Beyond the Walls

Recurring Problems

Maybe it was in their passing thoughts already. That’s why nobody reacted violently upon knowing that it is the government that made them play these deathly games.

If one thought about it, who else is capable of making this kind of arrangement? The promises of money, acquittal and other things, were all easily handed to them.

Only the dumb people who will not know have thought about it.

What is surprising is that Lucas already knew about it from the start.

Nobody had questioned him for the past hour because of his condition. He is still mumbling something but he is functioning. He will respond when you call his name and is capable of conversation, but somehow he looks like he has lost it.

“What happened to Lucas?” Elijah asked Aaron.

“He was like that when he snapped out. He keeps saying ‘Go away’.”

“...”

“He looks crazy but he still sets up all of these. He knew something was not right after tracking you.”

“I also want to ask about that. How did you know I am not alone?”

Aaron explained that Lucas snapped around the afternoon, he stopped staring at space but he looked crazier than before, but he could hold a conversation.

“He has been tracking your whereabouts since then.”

“Dude, that’s sweet.”

“Not the point. Anyway, he said something about you going in that direction.”

“What direction?”

In the direction Kiko pointed he heard some noise. Remember the time most mutants ran to? Lucas said that it was weird, since you are moving slowly, Lucas figured Elijah had shaken off the mutants.

“...but then why were you moving away further and further? You even set foot outside the park then went back inside.”

“He knows it from just that?” Skeptic.

“No. He knew it the moment you moved tonight. He said he was confident that you wouldn’t move at night and, based on the quiet surroundings earlier, most likely you were not being chased. As a precaution, he made us standby like this. Who would have thought he was again spot on?” Aaron ended.

Lucas settled down in front of the hostages for more than an hour now. He is not taking his eyes off them.

They would sometimes talk but mostly it was just staring.

“Sometimes Lucas scares me.” Elijah blurted out.

“He has been an outlander for many years. How do you expect him to be normal? These games might have made him remember terrible things,” Kiko said.

Elijah and Aaron looked at him quietly.

“What?”

“We just didn’t expect you to defend him.” Aaron said with a little frown.

“Whatever.”

“Lucas is growing on you. Right? Right?” Elijah teased.

Kiko removed Elijah’s hands around his neck. He was too small to wrap his arm around his neck anyway.

“It’s not like that.” He said under his breath.

Kiko, who witnessed the switching personalities of Lucas, reminds him of himself. This personality, this attitude and rough way of speaking, it was not all his usual. He can guess that nobody will ever believe that he was a pushover before.

He learned to adapt to his environment. Him being soft will not get him anywhere so he made a shell to protect himself to survive. That’s the only way.

If he, himself, had managed to change in a short amount of time, what more of an outlander.

The question is… among the two personalities of Lucas. “Which is the true him and which is a shell?”

Lucas stood in his seat and took out a knife he then began to untie the strangers.

“What are you doing?” Kiko stomped his feet as he got close.

“Releasing them.”

“Yeah. I know fucker! Why? Didn’t you just say they are part of these motherfucking games?”

“...”

“What?! Say something.”

Lucas stopped untying Adam’s rope and looked up.

“We need them if you want to get out of here,” he simply stated.

“Huh?! Are you in your right mind? They are part of —”

“So?... What if they are?”

Kiko picked up Lucas’ collar and made him stand. Lucas is taller, so even if he does that to him, Lucas’ feet still touch the ground.

“What did you just say?!”

Aaron went in between them to break it off. He calmed down Kiko to one side before returning to Lucas.

“Explain it, Lucas. How will we be able to trust them if they are part of the games?”

Elijah nodded in the background.

“...they are no different to us because, just like us, they are stuck here with us. Hey, you plan on leaving here alive, right?”

Alexa said with confidence. “ Of course.”

“What more reason do you need?” Lucas asked his teammates.

“It’s not enough–”

“Test of Apocalypse…I finally get what it means.” Lucas mumbled. He touches his head as if he is suffering from migraine.

Lucas had been suffering from whispers and hallucinations ever since he had awoken. It’s taking everything he has to take apart the reality and his visions.

Even right now, he is seeing his other self standing right besides Aaron.

“That’s right, open the door. The answer is there.” That’s what his other self is saying.

The red-stained door is opened a bit wider than before and it is oozing black smoke.

“Lu–cas…” Aaron’s voice was spiraling.

“T,test of Apocalypse… It means…”

Months or maybe even a year had passed after the Virus outbreak. Many cities turned into ghosts or filled with undead over time.

He opened the window and let the air brush his hair. They are passing through the silent streets in the morning.

“Close the window. It’s not safe.” A young woman pressed closed the window. She is wearing palm gloves and some equipment around her. Her blonde hair is up in a bun with little braids on the side. She is not clean to look at with hair sticking out and an undershirt that is spoiled with different stains.

*Bzzzt bzzzt

*Bam bam

The man beside the driver repeatedly strikes a radio-like equipment in front of him.

“Damn!” He cursed out loud.

“Hey! Watch your words! There is a kid here!” The woman beside her smacked the front seat.

“What? The world is f****d up and you care if a kid can hear some curse?”

They bickered for a while and it felt useless that the woman tried covering his ear because he could still hear it.

“Shhh! Quiet!” The driver said after adjusting the frequency.

It wasn’t clear at first, but there are some words that are getting through. The man beside the driver grabbed the military radio on the side and began to talk to it. He was saying some code that sounded gibberish.

“...over… Do you copy? Over”

“Bzzz. bzzz… Can– do– here..”

It was too choppy and chaotic on the other side to make sense.

“This is !*&))S*_@((_. Reporting status… Over… Do you copy?”

“*Growls*”

“...!!”

The driver suddenly hit the break in the middle of the road.

*Bzzzt

“Do not come back! I repeat! Do not come back! *Bang bang bang” The other line was clear for one second, then lines of fire were opened.

“What is happening? Over!”

“The *)#&)@_ is overrun! Everyone is dead! Do not come back!!” An explosion had happened before the line was cut.

“f**k! f**k! f**k!” The man threw the radio and repeatedly cursed.

“What do we do now?” The woman asked.

“What else? We survive.” The driver answered as he looked behind for the first time and reversed the car.

He looked intently at the driver as he had a strained expression on his face.

“What are you doing?! We need to go and check.” the other man complained.

“You heard it. It’s overrun. Everyone is dead.” They started driving away again.

“What about the president? Are we seriously going to abandon them? What kind of soldier are we?!”

*Screech

He stopped the car again and collared the agitated passenger. “He is dead. If he still was, the commander’s order would be different, but what did he say? ‘Everyone is dead. Do not come back’. So sit tight because we are not going back.”

“s**t…what are we going to do now? The last of the government is now dead.”

“We are on our own.”

They bite their lips upon realization and the last thing he heard is. . . ‘Damn this apocalypse.’

Lucas was supported by Aaron after his brief trip to his memory lane. As soon as he remembered the detailed past his head felt a little less heavy and his other self became hazy and mouthing ‘Good job.’

“T,test of apocalypse… it means. We are on our own…” Lucas uttered as he stood on his own.

“We have been abandoned.”

The sudden stop of Game 4 and the sudden surge of electricity in the park. It was not for them. It was to keep the mutants in one place. To buy themselves time.

“Did you say the barrier around the park was removed shortly after your arrival?” Lucas questioned Adam.

“Yes, we don’t know anywhere else but on our spot it was disabled.” Adam answered while casually squeezing himself out of the rope then pulled out a hidden pocket knife.

“Where were you hiding that?” Elijah was surprised.

Adam starts cutting Alexa’s rope. It took only several cuts and Alexa breaks herself free.

“What are you thinking?” Alexa asked after being given a look.

“Were you followed?”

“Why do you think that?” It was a great poker face.

“It’s important to know… because, I think. You are our way out of here.”

****

On the screen, the faces of the outsider and the players were shown.

“Macord.”

“Shut up for now. Go play with someone else.” Macord irritatingly answered. He is busy monitoring the restoration of full control in the park’s cameras. A whole section of the park's camera had lost its connection. It wasn’t long after they discovered some video was tampered hence they are in loop video.

It was luck that lucas’ team was placed where they still have control.

“I swear if I knew where this little piece of s**t. I’ll tear him apart.” Referring to the hacker.

“Macord.” Yuslan called again.

“What? Seriously if this is not important.”

“No matter how I think about it, I can’t wrap my head around how Gabrielle's team survived the attack on the stadium.”

Macord was about to brush it off, but the recent events made him pause on thinking about it too.

They all witnessed that they were overwhelmed. The undead invaded their space.

“Yeah. They should be dead.” He agreed then frowningly he looked at Adam and Alexa that was completely fine.

“Hey, show me the stadium. Game 2 place.” He gave an order.

“Yes, sir.”

The big screen showed one view. Due to limited cameras left in there, they are relying on a camera placed on top view, almost a bird's eye view and unreachable by ordinary means.

“Zoom it in!” Agitations can be heard in Macord tone.

As the camera zooms in… Macord can’t help but hold his breath. Something is amiss.

“.!!”

Macord’s eyes opened big as he asked, almost shouting.

“Where are the undeads?!”