maliciously about ‘getting the goods ready for the boss.’ Marlow took off to the door without getting mixed up in any of this.
He rushed in and became flushed as a sudden heat wave bombarded him. Blinking away the sudden growth of the temperature, he spotted a chicken pecking at the ground. Then, feeling a stiff breeze kiss his back, he closed the door behind him.
Marlow’s stomach grumbled hungrily at the site of the loose chicken. He could just kill it. But, of course, it wasn't his in the first place, so that’d just be rude. Who knew how many chickens that person had?
The floor was riddled with straw. Marlow pondered if he really was going to steal an egg. But after another rumble, he pressed on. He took a peek around the corner to find them and explain his current dilemma.
He instead saw cage upon a cage full of chickens. Spreading beyond the original size of the building, it may be expanded into the nearby buildings.
It looked like a warehouse was converted just to house this many chickens. Sure, they weren't free-roaming; the ground would be plucked clean if they were.
He ventured forward and saw an odd detail. Each cubby had a light above it. Curious, he lifted a chicken and found a small opal egg. Grabbing the egg with his free hand, the light went out. Setting the passive chicken back down, it clucked.
An odd tingle rose from his gut. As if something was watching him, waiting to see what he would do next. He spun around, catching only chickens going about their business. Then, worrying that the owners might have caught him on camera, he decided that maybe taking more than one egg wouldn't hurt. He might cash in while he still could.