The Sanctuary Side-Story (7/17)

-THE DUMP-

--Kire's Perspective--

---April 27th, 2427---

"And just like that, you have yourself a brand new scarf!" Inora told me.

I took the cloth she had knitted with plant twine and loose tree bark and put it around my neck. It was scratchy... but it kept me warm! As we all moved into the summer season, I wouldn't need it, but Inora wanted me to keep it

"I'll treasure it forever!" I told her.

"We aren't in a high school romance show, you don't have to wear it if you don't like it. I just want to get better for Ra." Inora told me.

"I won't disregard your gift, not after you put so much effort into it! This will be my regular outfit now, just as normal as my pants!" I told her. Inora laughed and Ra tried to follow with his slight giggles.

I walked out of the house with the scarf wrapped around my neck, listening to the conversations going on around me.

"So, what do you think about Nova? This past month, she's really declined on the leadership, don't you think?" I overheard.

"Yeah, it's kind of sad! I'm upset with her, I really did accept better." I heard again.

I ignored the group and continued to walk further down the path, straight to Nova's home.

As soon as I stepped in, she stopped writing to attend to her cooking fire, all while putting on her coat.

"Sorry, Kire! I was just in the middle of something. I'm writing out a report on our production right now and trying to make some lunch before I go out for the day. Could you finish writing what I started? I'll tell you what to write." She told me.

"S-Sure. Busy, aren't you?" I asked her.

"I want to put my best into everything I do! This is nothing!" She said. She told me what she wanted me to write as she finished boiling water and arranging her meal. She set it on the kitchen table, pushed her hands together, and started to eat.

"And... done," I said, gently setting the pencil down between the crooks of the table.

"Thanks! Lately, I've been wanting to arrange a way that we can see where our weak points are. I even did the production on your farm, right down here, see?" She asked me, pointing to a small paragraph near the bottom of the page.

"Really? We produce that much?" I asked her, and she nodded with the hot food in her mouth.

"I take some of it for storage in our ice bin, but yeah, we make that much. Right now, our defense is lacking. I go to check on everybody, and they're never there anymore. I don't know what the problem is... if you're not doing anything today, can you check up on the reason why?" Nova asked me.

"Yeah, I could do that," I told her. I began to walk out of the door and she thanked me for my help before I closed the door to her house.

Walking near the right side of the base by the cliffside, I followed the road until I entered our barracks. Surely enough, several men in leather armor were all sitting around inside, rather than outside.

"You guys on lunch or something? Why aren't you on guard?" I asked them.

"Oh look, there's Nova dog. Buzz off, we're relaxing after a long shift." They said to me.

"I'd want to take offense to that, but we're almost thirty years old and I can't help but feel that you're being uncooperative," I told the guys sitting in the chairs. They scoffed at my response and ignored my request.

I don't understand... what was with the hostility?

"What's the problem here? I just wanted to know why you guys are sitting around." I asked them again, and finally, they started to cooperate.

"Why do we need to guard a city that's never been attacked? It seems pointless, I'd rather be at home." One of the people said. It seemed to be the common factor between everybody, as they all nodded in unison.

"Seems like a good chance to attack, considering we don't have any defenses right now. Don't you see that? If there's nobody up there, we get attacked. Maybe the reason we haven't been attacked was that there were always people present." I told them.

"Maybe, but it doesn't matter anyway. We'll just sit around until something happens, we'll hear it." The man said again.

I nodded, taking a deep breath, and grabbing onto the back of his leaned chair, and pushed it down to the floor.

He hit the floor with the back of his head and started rubbing it while looking back up at me.

"The hell is your problem you dick?!" He shouted out to me. He looked like he was going to attack me, but I made my way to the door to leave just in case.

"Sorry, I just figured that since it doesn't matter, you wouldn't care." I told him. Closing the door behind me.

I decided I needed to take a breather before I reacted ignorantly, and walked out of the base, closing the gate behind me, to think about things while looking at the beach from the cliffside.

Geez, these people are really growing restless. Just because things are good right now, doesn't mean we can't be on our guard... right?

I mean, it does sound nice to relax, but that's not my responsibility at the moment.

This entire time, I've been wondering why Genesis hasn't attacked or made a move. Was he really that patient? Did we serve any purpose to him in all honesty?

After Dustin poisoned our water and we got it all handled, we have constantly been on guard for Genesis. But obviously, we don't care anymore. People don't seem to realize that a life with no enemies after 14 years can easily be interrupted without a second thought. I know how precious life is, I just wish others would understand it as I did.

"Oh my, you're a new face. It's nice to meet you, Mister. My name is Genesis, and you are?" I heard from behind me.

…Huh? Oh shit... Genesis...?

I turned back to look at him and he was smiling right at me.