Refuge Part 5

Walking home with a big smile on his face was John he had recently got off the train. He wore his Reserve unit uniform it was as neat and clean as the day he got it. The sun was shining brightly in the sky basking people in its warm rays. Barely any clouds were in sight it was a perfect day that had perfect weather.

While strolling down a familiar street John greeted a bunch of acquaintances of his that just as he always does when he sees them. He said hello to a homeless man who had a sleeping bag that looked a lot like the one Desmond had stolen from him. A group of kids that always played in the area, a woman who sold flowers at a corner of a street next to a bakery.

Where John stopped by too greet the same baker he always did who worked together with his son. John did this all with the same chipper and upbeat attitude he walks out of his home with every morning.

With freshly baked loaves of bread in hand, John walked all the way towards the Memorial wall. Its massive size and intricate network of metal pipes run throughout the whole structure like veins would intimate many people when they first see it. John wasn't fazed by the sight of the wall or the jumbled mess of homes that protruded out of it.

He was use to the constant shade that made you think it was dark when it was morning. The screeching sound the pipes made whenever someone took a shower or turned on the faucet. The clamor that his neighbors made through the walls. Even the air that the factories nearby made putrid didn't faze him anymore.

When John went inside the building he didn't take one of the elevators because his home was close to the ground. John walked up the cracked stone staircase that had all types of writing on the walls.

Then through a very long seemingly never ending corridor that went on for miles. There were apartments on each side every apartment looked exactly the same with a number to differentiate them. Some people decorated their doors to stand out while others just let the door stay plain.

John walked down the long corridor that had pipes on the ceiling and hasn't been cleaned in who knows how long towards his front door. He stopped a foot away from the door because he saw a man exiting from his home.

John didn't know the man, but he knew what he most likely came to John's house for. The man looked like he was a miner. He glanced at John, but not for long before he glanced back down at his pants as he finished fixing his belt.

The sweaty man walked right past John not even sparing him a Second Glance. While John with the loaves of bread in his hand still had a smile on his face. With the unknown man now gone John went inside his home.

The place was filthy it didn't have much besides a few basic things. A couch in the living room that was next to a TV on a coffee table. The living room was connected to the kitchen that had dishes piled high with a trash can that's was full. straight across from the front door was a hallway that's had three other rooms.

One of the first rooms you would pass by was John's parent's room which was right across from the bathroom. All the way at the end of the hall was John's room.

Once inside John look to his right where he saw his father sitting on the couch alone. wearing nothing, but a tank top and his underwear as he watched TV.

John's father was a fat balding man whose love for gambling was only beaten by his love for alcohol. John as happy as ever announces his presence to his family when he entered the house.

"I'm home, and I bought some bread" John said while holding the bread in the air shaking the bag so everyone could hear it.

"Shut up, your mother just finished working. How do you expect me to watch my shows with all this noise?" John's father didn't even bother turning around he just took a sip of his beer as he flipped through channels.

John didn't say anything as to not disturb his father. He instead walked towards the counter in the kitchen to place the bread there. Not long after he heard a door opening and someone approaching behind him.

Turning around to see who it was he wasn't surprised to find out it was his mother. She was butt naked and dripping white stuff from her crotch on to the tiled floor.

There was no need to describe how John felt when he saw his mother approaching him as she was. If someone imagines their own mother doing the same they would get the picture.

John smiled and greeted his mother who ignored him and went straight for the bread on the table. The smell of being passionately embrace was strong on her, but John was used to that too so he ignored it.

Drawn over by the sound John's mother was making John's dad turned around to see what was going on.

"What are you doing, you're getting the floor dirty. I didn't take an arrow in the knee for this city to clean up that shit".

John's dad was apart of the Delmar City reserve unit, but one night while drinking he stumbled and knocked over a bunch of crates that had glass bottles inside them. One of the glass shards got lodged into his knee.

Not having enough money because he drunk and gambled it away. He couldn't get his leg fixed so, he forced John to join the reserve unit in his place in order to keep living in the wall.

John's mom sat down on a chair and started eating some of the bread. Then she told John to clean up the mess on the floor. John still with a smile on his face picked up a rag, got on his knees and started to clean up the splatters on the floor.

When his mother finished eating she went back inside her room to sleep. While also leaving another white spot on the chair for John to clean up.

While John was still cleaning up the mess his mother left him with a smile on his face. John's father not finding anything good to watch on TV decided to head out for the day.

John's father approached John and ask him for the money he made working as part of the reserve unit. John expecting this already had the money prepared. John's father took the money put on some clothes then left. He was most likely not going to return untill late that night or the crack of dawn.

Finish cleaning John washed his hands then went to his room where it's was equally basic as the rest of the house. The room had only a mattress, a telescope, a wooden box next to the telescope, and a closet.

The mattress was old it was the same one he's been sleeping on since he was a kid. He was rocked to sleep by the sounds his mother made when she had customers over.

Still with a smile on his face John took off his uniform and hung it up neatly. With out any cloths on you could clearly see John's body and why he preferres not to use his hands in a fight.

John's arms were covered in old self inflicted scares. Occasionally John would cut himself deep to focus on a different kind of pain instead of his life. On his back was a few burn marks that he got from his father extinguished the cigarettes he smoked on John's back. Not having any money for health potions or surgery the wounds stayed and accumulated weakening the strength John had in his arms.

Put on one of the few raggedy pieces of clothes he owned ands seeing it was still bright outside John decided to play his favorite game with his favorite toys.

John took out a few handmade dolls he kept in the wooden box next to his telescope. Then he used the telescope to look at the families that's he could spy on through their windows or on the streets.

It was then he started to play with the dolls acting out what he thought a real loving family would be like. John has done this for years always playing with his dolls and secrets in his room. Hours would go by and he wouldn't even now.

While playing with his dolls and looking at people through his telescope for some reason John started to sing. "I've been chasing rainbows to get away from here, I've been chasing rainbows to wined up back where I start ..."

When John started to sing a furious thumping noise came from the other side of the wall it was John's mother.

"Stop singing i'm trying to sleep" after that John when to back to playing with his dolls but in silence still with a smile on his face.