Maze sighed softly as he stood on the curb. His eyes gnced down towards the crack covered pavement. ‘What is our world coming to?’ He thought as he looked at the dusty road where the road was cracked and pulled up. The town was covered in a darkened mist that made it sometimes impossible to see through. He was waiting for the bus. He leaned against the back siding of the bus stop, he was tired he hadn’t slept well st night. His eyelids slowly started to close as he sat there on the dusty wooden bench in the crack covered curb.
His eyes opened, ‘WHAT THE’ was his first thought, the streets were gone leaving dust and mud. He was still at the bus station, but the board was gone. He looked around, all he saw was the mist. Eerily words seemed to seep deep into his brain “four shall rise, then fall, but if they don’t heat the deep fire to chase away the darkness, it will all fall”
Maze jerked awake as a horn bred. He looked up at the bus, it was here. ‘It was a dream’ he thought as he walked up onto the bus. His feet patted on the hard dusty pstic, he waved to the other man who was driving the bus. He dropped his so-called money in the bucket, and the driver waved back. Maze moved toward the back of the bus, not many people were here. He pulled out a sanitary wipe and wiped down the dusty muddy seat before sitting down.
So what if he somewhat cared about being clean, but, I mean why did it matter, the town was literally nicknamed Dust Trap. Maze sighed softly, the road was bumpy and dusty, and dangerous. Maze’s mind fell back towards the dream and that voice rang clear in his head, as it said “four shall rise, then fall, but if they don’t heat the deep fire to chase away the darkness, it will all fall”. He shook his head, ‘it was just a dream, not going to happen, it’s not real’ he tried to reassure himself.
A few people came onto the bus at each stop. Though one person caught Maze’s eye, a shorter person, they had a cloak that covered most of their face. Maze tilted his head to the side, the person sat in the very back of the bus. Maze watched them, he wasn’t being a stalker, ok he might seem like he was, but he wasn’t, Maze was intrigued by them. Maze saw something about their jittery actions that made him a little intrigued by them.
The bus suddenly jerked, a rge crack was heard from the road in front of them. “Remain calm” was heard from the bus driver “just a new split in the road”. ‘Great’ thought Maze, ‘just amazing’. He jerked up as he heard a small cough. It was the person in the back, the person was small, they had their knees pulled up and seemed to be squeezing them. They had a cloak that wrapped around them, and they seemed nervous. Maze sighed softly, he looked away from the person.
He looked out the window as the mist was starting to thin. ‘Finally’ he’d think, ‘almost there’. He heard another cough from the person, he looked at them again, ‘are they ok?’ He’d think tilting his head to the side. “Hey” he said softly “you who’s coughing, you alright?” His response was silence. That made him a little worried, ‘are they ok? If they are not, should I help?’ He’d think.
He sighed, the person coughed again. Maze looked over at them, he was concerned. He looked away, this was none of his concern, but why did he feel like it was. He looked at his hands, his slightly clean hands. His hands that also were covered in different colors, his work did that. ‘Why do I even have to work?’ He’d think ‘oh ya, they need children to work for them, or well teenagers at my age’. He gnced towards the person ‘are they going to the factory?’ He’d think.
‘They look young’ he’d think, ‘children shouldn’t have to work at the factory’ he’d think angrily. He punched the seat in front of him, the response was a grumble. Maze immediately froze, he didn’t know someone was sitting in front of him. “Watch it child” an icy voice said, “if you mess up you know the consequences”. Maze gulped, he did know very well what happened “sorry ma’am, I won’t do it again ma’am” he said quickly. “I’ll forgive you, this one time” the voice said icily. “Thanks ma’am, I’m in your det ma’am” he said.
‘I shouldn’t have to do that’ Maze thought ‘I should have been free’ he thought angrily. ‘Children should be free to have a childhood’ he’d think, fuming. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret” a small voice in his mind said to him. Maze sighed softly, he knew that was correct. Maze leaned on the back of his seat, he looked around the bus again. There was significantly more people here, but he looked over towards the cloaked person from earlier.
They were fiddling with their hands, and something around their wrists. ‘Is that..?’ Maze’s mind trailed off, ‘well, definitely factory, but if that is what I think it is’ he shuttered. ‘This person must be an escapee, and since they look young…’ his blood went cold. ‘T-they escaped the jaws of doom’ he’d think, he had to keep a close eye on this person, he couldn’t let them go back, that person would definitely find themselves in THE va cave. He gulped though he could barely do so with the rock he felt in his throat. ‘I have to escape’ he thought ‘and I’m going to bring as many people as I can’.
