Silence of the Apocalypse

Chapter 9: Safety

Music...
Armin hadn't heard so much of it in such a large place in a long time. There was also something else he hadn't seen in a while: families.

As Mikayla led him by the hand, bustling sounds of life filled the rock city's columned roofs: Children splashed around in a pond, fed by a wide brook; The Brooks pump led to a storefront, a bakery of sorts; couples walked the andesite causways, staring at the stars in the evening haze.

Mikayla hadn't been here in so long, and yet she could remember every little shop, every bend, every single rock face.

There was the baker, who got his barley fresh from the Fields up north. Then there was the rancher, whose cows were stubborn as the days were long. The school provided day and night school usually; since today was Saturday, they scampered in every direction.

She looked back to see Armin, staring at the landscape. Stars were in his eyes, and she was swimming in them.

"Uhm, Mikayla?" Armin said.

"Hmm?" She replied sleepily.

She quickly realized what she was doing, to which she quickly shifted her attention. Eyes darting every which way, she found herself watching something rather odd.
Two men, broad in stature, were struggling to carry something. As she squinted her eyes, the object became easier to make out.

It was a metal container, about a yard in length. The container looked faded and old, a lot like the old military vehicles the scavengers had discovered a few years back. The box, though illuminated by the street lights, seemed to resemble a moving vortex, devoid of light. After a few more guards appeared from the shadows, the box disappeared from view into a warehouse.

As if on cue, fireworks from an unknown launcher shot into the night sky, whistling and screeching through the cool mountain air. Explosions of gold, blue, and purple lit up the dark wilderness above. There were cheers and laughter all around Mikayla as the gears in her mind began to turn. Something's going on here... She thought.

As the guards in their heavy gear entered the warehouse, a familiar face smiled back at her. Before she could react, Armin's hear disappeared behind the steel doors.