Chapter 51

In North America, let alone the South, safety was relative and full of doubts. Nature wasn't brutal, but it was honest when winter arrived. It was also a time when Darks changed and focused, or shifted in numbers and direction like animals moving in seasons or mating.

Marcus grunted at William in confusion. Understanding his mistake shook his life. He was fed up with despair and Outside. He hated camps as well. This opportunity and choice came out as nothing but pure luck and like an event others decided. He might not like it, or regret it down the line, but he might as well get used to it.

He still didn't say a word to William.

“Yeah,” Luke said, “as the kid is saying, there are some ways to do it and not. I don't really care who you were or are, you see. The Federation doesn't either. Why? Do a problem there and you are sent away. It works for Walkers as well. Everyone works and does what they can. Outside, or the Federation. Two lines we deal with. That, or there is a way to shove you into the ocean. Chose.” Luke ordered and crouched beside them.

At that moment, Marcus noticed creeping heated crimson flickering in his vision. William's Emblem was looking like a storming color, wanting to break free from its prison, following William's distress. Fortunately, William held back in many ways, or the Emblem did, so he didn't crash that neck or head.

“Choice? That isn't the right thing to say either,” William said to Luke and punched Marcus again. “These people... they are lost because...”

“Like you were?” Luke asked a good question.

“No. I realized there is no point in many things. That is the difference and people are no lost cause either. So what if it is here?” William pointed to his Emblem. “I am still a human!”

“I am not arguing about my choice of words, or what is your ideology. Some people are dumb, so Let's get this over with already. Punch him to the end of this journey for all I care about. It will ease my time and make him silent. Fuel is precious, isn't it? Many people have emotions, motivations, or some reason to make mistakes. We learn from them or not. It makes us human.” Luke left and took a seat by a window, where he crossed his arms, making his stand firm.

He didn't care for these people. It was up to William to decide that as well, and he didn't think he had any word in this. He just wanted to give this asshole a lesson.

Marcus was silent on the ground, spreading his hands on the floor as he gave up. Alexandra, upon seeing no more troubles, took care of the baby and started to check his health. To be sure, she did it in the presence of both parents and right before the mother. There was no point in hurting other people, she believed. She was old and had seen enough shit out there or in the Federation.

“You people should change your mindset if you want to survive in the Federation,” she said. “We care for everyone. They care. Walkers, I mean. Without us, they would have nothing. They would be just machines to kill these beasts without any purpose other than to kill. Learn this and accept it.”

Marcus quenched his fists.

William watched him in silence. Then, he shook his head before getting up. “Get it, old man? Grow the fuck up, or I will beat you up again!” William threatened.

“What would you know about Outside, Federation boy?”

“Federation boy?” William frowned and kicked his arm. “You wished I was. I would give you so much more words Outside, moron.” Then, he walked away and took a seat beside Luke, fuming, while ignoring all eyes looking at him.

No one refuted him. Not even Alexandra who had one more patient to care for.

Zep shook his head and returned to the cockpit. Their journey soon went onwards at the end of Alexandra's checks. The baby was hungry and lacked sleep. She fed him some emergency supplies readily available in the military rescue box, which was always around these helicopters in case of need.

The baby still needed some care, but that would wait for the end of the journey. Alexandra did everything she could. With the baby back in his mother's hands, Marcus calmed down and felt like he lost more than a fight.

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In fact, there was no fight. He couldn't beat a kid. He felt like a beast seized him and every punch pushed him to the ground, shaking his head. William's demeanor and words also hit closer to home, and it didn't seem to come from some boy grown in the safety of the Federation. Fortunately, he noticed his Emblem and figured out who he might be. His clothes were kind of wrong as well, so that boy was no Federation bastard.

'Hmph. This is nothing. Kids like him have high enough training to be excellent soldiers even before adulthood or Federation. I lost nothing... He is just another monster. Marcus thought and quenched all troubles in his heart. He calmed down and no longer spoke or even gave Luke an apology.

William and Luke had no more discussions either, as both had no mood for it.

A while later, a new land appeared beyond the horizon, signifying their arrival before the starting layers of the Federation.

“We are home,” Zep's voice announced from the speaker. “Bear with some turbulences. There are some Rifts ahead as usual.”

By Rifts, it meant exactly what William regarded and knew from that term.

Sitting, he couldn't see them, but imagining their cracked reality and vision was more than easy for him.

Rifts were distortions in space caused by some Darks, and Zep's words surprised him. He glanced behind him and his mood changed. Rift's spanning variety littered the space above the water and the sky, giving William a realization there were hundreds of them.

He almost yelped in shock as he saw it from a simple glimpse. Most were barely flinching in activity, which made them closed, locked, or slowly closing over time. Some of the bigger ones meant some activity, passages in space to an unknown dark space, or a place somewhere far.

William winced and stopped thinking about Marcus or the past.

“Are you curious about Rifts?” Luke asked, sitting beside him.

William thought he was napping. “What is curious exactly? I am well aware of Rifts like anyone would be Outside.”

“Nothing. I just thought my words would be better than dealing with the guilt of punching that sandbag.”

“I don't feel bad about it at all.”

“Oh,” Luke hummed and touched his chin. He thought he read William right. Now, it seemed his depth was increasing and his personality might be different from his father. That intrigued him. “What do you know about the Federation? Not Rifts, if that's the case, but they are there as you can see.”

“I am... kind of surprised there are that many of them. For me, I thought the Federation is a big place that has never been overrun by Darks.”

“That is true though. Does the sight from behind surprise you?”

“A little.” William wasn't kidding. He had never heard of Rifts littering the Federation, let alone seen them in such numbers and visions. They looked unassuming thanks to the sun that was advancing for the end of this day. At night, William bet they would look pronounced and good, but hiding potential road and path to war and death.

Rifts were one of the many reasons humanity lost many wars, due to the inability to understand their movements for a long time.

Of course, that was a thing of the past. Nowadays, due to Walkers and plenty of research, Rifts were common, yet their reality and vision still remained, hunting people and many places. They were dangerous no matter; Walkers could not really make use of them. They thrashed them, willing to work for peace or death or the advances of a new race.

“Then look at it better and don't sit like a duck. Rifts are enemies.”

William didn't get exactly what he meant. Weren't Darks flocking from them the right enemies?

Discovering the button to unlock the seatbelt was easier than William thought. It was just a matter of where to put a finger and it released. So much security, William thought, and managed to reach the same great window from before.

There, he couldn't see the Federation yet. Windows were at the sides, so he was watching the ocean and sight aside, and below. So many Rifts hovered around like scars made in space. Some looked bright, hiding a cocooning space. Others were cracking and looking hazy, churning in weird space and colors. William could only imagine how the cockpit looked with this picture and what the approaching Federation looked like.

For now, he was satisfied with this space which wasn't like he expected. Soon, he saw something else. A bridge, followed by roads and many paths. They weren't that rough even if they stood on the ocean in unlikely manners. Roads connected to massive towers that created miles-long defensive layers, looking like a spiderweb.

Roads curved around, connecting towers and bridges, creating a systematic defensive line with dozens of layers. The further ones were wider and quite far from the Federation. Closer ones were tighter, still having their towers, bridges, and paths. The military was all over them, observing, or fixing scars of battles after some Rifts opened up recently or a while ago.

'Wow, this is something I've heard before. The defense of the sea is better than the ground. But what about the Federation itself, or... why are there so many Rifts? Can't they crash them? Why do they keep them?

Protruding from the ocean, hundreds of feet tall towers were most impressive. They were built to last, and the waters were calm. The day was getting out, though William still saw quite far, noticing people and soldiers and.... battles.

Further defensive lines and towers were a mile to half a mile from each other. That gap lessened inwards, giving the Federation and military a great deal of space.

Walkers had numerous options to fight here without a care for anything but fixable roads or towers. Roads connected everything, and there were even occasional tall bridges for boats. But that was false. There were open sections where even large ships could fit, which made the maze out of those lines of defense kind of odd, if not senseless.

William recognized Darks shouldn't care for these, so what were they for?