Emortuus

Chapter 6

"Where are we even heading?" I question Atticus. We were walking down the roads of Impermissus. The streets were slightly crowded as groups of people boldly sat outside. "Does each of these buildings have an underground garage?" Atticus finally glances down at me.

"No only ours." He says sternly. I frown trying to think of where everyone else took shelter. He grabs onto my shoulder to stop me. "So that's where the children mostly stay." He points to the tall light blue brick building. The top of it remains open and abandoned. Meanwhile the bottom half is full of life and chatter. "Why do they mostly stay in the building?" I ask.

"Because most are orphans besides that they need to stay till the age of fourteen. It's to guarantee they are safe from getting the illness." My eyebrows furrow in confusion. What illness was he talking about?

"What illness?" I ask. Atticus stops this time to look back at me. We barely taken any steps away from the blue building.

"I'll tell you later about it." He says frustrated. I grip his arm before he can walk away. "If you want me to be apart of this faction you need to be honest with me. What illness?"

"Our factions have been at war forever. Emortuus was jealous because my faction could live in the radiation. So they've been trying different methods to try to alter the genetic code. Unfortunately they released their test subjects into the wilderness. The radiation made them sick and ill. Which resulted in a virus being created within one of the hosts bodies. It spreads like the flu." He mentions. The laughter of the children soon surrounds us. Groups of little children run across the street giggling. Many of them wearing clothing with patches. Remembering the little girl in the dress I begin to look for her.

"I don't understand. I'm from their faction and I can withstand the radiation." I say surveying the children.

"It's either than your parents were from this faction or you were taken from this faction. You have to born into the radiation exposure not made." That was impossible. My father was born from within the faction. It made me think of Arkin's parents. Did they die from the exposure then?

"My parents would never be from this faction." I say. Ignoring the other possibility. I was born of faction Emortuus. My mother even had photos of me as a baby.

"We should be heading back soon. We've taken too long. There's that meeting you need to attend to." But we haven't even visited the place he was taking me to. I pointed that out but Atticus shook his head at me.

"If there's time we'll visit it later tonight. Now let's hurry back. There's no time for you to change." Atticus says taking my upper arm.

As we walk back to the compound I couldn't help but continue to look around. Many of the buildings seemed full of life. But when I first visited they were empty and abandoned. Did they know someone was on their land? Or maybe I didn't see the life of the city till now. I mean when I visited there was a group of people in the streets chatting. "Who exactly are we meeting with?" I ask.

"The top leaders of the city. Each of them own one of these tall skyscrapers. Except I'm the one they run everything by. My family was the one that built this city." Atticus held the door open as I walked into the building. A few people sat in the corner in dusty old lounge chairs. In conclusion this had to be the lobby of the building. Atticus grips my upper arm pulling me into another room. A loud bellow of laughter fills my ears.