The Wastelands

Chapter 9

The cafeteria in the middle of Mattisville Community College buzzed with more activity than usual. It was a strange sight to see so early on a Friday morning when the halls were usually empty.

Students filled the tables and crowded around the windows. Clear projector screens played a newsreel and the speakers blared from the lounge area in the back. Even more bodies shoved their way into the small space to watch the breaking coverage of the incident. Very few sat down and picked at the breakfast the cooks took the time to make. Their minds were too focused on the strange video to enjoy the bacon and French toast.

What is going on here? Marcus questioned the odd cluster of students as he settled into the room.

He raised an eyebrow and let the confusion take over. Normally, he'd study in peace and quiet in the lunchroom before his morning classes. Take a few extra minutes to go over his notes for an early exam or just relax before the day really began. The cramped space and lack of seating made being inside much less desirable.

He scanned their faces, noticing how each one gawked at a cell phone or a tablet. They watched a video that appeared to capture the interest of the entire student body.

He clutched the strap of his backpack and searched through the group of his peers. The girls were completely shocked with whatever played on the tiny screens. The young men laughed while some gasped in awe at the strange event. Marcus spotted his closest friend, Terrance, standing by a large, picture window. His deep set eyes stared daggers at the small tablet in his grip, completely lost in the moment like everyone else.

Marcus strolled to stand with his friend and leaned against the wall beside him, "What's going on?" he asked, startling Terrance.

The red head turned his head sharply to Marcus, relieved to see someone he recognized, "We're watching this crazy video from the news. I guess it wasn't supposed to air, but it somehow got out. Did you get a chance to see it?"

"You know my dorm doesn't have cable access and I don't have a cell phone." Marcus replied, ashamed at not being able to afford such small luxuries.

"Then you missed a shit storm that hit the fan." Terrance stated, pressing a few buttons on the tablet. "I guess the other night, like past midnight, someone managed to climb over the wall and jump into the Wastelands. One of the cameras on a watchtower got it, but the picture is really blurry. It's crazy though, the person who got out doesn't even seem human."

Marcus scrunched his eyes, questioning his friend's assumption, then said, "How could someone not be human?"

"See for yourself." Terrance said, then restarted the video on the tablet.

Marcus leaned closer to see the screen more clearly. Static came through the speakers with no voices to give a commentary. The camera angle showed a dark area on the ground at the base of the wall as well as part of the walkway up top. Moonlight reflected off a metal roof of a shack below the wall, a good thirty-feet down. His eyes focused on the shadow darting along the tin roof, sprinting faster than any human he'd ever seen. He gasped when the dark mass leapt from the shack and flew through the air. Their hands grabbed the ledge of the wall and the person dangled for a short moment, then climbed up.

"Holy shit." Marcus exclaimed, quietly.

Terrance smiled, then watched the video for the fifth time that morning. A flashlight finally brightened up the walkway at the top of the wall and cast a light over the figure for a fraction of a moment. The person wore all black and had pale skin. Their long hair had a hint of red striking Marcus as a woman. Her small frame and thin features didn't seem masculine in the slightest. Less than thirty seconds of being on the top of the wall, the insane person dropped over the other side and disappeared from the camera angle into the Wastelands. A flash of light came from a gun in the guard's hand that aimed at the fugitive. Silently, both boys hoped the person got wounded.

"Did they catch this person?" Marcus asked.

"Nope," Terrance replied, lowering the tablet, "President Whiley is pissed about it, though. Since my dad works for the city, he said they're adding more security to the wall. Anyone caught trying to get out will either get shot on site or arrested and sent to a maximum security prison. They're taking this very seriously. They're making the curfew stricter and doubling the charges for anyone caught outside after the last alarm. This is pretty serious shit."

"Of course it is." Marcus agreed a bit too enthusiastically. "We can't have the people in the Wastelands seeing this or they could try coming over and starting another war."

"Ain't that the truth." Terrance agreed.

"Hopefully that person gets what they deserve out there. I know it's not the best here, but I certainly wouldn't trade my life for living in that dump." Marcus added.

"No doubt about that. We've got it made compared to those scum bags."

Marcus shared a quick laugh with his friend, then watched the video one more time. His class didn't start for another thirty minutes, so he had time to relax before heading to Geometry. The video captured his interest more than he bothered to admit. He started to wonder what kind of person would have been strong enough to leap over the wall the way they did. Terrance said they didn't appear to be human with how they moved, yet the shadowy person on the screen mirrored a human being exactly. Either they were enhanced or they had mastered the skills of jumping to great heights. Part of his mind wanted to know and the other part was simply fascinated with the event.

He gaped at the screen in amazement after the person disappeared. The longer he watched, the more he was convinced the stranger was a woman. He spent a moment contemplating what drove her to climb over the wall or even consider the Wastelands as a viable option to call home. The people in the Metropolis had been taught that the Wastelands was nothing more than a charred landscape leftover from the war over a hundred years ago. No one ever wanted to go there or even get a glimpse of that land, yet that woman seemed eager to get to the other side.

She must have been delusional or completely whacked out on some drug. Either way, he thought the woman was insane.

As far as he was concerned, the land out there was nothing more than dead space. Only those looking for trouble belonged in the Wastelands.

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