20 Late Night Trouble
'What even is a yellow area?'
Dennis's interest was piqued. Partly due to being a past military personnel himself. However, his curiosity was mostly because he hadn't left the shelter in nearly two years.
He had almost forgotten how the world outside of the shelter appeared.
From his memories, it was mostly desecrated but also chaotic, bringing Dennis to the conclusion that the military might have labelled some places according to the intensity of the destruction in the location.
They had seen simulations and holographic footage in the training facility and it seemed like things had gotten way worse on the outside world but Dennis knew that they were still lacking in knowledge compared to the military who regularly went on missions.
He had been very curious and wanted to explore, but no one was allowed to leave the shelter without proper permits. The government within the shelter made this a mandatory rule to protect what was left of humanity.
Recalling how life was before he got drafted into the Modified Combatant program, Dennis couldn't help but shake his head in pity.
'As if people within the shelter aren't losing their lives daily from hunger,' He felt the law was pathetic.
People were either losing their lives out there or dying in here. Either way, death was still the result for some people.
It seemed like the government didn't care so long as they weren't dying in here. It was such a false sense of morality and justice.
Thrrzzsshh~ Thrrzzsshh~
"Hmm?" Dennis's attention was diverted towards the bushy area on the left.
He could hear whizzing sounds coming from the direction off the path that led back to the MC's small shack.
His curiosity led him to change directions. He stepped forward and found himself before a twenty-seven-foot-tall tree.
Hanging from a tree branch was a shirtless dark-haired youngster. He had a lean muscular build with finely structured abs that glistened under the glow of the slowly dimming magenta hue sky. He had quite a cute face, and his skin looked like that of a baby.
From what Dennis could see, the youngster had his calves glued to the branch while his torso was hanging freely across the air. He followed a repeated pattern by pulling his upper body up and throwing out two punches. He would let his upper body fall and hang freely afterwards before pulling himself up again to throw two fists out.
The sound of the air whizzing originated from the fists he threw.
Dennis watched in marvel, 'Rodrick Valeques... this is why he is the strongest.'
Dennis had to admit that the title of strongest didn't just go to a lazy person who happened to have good genes. Rodrick wasn't just physically strong. He was also incredibly skilled and hardworking.
Dennis recalled he had seen him training after hours so many times in the Modified Combatant Training Facility, but he hadn't expected that he would do the same in their current training camp.
It was largely because they were already undergoing hellish training there that lasted for an entire day compared to the Combatant Training Facility.
'It would be difficult to top that,' Dennis said internally.
At that moment, Rodrick suddenly stopped and turned to face Dennis in mid-air.
Dennis was taken aback as their eyes made contact.
'His environmental awareness is off the charts... I employed the tactics of a sniper, camouflaging my movement and presence, yet he still spotted me,' He was stunned.
"Hey..." Dennis waved awkwardly.
Rodrick silently swung off the tree branch and spun once in mid-air before landing a few feet away.
He stepped forward with a rather straight look, and Dennis felt like he was staring at a wild beast.
Fwwhii~
Rodrick walked past without uttering a single word and soon disappeared out of sight.
"These kids have quite the contrasting personalities..." Dennis mumbled.
However, when he thought about it deeply, he really couldn't blame them. The world had shaped their personalities.
He had heard a lot about Rodrick from gossip and all that. Some said he was mute, and others said he hadn't spoken a word since the day he lost his family. Dennis felt these rumours were close to the truth since he had only ever heard Rodrick say, 'Yes Sir!' or speak when it was extremely mandatory, which usually was never a lot.
His family had survived the earth-shifting incident but had later died at the hands of extraterrestrial forces.
All Dennis could think of was how traumatic an experience the earth-shifting incident must have been for them.
From his memories, Dennis and John were just as much of a victim as anyone else.
'Such a sad world...' Dennis turned around to walk away.
....
....
....
"Sir Ansel, why is Dennis not here yet?" Scientist Belmos immediately questioned the moment he walked into a sparsely spaced office.
Sir Ansel turned to face him, "Did you hit your head and lose your ability to knock?"
"My apologies, I was just very surprised to see that he is not here yet. It is already 8 pm," Scientist Belmos tried to hide his look of urgency while answering.
"He is not coming in today or tomorrow or the next," Sir Ansel responded while stroking his brown goatee.
"But why?" Scientist Belmos quizzed, sounding distraught.
"Lieutenant Colonel Derrick called in to inform me of an ongoing special training. Dennis won't be able to come in until next week," Sir Ansel explained.
Scientist Belmos's eyes squinted in disappointment, but he quickly retained a calm look when he noticed that Sir Ansel was staring at him.
"I thought we were supposed to try the thesis compatibility damper on him..."
"We can do that when he comes in next week."
"I made a breakthrough in one of my research and wanted to test that out."
"We have many Modified Combatants in the wards from other units that came in for checkups. You can use any of them," Sir Ansel kept giving Scientist Belmos rational responses, causing him to give up.
'I guess I can wait one more week,' Scientist Belmos retreated.
"I will take my leave now," He voiced out.
"Hold on," Sir Ansel suddenly instructed, causing Belmos to pause warily.
'Could he have figured something out?' Scientist Belmos retained a calm face while turning around.
"Yes?"
"Graham needs assistance with the module two prototype... since we haven't gotten a new batch of v99 crystals yet. You're less busy, no?" Sir Ansel's bald head sparkled under the illumination of the lights in the vicinity as he spoke.
"You want me to go help him out?" Scientist Belmos questioned with a look of distaste.
"Yes."
"What if I say no?"
"What if I reduce your pay?"
"I'm off."
"Happy collaboration."
....
....
....
A young teenage boy navigated the dilapidated streets that seemed to mirror the scars of neglect and hardship. The air hung heavy with the residue of urban decay, and the poorly structured street stretched before him into the distance.
The street was lined with wooden houses and uneven sidewalks.
Although it was currently nighttime and the sky was completely starless, lanterns were strewn about the place along with a few lampposts in some regions. It gave a bit of illumination as one could see that the streets were populated by huddled figures, their forms obscured by tattered clothing that barely shielded them.
~sigh~
"I hope Dennis never finds out that I left home this late," John held onto something wrapped in a plastic bag.
"My pocket is bleeding now. I can't believe it costs $10 just to get a little bit of it, but food will always taste bland without salt. I need to cook him a very tasty meal since he will be returning to check up on me any day from now," John smiled as he made his way forward happily.
He soon reached a sparsely populated part of the shelter where people could barely be seen. The darkness of the night was deeper around these parts, but John knew he just needed to cross the region to get to the street where their house was located.
A silhouette suddenly bumped into him from the side.
Bam!
The intense force sent John flying, causing him to slide across the ground for a few feet.
"Ugh," John groaned and was about to reach out to grab the item that fell from his grasp.
Stomp!
A foot suddenly appeared in view, stomping his arm in place.
"Auggh! Watch it!" John yelled while looking up but was met with the scary, chubby face of an obese man.
"You look well kept, little boy... are you one of those government rats eating the shelter's money?" The obese man's spittle flew as he spoke, causing John to flinch in distaste.
"What do you want?" John asked while trying to free his arm.
"Kikikiki... looks like I caught one today!" The obese man's piercing laughter caused goosebumps to appear on John's skin.
"Let me go!" He yelled while continuously trying to free himself to no avail.
"Stop struggling, pipsqueak." The obese man raised his right foot and stomped John's face.
Bam!
