Naught and the Circle

Chapter 10 - Atlas

I

The boot landed with a splash, sinking ten inches into the sludge. Sergeant Atlas planted the next step. The droning sound had become second nature to him. The calming, trancelike effect of marching.

Lt. Colonel Al-Dimashqi had recently ordered the platoon to move west. There, they would secure the entrance and figure out why the outpost had stopped reporting back. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary, mind you. Communication was always unreliable in the endless tunnel networks. The radios were shoddy and the military couriers often got lost.

The real threat was the recent increase in enemy movement. The numbers had multiplied over the last year, and as a result, the Up-Top was now inaccessible. Only the insane snipers from Delta Company would do any work there. The rest observed, took notes, and prayed their sorry asses made it back.

Atlas was satisfied with his place in the underground. His family: Kim and the kids were safe and taken care of. Their education and housing provided for by the army.

He was a young, black-haired man, with a light, but muscular body. A life growing up in the Caulder block of Menkaure had given him that. Fighting every day for scraps. Feeding his sick mother as she told him stories of the Great Famine, and the Exodus of the Pledge Breakers.

Back then, Atlas had been apprenticing in the industrial halls, running night shifts to produce the much needed condensation for the water plant in Shikishima. Water was the second highest priority in the city. After that, food and shelter. The first was the military. It always was.

Kim worked in Shikishima and often came by—on assignment from the plant. She'd have her long blond hair in a braid, and she'd laugh like she meant it. Atlas thought he knew how to read women. When they giggle or touch your arm. When they feint interest in your boring ramblings.

Kim had done none of that. She was blunt, but gracious. Feminine, but tough. He could not figure her out back then. Did she like him, or like him?

Every week when she left the workplace, Atlas would quietly curse that if he never saw her again, he would regret it until he died. Thankfully, the Good Lord intervened, and on a Tuesday morning, Kim took Atlas to the side. The conversation had gone something like:

-"So you enjoy hanging out, no?"

-"Y... Yeah?"

-"But you're never going to ask me out, no?"

-"Me? I couldn't do that."

-"Is it 'cause I'm too cocky?"

-"What? no! I mean, I just don't...."

-"Perfect! Find me after work and we'll go out."

-"Sure..?"

He smiled. Lost in the memory. The other soldiers glanced over at him. No one was supposed to be merry after a few hours in the muddy part of the West Corridor.

Atlas and Kim's date had gone well. Then came the second date, and then the third. And then he met her parents, and then the deal was done. He had her heart. Or, rather, she had his. The years were hard, but they made it work. Taking care of each-other like couples should.

The Caulder block was overcrowded with people, and at some point they were even told to stop breeding. Kim lived closer to Charle's Rake, but it was clear that the whole of Menkaure had grown too small for them. When she became pregnant, there was only one option left: Atlas would enlist in the army. Making them eligible to move to Livermore—where the army base was. There, they would start their life together. Their little family.