Brave Fear (boyxboy)

Chapter 21

Zane's hand hesitated at the door that would lead them to New Vancouver.

His palm was inches from the handle, itching to open the door. His brain was a mirage of thoughts and urges, rules and rebellion. His old life was just beyond this door, and he wasn't yet sure he wouldn't go back if the opportunity presented itself.

Instead, he stepped back and let Joseph open the imposing, overly overwhelming door. He rubbed his hands together because he had suddenly gotten very cold. He hugged his arms to himself and shivered violently as New Vancouver was revealed.

The artificial sun was lowering, proving Joseph's assumption of a late afternoon. A simulated breeze brushed past them, and they stepped over the threshold, clear of the building that had imprisoned them for so long.

They stood in silence, the man-made grass crinkling underfoot. Knowing he had been fed a miasma of lies, Zane began to notice the subtle inconsistencies that had passed for normal before. The artificial sun did not radiate enough heat to stifle the cold he felt. The fake grass did not house insects. The cloud patterns across the screens on the ceiling were too direct and abstract. It was all too perfect, too free of imperfections.

Zane blinked against the harsh fluorescence and squinted. The city's buildings rose swiftly into the sky, towering above the humans that could be seen walking below. Zane frowned. Not walking. Marching. Marching orderly down the street in arranged lines. Maybe some things had changed in the three weeks he'd been in the building.

"It's achingly familiar," Joseph said, pinching his eyebrows together. His voice shook the solid silence that had befallen the group. His eyes were worried, the sky blue fading into a desolate sea of the past.

Zane grabbed his hand, succeeding in halting the shaking of his own hand as well as the other boy's. It kept Joseph from wringing his hands. Their fingers interlaced and Zane saw Daisy slide a sly glance his way. He rolled his eyes.

Together, they all took a step away from the horrific episode of their past, and then another. It became a brisk walk, headed for the outskirts, where lonely buildings laid. Lonely buildings that had slowly been abandoned as the growth rate of the city slowed substantially. Lonely buildings that would serve great refuge.

Zane found his legs wobbling, but held on tight to Joseph, trusting him for support and reliability. He didn't disappoint, his strong grip never lessening, his stride never slowing.

The building faded in the distance, and looked increasingly small the farther away they got. Zane began to wonder how he'd been afraid of such a small blot against the background of New Vancouver. It appeared to be a blemish, a building from the outskirts repurposed for inhumane experiments.

The bullet train tracks glinted, throwing light into Zane's eyes. "I can't believe we're finally free of Wawrzynski," he whispered, more to himself than anybody else.

Soon they were engulfed from the eye of the citizens by a towering apartment building of old. Due to the absence of rain, a layer of dust had formed over the surface of the metal structure. The acrid tang of steel hung thick in the air, and Zane found himself somewhat revulsed by a smell he'd known his entire life. It seemed to make the air sticky and clammy, making it harder to breathe.

They angled their pace until they were closely paralleled to the large wall that closed off the city.

As he walked, Zane ran his hand along the wall, the other still firmly clasping Joseph's. His fingertips were sliced by the faint gaps between panels of steel, and he felt small drops of blood well upon his fingers. It made him feel strangely human. Being a model citizen, he had seen his blood a few times before. The first was after the titular injection of the serum, and he was shocked at how red the liquid was, how utterly deathly it appeared.