The Deadly Truth

Chapter Eleven

Emerging from the cave, I still felt that untouched and surreal happiness that I loved, but once my whole body officially exited, I felt my heart sink. First of all, it stunk. The air smelled of bad breath and what can only be described as rotting metal. And secondly, the city was completely vulgar, the biggest eyesore I had ever seen in my life; this including everyone’s lesions. The buildings were strange, so tall, yet so narrow. They looked as if the slightest breeze would cause a massive collapse. With the approaching storm, there most likely would be a massive collapse. There so many of the buildings, too. It was almost like a clump of metallic silver grass.

I couldn’t even take everything in at first because the bright sun stung my eyes, and the rancid air caused a coughing fit. If only I could bring the fresh cave air out into the open, I thought to myself during my spell. I was surprised people even deeper in the city could breathe, but I supposed they were accustomed to it, treating it only like a ‘side effect’.

I wiped my now watery eyes and looked back at the cave. Yet again, the most obvious evidence was overlooked, just like the museum. It was only a few meters from the major cluster of junk that was Gasdile, making it hard to believe that no one had seen it before. Although, the entrance was a bit small, only large enough for about two or three people to squeeze in at a time, making it seem somewhat possible to be missed.

“Wow. That is one ugly city,” Len announced, his hand over his mouth to try and ventilate what smoke and chemicals he could. “It’s like the color of that ornament you made me in the fifth grade with all the colors in your palette combined. That sickly brownish gray color,”

I grinned, remembering. When I made it, I had this beautiful idea of a rainbow in my mind, but once it was finished, it just looked like puke. Maybe that was what the builders of Gasdile thought when they first started, but then again, they probably knew it would turn out to be dreadful. They probably liked that idea of a gruesome city, too. To them, it was the image of production and efficiency.

“Well, it’s not going to do anything if we just stare at it,” I started to force myself to slog towards the polluted wasteland. I almost felt foolish. No one should ever willingly enter such a disgusting place. Just as I thought this a fresh puff of sulfur smelling smoke burst out of a factory.

“Oh, dear lord,” I said miserably, covering my nose and mouth quickly. Len passed me, plugging his own nose.

“No sacrifice, no victory,” he shouted back in a nasally voice. Eyes stinging from the stench, I caught up to him. I had to repeat the words over and over again in my head to keep going as the odor grew more and more unbearable. To think, I thought Regeres was once polluted. Gasdile made Regeres look like heaven.

After a few minutes of trudging and coughing, Len and I entered the thick of things, immediately getting knocked over by residents walking past. Their way of saying welcome was shoving you out of the way.  Luckily, I had gotten somewhat used to the smog and could uncover my mouth. I shouted to the people that bumped us that “we were walking here, too!”

Len pulled me over into an alleyway with both a combination of fear and fury. He pushed me up against the wall and angrily whispered that we had to keep our cover. I blushed, feeling beyond dense.

“Did you forget that we were just shot at by a top notch assassin? This city is probably crawling with them, so shut u-,” he paused, realizing he was almost yelling at me. His face softened. “Maybe it’s best if we act quietly,”

“I know… I won’t do it again,” I offered, wording it as shortly as possible, wanting to forget the whole incident. I pushed off the wall and inhaled an unfamiliar scent. It wasn’t sulfur or rotting metal. It actually smelled delicious, like food. Oh my goodness, food. Suddenly, the weight of a whole entire day without eating fell down on me like a piano in cartoons. My stomach growled loudly, echoing off the slim walls.