Futureworld 3030: Chapter 13
The year is 2719. Dawn is a young girl stuck at the Resistance headquarters.
January 4, 2719–The Resistance Headquarters
Dawn sits in a cold dark room of the headquarters playing with her mangled GI Joe. She’s never had many toys nor has any kid growing up the last few hundred years. There are little to no toys in Altera. After the water ban and uprisings, nearly every department store was looted and everything else after that was destroyed in air raids.
Dawn doesn’t care for GI Joe either, but she will tolerate him for Carlos. Carlos is the only other young child in the headquarters and is Dawn’s only friend. She actually plays two roles. Friend and big sister. Carlos has autism and is basically non-verbal. Him and Dawn have made up their own kind of sign language in order to communicate with one another.
Two men rush into the room out of breath.
“We’ve got about a dozen Unis and drones surveying the space directly above us. No one make a peep!”, one of them whispers.
Dawn grabs the toys and puts them into a bin. Carlos becomes instantly upset realizing playtime is over. He starts to cry and whines out. One of them rushes over to him and grips his shoulder tight,
“I said shut up, alright?”
Carlos quietens down, but continues to cry. Dawn scowls at the man as he walks away. She walks over to comfort Carlos who is now curled up on the ground.
“It’s ok bud, let’s go look at the picture books,” Dawn signals to Carlos.
Carlos looks up at Dawn sniffling. He nods his head and gets up to take her hand. They quietly walk over to a separate room. The two men look at them with their hand over their mouths signaling ‘quiet’. Dawn still has no idea where her parents are. She is in a panic internally, but does not want to outwardly express any such feelings in front of Carlos. The impressionable young boy is already on edge.
A thunderous boom rattles above. Dust from the ceiling of the headquarters rains down on those lying below. Screams can be heard followed by a drone blast. The screams stop. An eerie silence fills the headquarters awaiting what may come next. Hours pass. No one moves or makes a noise. Carlos snuffles as looks up at Dawn with puppy eyes. She can tell he wants her to tell him a story to fall asleep. She looks around to see the few other people in the headquarters have also fallen asleep.
“Fine fine, what story or song do you want today?” Dawn asks.
Carlos looks up at her and tilts his head.
“O something new huh? Alright let me think”
Dawn looks around the headquarters. Torn posters line the walls with plans of years past. Debris scattered across the floors. Remnants of people scavenging for food. Broken dolls and lost dreams. Once a refuge for hope, the headquarters now serve as a sad reminder that the Resistance is fighting an impossible battle. Dawn dips her head unsure of what to say to Carlos. She looks at a saying painted across one of the walls. “You are the Resistance.” Dawn closes her eyes and repeats the phrase to herself before turning back to Carlos. She smiles at him and says,
“How about we write our own story?”
Carlos smiles ear to ear and nods his head.