Renaissance: Chapter 3

The surrounding air was sooty. Colossal pillars and boxes suddenly popped out of the horizon that spew dark fumes which rose up and slowly faded away.

“Where on Earth am I now….?” Nick questioned himself under his breath.

“We're reaching the platform soon.” Sam added. His face was still covered by the flying shadows of the huge structures that went by as he stood right in front of the tired Nick with his back facing him. The horn blasted out with a deafening roar. The train decelerated and finally came to a stop. There was just one question remaining on everybody's minds now—Why did they stop in the middle of nowhere?

“Rivers! Let's get down here.” Sam suggested.

“What? Are ya out of your mind? Don't you get it? We are surrounded by factories and withered grasslands. Just how well is your plan for escape?” Rivers backfired.

“Escape?” Nick dropped into confusion. “What do you mean by 'escape’? A-And how did I even get here?!”

“There's no time young man. We’ll explain later but first, we must escape.” Sam replied in a confident tone.

*Flashback* It was noon. Time to move the bodies: both dead and alive. With a gentle creek, the porous wooden door was pushed open. The warm gaudy shades of the sunset that painted the sky covered the sandbags in a sector of a widening golden beam. The man forwarded through the itchy fog of dust, looked back and forth, and rushed over to the deep, dark, interior of the shed. He stood. He observed the environment. Right then, one of rice sacks portrayed motion; signs of life; he took a deep breath. Time was scarce. He had to do it now. Picking up the heavy, organic, warm sack on his shoulder; he darted out of the place.

“Sammy!yo!”, he cried out as he burst through the bar-door. The aged man was seen filling up his beer jug with the foamy golden liquor.

”What on earth have you bought today?” Sam was uninterested in whatever gibberish the kid had to say.

“Ey! quit yo blabbering and come help me out! I found someone in this jute bag!” Rivers snapped.

“Did anyone see you?”, “No, but someone will soon notice, shall we take him with us?” He asked with hints of fear and haunting tone.

“Yeah, let’s take him with us” replied Sam

Presently, Nick, Sam and Rivers tried to escape the pursuing guards without any idea of their whereabouts. Nick’s mind was as blank as an empty slate; probably due to prolonged starvation. They bolted through the open fields but little did they know that there was a ledge right ahead.

”Ayeee, I’m tellin’ ya we gotta make that jump or else we’re DEAD MEAT!” Rivers shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Seems like that’s our only option, eh? Well then, on my count! 1...2... ” replied Sam.

“Wha- Wait I’m NOT ready yet, NOOOOOooo!!” Nick screamed as Sam pulled his torso and jumped off from that high cliff.

They rocketed downwards, tearing through the strong gusts of wind; brushing against their pale faces. Nick was struck unconscious and crashed into a cascade.After a few hours, Nick found himself lying in a warm and cozy bed.

“So are you finally awake, young man?” asked Sam.

“Uhh...yeah..but, where am I..? What is this place? A-And who changed my clothes?!” asked Nick with a flustered face.

“Now, hold your breath for a second. I’ll explain to you everything but first, shall we go downstairs to feed ourselves? You must be hungry. ” Sam replied as he helped Nick to descend down the stairs

They had a hearty meal consisting of a grilled cheese sandwich and a jug of root beer to slide it all down. Nick enjoyed his first proper meal after such a long time as tears started flowing down his eyes. Perhaps, starving for so long such that his cheekbones had become visible made him forget how astonishing proper food tasted.

Sam came and sat beside Nick and started explaining, “Well, Nick, allow me to answer all your questions, but before that, we would like to introduce ourselves. I am Sam and this guy right here is River ” “Yo, sup dude!” “We are coal miners of Hectorsville from The Northern Alliance . Now, coming back to your questions, after we jumped from that cliff, we were brought downstream due to the current. When I woke up, you were completely knocked out. River and I quickly grasped the situation and went to explore if there were any habitants around. Fortunately, there was a small town, not far from there. I picked you up and came to this Inn and asked for medications. You’ve been unconscious for a total of EIGHT WHOLE HOURS-”

“-Oh, and the Inn owner’s daughter had some nursing knowledge, so she changed your clothes and healed your wounds, hehe!” Rivers said it with a smirk and raised eyebrows on his face; almost in a manner as if he was teasing him.

"So, are we safe now....?" asked Nick while giving a sigh of relief

"Aye, we are, at least for now. But I don't know how long it will be before they come searching for us. Considering the location, they shouldn't arrive here before 1 week." replied River.

*Gulps*"I see.." said Nick