Chapter 14

Many young Walkers grew up Outside, which was a term depicting the world away from the currently established and surviving nations or large organizations. It was a popular term in North America, which homed a significant portion of the human population in the Western Hemisphere. There weren't a lot of places to consider, so the Outside was pretty much everywhere but Federation and a couple of settlements.

William regarded Outside as viewed by the Federation and current culture. That place was a paradise away from North America, acting as a bastion for humans.

Camps were important; so were young generations of Walkers. It wasn't surprising that quite a lot of attention went to them in various forms. Walkers had to see them. Help them.

William grew up Outside, missing his parent who used to be there for him, but now, they felt like dreams.

That hand. That voice. That sweetness...

He will never feel it again.

William spent years with Dann, traveling and surviving around numerous places, including the wilderness devoid of life, settlements, or hopes of some people. Most cracked apart. Some didn't, but it was better to leave. It was not an easy life, since Rifts could appear in many places, while Darks were in countless corners, seething in rage, instincts, and desires.

Corruptions spread into many areas, so camps were where they couldn't go, or they had their means of protection, or repelling. Still, there were many places where it hadn't gotten, thanks to the remoteness of some locations. Those who survived were lucky or unfortunate people depending on who one asked. Surviving destruction, Darks, and continuing afterward was depressing. Not a lot of lives were saved from places considered breached or wiped out.

Who decided that? Walkers. Every camp had them put in charge, acting as a leader in name alone, or, in rarer cases, they had straight Federation behind them under some unique orders, and were very active.

Such was the current camp Dann and William lived in for the past two years. It was the longest time they had lived in a single place after becoming orphans. This meant this place had much more enduring security and Walkers than anywhere else. They were here in greater numbers, or their location was just that good.

The reason was simpler.

The land itself was fertile and vast, giving this camp constant goods and growth, so it was worth protecting it at all costs. There were hills and some mountains around it, and even water poured through them. While the camp itself was big, homing thousands upon thousands of people, it always remained standing.

Both William and Dann saw it from the window. Many great and stable buildings made of bricks or large slabs of concrete served as a proper civilization. Streets full of working people were busy and great, cluttering in the morning. Then, there were large plains right at the front of the camp, acting as important farmland that was secured and precious, but kind of left out and looking way too open. A lot of troubles could come from the other side of those plains, hidden by mountains, forests, or hills.

Wood was the most common material for traditional buildings, but here, in large numbers, stone bricks always stood better. In some portions, the camp resembles a huge number of fortresses and sizable or smaller buildings connected by canals, bridges, or streets.

William could say this was the best camp he had ever seen without a shadow of a doubt.

Unbothered by this sight, or Dann, he covered his Emblem and punched Dann to the shoulder.

“Ouch, don't hurt me you lunatic.” Dann jokingly complained, pretending to nearly fall from the window that he opened.

“What? Don't tell me you are glad that you are alive. I don't believe it. Let me try it again.” William smirked and punched his other shoulder.

“Give me a break,” Dann fled to the other wall. “The last time was barely enough for our lives to be saved by the military. This camp is paradise! No Rifts or Incursion will stop us!”

“Us? Wait, did you seriously utter what I've heard? Inc... Never mind. We can only hope. I don't think there is a better place than the Federation, but who knows, eh? Never seen it, but...” William wanted to give him some knowledge he learned from some lessons, but Dann made his move, and he believed Dann knew it already.

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He punched William's shoulder and fled before giving him time to counter.

“S-sorry...”

“I hate this talk about this so-called Federation! They are a bunch of nations of the past that are trying to return the world to its previous glory. What is there to return? People? Land? Corruption is said to be a curse. It won't leave the land for centuries. In fact, the past nations weren't that great at all, by the way! Mind telling me why, hm? Or do you want to hear me talk about it again? We should think about the future and how to get rid of every single Dark.,” Dann spoke in agitation, almost shouting.

He caused a scene once more.

Unpleasant shouts sounded from the opened door, but both youths ignored young and older voices.

Dann focused on the past, almost to the point of obsession even if he hoped for the future. The past was full of wonders and legends. It was a wonderful place with billions of lives, hiding a whole world that was one large paradise for humanity. It was an ignorant and naive ideology that William wasn't sure where it came from.

Was that a genuine path for humanity? Many things and stories were shared by common folks throughout the flowing time and surviving generations. Past no longer mattered when the world crumbled apart. Many looked for a better future instead.

Dann was one of them and had rather harsh ideas about the past. He didn't like many things about it and was more than obsessed with others.

It wasn't so easy to get information about the past though. It wasn't as if it was some forbidden knowledge. It wasn't everywhere, as some records and a big chunk of humanity disappeared into the void, waiting for re-discovery, or people to come up with them again.

Broadly speaking, some parts of history were a bit better thanks to many archives, stories, some books, or openness. Letting things die out would put an end to them. Words, knowledge, and history were such things.

By legends, there was one thing that William and Dann believed in and didn't think was right. It was some sort of digital world, and neither of them knew much about it, even if it was still present at some limited capacity in some places.

With a significantly smaller population and advancements in science and land, there was a constant struggle to get ahead.

William didn't understand what sort of expression to make, or how to express his doubts. Unlike Dann, he didn't care for a lot of things. He knew what sort of things happened to him, and telling him that the presence was more important would just anger him more.

“Don't fret, my friend!” Dann cheered up, pulling his arm around William's neck, and poked his face with his finger. As a friend, he knew what sort of expression to make.

He knew William had nothing easy before him.

“Are you saying it because of me? I know what are your feelings about it.”

“I do, or I don't. I think it is very impressive that I even managed to befriend you while living to tell the tale. I want my children to know what we have survived, killed, and what we've gone through. It would make a great story! What about a book? Trilogy?”

William shook his hands off. “Do we have time for that?”

“Entertainment is still valid. Not here, but in the future, it might be great. I would call it a Manifesto of Dann and William, or Journey through Dark. Oh, perhaps a Dark Journey is the greater name? What is there to worry about it beforehand, eh? I think it is great.”

William sighed. “You are a real piece of work. Wanna meet Miss Anderson and tell her about it? I am sure she will be thrilled and call you a genius,” William smirked and thought seeing Dann's reluctant and grimacing face was funny.

Although he had some memories himself, full of an uncertain past where he couldn't know what the other day had, he wasn't hopeless. There was some bitterness, sure, or even hopeless memories that he would rather forget, but there was always an end.

Either a painful one, closer to lesser pain, or a time that would be the opposite of that. Leave. Grow. Become a Walker!

He was around fifteen years old. It acted as a motivation for him, who grew from a young depressed kid to a questionable teenager who went through numerous changes. Dann witnessed it firsthand. William wasn't certain of his exact age, but he wasn't more than sixteen years old. He promised himself to never get to the former hopeless stage ever again.

After Dann ceased his grimace, he smirked and brushed off his shame and awkwardness.

“Actually, that is the reason I woke you up. Miss Anderson wanted... to see you. Not because of some trouble, of course. You are a great guy, unlike some random hooligan. Not sure what his name is. Not like he lives here anymore.” Dann laughed and walked out of the room. “Time waits for you. You've waited. Goodbyes will be bitter.”

What a friend. He would make a terrible writer, William thought. He would make himself to be a perfect and obnoxious protagonist, I bet. William then scratched his head and checked his clothes. Then, he pulled his sleeve up and looked at his Emblem with shiny rays of the sun once more. An expression of grief, opportunity, and hope were all over his face. He knew this was an object of incredible value in this age and time, and what Dann said was something he knew was coming.

He just pretended it wasn't.

He will have to snatch this thing to live decently and be proud of himself. If his mother and father were dead, that was the least he could do for them.

Run. Hide. Live? William wasn't exactly sure what his mother used to say or what lies he thought since then. All sorts of things blurred through the madness of his run and blood and... a lot of other things came afterward. Pain. Screams. Thuds. Beats? Blood and gore, and seized hearts and heads and... He stopped thinking. Those voices carried and gave his mind a fair share of trauma. They returned from time to time, giving grief and memories like nightmares, followed by very real nightmares.