No Man's Town

Chapter 1: Juvenile Camp

"Are we there yet?"

"Just a bit more. I can see a glimpse of it already."

"I'm so tired. They're going to feed us, aren't they?"

"I hope so. If not, let's just sneak out some food."

"That's naughty. Can't believe I heard that from you."

"I'm also starving. I won't stop to get food that we deserve."

"Food that we're deprived of for the last three days. Man, that's like a suicide."

"That's just starvation." The lad can't help but rolled his eyes. For people who haven't eaten anything for the past few days, they're surely lively.

"Stop right there!" the lad and the lass stop on their track. They both raise their hands even without being told to. They slowly face the direction where the voice came from. There, they met eye-to-eye with another lad. His black hair is long enough to cover the left side of his face. He's wearing a dark cloak that has an uneven hem. He's holding two crossbows—one for each hand—that's directly pointed at them.

"Name and age." Its voice is full of authority. It's as if one wrong word and they're dead.

"Nori, fourteen."

"Aljar, fifteen."

"Siblings?" the mysterious lad asked.

"Yes." The two answered in unison.

"Origin."

"La Costa, from the North-Eastern side of the full-con."

"Companion."

"Just me and my sister."

The lad looks at them as if he's scanning them. After a while, he ordered them where to face. "Seven o'clock."

They face the direction he instructed. "Hands down. I never ask you to raise it." Both of them slowly put their hands down.

"Straight ahead?" Nori asked.

"Yes."

"Look out man?" Aljar asked this time. Neither of the siblings looked back while asking. They just facing front, walking forward.

"Probably." The lad answers vaguely. Silence. They're all walking quietly towards the entrance.

"Open the gate yourself. Head straight to the central plaza. You'll meet a young man named Fujima. He's the head of this camp."

"Thank you." Nori slowly looks at the lad. "Mind telling us your name?"

"Maybe. When I met you guys again?"

Aljar's brows twitch, he also looks back at the lad who's behind them. "What do you mean by that?" he doesn't like the sound of what he said. Are they about to enter a dangerous place? Of course, it's a given that the outside is already dangerous. But the sole reason they're here is that they thought it will be a bit safer here. Is that all a lie?

"I'm an outsider. Literally. I only lead young-ins here, but I never went it."

"Why?" Aljar asked.

"For it to be a little safer, someone has to sacrifice, don't you think?" The siblings shut their mouths. Now they understand this lad's position and role.

"Go in, I can't go back if you're still here."

"Thanks," the siblings said in unison before turning their back on the lad. They opened the gate in front of them. They were slightly blinded by the sudden light from the inside, but they soon adjusted their eyes on it.

The two of them started to walk inside. The gate they open automatically closes behind them. The two of them automatically look at their side. Aljar facing the left, Nori facing right. They both saw a lass with a brownish cloak on the side they're facing. They are the ones who close the gate.

The two look at each other. They kind of understand the initial security protocol here. Someone from the outside will identify if the unknown visitor is harmful or not. If confirmed not, they'll be sent to the direction where the gate is. Upon opening the gate, there are young-ins behind it—guarding it—making sure no uninvited guest will come in. That's the reason behind the mysterious lad saying they should head in first in order for him to return to his post. If he stays until they get in, they're surely harmless. But if he just left them before entering, it might give a wrong impression to gate guards.

"Let's go, I'm starving." Nori quietly said to her brother.

"Straight ahead, right?" Aljar started to walk straight, Nori's right beside him.

"What kind of food do they have here?"

"Probably some canned goods? I'm fine with anything. I'm at my limit anyway."

"I'm so done with that canned stuff. Most of them were made years back. Most are expired already."

"It's better than nothing."

While closing in at the center, the light started to feel brighter. Both Nori and Aljar place one hand on their forehead, shielding their eyes from the unbearable brightness.

"Eat! Eat to your heart's content! We harvested many goods yesterday! We can eat 'til our belly burst!" a young man standing in the middle of a circular wooden table yelled. Most of the youngins clap their hands in glee. They dig into the food in front of them.

The young man goes down from the top of the table. He noticed the newly arrived member of the camp—the siblings. He started to walk straight to them with his hands in his pockets.

"New member?" he asked the obvious.

"Sharp memory. Do you memorize all the kids here?" Aljar said. It's quite impressive for him that this young man knew right away that they're new.

The young man chuckled. "It's easy to guess since you don't have a Roman yet."

"Roman?" Nori asked, confused.

"Follow me. I'll explain while walking." The young man started to walk away from them, they have no choice but do as he says.

"My name is Fujima, the Roman I here." He showed the Roman numeral I that was written on his left arm. "Everyone here has a Roman number on their left arm. It's precisely why most of us are wearing a sleeveless shirt or at least have the left sleeve folded. That way, we can identify who's really part of the camp and who's not."

"Is that...tattooed?" Nori asked. It's the question she's meaning to asked right after she saw the Roman.

"Yes."

"Who did it?"

"Roman II. That's where we are going now. If you want to remain in this camp, you must have this." Fujima even taps the Roman on his arm.

"Will we be called by our respected Roman number? Not by our names anymore?" Aljar asked this time.

"Yes." Fujima looked at him, "Don't want to?"

"Not really." He said, coolly.

They arrived at a secluded part of the camp. They're busy talking they didn't even notice they arrived already.

"II," the lass looked at Fujima.

"Hey, newbies?" she asked as she notices the sibling's presence right next to Fujima.

"Yes, you know what to do," without a word, he left the siblings alone with the said II.

"Who likes to go first?" she asked while preparing her things. Nori and Aljar exchanged looks, in the end, it was the latter who volunteered to go first. He sits in the vacant seat in front of II. He removed his jacket and rolled up his left sleeve.

"I don't need to remind you that this will be painful, right?"

"That's already a fact about tattoos."

"Yes, but most of the newbies were clueless about it," she shook her head. "Ready," in one swift move, she started tattooing on his arm.

It was painful but nothing he can't bear. He had something worse than this, so it pretty much more tolerable for him. He looked at his sister.

"You're going to cry," he declared.

"You bet," she said as she rolled her eyes on him.

They're not sure long it takes for Aljar to have his tattoo, all they know is he immediately stood up to give the seat to his sister, right after he's done with his.

Nori mimics her brother. She removes her external clothes—long sleeves—and presents her left arm while only wearing an undershirt. They started hers and as soon as it pokes her skin she flinches. It was her brother's presence that made her compose herself. She doesn't want to cry; therefore, she tried her best to hold the pain in. Not long after and she's done. Not a single tear fell from her eyes. But that doesn't mean there's no pool of tears on it.

"Try to make your own way back to the central," II said as she fixes her tools.

"Thanks," they both started to walk back without wearing their extra clothes. It's not yet time to wear it, that's pretty much obvious even no one told them.

"So, I'm XXX?" Aljar said as he looks down at his left arm. He looks at the other side and saw his sister's Roman. "XXXI."

"Don't call me that. I don't care if no one here called me by my name, but you're an exception." Aljar slightly laughs at Nori's comment but he didn't argue. He doesn't want it either, his sister calling him by his Roman numeral.

Luckily, they didn't get lost and easily found their way back to the central. They were welcomed by some youngins who are distributing food provisions.

"I can see that you two are newbies. Here's your food provision for tonight." Each of them receives a small sack of food, along with a bamboo thermos.

"Tonight?" Nori asked.

"Yes, we'll provide food provision per meal. It's up to you on how you're going to use it."

Nori and Aljar both peek inside their sacks. It contains vegetables and some meat. And base on the heaviness of the bamboo thermos, they can tell that it contains pretty much water.

"Do you have utensils? And a tent? We can provide those as well."

"Ye—"

"No, we barely have anything with us." Aljar didn't let Nori finish her sentence.

"Okay, wait here. I'll ask someone to bring you those." They peek at Aljar's and Nori's Roman before heading off. Probably so they can easily find the two later.

"Why did you lie?" Nori asked quietly as she scanned their environment.

"We should take all we can while we're here." Nori looks at her brother. "We might not last long here." They didn't discuss it any further. Nori knows that her brother's instinct is animalistic. If he feels this way, then probably something's going to happen sooner or later. And if it's like that, it's best not to discuss it in public to avoid any unintended attention.

They didn't wait long for their bag of utensils and tent to arrive. As soon as they receive it, they headed to a vacant space they spotted. While Aljar is busy preparing their food, Nori's busy fixing their tent.

"Hey," a lass approaches them. "Newbies?"

"I wonder how many times I am going to hear that word today," Aljar said to himself. Strangely, the lass didn't get offended with the way he said it, she even laughs at him.

"Can I help you on something?" the lass offered.

"We're good. I'm done here, and so he is." Nori answered back, the way her brother answered earlier showed that he's not interested in any conversation at the moment.

"Oh, I see that you two are pretty much independent," the lass said.

"What do you need?" Aljar asked directly. She clearly doesn't have any intention to leave.

"I'm also a newbie here. I just arrived here a few days ago. I was alone when I got here so...I don't know, seeing that there's a newbie here kind of excites me. It's hard to communicate with the others since they've been here for a while already. Kind of hard to get in their group."

"Do you know some things about this camp?" Aljar asked directly, again. If he can get some information about this place through this conversation, then he'll be willing to sit down with her.

"I gathered at least the basic info about the camp. After all, I'm alone, I don't have anyone to depend on."

Hearing this, Aljar takes a big scoop of soup and pours it in an empty bowl. He stretches his arms, giving the bowl to her. "Sit down. We have something to talk about."

Once again, the lass strangely laughs at him.