Humans have come a long way. It has been over 3 centuries since the plague of entity infected half of the world.
The world was slowly overrun by gradual madness, and the countries decided to wage war against each other. After a series of nuclear wars, another percentage of humans diminished, making most of the land uninhabitable. People were overrun by the striking madness. By the time the era of chaos ended, humanity's last hopes were engulfed in an endless void.
While the mortals were fighting against the final wave of plague, some humans, or to be precise, the corrupt and rich parts of society, decided to create the walls, which isolated the rich from the poor.
The walls were very humungous and stretched throughout the region as far as 1000 miles, each with its own Lord who happened to be the founder of those walls. Currently, the world has 7 walled kingdoms, of which 3 have already succumbed to the void and are known as blacklands.
The human population had been reduced to just a few million in just a mere 300 years. The wretched plague has truly clung to our backs.
The name of the plague itself is very well self-explanatory, A plague to our existence. Those who were infected ceased to exist; they simply vanished, leaving no trace behind. Not a single soul returned to tell its tales.
Not just humans, the plague started to slowly infect the animals, and every other living being. Not knowing when and where they were sent, their presence just disappeared into the thin air.
Humans are just simple creatures manipulated by subconscious instincts of desire, yet they fear the fate that awaits them. But what could mere humans do when even the fate feared against the plague? The world was slowly dying, embraced by the eternal bitterness
****
[In a faraway land, near the slums of the kingdom medusa]
growl! growl! growl!
" What the fuck!, Can't they all just die and let me sleep a bit longer?"
Noah slowly woke up from his deep slumber due to the sounds of the bustling slums. The morning light rays slowly blinded his vision, making him glow in its presence.
Sunny was a pale-looking boy. He had a perfectly average height and build, someone who could blend into a crowd without a second glance. It was a useful quality for his line of work. He was like a fated background character. Nobody noticed him until he wanted to be noticed.
" ARGH! Maybe I should've built my house near the barren edge."
Abandoned by his parents at a very young age, Noah had lived alone. He had built a small yet classy-looking abode of cardboard boxes, just spacious enough for a small 12-year-old boy.
He didn't inherit any metal scrap house from his parents like other kids did, even slums had rich slum rats. It was just hilarious to think about it like that.
"Well, god damn it, I have work today, I should hurry up or I will starve to death in a few days."
Noah dashed out of his boxes and descended down the streets, slowly approaching the public service area. He went down the counter, took out a metallic coin, and handed it to the old man.
The old man simply nodded and turned the timer on, just a few steps away in a secluded area crudely built of red brick, the water descended to the ground. Noah was happily taking a bath; most people avoided wasting unnecessary money on it, but for Noah, taking a bath and brushing his teeth was a part of his routine.
' Aha! Perfectly good use of my precious money, those dimwits don't know what they are missing out on.'
After a quick bath, Noah had to immediately run to his work. He walked silently, approaching the shady region of the slum, where all the illegal stuff was pretty much legal, not like anything in slums is, but at least people still had some humanity. But in this region, they worked for the corrupt officials inside the walls, satisfying their pleasures by smuggling underage girls, slaves, orphans, on whom various chemical tests were done.
'I never get accustomed to this eerie place '
Slowly, he approached a wooden building; the door looked majestic and tall.
Knock! Knock! Dab! Dab!
Noah rhythmically started to slam on the door.
Nothing happened for the next 10 minutes, but slowly, he saw a hand approach the opening below the door, an opening which was wide enough for a cat to crawl. The hand slowly placed a black cover in front of him and retracted itself.
With a groan, he heard a voice old enough for a man in his thirties.
" Today's 'maal' is special. It is to be delivered for someone inside the wall, meet the guard in the west block at 12 pm, do not ask any questions, nor answer any. 10 silver for this task, and your service here will be exempted."
[Maal is a type of goods or a possession]
Noah's face glowed instantly. His slavery was finally coming to an end, not that he cared about the money. He was for a moment reminded of the day when he was captured and was going to be supplied inside as a test subject for a research faculty, but due to his luck and devious mind, he swiftly became useful in other tasks, like smuggling drugs and weaponry. He barely convinced the drug lord to hire him as his worker.
He actually helped the organisation by collecting information about the other drug rings, the political agendas of the rebels of the slum, and he knew that there was no choice. He was the one who snitched about the people who were fighting for the likes of him. Certainly, most were assassinated, killed, but what else could he do? He could never have run from them; the only ones they hated were deserters, they would kill the ones who abandoned to make a perfect example out of them, even if the whole organisation was at risk.
' It's a trap, they are definitely planning to kill me when I come back to ask for my reward, and I can't just abandon the task. First of all, I should deliver it, and then maybe I should flee to the west for a few days, return when the time is right, and move towards the next city.
Noah checked his broken watch for the time; there was still an hour left before the delivery, but still, his mind insisted on being early.
He ran towards the designated location, and there was no one in the barren land situated next to the tall walls, which stood still. It was around 70 metres tall, stretching across the country.
The funny thing was that it was built with the help of slum rats, and at the end, they were the ones being discarded outside. He was silently studying the tall giants. As he was lost in the chain of thoughts, he was suddenly alerted by the noises; he could hear distinct chatters of 2 people.
"My lord, I think it's not okay for us to wander outside the walls; nobody has gone out of it for the past 50 years."
"Haha! Sebastian, cut me some slack, I'm bored inside the wall. Nobody will even find us; we secretly took the passageway."
"butt_!"
"No butts or else I'm gonna complain about how you are drinking all his stack of wines."
"nvm"
Slowly,
Noah tried to take a glance at the 2 approaching people. Turning his head, he could see two lonely shadows approaching him. Suddenly, the shadow of the tall man shifted in a defensive position.
" Hey, you, what are you doing here, near the walls?"
Noah stayed silent for a few minutes.
"Talk or else I will shoot you."
Noah slowly opened his mouth.
" 'Maal', I'm here to deliver the 'Maal' "
" 'Maal'? "
" Ya"
The soldier seemed confused, hearing an unknown vocabulary. He thought he was just here to collect the collection of rare stones from outside the walls, since that was what the young lord had been doing; the stones could easily be smuggled by throwing them from the outside, but the young lord insisted on going in person to ease his boredom.
Even Noah seemed flustered. He was scared that he had gotten himself into some big trouble.
"Sebastian! For now, go wait for me at the entrance. I have something to talk to this kid here."
" My lord, it's not right for you to be with that slum rat. Please let me accompany you."
The young lord gave a glaring look at the young soldier.
" Understood "
Noah could feel that the soldier was exactly a gullible young man; he could see how weak the cavalry inside the walls had grown.
Noah could hear the footsteps of the young soldier retreating; he bared a sigh of relief.
After a few minutes of silence, the young man from behind spoke in an unfazed tone.
" You know what ur holding. You could get yourself killed for supplying me that. I myself will be damned for this. You will be hunted by the government, and I will be grounded for months. How should I deal with you? Maybe kill you?"
Noah stayed quiet for a few moments, trying to comprehend the situation befallen on him, he was going to flee after passing the package. He never thought twice after receiving the package. Who on earth could reward an orphan with such money? Maybe he was a descendant of the rulers, or some minister, aka the founders of the walls; shivers ran down his spine.
It was clearly a trap meant for him, since no one cared if he was alive or dead.
Noah slowly opened his mouth.
"My lord, I assume. If you wanted to have killed me, there could've been a better location than a barren land, or why would you have still been talking with me, nor would you have sent the soldier of yours away, so what do you want from me?"
Bhaha!
The young lord crashed into a never-ending laughter,
He carefully observed the silhouette of the young kid, who looked a bit malnourished.
and then asked the young kid,
"Are you scared of me?"
Sunny scoffed at his pretense and answered.
" I have nothing to protect, so what shall I be scared of, nor a family nor a friend, not even a foe"
" Noah, you talk pretty good for a 12-year-old. Relax, I was just joking here. Now hand me the 'maal' "
"Sure! sure! Your Highness"
Noah immediately took out the black cover from his waist and threw it behind him.
The young lord caught the small package and sighed.
" Noah, I have a favour to ask of you."
A sudden hint of carelessness flashed through his mind. Why was he so dumb to have recognised it at this stage of the conversation/
Noah's eyes widened with fear; he forgot to notice that he had been constantly mentioning his name, but Noah had never told him his name or his age. Was he even here for the package, or was he here for him?
Noah could feel his goosebumps, his body shaking; something had been off during the whole conversation; wasn't he trapped?.
****
If you have ideas or are willing to help in the journey, then you are cordially invited to my server. I don't need kids joining the server, only to be bullied by me.
[Discord Server] - https://discord.gg/MyF2a8Xv8X