The War We Know Nothing About

Three

"That's not a name." I argued, frowning.

He laughed in a way that said 'this kid really knows nothing.'

"If you're ever a keeper, you're gonna have to give up your name for a number." He explained.

"So.. what was your name?" I asked, I was really bombarding him with questions.

"Doesn't matter." He stated simply.

I looked past him at a wall of papers and whatnot, as I squinted my eyes I noticed something.
"You- saw the news broadcast too?" I looked to him, my eyes wide.

043 didn't really know how to respond to that, so he asked me a question instead.
"And you were with the old man who died, did he tell you anything?" He asked me.
He then added, "don't worry I'm not a keeper anymore, in fact, everyone else probably thinks I'm dead."

"He... he said that.... Uhm.." I glanced around nervously to see if there were any cameras.

" there isn't any cameras down here don't worry." He assured me as if he read my mind.

"He told me that the world we live in is a lie.." I whispered.
"B-But- that can't be true right? Can everything really be a lie- that's not p-p-possible!" I stuttered ask I began to panic.

043 looked at me sympathetically, he must've understood how difficult it would be for someone who lived here their entire life only to find out everything was actually a lie.
"It's alright, deep breaths, I'll explain everything... but first let me get a few others."

I tilted my head in confusion. What did he mean by others?

He walked away for a moment, disappearing into the darkness before walking back with two people the same age as me.

One of them was a boy I don't remember fully, but his presence seemed familiar.

The other one was Caja.

"Alright Kiddos, gather around. It's story time." 043 said as he sat down on the ground cross-legged.
"Now, what I'm about to tell you might be a bit difficult to understand, so you're going to have to trust me on this. What I'm about to tell you is the truth and you mustn't repeat it to a soul! You hear me not a soul."

We all sat down around a small lantern. I glanced to the boy I didn't know he had longer messy brown hair that was tied back in a small ponytail. His eyes were a vibrant purple colour.

"Alright, first of all, introduce yourselves... then I'll explain. You already know me, I'm 043." He said simply, waiting for us to introduce ourselves to each other.

"I'm Caja Angelle." Caja smiled, waving a little.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"I'm Ezra Dior..." spoke the other boy, he seemed a tad uncomfortable.

His name felt familiar to me, these were my memories I had lost so that's probably why.

"I'm... Finlay Amery." I said quietly.

"Alright now that you all know each other's names, I'll begin." He started to explain everything.
"There never was a war. Only corruption. The world was once at peace before a corrupt government took over, they made us build cities underground. They lied to everyone of a great war that was coming, though there was never any evidence of it. They forced us to live here in the bunkers, why? Their reasons were unknown for quite awhile. However—" He paused, looking up as he heard footsteps.

043 cursed under his breath as he looked up, realizing the tile hadn't been put back.

He put one finger over his mouth to say 'be quiet' as he listened for the footsteps to pass by.
The sound of the door closing was the cue that they were gone, he waited a few more minutes before climbing up and moving the tile, hiding the hidden room we all sat in.