I wiped my dirty hands on my tight-fitting jeans and stood up. When Claus and I found this body, we were looking through an abandoned house. The man we found was rotting, his flesh stunk of his corpse, flies fluttering around him. His eyes were just mushy, black pits, so I had guessed that he had been dead for at least six months. His bright yellow plainclothes had been covered in dirt, so much that it looked black. We discovered that his clothes were previously yellow after we had taken him in to the Officials to have him buried.
The abandoned house was a mess; dishes, silverware, and clothes were thrown all over the place and rotten food was stained on the beige carpet. I could barely even breathe from the stench. The roof was collapsing in on itself and all the windows were shattered into what seemed to be a million pieces. The cabinet doors fell off when we tried to pry them open. The usually verdant grass outside was dead and overgrown. Basically, the whole house was in really bad shape, it probably was still in that state when the man was still alive.
I tilted my head up to the lead gray clouds. Rain sprinkled onto my face and I closed my eyes, smiling to myself. I had always loved the feeling. The smell of it was probably one of the best fragrances I have ever inhaled. It had always calmed and relaxed me. It even took away my worries.
I looked behind me and saw Claus’ familiar auburn hair in the crowd talking to one of the Officials. My lips tugged upwards. He had always used hand gestures when he spoke. I still remember the exact moment when we met at eight years old. He was -and always has been- my best friend.
The inky darkness surrounded me as I walked into the caves. An owl hooted in the distance, trying to call me out. I could hear the ocean; it’s familiar whooshing making me feel at home. Dirt and rocks brushed against my feet as I progressed further. I outstretched my arm to feel the freezing wall of the cave, leading me deeper inside. I started to feel claustrophobic.
Mommy had said that I shouldn’t go very deep into them, since there were scary things creeping around. I wanted to explore inside them and became very curious, so I snuck out as soon as all of the lights were off inside our steel compound. I tried to be as quiet as I could possibly be.
I peered into the darkness. There was a sound coming from inside the cave.
“Hello?” I called, my childish voice bouncing off the smooth walls. The sound stopped. I continued to listen for a minute longer. When I turned back to retreat, it picked up again, louder than before.
I walked further inside the cave, curiosity leading me. The sound of my feet scuffling filled up the woodsy hair. It was increasing.
I looked behind me for the exit, but I could barely see it. Panic filled me, my mind consuming me with images with gigantic beasts coming into my field of vision and eating me up.
A cry filled the air and I started gasping. I increased my pace, tripping over my feet as I tried to reach my destination quicker. I would’ve passed the thing that was making the sound if I didn’t kick the soft flesh and tumbling over it.
“Oof,” I grumbled as my chest hit the ground. Gravelly sand filled my mouth. My hands scraped against me between my body and the ground, burning. I spit out the salty sand and looked over my shoulder to see a ball of flesh, curled up at the side of the cave. A head popped up, bright eyes boring into my skull. I looked back down at myself, my chest dirty from the fall.
“Sorry,” I apologized, feeling guilty. I looked back up at the boy, who had tattered blue plainclothes and a bruise on his cheek. I stared at it, curious. “How did you get that?”
His sea green eyes glistened and put his head back down on his lap, hiding his face. “Nothing,” he whispered.
I looked around, wondering what had done that to him. I got up off of the ground, walking to go sit by him. “Do you need some help? My mommy knows a good doctor.”
His high-pitched voice cracked. “Thank you,” he said. He looked up to my eyes, graciously. I smiled and stood back up, wanting to get him healed as soon as possible. I outstretched my thin, clammy arm. He took my hand, his rough against my soft flesh. I smiled, my pale teeth showing.
"I'm Oceania," I said, pulling him up off the floor. I kept a firm grip on him until he steadied himself. He looked into my eyes, smiling slightly.
"I'm Claus."
I looked down at my dirt-covered sandals. The soft texture of newly dug up soil was surrounded by the lush green of the grass. I hope you have a great time in the afterlife, sir, I thought. I’ll see you there. I squatted down, kissed my fingertips, and patted the hill of dirt in a compassionate way. I saw a black pair of shoes making their way toward me out of the corner of my eye.
“Miss?” A deep, gravelly voice floated into my ears. I lifted my gaze. A man stood before me, looking vaguely familiar. However, I couldn’t think as to why.
“Yes?” I asked. The man was no more than forty, obviously. Lately, the population was dying at that age. No one knows why. He ran a hand through his pale hair, even though there was a youthfulness that made him look too young to have white hair. His face was tight with stress and tears were glistening in his bright eyes.
“Yes, sir?” I asked again. He quickly glanced down at my feet.
“You’re on my brother.”
My eyes widened. “Oh, my! I’m so sorry.” I quickly got off the patch of dirt. He nodded, his head still turned towards the ground.
“It’s okay,” he said, his voice cracking with depression.
I searched for something to say, but what do you say to someone who has lost a loved one? ‘I’m sorry for your loss?’ That doesn’t seem to be the right thing to say. He sat down, curling up his rather long legs to his chest, wrapping his arms around and resting his chin on his knees. A tear escaped from his eyes and rolled down his scruffy face. I sat down next to him, not saying a thing. I watched the grievers. Their plainclothes blinded me with vibrant colors. There were different colors for each race and class, so you would always know whom the other person was.
“Thank you.” I heard suddenly. The man stood up once he was done. He looked down at me. His eyes were glazed over.
“Of course,” I said, sincerely and smiled weakly. “I hope you relieve your grief and be happy.”
He smiled weakly at me and slowly trudged back into the crowd. I studied the ground. Little tiny insects were crawling all over the place, black dots picking up crumbs of white food.
“Oceania!” A familiar voice called. I stood up and searched for the source. I surveyed the crowd- everyone's heads were bobbing up and down as they mingled- until I found him. Claus was waving. I smiled and started to weave through the crowd. I kept on getting shoved and my feet were being stepped on a lot, slowing my progress. Once I got through, I fell into Claus’ open arms from applying too much pressure. My white-blond hair fell into my eyes, blocking out my vision. I quickly steadied myself and pushed myself back from him and made myself more presentable to the Official, who was staring at me, waiting. Officials were only one step down from the Striker. If you weren’t presentable enough to either the Striker or the Officials, you could be fired. I don’t see that happening to me, though, even if the Officials wanted me fired.
I looked up to the Official, who was towering over me. “Sir?” I stood up straight, chin up. He studied me with thoughtful, dark eyes.
“Miss Ravening, you are requested by the Striker. He would like to see you.”
I tensed up. “As requested, I will do,” I stated simply. I gave the Official the brightest smile I could, teeth showing. His presence would’ve probably scared off other people, but I was used to it, having been born into it. My mother has been part of the corporation most of her life. “At what time does the Striker wish to see me?” I asked the Official.
“At a quarter past noon,” he said. His thick, dark eyebrows knitted together.
“Thank you, sir,” I said, nodding and still feeling my lips tugging upwards brightly. The Official turned abruptly and walked away. The smile evaporated from my face as soon as he turned his back. I closed my eyes. Feeling a warm, rough hand rub my back I slowly cracked my tired eyes open. Claus’ concerned eyes entered my vision. I closed them again and rested my head against his shoulder. He was always there for me, even if we were thousands of miles away. He was the only person who was able to cheer me up, sometimes. I don’t know what I’d have done without him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, tightly squeezing. I felt his heart slightly pick up pace. He hugged me back.
“Are you going to be okay?” He asked. I could feel the worry radiating off him. I narrowed my eyes and pulled back.
“What makes you think I won’t?” I snapped, my body tensing. His gorgeous green eyes widened in alarm as he took a slight step back.
“Hey! No need to get feisty with me. I’m just making sure. I worry about you,” he said, defensively. My body relaxed a little.
I loudly sighed. “I’m sorry, Claus. I’m just stressed.” His face grew soft.
“It’s okay. I know. We’ve had a long day.” We had to go to the corporation at five in the morning, get our supplies, and drive six hours further to set up the burial. I smiled up at him. He had noticeable, dark bags under the feathery red of his eyelashes. Wrinkles were forming around his eyes, making him look older than he was, being only eighteen. I kissed his freckled cheek. His lips tugged upwards as he looked into my eyes.
The enormous trees around the spot of the burial whistled in the wind. Leaves flew everywhere, smacking the grievers in their faces. The dirt and grass rubbed against my legs, making them itch. The gray clouds thundered powerfully above us. There was a blinding white flash of lightning. It was time to take cover, since the thunderstorms were sometimes poisonous to our bodies because of the rain. It makes us have burns on ourselves and if you were outside for a long time, it sometimes causes birth defects.
A little girl ran up to Claus and I, her black hair violently flapping in the wind. She narrowed her eyes at us. “Do you have a place for shelter? If not, there’s a place close by that I could show you,” she said through the acidic wind, her voice childish and floating around us.
I looked at Claus and exchanged a glance with him. “We would love that,” I said, thankfully.
“Follow me.” She turned and ran into the forest. I shrugged at Claus, running after the girl. I could feel him breathing down my neck as we quickly followed her.
I broke through the tree line and stopped. She was nowhere in sight. I looked around at anything that could be her. “Where do you think she is?” I asked Claus. I turned my head toward him. I could barely see through the darkness of the shadows, even though I could see better than humans. He was looking into the veil, his eyes confused. I caught his hand in mine.
A voice chilled the air. “I’m right here.”
I jumped at the sound. She was right next to me. I looked down in front of me and saw electric blue eyes peering up at me through the darkness. They were glowing, just inches from my face. I blinked.
“What the hell?” I muttered. Her eyes narrowed, grabbing my hand.
“Come with me.” she dragged me away. The twigs under our feet snapped as we stepped on them. The smell of rain and campfire assaulted our noses as time went on and made our way deeper and deeper into the woods. The darkness gave no sign of life. The air howled in our ears, making them ring. It hurt us more than humans, since we had amplified hearing. I couldn’t hear a living thing from miles away, unnerving me. I usually could have heard animals for miles through a screaming crowd.
Eventually, the girl stopped. She pressed a camouflaged button on a nearby tree. I heard something rustle as she leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Hold on tight,” she said, amusement in her high-pitched, innocent voice and roughly dragged us into the moving ground.