Voyage [Part 3]

When Jim saw the numbers of vehicles, buses to be precise, he immediately thought of the possibility of the rest of the journey being on foot. More so, he lacked the knowledge of the remaining distance needed to cover for him to reach the Academy. Jim was in another part of the island. His younger self would have loved to go on a little adventure. But at this moment, he did not have time for that. This place was the Bus station, he had overhead the name from the couple who stood in the cubicle besides his.

At this moment, he wanted to speak with someone, to free his mind. He should have put a call across to his parents or maybe his butler, but he knew already that they still would be no result. He had tried this before when the plane landed on this

Island, but there was no response. After a while of no response, the call no longer proceeded. He didn't know if it was the reception, or maybe the Academy or perhaps, his parents had destroyed the line he should use to connect the call to them.

As of the present, none of the buses were moving. He did not have much idea of how the movement would proceed, but he was given a card by a personnel during the walk to the bus station. And on that card was the number 40 written in bold. It was clear that whatever the number meant, he was the 40 among hundreds, and so was his cubicle numbered also. While there was the park as Jim called it due to the presence of several vehicles, there was also a section of the station where he was. It had stark resemblance to the waiting port at a train station. Several blue colored cubicles stacked side by side with numbers written on them were constructed in the cubicled station. One could stand in it or just sit in the space provided.

Yawn

His jaws stretched widely opening his mouth and then relaxed. His eyes wearied while closing gently. Jim was beginning to feel sleepy, courtesy of the journey he had underwent and the lack of relaxation in a long while. He did not want to sleep now. He desired to feed his eyes a while longer and stay awake for most of the journey and if possible, all of it. From where he sat, he had a good side view of the bus station, including the park, and the road which stretched through the front of the station, which could be seen in front of his cubicle, to the park. Since there was no movement, he could as well move his legs some distance.

The bus station was located at the edge of the island. The ground had been raised and tarred just like the others and steel railings were garrisoned at the edge of the island surrounding the bus station even up to its entry point. At the park, some distance away from the station, two rows of buses were parked adjacent to one another. The rest of the buses were filed behind the two rows. A single road led through the space between these two rows and out the island.

Jim got up from his cubicle and moved out the station to the edge of the island where he could get a better view of the sea.

"What a sight" he commented. He had never been this close to the sea before, not a time he could remember clearly.

Footsteps were heard. After a brief moment, a figure was by Jim's side. Another had come to join him. Jim looked to his sides and and saw the strange man whom he thought had been following him all this while.

"Han does really care" he muttered to the hearing of the man besides him.

"Does he now? " the man replied.

Jim let out a light chuckled lightly and took his sight farther into the sea. The man by his side was right. He had been with the butler for ten years and still would not believe he actually cared for anything more than his pay. On the contrary, the butler did. But Jim might not have the chance to thank him for that.

"Say what, mister" Jim addressed the man. "Put in good words for me. I do also care for him. Surely you can do that."

The strange man sighed, his head turned to the skies. "I am not an ambassador of love. But, your feelings do need to be expressed, now."

It seemed like Jim's assumption was right. Thus guy was another butler his butler had sent to look after him. After all, the butler did state that he had people in the Academy. And this was one of them, who had followed Jim from his house, looking after him up till this point. He turned to look at this new butler and saw him gazing into the skies. His faze looked rather odd as it looked like he could actually see something and not just clouds.

"It'll be a great view from up there" Jim commented.

The man dropped his gaze and looked seemingly into space.

"It'll be shocking for you to reach high up there and view the entire earth and discover, you do not like what you see. And you never want to do it again.

'What's this guy talking about' Jim thought. Surely, if he wanted to have a view so badly, it was on the internet. Not that it could replace a firsthand sight.

"I guess though, first sight would be beautiful"

The man looked at him for some while and smiled, while Jim smiled back.

"What's your idea?" Jim asked. "Do you think this is where all immigrants land?"

"This place is too small to hold all human immigrants. Surely, you are supposed to know that." the man replied.

"Yeah" Jim answered back. "Even the shape of the island tells a different story."

The island had an irregular shape looking like a seven written backwards. And it would seem that this was just a base as so with others, where immigrants were moved to the Academy.

"What do you think of the Academy" Jim asked.

The man sighed and that strange look Jim has seen several times had appeared on his face.

"The Academy..." he answered. "They may be better in technology, offer protection, have weapons of war, train people to be much more better than every one who is not part of the Academy, but not the real enemy. Regardless of what the Academy does or has, they'll still face the same doom as the rest of the world until someone does something different, something out of this world. "

" You still believe that? "

" What there is not to believe?" the man answered sharply." It'll be too late to believe in the grave." With that, the man turned around and walked back to the station. Jim too, had also had enough of his view and walked back following behind this man who was engrossed in the humming of his song. After some time, he had reached the station and stepped right into it's shade. Coincidentally, this man was in the cubicle right next to Jim. Strangely, his cubicle was not numbered. A voice notification popped up on Jim's phone informing him that the bus was about to start moving. Talk of being right on schedule.

Jim began to see how all the roads which were intertwined with one another would aid the movement of the buses. From a distance, he could see a bus on the road heading straight for the station. The bus had reached his cubicle and moved a while longer until it stopped. Upfront, the bus was even bigger and longer than he had imagined. A door opened up from the side of the bus Jim was facing, same with the sides of the bus that faced other cubicles. He climbed the seo which had appeared same as the door, through the door, and finally into the bus.

'Nothing spectacular' Jim thought. The bus still had plenty of space and Jim decided to move up to the upper section. On getting up, he had seen his strange friend seated alrea and got into the seat directly besides him. More people had entered the bus as the bus moved. The upper section was getting full gradually and soon it had become full, same with the lower section. The bus continued moving a shortly, took a turn off the track it had followed. It had moved far away from the station and headed straight for the fortresses Jim had seen on the plane.

Gradually, the bus was heading for a one road lane where at both sides of the road, fotresses were situated. Soon, it had reached a large black gate. The gate opened up and the bus went through with other buses following closely behind. It had passed through a bus brigde and was headed straight for the edge of the highland.

"This is the Academy for you" a fat fellow in the upper section of the bus commented. The bus had crossed the edge of the island and was crossing the river through a road that stretched from the end of the river, seemingly endless. Where only ships could once cross, automobiles did now. However, the road allowed for only one bus at a time while others followed behind.

Jim had seen enough now. Where this road would lead to, he had no idea, neither when the bus would get to land. As for now, he deserved the sleep this journey had deprived from him.

He leaned backwards, laying his head on the head rest behind him and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

_____

"What the..." Jim exclaimed. He woke up with a start as a bright light had shone brightly in his face. He opened his eyes which were still sleepy, but closed them back again due to the bright light. Everyone in the vehicle were facing same problem. The light suddenly dimmed and Jim could see clearly now, same as everyone around him.

He looked to his side and could not find his newly found 'butler'. However, that was the least of his concern. The doors of the bus had opened up and everyone was getting out. Jim climbed to the lower section of the bus and after which, he stepped out the door to...

"Wow.." Jim exclaimed. He should be in the Academy, his phone's voice notification kept repeating it. What was remarkable about where he was was that the entire place seemed to be covered in some sort of dome. Jim looked upwards and around him. As far as he could see, all was covered by a dark red colored dome.

'This could be a force field. Such security.' Jim thought.

Jim had just alighted from the vehicle and as such was in the midst of several parked buses. But the area where the buses were parked was nothing in comparison to what he could see in the distance. Several people, tall, modernized and sky high buildings. The dome had done a good job in making the place another world entirely. It looked better that the way the world looked before the crisis.

'Was this the Academy' Jim wondered.