Sleep was the only thing Kevin desired. All ponderings of how he may escape the vehicle, and Arumlily itself were useless by now. There was peace in surrender, regardless of how terrible or foreboding the situation has thus presented itself. At this point, the only thing he wanted was to sleep; to reset all of his emotions and be born anew. Tomorrow is another day, he thought. What tomorrow could bring was uncertain. Perhaps he would conspire to escape the village in a greater scope, firstly by exploring the bounds of the town to find any means of escape. Yet if the people happened to be disturbed and insubordinate, surely all means of escape had been occluded to prevent such a scheme. I'll sort something out. I just need to rest.
The inside of Daniel's car resembled a taxi. A black barrier divided the vehicle in two, with a plastic pane in its centre, so Daniel could see and speak to Kevin. It had been 5 or 10 minutes since Kevin entered the car, and Daniel thankfully hadn't once shown any indication that he even desired to speak to him. The trees closed in on the road again, the terrain became higher and more dynamic, as if the roads were carved below the ground. When the trees became more sparse, Kevin could see the first few glimpses of the village.
About half a mile away, grey and shabby apartment complexes of various heights cramped together across flat terrain. Some were shrouded by the occasional tree which gave the illusion that the amalgamated apartments were divided. There were other, larger buildings outside of the car's right window, but the flats on the left were what drew Kevin's attention. They were where he'd be living, apparently. As the car drove further into the village, the grey apartments on the left spread closer to the main road. Their windows were mostly shut and concealed, though a few remained open to reveal uncertain furniture within. There were no chimneys or noise, but from what Kevin could see, most of the apartments were definitely inhabited. Behind them, the massive forest towered over them. When Kevin looked back, he noticed that the ground which upheld the forest which sprawled around the village was elevated, as if the ground which contained the village had been carved from the naturally high ground. Kevin wondered how this was even possible before losing interest. It was as if the village were locked behind bars of trees and dirt.
A roundabout came into view through the front window. Rows of grey apartments and prefabs surrounded it. In the centre towered a tall, grey statue of a bearded, long-haired man dressed only in a robe. In one hand he was holding a Christian cross, while his other hand was stretched outwards. The statue looks older than the shopping centre. Christianity had been rapidly declining for the past few decades across the Grand Market. The Market's chief religion was wealth, its devout devoted entirely to attaining credits and power instead of seeking salvation. Any other religion was discouraged in the upper classes, yet the Merchants knew better than to share their views with the masses, lest their hierarchy crumbles. Nevertheless, their views found a way to trickle down throughout society. Kevin wondered why more people weren't angry at the system. For as long as he remembered, people committed themselves to religion in a desperate attempt to feel superior to their Merchant overlords. Since religion was declining, people must be realising that strategy didn't work. His father once belonged to the religion until his addictions gradually undermined his faith, his breach of commitment was later proven when he beat Kevin for reading the Bible for schoolwork. The allure of wealth must have been too strong for such a weak man. He didn't only develop an addiction to alcohol, but an addiction to stocks and bonds as well. The alcohol lulled the frustration that debt brought. Kevin wondered why Jules stayed with the man. She was not capable of love, only a shallow imitation of ambition.
Daniel drove down the first exit, away from the statue, and through a winding road surrounded by prefabs into the direction of the apartments. People could be seen inside some of the windows. Now and then, awkwardly placed grassy patches and unsightly rows of bushes were lazily in between the cramped, roadless streets. The car took a turn, into a street surrounded by flats. Various forms of lighting glowed inside the small windows. The interiors were still mostly concealed with curtains. Those windows that weren't, displayed bottles and other such kitchen products. Outside, there were no people or cars, and the only roads that seemed to divert from this one appeared to result immediately in car parks.
After a few turns, Daniel pulled into a car park surrounded by cracked three-story grey apartments. The buildings were all interconnected with open staircases and metal fences. Daniels left the car and opened the back door, allowing Kevin to leave the vehicle. "Just a short walk from here", he mumbled.
The two walked side-by-side down a narrow pathway, locked between an empty car park and the windows of someone's flat. Behind one smaller building was a street of taller apartments, with trees shrouding many of their windows in secrecy. Here's hoping I'm allowed some privacy. The pair walked through the base of a staircase between two complexes, and into a small path. They emerged upon a path where another row of interlocking flats faced them. To the right was the forest behind a block of flats. Kevin realised that the ground wall was as high as the apartment roofs. To the left, the roadless street stretched on. Beyond that was a flat, and treeless area whose only point of interest was a grey shed. Two of the grey vehicles were placed on opposite sides of the shed.
Daniel took the lead, taking a right. He walked down a smaller path surrounded by grass and small stone walls, turned left, then walked towards a small brown door on the ground floor almost directly under a staircase. Kevin felt as if he was being watched. As Daniel picked them up and opened the door to the apartment, Kevin realised how eerily silent the entire village had been so far. Only the faint swaying of the forest's trees was audible. Daniel gestured for Kevin to enter the flat. He complied and followed him down a beige hallway on the immediate right and into a lightly furnished living room, featuring only a sofa, small television, a desk with drawers on both sides, and a swivel chair inside.
"I should explain some of the rules you'll be following", the man uttered, still avoiding eye contact. He produced some paper from inside his coat and laid it on the desk. "Firstly, there's a curfew for everyone. No-one's to leave after 8pm. There's CCTV all over the village for that as well as other reasons". Kevin anticipated the regurgitation of the rules to become more and more authoritarian whilst the man paused to skim over the notes.
Daniel turned around, ignoring the paper behind him. "There's also sound detectors. So, for example, whenever there's a fight or glass breaking or the sound of people running, we get notified and patrollers will be on the scene. Uhh, just be quiet in general and you'll be fine. And the neighbours are all elderly. They don't trust the young folk that are here". The man shrugged, then pulled back the curtains and gestured at the forest, "Don't try going through there either. That place is... well it's extremely dangerous. Trust me. Not like you can climb up that dirt wall anyway". Kevin yawned. How convenient.
The man huffed and turned back, looking around the room, then walked past Kevin and into the hall. Kevin followed, being too tired to pay attention to anything properly. They passed the main door and entered the bedroom. Daniel placed his hand on the clock perched above the door and quickly checked the time on his phone. "I'll be back at 10am tomorrow to take you to the health centre. Olga's your psychiatrist right?". Kevin nodded and yawned again. Daniel yawned himself as he spoke, "There's no alarm in here I'm sure. Never is in these flats anyway. You'll get a new phone tomorrow with all your alarms and apps, so aye."
"Am I getting an inhaler as well?", Kevin asked.
Daniel stared blankly at him, "Why? Are you asthmatic or something?"
"Erm, well the smog that—"
"Ah that. Well, everyone sensitive to the smog who moves in here usually ends up recovering. All of them, even".
That angered him. He assumed Daniel was lying, but there was no way to tell since Kevin hadn't been exposed to clean atmospheres for so long. I'm too tired to argue, he decided, tomorrow's another day.
"Right, okay, I'll leave you to it then". Daniel walked to the front door; his fingers lingered on the key in the door. "I'll have to lock you in till the morning. You'll get your own key once you pass the trust process".
"The what?"
"The tru—", the man rolled his eyes, "you'll get a key if you behave. Oh, one more thing, just ignore that ticking sound in there", he pointed towards the cupboard next to the main door, and opposite the bedroom, "Nothing dangerous in there and its locked so don't go poking".
"Huh?", Kevin quietened to hear the noise, "What hissing sound?",
"It's more of a tick. Don't look so alarmed. There's always health and safety inspections in flats a few days prior to someone moving in. It's only the electricity. Or heating. Or pipes. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Be ready". And with that, he quickly slammed and locked the door. Kevin didn't know whether to feel angry or frustrated. Any reaction was overshadowed by the fatigue that had been creeping up on him for the past few hours. He re-entered the bedroom, eyeing the uncomfortable-looking single bed. That didn't bother him. Nor did the smell. The bed felt orgasmic when he collapsed on top of it and quickly fell asleep.