First Battle Pt. 1

My leg was going to fall off. It was very clear to both of us that in about two hours, We’d have to amputate it whether we liked it or not.

I’m still not entirely sure why Rocco changed his mind about returning to Milona. A Scavenger Lord has to put the best of humanity above all. Is this really what’s best for humanity? My rambling about being the missing key to save us may have an ounce of truth to it, but I’m not sure that potential is worth gambling on. I couldn’t help but wonder how Rocco sees the world.

“Let’s just take it easy, kid. Even if this dweller ain’t like the others, we gotta treat it like it’s out for blood,” Rocco whispered as he began to reach for his UV-70 on his back.

I tapped his shoulder. “Don’t shoot it, now. You’re just gonna end up making it angry. Let’s at least try walking past it first.”

Rocco’s face said it all. He clearly was not a fan of this plan but he knew logically speaking that we had no other choice if we wanted to proceed with the best odds.

The limping added to it, but as we began to tiptoe, the steel floor of the elevator started to reverberate less and less. At some point, we silently decided that it would be best for Rocco to just carry me in both his arms. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t feel somewhat emasculating, but comparing that feeling to the vision in my head of a long life without my leg, it’s nothing. With me in tow, Rocco began to move more confidently towards the door, and by the time we reached it, the surface-dweller was looking right down at us.

This creature made a noise that sounded like a bunch of leaves rustling together in a strong wind. It didn’t seem aggressive but it was certainly trying to communicate with us. It moved all its limbs behind its body. It almost seemed like it was trying to tell us it wasn’t hostile anymore.

Rocco stood dead in his tracks, “I don’t think this is a good idea, kid…”

The dweller’s head began to lean in and I felt Rocco’s body flinch. He was likely going to reach for his gun but realized immediately that he was still carrying me. Rocco began to walk back slowly without turning around.

“Hey, come on, I’m telling you it’ll be fine!”

“... I just don’t have a good feeling about this, kiddo.”

“... Well, put me down at least then. I can make it back to the bunk myself. This is a bit embarrassing.”

In his defense, Rocco seemed like the guy to value traditionally masculine standards so I’d take this less as gullibility and more so just him sticking to his guns. It didn’t take long for me to reach the elevator doors once he put me down. Rocco rushed over to me, but even with one strong leg, I was able to just barely make it outside and…

“Holy fuck! It burns!!! I’m on fire!!! Help me!!!!”

“Hang on, kiddo!”

The inferno consumed my body and my flesh was visibly ablaze. But wait a second, this doesn’t hurt. What the hell? No, this has to be an illusion of sorts. The trauma of losing my leg along with the painkillers must be doing something to my mind. That has to be it. If that’s the case though, then where the hell is Rocco going? In this dream of mine, he seemed to be running towards one of the bunks. Yeah, this is definitely a dream. However, this wasn’t even the worst of it. The surface-dweller began slowly walking over to me and began rubbing its face on mine. I believe this is the type of behavior a dog would exhibit.

My father used to have one in the old world, but ever since the effects of Y2K, it seems that only the extremely rich could afford to have pets. If Ylvona wasn’t already known as the animal kingdom for being the only place on Earth that preserved most of its original ecosystem, the fact that pets are abundant there, sure did.

The texture of this creature felt very real for a dream. As a kid, my school had us go on many field trips to museums and one of my fondest memories was a nature exhibit. They showed us all the sights of the old world that became rarities now. Everyone was obsessed with the flowers and I couldn’t blame them. The flowers had many unique shapes and colors. At the time, I convinced myself that they were ugly and I hated them but looking back, I think I just wanted to be different. It sort of worked out in my favor though. While everyone was looking at flowers, the tree exhibit was free. I ran over and asked the attendant if I could touch the tree. At first, they said no, but I think they quickly put together that I’m my father’s son and anything goes at that point. The tree and the uneven bark felt brittle and strong at the same time. My arms crossed and enveloped it in a big hug. I pressed my cheek into the bark as well. Oh man, it felt beautiful…

But trees were normal in the old world… It’s not fair- No, that’s not right. Any good amusement park must have great decor as well. I’ll surely bring back trees to the surface. I have to.

My mind wandered so far into the beauty of nature that I totally forgot about the freak of it all rubbing against my face now. Its face did feel like a tree…

Before my eyes could comprehend anything that happened, my senses all died out. My vision was gone and clouded by gray smoke, my ears were being shot out with this sound akin to a torch. My sense of smell is becoming overwhelmed with something absolutely disgusting. It’s as if someone took a bunch of chemicals and lit them on fire and sent the fumes straight through your nostrils. As for my sense of touch, am I flying?

…

Oh, what the hell… This pounding has to be the absolute worst headache. Did we really go up to the surface or was that part of the dream as well? What is that? There’s this white orb and it’s standing in this endless white mass. It always made sense to me that heaven would be something extremely incomprehensible. A white mass and an even whiter orb. Oddly, enough, that still sounded fairly biblical.

I can’t believe I died like that. Someone like me isn’t special after all. It was crazy to think my body was surface-proof. It must have been a delayed reaction or something. Man, it does suck though. I didn’t want to die. It took me all my life to find a purpose and the moment I did, it was all taken away. Perhaps that's just the type of karma I deserved.

“Kid, you’re still alive?!”

Is Rocco in heaven too? Surprisingly, I can’t say I expected him to be here. He always struck me as a man with a grimy past. Perhaps God is truly forgiving.

Rocco’s figure appeared above me. It was as if my body were laid out on the floor and his foot stood on my chest. Damn, he looks really tall. Maybe he wished to be six feet in heaven.

Rocco’s face emulated shock. “How…? How is this possible?” He muttered. “Bane, get up! We need to get you back down to Milona, now!”

“Milona…? What are you talking about, Rocco? Aren’t we dead?”

“...You-you should be…” Rocco gulped and I could tell he was holding back vomit.

Am I not dead? My body’s energy focused as hard as it could to prove I was alive and it motioned slowly into a standing position. When my eyes adjusted, it became clear that we were on the surface. Wait, then where did that orb and the white mass go? My eyes explored vigorously to all my sides and then it hit me, this must be the sky.

For a second it felt like I took a couple of vitamin D supplements. One of the first things humanity focused on developing when coming down to the underground cities were these supplements. Apparently they already existed in the old world, but they weren’t a necessity until Y2K hit. My father told me in the early days before the farms existed, people would often kill each other for these supplements. It’s bewildering to think about how much of our humanity lies in the graces of our health. Even if individuals are fine, I wonder if the body of humanity needs to be healed.

“Is everything alright, sir?” Rocco was staring at me like he saw the devil.

“... You’re on fire?”

When my arms raised to enter my field of view, it seemed that up until this point, I'd forsaken my body. At least, that’s what I must believe, otherwise there’s no explanation for how I didn’t notice my entire body in flames. I have to pull myself together. A dream is completely out of the question. This is too vivid and lengthy to be any sort of hallucination. Death is also out of the equation. Even if this is death, it just seems like a weirder version of reality so there’s no point of going down that rabbit hole. What’s left? What could explain why I’m on fire but feel perfectly fine?

Damn it, there’s no good answer!

“Rocco, I’m alive, don’t worry. I don’t know what’s happening but I feel fine.”

He had both of his hands on his head and kept pacing around in a small circle slowly. “Jesus, I tried extinguishing you. I thought it was the surface. I thought you were gone, kid…”

I decided to head back into the elevator and…

“FUCK… The surface-dweller scared the hell out of me, man,” I scoffed under my breath. This guy still hasn’t budged an inch…