The WALL

Midday the next day we broke out of the woods into a dry grey plain with boulders scattered around, and sand caked and cracked beneath our feet. The Wall stood a mile or so away: grey and tall. The top that appears to meet the sky directly___ with how high it was___ lacked any battlements, but was instead smooth and uniform, almost sleek. "Yeah, that's a sight," Sid said. "Would have appreciated it too if we didn't have to walk some more, my leg is killing me,"

I looked up at the sky, the sun a bright burning ball of light. The heat almost scalding my skin, and decided I agree with her. "I can carry you," I suggested even though I'd done so a thousand times already and she'd rejected each time. But she said the ankle felt better today and true to her words she could walk on her own. Though she still couldn't wear her shoe. She was walking barefoot on this baked sand!

"No need," Sid said.

"You are still angry I cauterized your wound aren't you?"

"I am not that childish," She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure," I rolled my eyes too, then folded my hands on my chest. "You sure you can manage on your own?"

"I am," Sid nodded.

I sighed at her stubbornness. "Come on then, I am not gonna hold back for you,"

"Yeah I know, you always say that," she scoffed knowing truly well I will go back on my words.

"Bitch,"

"I have a good teacher," she laughed.

As we drew closer we realized the wall had no sign of bricks or plaster___ it just looked smooth___ almost metal with the way it reflected the sun. There were scratches on the wall, but no broken chunks or chipped parts, no outward hint of how it was built.

Along the wall, every five meters or so, stood rectangular entrance ways... Er, doors, that lead to dim rooms.

From the those rooms an indistinct chatter rose before bursting out as voices called out to us , and hands pierced through the dimness enshrouding the doors to wave at us.

It was hard to hear anything as people spoke at the same time but I was able to catch individual words.

"Hey, come over here! I wanna talk,"

"No come to me ladies, I am gonna take care of ya!" He laughed.

"Girls don't trust any of em! Over here!"

I paused in horror as I took in the desperation of the shadowy forms in the rooms, squinting. What did they want with us? Are they cannibals and want to feast on my flesh? I shook my head. Firstly, why wouldn't they step out of the doors? What did they fear that they could only thrust out their hands? Is there some kind of danger here?

I was confused and contemplated turning around when a clearer voice broke out of the chaos. "Listen, you two," he said. "I know you are confused but don't mind any of them. They are here for your talents, as I am, but most of them can't handle you. My name is Pancil Brook, I am the leader of the A rank party Phoenix Might. This I do not lie about, in Camp you will need people like us to live comfortably."

"Don't listen to him!" Another voice, from a door farther away___ two or three doors away from the one I faced___ called. "My name's Jake Grey baby, my party; Creed of the Strong is better than his!"

As these two started talking everyone else quieted down. "Fuck off Jake," the first voice warned. "Don't listen to him you two, Phoenix Might is the champions of Camp Games!"

"I am champion like three times!"

Ignoring the other voice that countered the first but didn't actually contradict it for some reason, I walked towards the door the first voice came, the door directly in front of me . Up close I could see the room clearly. Two guys and one girl stood there. The hand that have been waving at US belonged to a chubby dark haired guy, behind him a slender dark haired, handsome guy in black shirt and jeans stood, and behind them was a ginger haired girl busy scrolling in her phone.

Blinking at the unexpected sight I asked. "Who was the one talking?"

"Me," the handsome guy said.

"You are... Pancil?"

"There's not another," the ginger girl said with an European accent or Columbian? Yeah Columbian. She stared at me briefly, but intensely inspective. "Come over here, we are not gonna bite,"

I frowned, not liking how disdainful she sounded. "Dunno," I grinned. "I don't like your accent,"

She paused then glared at me. "We got a racist bitch, nice,"

"You got nothing," I countered.

"Sure," she said then hooked her hand. I gasped in panic as my feet rose from the ground. An invisible force pulled me into the room. The chubby guy quickly grabbed me to stop my advance and Pancil grabbed Sid that was pulled in too.

The guy turned to the ginger haired girl angrily. "What did you do!?" He said quietly

"What do you mean?" she put up a dumb face.

He released Sid and closed the distance to her in a blink. I mean literally a blink, like superspeed. He slammed the girl against the wall, a hand around her neck. "Don't fuck with me Sofia," he growled. "There are rules, this could get us demoted!"

"Only if you keep shouting about it," she groaned stubbornly even though she's obviously in pain. "And are you sure this is the first impression you want to give the new girls? Nothing is set in stone eh?" Bristling, he released her and stepped back. "Thought so," she sneered.

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I could see him visibly holding himself back from hitting her. He took a deep breath and turned to us. Me and Sid looked at them in interest; It's not everyday you see this kind of quarrel. The girl scoffed like she couldn't care either way and went back to her phone.

For a moment it was silent. The good news was I finally got a chance to study the room I entered. It was a big room with brown walls scattered with grit, scribbles and scratches. The big set of words in particular at the right wall writing with red chalk read; [Home must go]. Gave me an odd feeling of terror and lost and desperation such few words shouldn't convey. Hot air blew from outside making me sweat greatly. I clenched my fist.

"So," Pancil said, breaking the spell that got hold of me. "That was not the first impression I wanted you to have of us."

"Chill," Sid replied.

"Yes chill, stupid," I said studying him to see if he'll hit me.

"So the troublesome kind," he whistled not looking bothered. "Caused a lot of trouble in the 'outside' I see, ain't afraid of anything too, at least you think so. Here in Camp that means you'd die at first week Honey, I should have let you off with the Creeds."

"Too late?"

"Not quite,"

"Well, why were you so desperate to get us, Pancil?" I asked. That's like, the stupidest name I ever heard.

"Because you are ranked 7 and 8 in the freshmen year, means you are strong, for beginners. Come on, let's get you cleaned up and human looking. Sofia and Kyle, you should both prepare for the crossing. I'll take care of this."

"Sure," the chubby guy said but the girl just rolled her eyes and left. Pancil glared at her receding back inside the corridor beyond the door.

Kyle tapped him on the back. "Deep breaths bro," he said and walked past.

Pancil sighed after they left. He turned to us. "I believe you have many questions," he said. "But first of all, welcome to Camp. Here we learn the mysteries of the dungeon and its creatures." He spread his hands in a flourish. "By that I mean battling said creatures most of the time," he winked, "but that's less often than you might think. After all, we have other things too in our schedule; school stuffs, spars, chores, sports. At that, the most important of all are the Camp Games, which pits parties against each other to find the best of the best.

Winning five times will grant you a free ticket out of here. That's why everyone is desperate to get talents. There are other ways out of here naturally but not all are feasible for people like us," He pointed at the wall, at the sentence I noticed earlier. [Home must go.] "It's the only thing most of us think about, a way back outside."

"That's..." I trailed.

"A lot?" He scoffed.

"I was gonna say horrifying,"

"That's true too I guess. Come, I'll tell you all you need to know to get a basic understanding of Camp on the way." He walked out of the room into a narrow stone walled corridor. Some specks of star like blue light glowed high above in the inky dark ceiling giving us some pale light to see.

"Where are we going?" I asked. The place was a fucking furnace! Even hotter than outside, under that sun. I only wished to leave as quickly as possible.

"Campus grounds," he looked over his shoulder. "We are in the Wall now. Between its width lies a complex maze we must cross to get to the other end. This wall is meant not to block out monsters but to elude them. So any coming from the Forest gets lost and wanders the maze forever."

"That'll make the walls infested with monsters," Sid said sarcastically. "Brilliant,"

"That's what the nerds say," he said. "Sorry..."

"I don't mind," Sid replied. "Though it's the first time I am ever called that,"

"What's wrong with being a nerd?" I said defensively, then winced as I realize that might be a social disaster. Maybe Camp ostracize their nerds. That'll be bad if it ever comes out that I was part of a group that proudly proclaimed themselves as the 'Nerd gang'.

"Nothing I guess," Pancil replied. "Are you a nerd?"

"Fuck off," I snapped.

"She has a short temper too," he chuckled. "Anyway, the wall is now a mini dungeon as a result. So we must tread carefully. Doesn't matter how high level you are, shit goes on here." We shut up just as we came into a large empty space. Sofia and Kyle were before a booth of rusted red color each, gearing up. They kept plunging their hands into the wardrobe size thing and pull out an 'equipment'.

Both were dressed in a motorcycle race leather suit, a similar___ to a motorcycle___ helmet was taking out of the booth by Kyle, held in the same hand that he carried a big backpack___ a large rifle was in his other hand. He didn't look chubby anymore but like a big baddy.

I looked around the space in wonder too. The walls couldn't be seen as there were farther into the darkness even though the blue star like things above were brighter here. "What is this place?" I asked.

"The lockers," Pancil grinned. "The heat is too much here so we usually take off our equipments if we want to stay long."

"You are gonna get one soon enough don't worry," Kyle said.

"Yes, Sofia!" Pancil stood beside the booth Kyle used and waited. I saw Sofia press something in her phone. Then with a blue glow a structure coalesced from mist. When it was done, another rusty red booth was standing there. My mouth wouldn't close. "Thanks," Pancil opened the door and reached inside. The fist thing he took out was a black and red leather looking suit then started taking off his clothes. Blushing, I looked away back to Sofia to study the phone she was holding. Hope bloomed in my heart when I first saw her with it, that maybe Camp allows phones, but now I realize it might not actually be a phone. More likely just a remote control or something.

"This is for you two," Kyle said pulling me out of my thought. I turned to see him toss a bundle of leather at Sid. She went over to pick it up, separating the garments and holding them up. They appear to be the same kind of leather suits Kyle and Sofia are wearing. "Change quickly, we can only cross within the hour or we'd have to wait till tomorrow."

"Why?" I asked

"Diggers,"

"What are they?"

Kyle opened his mouth but Pancil spoke before he could say anything. "Not now, change quickly. We'd explain everything we can later!"

I pouted then nodded. "How do we find privacy?" Sid asked looking around.

"We won't look," Kyle replied snidely.

"That's not very assuring," she pointed.

"That's as much assurance as you get in Camp," he shrugged. "Word of mouth is a motherfucker ain't it?"

"That sucks," I said as I started peeling off my clothes. Really, I don't have time for being abashed.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," he chuckled.

"I would imagine so," I grumbled. In only my underwear now, I realized with panic I didn't know how to wear this thing. I twisted it in my hand then asked tentatively. "Um, don't look but how do I put on this?"

I glanced at him, he was busy checking the content of his backpack. "There's a button below the underarm of the left hand, press it,"

I found the button after a quick scan and pressed it. The suit opened at the back. Further, the back part of the shirt split from the pants at the waist. Fitting my legs through the leg holes I pulled the pants up then maneuvered and put on the upper part, completing it with pressing the button in my underarm to make the suit inflate like a balloon then deflate, having stuck together.

The suit had molded to my body snugly, in black and blue, without any zips or buttons. It was very uncomfortable. Sid's was in the same color as mine. After that Kyle handed me and Sid a gun each that looked like the kind of rifles we had used in the forest. Not the big monstrous one he was carrying. "Do you have any of the guns they gave you in the forest?" He asked.

"Nope," I said. "We ran out of ammo and decided to leave them behind," it was uncomfortable how the handguns jabbed at me in my waist band and the rifle was too unwieldy for something that won't help us.

"Dang," he said. "You could have traded it in the market for coins or materials you might need." He picked our discarded cloths and stuffed them in his backpack.

"Oh, I didn't know that," I frowned.

"Okay guys," Pancil called. I turned to see him in a black and red suit, and a motorcycle helmet. On his hands he held a tower shield with glowing blue highlights and a large war hammer. It was a cool anachronistic look. "Are you all ready?"

"I am," Sofia said rising to her feet. Her suit was black and pink, molded into her that it showed all her curves. With the sleek dark helmet around her head she looked like a hot badass lady in an action movie. Like Pancil she didn't hold guns, instead on her back were two swords, hilts peeking out above each shoulder. She pressed something in her phone then a squat drone rose in the air. "She's ready too,"

"Okay," Pancil looked at me and I nodded. "Let's go!"

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