Dead End

         Façade, it’s such an interesting word. It’s a false front, something that makes the thing behind it look different. It’s mostly used to reference buildings, but that’s not all it can be used for. You are probably living behind such a shield yourself at this very moment, as much as you wish you could deny it.
         Maybe it would be better to compare it to something else, masks, personas, take your pick. Every day we hide behind these masks that we spend our entire life making. These barriers serve to hide ourselves, not so that others cannot see us, but by hiding our true selves.
         You are probably saying to yourself right now “I don’t do that! What’s he talking about?” But you know, even if you don’t want to admit it. You act differently around different people in different places. You don’t do the same things at home that you do at school or work. You don’t do the same things at Church as you do alone. You act differently around different sets of friends.
         Each and every one of us pretends a model of society, a model of perfection. We pretend we have nothing to hide, but we lie, we hide, just to protect ourselves beneath our countless facades. When do you finally take all these shields off and show your true self? Do you ever? I never did.
         But now, where I am, very few people have the luxury of such masks anymore. The greatest disaster mankind has ever known has struck the earth, destroying things that we had held dear, splitting the earth itself. It also split us, people themselves… And, as our past shows, different people don’t get along; one always claims to be superior to the other…
         There is a war raging now, a war much like the civil war long ago. Men that were allies, friends and family even, are fighting each-other tooth and nail, fang and claw. Brother fights sister, father fights son, best friends are split by this schism. Much like that civil war, this war isn’t a productive war, nor is it meaningful by any sense of the word, but countless men and women have given their lives for this meaningless struggle. We have done nothing but kill.
         Let’s think about superheroes for a second, everybody knows Superman, after all. Superman has two lives, he’s the “Mild Mannered” Clark Kent normally. But when evil or danger is around, he suddenly becomes the guy flying around in tights. If you think about it, he has it easy. Both of his identities are on the same “side”. Both fight the same bad guys and both are in love with the same woman. But what if one of him was a villain? What if a soldier fought on both sides of a war, unsure of whom he would fight for next?
         This entire disaster started as such awesome and terrible things do, in the most inconspicuous ways…
***
         With a mighty clash the swords met, sparks flying off each blade. My opponent and I stared at each other, or faces firmly set. With a thrust foreward, I threw him off balance, his sword raised above his head. A slash across the chest sent my opponent falling back. A spray of blood flew away from the blow, scattering onto the wall. His body hit the ground, all life having left it. I quickly sheathed my sword, sliding it into the blackened steel container.
         I took a moment to catch my breath, looking around the room. The same silvery walls on all sides, sending distorted reflections of myself scattering around the room. The dark bandana I wore around my forehead was soaked with sweat, dampening my brown hair. Small cuts and wounds marred the rest of my body, small bloodstains dying the normally black cloth a deep red around the holes.
         My moment of rest ended and I ran out of the room. My footsteps echoed off the hallway walls, the same color as all the other walls. As I ran, I reached back to the strap dangling off my back. I whipped it off my shoulder and looked at the gleaming shape attached it. Thank God for the FAMAS. I clicked the safety off, holding the weapon fully extended towards the ground, ready to be raised and fired at a moment’s notice.
         I rounded another corner, and the hall opened into a larger room. Silver pillars extended to the ceiling, merging with the silver floor and roof. It wasn’t the pillars that demanded my attention though, that went to the group of soldiers standing in the middle of the room. They were wearing gasmasks that obscured their faces, and Kevlar covered the majority of their bodies. As one they turned to face me, raising AK-47s to point in my direction.
         I jammed the stock of my FAMAS into my shoulder, the padding cushioning the blunt force. My finger held down the trigger as lead began to spray wildly from the barrel. The squad scattered, puffs of red spraying from some members that fell to the ground, yelling as they toppled back.
         “Fire!” The leader of the squad yelled; his own weapon blazing flame from the front. The squad quickly rallied behind him, firing their own weapons at me. I kept up my suppressing fire as I dashed to the nearest column, throwing myself behind it. Bullets chipped away at my makeshift armor. I slammed a new clip into the gun after I ejected the old one. I held it in one hand as I reached to my belt. I grasped a grenade, pulling it free of the strap. I pulled the pin out with my mouth, holding the clasp down with my hand. I let the clasp go and threw the grenade from around the pillar at the group.
         In one smooth motion I pulled my pistol from the holster at my waist and spun out from behind the metal. Time slowed to a crawl. I closed my left eye and squeezed off a single shot. The bullet whizzed through the air, speeding at the still airborne grenade. A few soldiers realized what was about to happen and started diving out of the way, the rest weren’t so lucky. The bullet collided with the flying explosive, detonating it right in front of the hapless soldiers. The explosion sent a concussion shock through the room, the loud noise hurting my ears. The smoke and dust cleared and there were none left standing.
         There was a noise behind me, and I spun to face it. An entire other squad stood behind me, having come through a hidden door in the wall. All had their guns trained on me. I didn’t even have time to say anything before the gunfire slammed into my body, sending precious blood splattering to the ground. I was dead before I hit the floor.
***
         “Dang it!” I said, turning off the power of my handheld game system in disgust. “That was such a stupid way to die!”
         “I told you that you couldn’t take on my guard complex with just one commando.” A sandy-haired youth said to me, leaning over the seat that divided us.
         “I remember Kevin.” I said, defeated. “But you have to admit, I made it pretty far!”
         “I’ll give you that much, Ryu.” He grinned.
         “You two never change!” A black haired girl scolded, sitting across the aisle from me. Her hair went down to her mid-back, long and shiny. She wore a sleeveless black shirt and black skirt. She had black dress sandals on her soft feet.
         “Come on Kirie!” Kevin said, “We’re just having fun! This bus trip is so boring!” We had been riding in this school bus for an hour, from our school to the larger city. We were going on a field trip to an art museum. How Juvenile! We’re going to look at paintings at an art museum! Oh well, we do get out of school. I gazed out the window. The skyscrapers that were now looming on both sides of the bus like giant, silent sentinels caught my attention. Since I lived in the suburbs, I rarely saw such large buildings.
         Then, in-between two larger buildings was a shorter one. It was a good five stories high, not high for the city, but big for me. It was made of white stone, pillars standing guard in front of the oversized front doors. It was imposing for an art museum. The bus made a right turn, going into the parking lot.
         The lot wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t deserted either. The bus pulled into a parking spot and screeched to a stop. Ms. Key, the English teacher, stood in front of the bus, and cleared her throat. The noise in the bus slowly died to a low murmur. She was a young teacher, about thirty and right out of College.
         “You know what you have to do. Find a painting or other piece of art in the building and examine it through one of the “Lenses” we talked about in class. You and your partner then need to write a two-page paper on the different aspects of the art through the lens.” She said. “You have until one, then we’re eating lunch and heading back to the school. That gives you,” She looked at her watch “Three hours.”
         We all stood up and filed out of the bus. As soon as the mass of humanity passed the door they fanned out like a cloud of bees from a hive. The crowd quickly lumped together into cliques of rapidly talking teens.
         My own clique included just a few other people. Kirie and Kevin walked alongside me, arguing as they always did.
         “There you guys are!” Another girl, wearing much less formal clothing than Kirie approached us. Her short blonde hair tumbled to the top of her back, and her bangs were short and neat. She wore a sky blue tank-top and blue jeans, the definition of casual wear. It showed a few inches of her flat belly, the smooth and silky skin broken only by her small bellybutton.
         “Beth!” Kirie said, suddenly breaking off the battle of words. “What are you wearing?”
         “You like?” She said, a broad grin on her face,
         “You’re going to get in trouble! You know that’s against the school dress code!”
         “We’re not at school, are we? Besides, you’re the one sticking out like a sore thumb! We’re going to a museum, not a funeral!”
         “Maybe it’s because she has modesty?” Another voice came from behind her. She jumped. A boy wearing dark sunglasses and with very short blonde hair was standing there. He wore jean shorts and a red T-shirt, nothing really notable. He was small, skinny and about my height, with almost no muscle on him.
         “Brand!” Beth yelled back, “Don’t do that!”
         “And ruin all my fun? Never.” He raised his arm, palm outstretched. I raised mine as well in a high-five. Brand and I had been friends for quite a while now. Maybe it was because we both had unusual names, but we had bonded quickly, sharing many of the same interests.
         “Melissa!” Beth called out to a girl with curly brown hair. She came over and the two girls quickly began jabbering amongst themselves. Kirie and Kevin were arguing again, and I was giving Brand a play-by-play of my game with Kevin. Before I knew it we were all at the front doors.
         “Well, then,” Melissa mumbled, “I need to get to my partner. Good luck!” She waved and walked off.
         “Good luck!” Beth shouted after her.
         “Why is she gonna need good luck?” Brand asked.
         “She’s with Dennis.” She responded.
         “Ouch.” Was all Kevin needed to say. Dennis was the smartest guy in our class, and quite frankly, not all that nice to be around, mostly just because he tried to impress people with mostly useless facts. I mean, most people don’t care about physics, even if it is on a test!
         With another round of farewells Beth, Brand, and Kevin went off to join up with their partners, leaving Kirie and I to walk in alone.
         The air conditioning hit me like a wave when I walked in, the chill air dispelling the early fall heat. The place was very quiet, with only the sound of splashing from a fountain in some far off room continually breaking the silence. I never did like museums, especially art ones. It felt way too much like a highly decorated tomb for my comfort.
         “Well then, let’s get started.” Kirie said as she led me off into a display room. It was full of landscapes, none of which caught my eye. We exited into marble hallway lined with anatomically correct statues. Ugh, Greeks.
         That led off into several other rooms filled with modern sculptures, more landscapes, and a portrait or two. Along the way we ran into other groups of students looking at different paintings and discussing it with their partners. Sometimes they opened their notebooks and jotted some notes down, and other times they just moved on.
         We worked our way through the maze of rooms and displays until we found an elevator.
         “Wanna go up to the top floor? There’s probably not going to be anyone there.” I offered.
         “That sounds great. We won’t need to worry about picking the same thing as someone else.” She hit the button, and with a *ding* the elevator opened.
         We stepped in and I hit the button for the fifth floor. When we stepped out again, we found ourselves in an only slightly different hall. Our footsteps echoed, and we could no longer hear the sounds of our classmates nearly as well. We went into the nearest display room.
         The art on this floor was noticeably different. It seemed to be darker, more shadowy. An aura of mystery and mystique hung around some pieces, while others were just plain creepy.
         “Nothing looks good!” Kirie mumbled in frustration as we walked into another room. It had a gigantic window in one wall that let sunlight stream in, revealing the otherwise invisible dust in the air.
         “Well then,” An unknown voice said, “What about this one?” Both Kirie and I jumped, my heart pounded as I quickly spun to face the voice. There was a figure standing the far corner by a window, facing a picture on the wall.
         “Uh… What?” I asked, my heart calming down.
         “What about this picture. I think you might like it.” The man (I could tell by his voice. Which, by the way, was a deep, rich baritone) was wearing a wide brimmed tan hat and a leather trench coat of the same color. Long, stringy blonde hair tumbled down from under the hat and over the back of his coat.
         “Ok…” Kirie mumbled, and we both walked over to take a look at the painting. It had three figures in it, one on the far right was white, one on the right was black, and the one in the middle was grey. Both the black and white figures had another, smaller figure inside it of the opposite color. The painting was simply titled “Broken World, Broken Souls”.
         “Um… That’s an… interesting painting.” Kirie mumbled. I was thinking about the same thing, Who is this guy and why is he pointing out this painting to us?
         “Ryu…” I looked to Kirie, but she wasn’t looking at me. It was the man who had said my name! He put a hand on my shoulder and continued. “You are very important Ryu. In what is about to come, many peoples lives will depend on your actions and the fate of the world itself will rest upon you. Your burden will be heavy, but do not be afraid, for He is with you. You and many others will wrestle with themselves, and some may lose themselves. You will have a hard, uneven road to follow. You will fight, you will bleed, you will kill, you will love.”
         “What are you talking about?” Kirie butted in, shouting above the mans calm, even voice.
         “Remember Ryu, no matter what happens, you must go on, and you must make the choice in the end. This is the end of the world as you know it, and the beginning of your story.” He patted me once on the shoulder and slowly walked out of the room, leaving Kirie and I stunned.
         “W-what was that?” I stuttered.
         “It… It was just some crazy guy… Don’t worry about it…”
         “But… He knew my name…”
         “He just… must have heard it or something.” She was quickly regaining her composure, unlike me. What was that guy talking about? “Let’s find a painting already and get outta here.”
         “Sounds good.” We slowly walked away from the picture, looking for something else to draw our minds away from our last unnerving encounter. I walked in front of the window, gazing out of it. The museum was surreal; I had forgotten where I was for a moment. The sunlight cut through the darkness, making the mysterious man seem like nothing more than a dream. A touch of realism in a world of illusions. I didn’t know how ironic it was at the time, but thinking that right then was pretty odd timing.
         At that moment, the Earth gave a tiny quiver. Not enough to do more than shake the paintings on the wall.
         “What was that?” I asked aloud, jumping in surprise. Rhetorical question, I know. There was another shock, stronger this time. I could hear screams from below us in the building.
         “It’s an Earthquake!” Kirie shouted, rather unnecessarily. Another shock and I was sent stumbling back, towards the window. No! I caught my balance in time. I took a step back away from the glass…
         Just in time for the biggest shake yet to hit, and with one foot off the ground I had no chance to stay standing. It was strong enough to knock me clear off my feet… And through the all-too-fragile glass. The crash was deafening as it shattered around me and I fell.
         “Ryu!” I could barely hear Kirie shouting after me as I careened ever closer to the earth. I was falling… falling… Time went too slowly, I should have hit the ground before now… My life wasn’t flashing in front of my eyes or anything. Maybe it was too short, or just too boring to bother with. The sky, bright with the sun and puffy clouds, then nothing.
***
Hey guys! This is a note from the Author of this (Hopefully!) decent story. I wanted to say a few things before you click the back button. First off, I would love it if you gave a quick review; I'm always looking to improve.
Secondly, sections 2 and 3 are up now, so PLEASE look at them as well. Trust me, it gets better as it goes on. This is probably the dullest part in the entire story... But it had to start somewhere, right?
Thank you for the view!
Nessmk2