Box Children - Chapter 3

*This chapter may have language that may be inappropriate for general audiences. Although at the end of the chapter, if profanity offends you, please proceed with caution.*

Without a word, he raised a pistol to my forehead. Before I could say anything back-

*Bang*

I closed my eyes, bracing for pain, but all I felt was a wet splatter on my legs along with a cry of pain that echoed throughout the alleyway.

I opened my eyes to see that the boy, who held a gun to my head, got shot in the knees. He was rolling on the ground, screaming in agony.

“Hey are you alright?” said a familiar voice from inside one of the tents.

The boy was wearing a t-shirt with a lame generic logo slapped on the front and over-worn shorts. He also had a box on his head, albeit his box was slightly damaged and torn, proving that yes, these boxes can get damaged I guess. But most of all, he had the voice and demeanor of a certain someone who still hasn’t given me back the $20 bill they burrowed last month. A familiar someone that I was friends with.

“Theo? Are you Theo? you sound like Theo… you could be Theo, uhh…” I stumbled over my words, still traumatized from the kid in front of me getting shot, and me almost getting shot.

“Huh? Nate? Are you really… I thought I’d never get to see you again.”

“Yeah, it is me… I thought I would never get to see you again as well.”

“Well, I thought I’d never see you again!”

“Well, I thought I’d never get to see you again!”

“Well, I thought-”

“Okay, that’s enough…” I said, breaking our back-and-forth that could have potentially gone for three paragraphs too long.

With our conversation broken up, I focused my attention towards the kid lying on the ground, still wailing about. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but the blood sure hadn’t.

I had so many questions that I wanted to ask: Why did you try to kill me? Why are there a bunch of tents gathered up in this alleyway? Why is Theo here? Why is this stupid box on our heads? Before I could ask any of those questions though, medical attention came first. He is a human being after all (probably. After that fake food incident, I trust nothing), and in this world with who-knows how many people remaining, every life mattered.

“Hey Theo, uhm we should probably get to fixing him up first right? Is there a first aid kit in one of those tents?”

“No, we don’t have a first aid kit. It’s fine, just let him drink this.” He said, tossing me a bottle of water.

Confused, I just followed what he said and passed the water bottle along to Greg.

“Here.”

Immediately after he drank the water, his wound healed instantaneously like magic. Even the blood that once colored the ground in scarlet evaporated into thin air.

“What the f-”

“Hey don’t curse, you get penalized if you do,” Theo said, interrupting me.

“What do you mean?”

“I said the f-word one time and a shadowy figure appeared, jumping me from the shadows. I later learned that they appear whenever we curse to penalize us.”

“You do realize that you’re making zero sense right now… right?”

“Well, you shouldn’t try to make too much sense of this world. I tried, and it only gave me a headache. And existential dread.”

“Well… what do we do now then?”

“I heard a rumor from one of the guys here that if we become the last person standing in this place, we win. Like a battle royale kind of deal. A voice from the… sky? I don’t know from where exactly, but an omnipresent voice tells us if someone’s eliminated and how many ‘player’s are remaining.”

“Oh yeah, now that you brought it up, where are the other people in this camp?”

“They… they all died. We encountered a group of delinquents outside and they killed everyone. Only a few of us managed to run away. On that note, grab a gun from inside the tent, we need to go. Someone discovered this camp last night. It’s no longer a safe spot for us. Greg, come along with us.”

With that, the three of us escaped the alleyway, making our way towards the bridge I had come upon earlier, where Greg and I met.

We began our departure to… somewhere. Theo said that there was a place he found that was safe up north.

“Hey, Nathan?” Greg asked.

“Why does Theo call you Nate? Is that short for Nathan?”

“No, my full name’s Nathaniel but he calls me Nate. He’s the only one by the way. Everyone else calls me Nathan.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Nathan’s fine.”

… An awkward amount of time passed before Greg said something.

“I’m sorry… that I tried to… kill you. The voice said that if someone dies within today, the ‘system’ will revive somebody and… and…”

“And his sister died to those damn delinquents,” Theo interjected.

“Yeah… it’s fine. I understand. I’m cool. Cool-cool-cool-cool, so cool, totally cool.” I said.

I wasn’t entirely cool. But, I could understand why he did what he did.

After what seemed like an eternity of trudging along through the black of night—illuminated only by stars up above the sky that were veiled by a layer of what seemed to be clouds, we arrived deep inside a forest, by a creek. The steady stream of running water was soothing to listen to. The soft living soil contrasted the abiotic concrete we walked so long on.

Sunlight started to seep through the leaves, signaling dawn. I ran outside the forest to see… A city in ruins. Devastation swept the entire area.

From the ruins, however, buds and saplings and vines and foliage alike were visible all over, covering up buildings and roads. It was a dystopian yet halcyon view, the tranquility of nature covering up the destruction that humans have created.

I sat near the edge of the forest, and both Theo and Greg were quick to join me. We stayed silent, looking at the landscape that unraveled around us.

“So, what do we do now?” I asked, breaking the silence.

Theo replied, “I dunno.

Live.

I guess.”

—Meanwhile—

A mysterious figure, covering himself in drapes could be seen near the tents.

Shit, I was a second too late. A buncha goddamn newbies were hidin’ out in this alleyway, but they took a run for it. If he finds out, I’m fuckin’ fucked. The cloaked figure thought to himself.

“Ey, you said there’s people here. Ain’t nothin’ but a buncha ripped tents and clothes. You better find ‘em before he finds out. If he does, you’re fucked. Got it?”

“I know. I know better than anyone else. From the smell, they probably stayed here ‘til earlier this night. They probably couldn’t have went far. You look east, I’ll look west.”

The two went away, diving into the shadows cast by objects blocking the sun as if they were deep pools of water. In a blink, they disappeared, traveling around through the shadows to find the fleeing children.

They had to.

He would be displeased if they don’t.