Liberation -- Shades of Gray --Part 1

1: Arrival

>Chapter 1

Some conjecture that the universe would be a much friendler place had the rule of Zartoch never been allowed to occur. Planetary governments who were pacifistic turned into ruthless barbarians, throwing aside their morality and doing the unthinkable in the name of justice, truly, there will never be any real justice again.

--The journal of Klainien Marsht, page 168

I looked at Lisha. Her flowing blonde hair, her beautiful smile. Why. Why does she seem so far away?

She looked at me, concerned.

“Eric? Eric, what’s wrong?”

“I…I don’t know,” I truly didn’t know.

Her face, her eyes, her hands. I could feel them, I could see them, but she was not there. She shifted her weight, her nearly skintight spaghetti-strap shirt creased a bit. Her freckled face gazed upon me. But she was not there. I reached out my hand and felt her arm, it was there, I could feel it, it was warm, but my fingers tingled as I touched her. Was this a dream? Where was I?

“Tomorrow’s Friday,” She smiled.

“We have the weekend to do whatever we want.”

“Yeah, but I have homework…” My voice even sounded far away.

“But now you need to wake up,” She told me. A serious look on her face.

“I am awake!” I protested.

“Wake up Eric.”

I woke up. Everything was a blur. I couldn’t see, my eyes hurt. My head lay against something hard, and the rest of my body ached.

“What..” I mumbled. It hurt to speak.

My head felt like it was going to explode, I could feel all sorts of pain all over me, ranging from cuts and bruises, to internal injuries, I hoped they weren’t serious.

My vision had begun to clear up, I could make out faint shapes. It was dark, but I seemed to be inside a building. Yes, a building. I began to sit up, slowly and painfully as my vision cleared even more. I could see my surroundings clearly, dark gray concrete walls all around me, except for to my left where the building had been partially destroyed. Cloudy gray light shone through the huge opening. My body, as I suspected, was covered in cuts and bruises, but the blood had dried long ago. How long have I been here? Where was I? Where was Lisha? I forced myself to my feet, looking around for a way out. The only way out of the building was through the section that had been destroyed, so I trudged my way through the pile of debris, tripping and falling in some places. My head pounded angrily, my eyes watered. I climbed over one last pile of rubble and fell down onto the street outside of the building.

I raised my head and looked around. The street was cracked, but no grass grew up through those cracks. Buildings lined the streets, some destroyed, some semi-intact. I could see signs above some of the doors, maybe the names of shops, but I could not read the names. I stood up, my sore legs complaining the whole time as I rose to my full height, which was only about five feet eight inches. I rubbed my face with my fists, brushing my stringy blond hair out of my eyes. The sky was gray, faint hints of sunlight shone through the clouds, but the street was for the most part dark, devoid of life. In the distance I could hear a popping sound..maybe a gunshot? I wandered toward the sound, limping the whole time. My ankles burned, sore for some reason. Had I walked here? I shook my head and continued toward the sound.

I stumbled here and there, my vision blurred and returned to normal many times. I walked toward the sound. I wondered what I would find when I got there.

"Freeze prisoner!" A voice from behind. A distorted voice. I slowly turned to see a..man..maybe..standing there pointing a rifle at me. "I said freeze! Give me your line designation and your sector!"

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