Vroom.
A large military vehicle hummed along the road leading to the fenced exit.
The two front seats were occupied by the Oxides. The open back carried the Recruited five, fully armed, sitting stiffly, bracing for the mission ahead.
"We are squad DT7, en route to the mission, over."
Armslaw muttered into the microphone with one hand, the other firm on the steering wheel as the car rolled to a stop before the gate.
Unlike Armslaw, Accex was quiet. Always quiet.
The weird teethh like design of his gas mask never made him look like someone you would want to talk to either.. That silence was his gold. People respected it. Some even loved him for it.
"Permission granted. May the gods be with you."
The voice crackled through the speaker.
Vroom.
The car surged forward as the gates opened consecutively, straight into the real world, away from the protection of the Veil.
…
Two minutes later, the car was already a mile from base.
The outside world felt wrong. Empty. Damaged.
No signs of life met except for some cockroaches that could be from afar— trees that had endured ages of rain, and vehicles drilled into the earth, buried beneath layers of soil. Time had eaten everything. It looked like hell.
Behind them, the Wall was still visible, towering just as it appeared from the inside. The Veil sealed the sky above it, tight and complete. From this angle, it almost looked like a stadium.
Suddenly
The walls began to disintegrate.
Piece by piece dissapering, vanishing into thin air.
The recruits' eyes widened. Unease crawled into their chests.
They hadn't been told about this. Watching the walls disappear after leaving them—no warning, no explanation—it felt wrong.
Armslaw caught their expressions in the rearview mirror.
"Ham, sir… are the walls suppose supposed to do that?" Kairo asked. Curiosity masked the bad feeling coiling in his gut. The fence was completely gone now. No trace left behind that it even existed.
"Yes," Armslaw replied. "We don't want anyone finding the veil."
"But why.... I thought the more people find the Veil ,the better!!"
Kairo voiced what everyone was thinking. Since arriving at the Veil, they had been told they were the last of humanity. None of this added up.
"You, little boy ," Accex said suddenly.
His voice was rough, low. The opposite of Armslaw's warmth.
"Why don't you shut up and stop asking questions."
The words crushed the space, putting every rush that was in the air on an off in an instant.
"I told you not to stand out," Remo whispered sharply to kairo, eyes locked on him like he just committed a grave sin. "Look what you did. You made him mad."
He continued, but his recipient couldn't even hear him.
His mind was filled with unanswered questions, and who could blame him, it didn't even make any sense.
"If the walls, the Veil where created as a last resort for humanity, why hide the wall for potential survivors?"
That's when it him, everyone one of them remembers when they where brought into the Veil, but on how,that detail alone was a mystery to him.
Kwauuu!
Armslaw drifted the car to an abrupt stop.
"Everybody out. Now."
His tone was different. Harder. Serious in a way it hadn't been before.
They stopped inside a ring of trees. Something massive—once a bus—had been swallowed by the ground. A rusted sign clung to it: Lagos Catholic Bus.
A city that had existed years ago. Before the apocalypse taught humanity fear for the first time.
They rolled out instantly. It was an order from an Oxide. Their bodies moved before their thoughts caught up. Within seconds, they stood in a straight line on the ground, parade-perfect.
"Gentlemen," Armslaw said, smiling brightly like an emoji "we are finally here."
"Awesome," one recruit muttered. "So where's the Nulls then?"
He inquired looking around the territory like some kind of scout.
But he wasn't alone, so did the other soilders, others with fear, others with curiosity.
But Something in the air had changed.
It felt heavy, dark.
Bloodlust filled Accex and Armslaw at once. Like masks slipping.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but there's been a change of plans."
The stutter in his voice sent a chill through them.
"Alright, so what's the plan ?" Remo asked.
"Did you really think we'd take you on a real mission?" Armslaw continued. "Every one of you here is a failure. A disappointment. If you're here, it means you failed your training."
Kairo froze, a Stab to his heart. His fingers trembled.
"Our..training?"
He whispered, words breaking.
"He's right. I failed."
"Me too!"
They whispered in fear, like slaves waiting on their master.
"Remo and the rest… bullies, where too busy flirting to care. But I studied. I tried. I did everything, and now I got to die with them!" "
Kairo thought, sweat dripping from his face, too much to be normal.
Everyone's heart started to rush exceedingly, like they where doing arace of who would break free first.
"You eat our food. Use our resources. All while proving how useless you are," Accex said bluntly, as he equipped a Dagger in his hands.
All the soidlers didn't need to be smart to understand.
They were trash in the society that rewarded focus. And in that moment , they where Being disposed of.
Scared to the teeth, someone shouted, too loud you could hear the desperation.
"Shit! Everyone shoot!"
Khk khk
The guns didn't fire, they only cried like a car without an engine.
"Pathetic,,,,,,,You idiots didn't even realize you were given defective weapons,"
The truth bomb was dropped on them mercilessly. If the training didn't prove they where idiots, equipping defective guns marked the box for them.
" we're fucked," Remo, lowered his gun.
"Don't worry,Your deaths will be swift, I will make sure to it"
Fwah.
Dark, toxic smoke seeped from Accex's mask—from the ears, the seams.
Cough. Cough.
The recruits collapsed into coughing fits.
It's the smoke, Kairo realized, covering his mouth, uselessly.
His eyes bulged, veins bursting red across the whites. Muscles contracted violently, skin tightening in agony.
Accex was using his Oxide technique. Nova.
It ccelerates the heart until the body destroyed itself from within.
Phu.
Soldiers dropped like sacks of sand.
Only 3 remained. Remi and Kairo among them—barely. The gas had already done its work.
"No. This can't be the end.
I have my sister to protect. Lives to save.
I can't die here!"
His vision blurred with blood. The Oxides he believed in were monsters—the very ones bringing his end.
"Die peacefully," Accex said. "Your deaths will help your families."
His words peaked the interest of the remaining newly recruits.
"We made an agreement with your parents,We kill you. They get more food. Better water. Clothes."
The words shattered them.
All along, Kairo's step-parents had seemed loving. It was all a lie.
They sold him without hesitation when the chance came.
And then it hit him.
Ayanda.
They still had Ayanda.
"If they could do this to me… what would they do to her?"