It was the strong smell of salt that caused me to wake up, and the sound of the ongoing rumbling of the engine turning off that made me snap out of the daze of first waking. How long had we been traveling at this point? A week? Maybe two? I wish it had been longer. But now that we were here the reality of my situation couldn't help but to crash down on me as I listened to the sounds of the men's large boots stomping into the sand as they reached the back of the van. And soon enough, I was blinded by the sunlight after being in the back of a dark van for so long it felt like their was a constant scorch of fire going through my eyes.
Being so focused on not having my eyes melt, I didn't even hear the sounds of the blonde haired man barking orders at me. He was the captain of the camp we had travelled from, Leonard Vaine. "Get moving brat!", came his hoarse voice from years of yelling. And by now I had learned to not disobey. "Yes sir.", my own voice after not having been used in so long was quiet, weak. And yet another sensation filled my body, not helping with the overstimulation of the world. It was hot, sending a pain through my body and somehow making the world turn sideways? No, it wasn't the world turning sideways it was me falling from the captain striking me.
"Speak clearly when I talk to you, boy! It's the least your useless ass can do!", his barking continued. And it would be one of the many things I wouldn't be missing. "Yes sir!", I said louder this time hoping that he wouldn't decide to hit me again for shouting at him, going as far as to brace myself for it and yet it never came. Instead there was a shove to my back, to signal me to start walking the origin of which was from the random man from the camp. I think his name had been Martin, he did his best to keep his head low and away from the gaze of others just doing what it took to survive in this wasteland these days.
"At least we found someone to get rid of this pathetic rat, isn't that right Martin?", I couldn't help but to think at the time if this guy ever just shut up. "That's right, Captain!" nothing but a lap dog. My fists clenching at my sides as we kept walking towards the new settlement, what had their name been again? Oh right, Ignis. A word that was foreign to me, never having been taught it in the camp then again we hadn't been taught much. Basic speech, and then it was straight to either working or fighting depending on how much promise you showed. And, I had never been a fighter.
Lost in my thoughts of the past life at the camp, I was yanked back. We had made it to the gates already, the top of which had 2 people at the top both armed with weapons made from rusted road signs. "My name is Leonard Vaine, with the Obsidian Settlement.", as commanding as always the two guards looked down at him lacking that usual obedient gaze that everyone at Obsidian had. And just by looking at Captain Vaine, I could tell he didn't like seeing someone as low as a guard being his equal here, he always had thirsted for power.
And after a little discussion with a third person blocked from our sight, the gates began to open. And as we went to enter, a command was yelled down at us, "Stop! Only the boy is to enter, we will drop you the payment from up here.". Upon being commanded now, I got to see the veins in Captain Vaine's head starting to bulge out in a silent anger. But knowing he could not do anything, and so it was his hand this time that pushed me. It was much stronger then Martinez, and filled with much more hate.
"And don't you ever return to Obsidian, Joel. If you do, we'll use you for target practice.", whether or not he said it to sound strong in front of the other settlement I could still tell he meant every word of it. And as I walked past the gate, and it started to close I saw an opportunity I'd never get again and looking back at those hateful eyes bearing down on me, I flipped him the bird accompanied with a line to get him angry. "Fuck you, die in a puddle of your own piss!". And at seeing the most pathetic person from his camp curse and mock him he began moving towards the gate, but was quickly stopped by the sound of the sounds of a bullet being chambered into a gun.
I couldn't help but to snap my head to the side to see who would even have such a thing, my eyes falling upon a large man easily standing at around six foot five. His eyes were chocolate colored and accompanied with brown hair that had strands of orange inside of it, a smirk settled on his face as the gates closed and the whispers of curses from the commander then the sounds of his boots stomping off was heard. And as it happened a hardy chuckle escaped the large man's mouth, "Get moving kid, you got some balls on you. Let's hope it doesn't get you into too much trouble here."
Was this the Captain of Ignis? He sure fit the build of a Captain, powerful, big, and commanding. Before I even made the conscious decision to start moving I was walking next to him. "He called you Joel, right? My name is Wayne I'll show you around the place, explain what your job will be here, put you through a few tests, then show you where you'll be sleeping." This place had sleeping quarters? Were the days of sleeping on the dirt finally over? I sure hoped so, "Yes sir Captain Wayne!". Having been broken in by a dictator more then a leader, it was the only thing I knew to reply with in a moment like this. "I'll work my hardest for Settlement Ignis!", though as I stopped to look at him he had an amused expression.
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"I'm not the captain kid, just one of his commanders.", well that was sure a surprise. It seemed like even just a commander was a better leader then Captain Vaine. I began to wonder, how come this place was so different? A mild jealousy began to dawn over me. Wayne seemed so nice compared to those back in Obsidian, they were all just people who were constantly afraid of Vaine. But as I watched everyone work around me with their various assigned jobs I couldn't help but to think about how much better this place was, the people here didn't look scared constantly.
"That Vaine guy sure seemed like one royal prick, can't imagine what it was like working under him.", was this sympathy? Another foreign feeling, having just woken up less then an hour ago and thrust into all of these feelings it made me want to crawl up somewhere and go back to sleep. "Yea, he was a dick. Ran his settlement with fear, like a dictator would. Or at least that's what the older members say, I'm not quite sure what a dictator is but if they're anything like him, I hate them all.". A little silence fell over us as we walked, as he stopped us at a big building made from bricks and wood. And it was the biggest building I had ever seen before, which wasn't to say much living my entire life in that camp.
And as we stopped, Wayne started to explain to me what kind of place this giant building housed. "This is the Cafeteria, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all served here. Though we do allow somewhat flexibility when you come in, I'd personally suggest getting in early. Breakfast begins at six, lunch at eleven, and dinner at four.". Flexibility? This place truly was starting to sound like a wonderland, though something caught my interest out of the corner of my eye. The gate I had entered from not too long ago, opening back up for another person being escorted in. And just like my situation had been, their escorts were left outside.
With a fast growing population it did raise the question of how they could support so many people, but I didn't question it. Instead we kept moving on, as Wayne showed me different things about the place, different facilities, and where to go in what situations. The weirdest being a bunker we were to enter every Sunday night from ten to eleven. Though I guess everyone has their own weird traditions in their communities and culture.
"And finally, what your job around here will be! We're going to train you to be a fighter!", Wayne had said with such enthusiasm that I felt kind of bad for pointing out the obvious to him. "Uhm, you can see how scrawny I am right? Like, I'm basically a walking stick.", though even my words didn't dull his enthusiasm as he just nodded along agreeing with me. Which, it was nice to know he could see the obvious but I couldn't help but to wonder how exactly he would turn a living stick into a warrior. Or better yet, why he would do such a thing.
"That's fine! Here, go ahead and punch me. I'm sure you're stronger then you think.", his enthusiasm had subsided a bit as he crouched down slightly to let me get a clean hit on him. And doing my best to copy the stance the Obsidian soldiers always took in their training I looked at him. My shoulders squared and feet planets as I rotated my hips, aiming for his chin and yet as it made contact the giant of a man didn't budge. Not a single centimeter, which was surprising to say the least. I knew I was weak, but not that weak.
And standing back up, he rubbed the spot to at least act like I had hurt him. "Well! We have a long way to go. But I will turn you into a war machine.", he said it like it was nothing more then a fact, but to turn someone like me into something like that was unbelievable. But I'd feel bad if I crushed his dreams, and at the same time it seemed like he had a plan already as if he knew something I didn't.
It was after that we started walking towards what appeared to be an obstacle course, made up of metal bars, pallet walls, and tires. It looked better then nothing as he gave me a nod and afterwards looking out into the obstacle course. My eyes following his as I mapped it out in my mind, before breaking out into a sprint, the first obstacle was a wooden wall made up of pallets. My fingers gripping onto the spaces between as I climbed up and over it, landing on an old mattress. Looking ahead, the next was a set of metallic bars that ended in a bunch of tires.
And as I jumped my hands gripped the hot metal of the bars, burning my palms and fingers as they wrapped tighter around them. Going through the course, I could feel my body giving in my breathe being hard to catch and yet I kept going. Pushing past the weak limits of my body, as I thought about Captain Vaine and all of the times he had called me weak, pathetic, and useless. And before I knew it I was at the end leaning against the arms of Wayne my breathe coming back to me as it seemed like my legs just wouldn't move anymore.
"You did a good job kid, now let's get you to the sleeping quarters. Welcome to settlement Ignis, I'll take you to the boss tomorrow." Was his last words to me before carrying me to the sleeping quarters and putting me into the bed. An actual bed, it was so soft and warm that my mind trailed off just embracing the feeling of it. And quickly drifting off into sleep.