the grey zone

intro- the shock wave

I'd have never thought a safe haven would be possible in a world like ours. To my knowledge, a dark cloud had emerged over the plane,leaving no signs or happiness, safety or even a distinct pocket of sunlight hiding within the shadows of our lives. It was like a shock wave. The happy souls disappearing one by one and the quality of life dropping by billions, causing the darkness to drag away everything we loved, taking most of our people with it. Before we knew it, the remaining of the population had been driven into a deep and uncomfortable slumber, one which we will never awake - no matter how painful the nightmares get.

Firstly,the shock wave took a while to make any effects, making it extremely difficult to tell when the destruction would kick in. We knew something was coming, and that was all we were waiting for. Secondly,the shock wave spread like a disease, taking down anything that got in its way and destroying it without hesitation. It took our cities,our people, and our good lives down with the destruction. Lastly,they came for us. One by one we were taken away while the remaining of us hid for our lives, within the broken walls of the towns and cities.Some places were attacked more than others, leaving my town to be extremely lucky to barely suffer from any attacks.

After they were finished shooting down our people, they believed us all to be dead, with only them and their followers surviving. We call them The Oblivious.The mention of their name made anyone's blood curdle with utter fear and despair. Our surviving people were so drowned in anger and hatred that we made the vast mistake to fight back, without even thinking about how we would all suffer. After the oblivious found out we were still alive, the shock wave returned, and our fight for survival was back in action. They tore out entire countries,crumbling the houses and citizens like ashes. They were so determined to get rid of us, that every square meter was bombed to pieces, to make sure no human life was lurking somewhere in the rubble. I was lucky to be alive. We all were.

They destroyed my house and my parents, leaving behind myself and my six year old brother to fend for ourselves. I would love to say that I'm nothing to do with the war and it doesn't affect me, but I'd belying to myself, as it was surely impossible to find somewhere which has zero war-effects at all. I didn't know a lot about the war, but to my understanding there were only two sides in it: the Oblivious were one of them, and us, The Surrounders. Everyone had a side, no matter how old or young you were. As for my village...we're followers of the Surrounders, but we're not the ones who put attacks on the oblivious. Many travellers visited our little village in hope to find a safe place to hide, but we could never do anything. They'd ask us why the remaining of the town's population doesn't get together and fight back against the oblivious, but our answer: It's not our job.

The Oblivious think us all to be dead now. But we weren't yet. Our followers were strong, and I always prayed we could all join up again one day and destroy the oblivious once and for all, without any revenge attacks, without any shock waves. However, it was only a dream... and it was going to stay that way if no one did something to change the fate of our world.