90 DEADLY DAYS (WEEKLY UPDATES RETURNING THIS DECEMBER)

Chapter 3.1

For all my old readers, don't mind this update. I'm shortening chapters into more readable sections. For newer readers, hi! I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 3.1

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Next to me Talon shifts, pulling me to the present. The heavy weight of his arms around me feels foreign. Abruptly, I shrug them off, knowing that no amount of human comfort will shake off the worry sickening my stomach. Talon gives me a bewildered glance that beckons a response, but I pretend to be consumed with staring at maintenance buildings in the passing greenery.

"If only you had been larger," I whisper to the window pane. Raindrops spatter the glass. The greenery slickens under the sudden downpour. Anger digs in deep as the sky crowds with heavy black clouds.

None of it's real.

Oddly enough, the sky curves in an arc that anchors to the ground. We get so close that I'm not surprised when sky is directly in front of us. The clouds float back and forth while flashes of lightning randomly pop on a computer-like screen. Quickly I realize what the Protectorate meant by dome.

I've been living under one my whole life.

The truck reached the point where the dome meets the ground, which is the reason why the barrier we Helionites weren't allowed past is miles back. We'd never see this. Rage untwists inside my chest as the pixelated screen generates a false reality.

A section of the sky rolls back like an elevator door and the truck speeds out. Everyone rushes to a window as the outer world we've been denied unveils itself. Talon moves behind me, looking over my head.

Bright light shocks. To save my eyes I hastily turn away. Talon sucks in an excited breath.

"So this is what the real sun looks like."

"That's the sun?" I ask, rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah." His voice colors with awe. I turn back to the window, thankful to find that my eyes have adjusted. The light seems much dimmer now. There's a slab of rock stretching until it ends at a plunging canyon. Beyond that lies another, and another, the reddish-brown canyons rolling on for miles.

Craters banged into several of the rock's surfaces disturb the beauty. Someone says they were probably caused by Grecous's attack. But what weapon could do that? Surely not knives or guns, definitely not a sword. What other truths are the Protectorates hiding?

Thirty minutes later the Jeep halts in the middle of the desert. The landscape still hasn't changed, and the canyons go on forever.

"Out," the driver says, unlocking the doors and lighting his tenth cigarette. Mutely, passengers file out. I step out of the truck as overwhelming heat causes sweat to roll. A drop stings my eye. We've been immersed in a piping hot oven.

The hard rocks beneath my feet burn through my sandals. I squat down and examine a pretty rock. Unlike its rust-colored cousins, it's blood red.

When I look up again I note everyone else's attention has focused on the driver who's climbing back into the truck.

"Where are you going?" a girl, the one Talon said disappeared, asks. "You can't just leave us!"

He drives off without hesitation, the wheels of the truck churning up red dust that chokes the air. It gradually fades, revealing the truck to be far in the distance. Everyone exchanges horrified glances.  Talon opens his mouth to speak.

He's stopped by the ground that suddenly rumbles. Flashbacks of the balcony return in full force and in panic, I grip the closest thing to me. The disappear girl jumps in surprise as I latch onto her arm, but thankfully she doesn't ask me to let go.