The World's End | ONC 2024

ੈ✩‧₊˚ |𝟬𝟴| 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗻

Wylan

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

I considered Madame Henderson's home a dungeon where I encountered danger every minute I spent there. Axelle was adamant that her home was safe, and it was technically my idea. I believed that no one, not even the most influential of Verids would be able to get inside Melissa Henderson's house. However, the main issue here would be to make sure Melissa Henderson herself didn't order for our execution.

Axelle was unaware of the betrayal that her mother was accustomed to. Even though she believed her house would be safe, her mind were clouded with suspicion that her mother could get her killed too.

Could a mother do that to her children?

Her house was exquisite, almost like a pre-Death Veridonian upper-class home. When the Disease hit, the buildings perished along with the people in there. The West remained intact for obvious reasons.

Axelle said that her mother was on her weekend shift, where she was in charge of all the Verids and training them. We had a day to spend here before Madame Henderson could kill us.

Alissa's room was apparently the one place in the house that Melissa Henderson didn't enter. It hurt, knowing that she never felt any empathy for a small child even if she wasn't hers. I admired Axelle for that. She was technically Alissa's mother. My father, Keira, and I were holed up around Alissa's room while Axelle to Alissa to hers for the night.

"Um, Wylan...I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to act that way. I just didn't trust you, I guess," Keira murmured softly from beside me. Father was fast asleep by now, his snores clearly audible. I had believed that Keira would be asleep by now, but she wasn't.

"Can't sleep either?" I asked her, turning to my side to face her. She was looking up at the ceiling that was spotless, almost empty. She didn't blink at all, her eyes fixated on the small fluorescent lights that cast a soft glow in the room.

"No, not really. Just something about this place. Breathing here feels a bit off. Like something is different. I could just be crazy because I've been outside for so long. I'm also thinking, and thinking makes me stay awake."

She moved her gaze away from the ceiling and met my eyes. I saw some fear in her expression—something more vulnerable that I hadn't seen before. It was as if she was denying the trouble we were in this entire time and it had finally caught up to her. She always wore a facade of bravery, acting as though nothing bothered her. But I was wrong. Everything bothered her. More so than me.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if the West had implanted Disease-removal filters in their homes. But to answer your question, I wasn't mad at you. We met hours ago. Why would you trust me?" I assured her.

"No, it's not that. It's just...I felt like there was nothing significant about me. I was just a survivor. But that Major...it just brought back memories of my brother and my parents," she replied sadly, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What happened to them, if you don't mind me asking..."

"Well, I was old enough to feel the pain, but too young to understand what was going on. My brother was suspicious about something, but he never told me anything about it. He was part of the Death March. He and some of his friends. It was almost like they were programmed or something...I don't know."

I nodded. "Yes. And they killed your parents for it?"

She sighed. "I think so. I mean they never came back home after that. They're all gone, and I think of them as dead. They're better off dead than the institution."