Why Are You My Remedy? [Book 1]

5

"What time is it?" I open my eyes to the sound of Luka's voice.

"I don't know." I have no idea what time it is. I have no idea which day of the week it is, what month we're in, or even if there's a specific season we're supposed to be in.

We don't really have seasons anymore.

The animals are dying, birds don't fly, crops are hard to come by, flowers almost don't exist. The weather is unreliable. Sometimes our winter days hit 92 degrees. Sometimes it snows for no reason at all. We can't grow enough food anymore, we can't sustain enough vegetation for the animals anymore, and we can't feed the people what they need. Our population was dying off at an alarming rate before The Akuma took over and they promised us they had a solution. Animals were so desperate for food they were willing to eat anything and people were so desperate for food they were willing to eat poisoned animals. We were killing ourselves by trying to stay alive. The weather, the plants, the animals, and our human survival are all inextricably linked. The natural elements were at war with one another because we abused our ecosystem. Abused our atmosphere. Abused our animals. Abused our fellow man.

The Akuma promised them they would help, but they didn't help at all. In fact they just make matters worse.

"Marinette?"

I snap back to reality.

He's looking at me really worried.

I look away.

He clears his throat, "So uh, they only feed us once a day?"

We both look at the small slot on the door.

"There's no system to the food. There's usually something in the morning, but there are no guarantees for anything else. Sometimes we do get lucky though..." I turn towards the window. Pink and red fills the room, I know that's a sign of a new day.

Maybe I'll die today.

Maybe someone else will live better than me today.

"So that's it? They open the door once a day for people to do their business and maybe if we're lucky they feed us? That's it?"

"That's it." I confirm.

"There's no... group therapy?" He jokes. He's trying to lighten the mood.

"Until you arrived, I haven't spoken a word in a year."

"How long are you in for?"

Forever . "I don't know."

"What about your parents?"

I sigh. "You ask a lot of questions. My turn, why are you here?"

"I'm not insane."

"That's what we all say." I turn towards the window.

"Why do you keep looking outside?"

I don't mind his questions, I really don't, but this man asks too many of them. Give me a break. Is this what friends are like? Are they supposed to ask you millions of questions?

I turn and face him again and I notice he's looking at me.

"Why do you stare so much?" I ask.

He narrows his eyes a bit then smiles. "I figured the only reason they would lock me up with a girl was because you were crazy. I thought they were going to torture me by putting me in the same space as a psychopath. But you seem completely normal and it just- amazes me, I guess."

"That's why you stole my bed?"

He looks away and rubs the back of his neck. "I said my bad. But why did you help me? How did you know I wasn't going to hurt you?"

"I didn't."

"You didn't help me or you didn't know if I would hurt you?"

"Luka." I say his name out loud, just to hear it be said.

"Yeah?"

"What's it like outside?" Each word I say is quieter than the word before. "Outside?" In the real world. "Is it worse?"

It takes him a few seconds to answer. "Honestly? I'm not sure if it's better to be in here or out there"

I wait for him to explain.

He says The Akuma has power over every country in the world, not just France. Everyone is thinking the same thing, they're here to help. But they aren't.

"Did you know they lied to us?" Luka asks me. "Did you know that The Akuma said someone had to take control, that someone had to save society, that someone had to restore the peace? Did you know that they said killing all the voices of opposition was the only way to find peace?"

I nodded. I did know this stuff, I just simply chose to ignore it. The protests. The rallies. The riots. The rage. Women and their children starving to death under their home that was buried under rubble.

I see the shade of a little girl's mothers favorite red lipstick smeared all over the Earth.

Everything's either dead or dying. There's no in between.

Then I begin to wonder what's happened to some of the people I used to know. How their families are holding up, or even if they're still alive.

"They're destroying everything." Luka tells me. "All the books, every artifact, everything that is or was proof of human's history and existence is now gone. They say the only way to fix our world is to start from the beginning. We can't make the same mistakes as previous generations, they say."

Knocks are heard from the door, informing us that breakfast is here.

Luka pops up, "Wait three minutes." I remind him. They starve us on purpose.

"Yeah." He smiles softly. "I wouldn't want to burn myself." He steps closer towards me and leans in. I freeze in place. "I still don't understand," he says quietly. "Why are you here?"

I abruptly step back, "Why do you ask so many questions?"

"You look like you have a lot on your mind, I wanna know what you're thinking."

"You shouldn't." You'd be very mad at me. "You don't even know me."

He laughs, "I don't know you?"

"No, you do not." I confirm.

He shakes his head and sits on the bed. "Right." He sighs.

"What?"

"You're right... maybe I am insane."

I go towards my side of the room. "Maybe you are."

He's smiling again. I want to take a picture of it, I would like to stare at that smile for the rest of my life.

"I'm not, you know." He protests.

"Then why won't you tell me why you're here?"

"Why won't you tell me why you're here?"

I glare at him. I push his part of breakfast towards him. "Eat."