William hops on the back of the motorcycle, clinging to Luke's body. Feeling unsure and hesitant, he is not entirely ready for what is about to come. Needless to say, he already decided today to make his worries stop once and for all, and not think of it further.
“Don't be so nervous, William,” Luke comments, hiding his front.
“You can tell that I am nervous?” William asks, not noticing the change in Luke's mannerisms, by calling him by his name.
“Your hands are shaking. I was once like you too, although in different circumstances.”
“Right, you are a Walker. I thought only ordinary personnel were checking for new recruits such as me. Why is it different this time?”
“Orders and who knows what else. We will take this conversation somewhere else, but before that, take care, and don't fall off.” Luke says after starting the motor of this rare machine.
The sound of the engine strikes the air as the exhaust put out a few puffs of smoke. Sounds is also impressively hard, unfamiliar with the kinds of machines William is used to.
“Wow! This is an old traditional motorcycle? ” William gasps, but before he has the chance to hear Luke's answer, a gust of wind stops his thinking. The sheer speed of the motorcycle reaches the limits that he ever experienced. He never had a good chance to drive such a vehicle before, and this speed is just incredible.
The air is hitting his face as he glances back to the street of his home. Before it's too late, William looks at it with resolution and thinks of the past, as well as Dann who was there for him in the past.
“See you again, Dann,“ William sighs and by some miracle, he notices the poking head from the upper floor. Dann is shaking his arm rather vigorously, but it is a bit too late to make it any grander. William is already gone from this street in a few moments, albeit he saw his cluttering hands.
“Farewell, I hope you will have a future as a good Walker,” Dann thinks to himself as his upper body hangs from the window. He also has the same worries in his life. One of the better things he actually accomplished in his life is the friendship he has with William. With him being gone, he could not help being dejected.
SMACK! Dann slaps his own cheek up in the window.
“Call the duck down DANNY!” He shouts out loud to the entire camp as his witness. Grinning in peace of mind and a speck of sadness to say a farewell is something he feared, but expected.
Getting back inside from the window, he enters his own room with determination on his face. He clenches his fists, remembering the day that he feared, happened.
“You have your own life too, Danny. William is special, while you are not. It is not like I am losing my life here when I am trying to live my life, while the Walkers are protecting humanity and dying from the monsters of the Dark!” Dann talks to himself, thinking of the situation of the grander theme.
Dann sits on his chair while leaning his whole body behind the sturdy-looking wooden chair. It went all over the chair's back support, while the screeching sounds of wood, indicate the instability of doing so. Yet, it doesn't stop him from watching the ceiling, which is his home for the past 2 years. It has been a rather peaceful time, but that could have been said for the previous orphanages as well until it wasn't.
The Dark attacked many places of the still living people Outside. Dann had seen the sights of nightmares that he wished he would never see again. So far, the current Camps last on average around 2 years, but that could change at any moment. A simple horde can decimate any Camp if there are no Walkers stantined there.
The Dark Beings can come, destroying, and killing at any moment. Be it the current camp or the previous ones he was part of while fleeting while watching William's back, that was pushing his own fearful ass out of the brink of death. At the last horror, being 13 years old, he was as afraid as he was back when he was 6 years old. It was a terrible experience, with the brightness that was his friend William who at least had some backbone even though he is 1 year younger.
“NO. NO. Danny... You have some principles too. Remember what father used to tell. Take care of yourself first, and then the people you care about. Live life to fulfillment while trying to survive in this world. One had to move from one disaster to another, while the stakes and sacrifices are as common as the pain itself.”
Dann cheers himself through the motion of the memories. Grabbing a book from the corner of his desk, he looks at it with decisiveness. It is his little secret treasure. It is a rough-looking book of knowledge about aircraft. A thing of the past, and to some extent the present. It long ago fascinated Dann since he found this book in the debris of a destroyed city a long time ago. Although it is not a century old, it has some decades-old pages for sure.
“So what if William is special? I will push hard like him while I will be forging my destiny with my own hands. Not being handed the luck of the world, while seeking death sounds more pleasant anyway. Who would even want to be a Walker? Not me!” Dann clenches the book while the blaze of confidence over his words never disappeared.
His own path is starting right now.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, on the streets of Camp Roshwell. Right at the corners, which led to the outside.
A motorcycle is moving, occasionally blessed by glances from the bystanders who look at it with shock, jealousy, or hatred. Luke is not worried about either of these people, and Willian has barely the strength to hold himself on the machine.
It won't be that long for this ride to end. Although the streets of this camp are not perfect for the motorcycle, the distance from the orphanage isn't very big. There is no need to include cars in such camps. Although they are much larger, tougher, and more robust with their builds, they had more difficult upkeep and care. In fact, a lot of such cars are still visible everywhere throughout the world, but most of them are already in the passing of usage.
Time, destruction, and rust slowly made them unusable with the new ones never coming back. Right now, they are outside of the question or ability of most of humanity. Too many years already passed for normal people to have such convenient tools. On the other hand, motorcycles are more common since they require smaller tools, easier assembly, and maintenance. They could be made with relative smoothness with a nice learning curve for the Enginists.
Knowledge and the handiness of a lot of professions are fundamentally the things that could change the lives of entire families. The room and space for one to live in are equally proportional to their usefulness in the camps. Most people are already accustomed to this way of living Outside, although William isn't like a regular kind of person. That thing within his right foream is his token of the future and a reason for a lot of troubles.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Work hard, as life is not so easy. That is the premise of most people's lives.
The motorcycle keeps riding, through the streets until it stops before the wooden gate. Luke gets up from this motorcycle, and while walking to the guards, he looks at the surroundings.
“Leave me through the gate, fellas. Why it's locked? I was the one who came just a while back, don't you remember?” He asks while glancing around at more guards that were curiously gathered around some corners, or idly chatting.
The front guard to the main gate sneers upon hearing his words. “We have our own rules. We have to check whether you are passing through with something that should not be passed by.”
“Oh, I wonder what is this about?” Luke calmly asks, scratching his cleanly shaved chin, and appearing as unbothered as a person can be.
“Right, sir. HEY, you! Take the machine for the inspection.” The guard shouts while pointing to other smirking guards in the back of the street.
“Do you think this is necessary?” Luke asks again.
“It is just an inspection. "Inspection" you understand?” The guard says with a hideous sneer of open shamelessness. ”Now, go back to where you came from while we take care of our business. That's what Outsiders gets upon coming here.” he pushes Luke away and by doing so, he touches his chest.
A sudden flowing force appears from within, and before the guard knows about it, he flows afar, smacking face down towards a stone wall. All of the Guards go alert upon a considerable use of force, but all of them stop, after discovering the shimmering course of energy around Luke.
A glowing sphere of light just briefly appears from his chest. The scattering and tough exterior of his clothes reveal his fantastical muscles and highly trained upper body. But there was also something strange, a blue orb-like gem within his chest.
The rest of the guards are silent as if the horror is spreading quite quickly amidst their minds. They understand that the one whose face is resting against the wall is barely alive. He is all bloody and scattering wounds across his whole body make it obvious that he won't walk for a long time.
“A Walker! A bloody old Walker is hiding in our CAMP?” One of the guards shouts while quickly backing away with a gaze of the person who nearly killed his colleague.
“I even gave you my military badge when I came here and you plan to get some free meal out of this? What sort of stupid decision is this to do this to the military? Shameful!” Luke says with a stern and clear voice, turning his agitation to a pushing force that comes from his chest. It put everyone within dozens of meters of him into a state of panic. That also includes William, who is also within this range.
Without a change, or more troubles coming his way, Luke walks back to his motorcycle with a speechless William still sitting on it.
“Luke just tossed the grown man across a whole street without lifting a finger. What sort of Emblem does he have?” William asks himself in his mind but doesn't question Luka out loud.
“Let's just not continue with this and let us out. Freaking idiots.” Luke complains as he restarts the engine.
One guard walks to the gate and pushes it open upon hearing Luke's command. With some panic and fear, he is not looking at the face of the man who drives to a distance in a couple of moments.
“What terrible luck! Here we have a freaking Walker? How many chances are there for them to pick a goddamn kid? Who in their right mind did not check his badge properly where he came here?” The guard who pushed the door open shouted at the surrounding guards but did not get any answers. All that he gets are just unsure glances from others, while majority of people are looking at the other side of the street, where guards began to help the poor man who overstepped boundaries that shouldn't be touched. It seems the one at fault already got his sentence, so no one will think of this any further.
William is once again bracing for the gust of win. The surrounding atmosphere of the plains and forest around this camp seems rather nice to him from such a position. This is one of the many plains in Canada where a camp surrounds the small hills and forests for defense. It makes a nice place, within this otherwise flat chunk of the region. There are many such places for this sort of camp. Scattered throughout a couple of dozen miles around the plains, a lot of people live here. Having too many people in the same location is never a good idea, so having them scattered is better for survival. After all, the number of Walkers has always been limited.
This could not be said in the past decades, since those camps are very recent, with a history of just over a decade old, when the Federation began its colonization practices to get more land, and resources from their rightful lands. It was an ordeal, which is already been in the processing stage for a long time. Hundreds of thousands of people in camps such as Roshwell, are around the perimeter of Canada alone.
As the road goes, it eventually disappears. Now, Luke drives through the haggard-looking ground, which isn't supposed to be for vehicles, but it is enough for this motorcycle. William isn't asking, nor speaking to Luke since it is hard to speak or get his point across to him in this position. The air already ate a lot of his questions, so he rather stays silent. The ride is much harder outside since there are no streets. Just dirt, grass, and nature itself make this place rather unkept for humanity. It is quite a bumpy ride, but William doesn't mind it. He waits and waits until he notices a surprising open sight around one particular hill in about 10 minutes. That should be quite a few miles away from the camp Roshwell, so some Dark beings could likely be there.
Within this particular enclosed space around the hill, a rather humongous helicopter is standing there in the middle of the empty plain in addition to a dozen people in similar attire to Luke's.
Driving to them in a moment, Luke stops the engine and gets from the machine. He clearly loves this machine with all his heart, since every movement is full of care, and any scratches upon it, would cause endless anger for him. For some idiot to take it from him, that would not happen in a million years. William reluctantly follows behind him, but his eyes are glued to the sight in the front. This Helicopter in front of him is much more impressive than some measly motorcycle. No doubt about that.
“Greetings, Captain. Has everything been alright?” One of the military personnel walks toward Luke, giving him a proper salute. He talks with a strange accent that William could not put his finger on.
“Just orders, as usual, Szczepan. Whatever it is, the boy is here with me. Is the helicopter ready?” luke says dismissively.
“Of course, we can start and go at any point, sir,” Szczepan confirms and calls the rest of the team back to the helicopter. Szczepan is a semi-leader and the man in charge of the workings of this enormous machine. Luke is the Captain himself, albeit a temporary one. He isn't the owner of this helicopter, of course.
Military, action, and everything, including the missions, is Luke's task. In his team, there are only 3 Walkers, while the rest are only normal people. But those ordinary, aren't your ordinary military joes. They went through the harsh training of military operations or schools alike, which are still active in some parts of the world. In fact, it is an order behind the Federation, and a lot of care is behind its military. Be it, Walkers or ordinary soldiers, everyone is important. Albeit, the Walkers are a bit more famous and sought out, but that goes without question.
“Was everything alright, boss? Your Emblem is visible.” Szczepan asks with his thick accent. Luke is yet to close his open jacket and blouse underneath it.
“Oh, that? That is nothing. Come, William, I have to put my baby inside, so no other idiots will steal it.” Luke tells the silently looking William, who is staring at the massive machine in front of him with an open mouth. He pays very little attention to the surrounding people, while he marvels at the whole helicopter.
Directly on the side of the least two stories tall helicopter is a huge logo of an entity that he only learned about through famous talks of the current age. It is the Emblem Academy's logo, consisting of a large circle, with a spiked building-like structure in the middle. It looks kind of simple, with the building representing the essential hope and marvel of the city of the Academy. The large circle represents the whole world.
“Holy crap! Are you people from the Emblem Academy?” William asks straight on.
“Heh. That is funny. I would not call it holy or crap either, but it is neither, but it is close.” Szczepan calls from the back of the helicopter as he could not help but hear the talk outside.
“Don't give him any ideas, Szczepan!” Luke shouts as he prepares the ramp to get his motorcycle up to the cargo storage.
“Alright, boss.” Szczepan reluctantly shakes his head and rather goes to check the other stuff in the helicopter.
“Are you not from the Academy?” William looks at Luke with a questionable look.
“We as a team are not. I have some small history with it, but not overly much. This helicopter is just part of their arsenal in the usage of many missions by many nations. You will understand why later on. Many more details about the decision you took, will make up for your future.” Luke explains.
“Truly? Can I even join the Emblem Academy?”
“No WEll, maybe? I don't know.” Luke bluntly says while pushing his love to the insides of the helicopter on a ramp.
Seeing the back of Luke and even his blunt answer, William unhappily frowns.
“I will try it anyway.”