A Different World

Illusions

"Hope we find other people in this cursed place," Typhoon said as they walked.

"I'm sure there are other people in this world, but finding them won't be that easy," Crash replied as he looked around. They stopped as they saw a person dressed in old, worn out clothes nearby. The man looked up at them as they approached the man.

The wrinkles on the man's face showed that he was an old man and the messy black hair told them that he has seen hard times. He looked harmless and in desperate need of some food. "Hello, my name is Crash and this is Typhoon," Crash said as he pointed his thumb over at Typhoon.

The old man straitened up and looked at them with his Lt. brown eyes. "The name is James, nice to meet you," He said as he held out his hand in a friendly gesture. They all shook each other's hands in turn.

"Are you alone?" Typhoon asked with a smile on his face.

"My lord no, a group of us four a place to live," James said as he shook his head. "Come I'll take you there," James said as he turned to leave. With a nod they followed James down the street, they zig zagged through the ruins until they came to a staircase that went down into darkness.

"Welcome to The Hole," James said as he grabbed atourch. He took out a match and lit it, casting some light down the staircase.

"This looks like the entrance to the Tram system," Crash said as they walked down the stairs.

"You are correct, the subway system was the only place in the city that wasn't destroyed," James said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. The light blue tiles on the walls were still there the benches stood against the walls and the ticket booth still stood as well.

A small group of people, who sat around looked at the new people with hungry eyes. "Food must be hard to come by," Typhoon said as he looked around at the hungry faces. Out of the ticket office came a huge man, so big that he had to squeeze through the doorway. He had dark brown eyes, a bald head and a scar on his left cheek.

Tha man stood 7'5 and had an overly muscular build. "Steel this is Crash and Typhoon," James said as he pointed at each in turn.

"Well you two are just in time for dinner," Steel said with a smile on his face. "Take them to the garden and get some vegetables," He ordered James.

"Yes sir," James replied with a nod of his head. "Let's go," He said and walked towards the subway tracks. On the right stood the back end of the subway car and people moved around inside. To the left was a long row of wide tables filled with dirt.

Vegetables grew from the soil as if they were planted in the ground and there were a large variety of vegetables to choose from. After harvesting some peas, carrots, potatoes and onions, before returning to the ticket booth. When they walked in, they saw a large kettle with water in it and it sat above wood based fire.

They were set to work peeling potatoes and carrots, as well as chopping them up to make a stew. When they finished they noticed people staring hungrily through the window. The water started to boil and they helped steel put the vegetables in the kettle. Steel added some spices in just the right amounts to make it taste good. While the water boiled James poked at them with a slender finger and licked his lips.

"I have a feeling that we weren't invited to dinner, we are the dinner," Crash said as he looked around the room.

"Let's get out of here," Typhoon replied as they backed away from Steel and James.

"Going somewhere?" Steel asked with an evil grin on his face. His eyes narrowed as he glared at them.

"Need to use the bathroom," Crash said as they bolted through the doorway, only to have others grab at them. They fought their way through the large group of hungry people.