Rockiversary

We Are

"When you're standing on the edge
So young and hopeless
Got demons in your head
We are, we are..."

We Are - ONE OK ROCK

Written by:  beebraver

------

4123.

The sky was gloomy as usual, despite the sun shining bright and hot. The air was wafting with the smell of rusting iron, burning polyethylene, and putrid rubbish. Fresh metal was just dumped on their tambakan. It was a fine day. Better than yesterday, even.

For the children of the Ilaya tambakan, it was the day a giant ball of fire fell from the sky.

And unlike all the times a burning piece of metal fell from the sky, this one landed close to their area. Lucky! Just half a day's worth journey on their hovercraft. No sweat.

So they went.

Menggay, their Jieh-jieh; Ninay who knows the layout of the land, and Arman who'll dismantle whatever scrap of battery or solar panels or anything else useful that survived the fall which they'll salvage from the crash point boarded their open-deck shuttle to the direction of the smoking crash debris.

This is how the people outside the gigantic wall of The Capitol survive in the 42th century. The remaining pockets of humanity scavenges for resources to endure the daily rumbling of their stomachs, to make their homebase a little bit more habitable, and continue to find reason not to slit their throat that day.

"Kelangan natin ng ibang ruta pabalik, Nins. Mag-isip ka ng ibang pwede nating daanan" Menggay says to their navigator as they hover near the wreckage. "Yung mga taga-aplaya, yung mga taga-ilawud dadating yun panigurado, baka makasalubong tayo, makuha pa tandan natin."

"May dala naman akong sumpak, Jieh." Arman assures them. "Ako'ng bahala pag may nakasalubong tayo."

"Eh may bitbit ka na nung fei tie tongek! Paano mo magagamit ang sumpak mo?" Ninay counters as she maneuvers to land their craft.

Menggay jumps down from open deck and doesn't hear Arman's reply.

She slides down the crater of the crash site and inspects the steaming pile of wreck.

It was a sleek pod-like junk with rounded edges and slightly pointier behind. The turbine behind it is a smouldering thick, black smoke. It doesn't look like any of the fei wu that they'd seen crash before.

"Ano sa tingin n'yo?" She says to her companions when they join her down the crater.

"Hmmm....hindi naman hitsurang satellite... hindi rin mukhang parte ng jet fighter... o transport ship... o space station... Ano to?" Ninay gestures to the peculiarly shaped hunk of metal.

"Ang mas mahalagang tanong- may mapapakinabangan ba tayo?" Arman asks as he too, examines the wreckage more closely.

"Zhen dao mei!" Ninay sighs. She turns to Menggay. "Ano sa tingin mo, Menggay?"

"Hindi na importante kung ano ito dati. Tama si Arman, ang mahalaga, atin na 'to ngayon. Tara kilos na. Baka magpang-abot pa tayo mamaya sa daan." She unstraps her tool bag. "Pag may nakita kayong sol panel o kahit anong mukhang battery, yung bumbilya, yung turbine, maa-upcycle ko pa yan... ano pa ba? Arman, itong exterior kaya mo pa bang baklasin ng hindi mapupunit? Sayang din e." She raps her knuckles on the thing.

She pauses.

They all do.

She does it again.