Still, William is a little discouraged by Luke's words. After seeing him secure his motorcycle into its place, William is no longer thinking about it, since what he knows is less than him anyway. Time for the future will wait for when he will be ready.
Walking down the hangar-like door into the helicopter, he watches everything in wonder and surprise. He has never seen such an intricate machine so close. It is a kind of magical feeling, where he is surrounded by a world that is known to him all his life, yet he was never so close to it. William managed only a few glances at a few helicopters from the rare occasion of them, flying above him. That was about all he could see in the past.
Now, it seems as if it's on the tip of his fingertips, which isn't too farfetched at the moment.
William uncovers and realizes one thing. This helicopter is much bigger than he ever thought. It has 3 sections on the first floor. Cargo, seating area, and pilot area, while there is also a floor above this one, which is even more storage and seating for almost 50 people in total. This is a very huge helicopter that is two stories tall.
“What is it, kiddo? Impressed that your mouth is no longer stable? Hehehehe.” Szczepan glances at the wandering boy, who is surprised by the technology that is still available in this age.
“Nothing. Nothing. I am admiring this machine. It must take a lot of resources to run this thing.”
“Indeed it does, but it isn't all that bad. Humanity was almost wiped out, which led to the majority of the past's resources being cleaned up by the future of fewer people.” Luke appears behind the cargo door after he heard William's and Szczepan's words. He is Wearing a new set of jackets and trousers in a beige color. Other than that, he appears the same as before.
“Captian is right, but there are equally worrying things as well. I believe, boy, you will get to know them when you join the military or any other organization as a Walker.”
William listens attentively. He is yet to properly set his expectations towards hearing their words. It is clear to him as a sun in the sky that being a Walker is not about the option of whatever one wants it or not. No. It is a mandatory fate that is put on him from the moment he was born with an Emblem within his body.
That is an undeniable thing that never worried him, up until now. Since he was younger, one's Emblem is still inactive, with rare cases of them having some strange happenings. Although, William knows nothing about them, apart from his disappearing Emblem.
William no longer continues with useless conversation. He sights as he takes an empty seat in the seating area for people. There are barrels of unknown stuff and a lot of bags of the same mass as himself. There are rows of seating around the walls, and two rows facing the wall as well, with belts on each seat. It is a rectangular room, with an island in the middle that has 2 other rows which face the rows at the walls of the helicopter. This way, there are a lot of seats. Surprisingly, there is still a place for more, since the place is still rather open for anyone to walk through the rows.
Seeing the rest of the men in a charge of Luke doing their work, he wonders if he ends up like them. Perhaps not, or his fate will be different from theirs? Who knows? Not one person would be able to answer him.
It takes not that long for Szczepan to completely ready the helicopter to start rotating its wings. The engine starts to go wild, while the noise of stuff, the clutter of metals, and shaking alerts William in his seat. They even shut every door off from the outside, but surprisingly, all of the personnel disappear somewhere else, leaving Wiliam alone.
William sits there alone, grabbing the only bag he has on the ground. Suddenly, a hand clenches around his chest as the belt secures his chest so he would not move in an accident.
“Huh? What is this, mister Luke?”
“Security? Have you not learned at least this much?” Luke asks.
“Not about helicopters...” William bluntly says upon hearing his question.
Luke sits on the very right of William while not even gesturing for Szczepan to take off toward the next destination. The helicopter lifts itself up from the ground, hovering with a gust of wind that moved the grass hundreds of feet away.
Soon enough, the whole machine lifts itself faster. The sudden movement when it reaches the sky shocks William into a gasping motion. William glances at the window behind his back. The trees start disappearing from the line of his vision, turning smaller, rather than disappearing completely. They are moving up in the air for at least hundreds of feet above the nearest forest, hill, or tree, before embarking on a journey onwards.
William could not help but glance at Luke and the window beside him. The seats in the front obscure his vision, to see the visions of the other window. He wishes to see everything much clearer, but that won't happen because he wants to.
“Do you want to see the bigger world? Alright.” Luke understands his intentions quite well and pulls his security bell off before he even notices it. A better window at the left section of the row is slightly better, but it is far from him. In order to reach it, William stumbled from the movements of the helicopter. He tried his best not to fall, yet he still failed gracefully. Managing to grab the window and handle in the ceiling, he watches the sight that he will never forget.
With a much bigger-sized window than the previous one, William is speechless upon the sight down below. By this point, the helicopter travels hundreds of feet above the ground.
The sight of the forest, as well as destroyed cities and nature that is devouring everything for the last century, appears quite breathtaking in his eyes. William could see hundreds of miles into the distance. The air is much cleaner from the lack of humanity, and the prospect of pollution no longer exists. Perhaps the helicopter is already too far up in the air, as nothing that appears on the ground makes much sense to him. It is mostly the basics of being high in the air that shatter his point of view. The appearance of destroyed humanity is already enough for him to see.
“First time watching such a sight is the most impressive,” Luke speaks to his right. He is steadily standing without needing to touch anything. His hands in his pocket, he could not appear more professional than that. He is quite more steady than William, and it shows.
“Well, I have seen plenty of such things from the ground zero. Is it something that a Walker is experiencing every day?” William asks as he still watches the below and the bright horizon.
“No. I am not a free Walker, to say the least. It depends on the lack and ability that one could have. Want to talk more about this? I promised you this before.”
William shakes his head and says. “In a bit. How long will this journey take?”
“Couple hours.”
“Couple hours at such a speed? Where in the world are we going? Do you even have enough gas for that?” William asks while being surprised about such a long flight. He has some basic common sense about the use of gasoline in this world. It is rare on the Outside, and its usage of it must be regulated, or taken care of properly. Not one bit should be wasted, since it's a precious resource of humanity, particularly for the Federation.
“Oh? So you know at least something about this.” Luke surprisingly glances at the boy.
“Excuse me?! I have at least some common sense. Every time in the orphanage, the young Walkers are raised quite better than some... unfortunate orphans. I had to at least learn and teach myself some matters of the world since I have no parents. They made sure of it that I wouldn't be completely clueless.” William explains while glancing at Luke, who remains indifferent with a slight smile behind his cheek.
“I sometimes wish I was born as such an ordinary orphan.”
“Really? Children are not born orphans! They are forced by the world to become one, and it is the duty of the world to protect this from happening.” William talks more and more about emotions. This is his firm belief, and he wishes nothing else but to see no orphans in the world.
“Your opinion is yours. Mine is mine. Talk to me whenever you are fed up with the sights. Soon, we will travel through the Dark, so don't be too shocked. I doubt you saw that from the ground zero. I think it will sooner change to a not-so-pleasing sight.” Luke tells William whose gaze reminds him of plenty of young Walkers he has seen before.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Walking steadily back to his seat, he rests his head against the wall and closes his eyes for at least a moment of peace.
William watches and watches, and Luke's words become a reality. A view changes. Crevices that span the ground to an unknown amount of distance below the surface are visible, and much cleared from the high altitude. William even sees some indistinguishable appearances of the Dark beings, but he isn't sure of them. They are small to make something out of them, but he is sure they are growling unhappily at the noisy helicopter.
Apart from that, William is sure there is a deadly silence in this lifeless world. Not much life apart from the tough forests that are trying to overcome the empty and destroyed places is there. Only the distant noise of a helicopter is within this place, but it is for no one apart from the Dark beings. It will take at least a couple more years to a decade before this place would become once a place for fauna, but that depends if the Dark won't force more homes and nests upon this place. It is no place for humanity since the things that are brewing inside the earth are still inside, waiting, and getting stronger.
“Such a sight of the destruction? I know it all too well.” William thinks to himself but doesn't voice it out loud so Luke wouldn't give him some sort of lecture. “Where are we even going? I have not paid attention to the sun at all. Is it the US borders we are reaching? They have been destroyed a dozen years ago. Since it is not that long, and because of the sun, we should be around New York and the Maine States, if I'm not wrong.” William assumes from the bit of time he observed the ground.
“Who knows? Maybe. I said what I said. If you feel tired from watching, I will explain it to you. Are you tired of that? I doubt so.” Luke says, still with his eyes closed.
William silently nods, not paying much more attention to Luke. He wonders about the possibilities of where they are going. It was around 1 hour towards this journey of his sightseeing that he soon notices something new, what he had seen only in the pictures. From far distances, at once it was a utopia of humanity. New York City and the ocean surrounding it on the distant horizon are upon William's sight.
Apart from the complete and utter destruction of such a humongous place, the majority of the metropolis could still be noticed, regardless of the degree of destruction. This place was bombed and destroyed until the bitter end almost a century ago when it held off the Dark invasion. It is already long past that time, so this place is no longer what it used to be.
Unfortunately for no one, the reclaim of this place was not feasible throughout the years that passed. Such a metropolis would be a pain to manage since the course of years made this place completely inhabitable and filled with Dark beings.
William watches the place from far away with great interest. This place of history is before his eyes, and he was never lucky to see it himself. Well, calling it lucky isn't right, since many dozens of miles around this city, is a dead zone.
With utter fascination and reluctance, he kept watching, until he suddenly jolts from the window as he had seen something... different from the rest of the mega-city. It is something hidden, or is it within the skyscrapers themselves? Was it a being? Someone or something saw him and watched his curious eyes in the helicopter. This sudden jump in his heart felt almost natural as breathing, but he could not understand what it was either. It was almost like a blink, and then shock fills his mind the next moment, which caused him to fall to the ground. He doesn't alert Luke, who keeps his calm.
“What the hell? Was that a person or a Dark being hiding there? We are so far away, yet I felt it, and it felt me. What sort of thing was that?” he guesses, unsure if he should be feeling fearful or not behind this strange feeling.
William clumsily gets back to the wall, so he would try to see it again. The sight of the ocean soon envelopes everything within this side of the window, but he could not see anything strange from before. There is only a plain sight of destroyed and jungle-ridden buildings in what is now, New York City.
With this being over, William sits back to the left side of Luke, who still rests as much as he wishes.
“Mister Luke?” William speak out loud while remembering the moment when he almost punched him straight in his head.
“What is it? Is the sightseeing not up to your taste any longer?” Luke answers while opening his eyes. One had to be always ready when traveling across the polluted land of the Dark, but he is quite carefree since he made sure to tell Szczepan to travel much higher than usual. In this way, they shouldn't deal with any abnormalities, as even high-rank Dark beings shouldn't be able to be interested in this helicopter.
“I am over it already. so, are you fine with the discussion with me, mister Luke.” William decides and expectantly looks at Luke in curiosity.
“What do you want to know?” Luke asks.
“Where are we going? Why we are going there and the reason for me coming in this way?”
“That is a lot of questions, but all of them are very reasonable. It is also a lot of answers that I don't want to be bothered with. Just know that the mission I was tasked with involves, in some way, your parents.”
“My parents? WHAT! Why?” William almost jumps from his seat, surprised to hear the matter of his parents coming up at this point.
“Because they were Walkers. Quite decent ones at that. Reaching at least rank 6 while still being young was quite an accomplishment back then.”
“Rank 6? What are you talking about? What happened to my parents?” William asks with a clear and emotional voice. Although he grew up with very few memories of his parents, he knows nothing much about them. He has never seen or remembered their Emblems or anything of the remembrance. It is especially so for his father, whom he had no recollection of. But... He still felt the parental love from the mere memories and knowledge of heaving them, so there goes his surprise upon hearing Luke talk about them. Their loss still lingers in his mind. Being an orphan in this world is more than a nightmare, more than nothing else.
“They told you or taught you nothing, which is expected. Even the military of the Federation was absolutely in the dark that you even existed. That is about what I can even tell you regarding that, or someone would punish me... I don't want that. There are some restrictions on orders or whatnot. They are well beyond me, so have some understanding. You will get it one day.” Luke tries to explain, but William still listens with the confusion caused by his words.
Only one understandable question is within his mind, and he says exactly that.
“Are they alive?”
“Status is unknown. That was what I have been told when I was in the same division as your father in the borders of Canada and Montana of the US.” Luke keeps voicing his opinion, orders or not.
William grits his teeth and clenches his fists. This information is at least somewhat new to him, but it means nothing to the current him. He is unable to do anything with this at all.
“Don't be bitter about it too much. Although they went missing, they are as dead as they could be.” Luke honestly added. It is his style, which may seem somewhat too direct, but he is fine with his choice of words.
“Mister LUKE!” William shouts in anger.
“That is the reality, boy!” Luke grabs his head with his single hand and shakes it.
Gritting his teeth, William pushes his hand away, albeit a bit forcefully. Luke barely used any strength.
“I am not angry or anything... I don't like the current reality... it is sad, then anything else,” he says through gritted teeth, but with no anger towards the blunt-speaking Luke. He already heard enough of being an orphan. Growing up as one is a lonely feeling.
“Past won't come back, while the future won't be any better. All we can do is face the present.” Luke remembers the analogy of what he remembered from someone in the past.
William calmly agrees with that, by shaking his head. Tars are around the corner of his eyes sockets. However, he would never cry! That is his promise to himself from a long time ago. Complaining is fine, but no crying! That is his rule.
“Then, can I become a Walker like my father? What was he like?” he asks while abandoning any tears left in his eyes.
“Sure. Why not? If you want to try that, you can. Although, it depends on your aptitude and talent. Here, this one is mine. A little talent that only strong Walkers have.” Luke opens his jacket, revealing a bright-looking gem within his chest. It is inserted in the middle of the ribcage, in the middle of his chest.
It shines brightly, with the power that only a Walker can have. That is about the only known factor about it, as far as William knows.