CHAPTER 55: WHEN THE WALLS OPENED

As the sun shifted, allowing ash and dark clouds to prepare the way for the moon, countless torches stretched high in the sky, moving in a circular manner as men dressed in black hoodies kept watch at the wall with sharp metals.

When they neared each other, they exchanged cigarettes, lighted them, and increased the density of the fight as they blew more air on the cigarettes, then changed positions, letting the other walk in the direction the other was coming from.

Around their waists were sharp metals catching the lights moving around and bouncing them like mirrors. And at the tip of the metals wrapped on them, a round black hole stood in place like that of an AK47, resting freely.

They weren’t drawn but looked eager and ready to be drawn any moment an alien noise flew by their ears.

At the far distance on the wall, one of the two men on the right pulled off his hood, letting the moon shine bright on his white hair as he moved his hand to his pink lips, covering them as he yawned heavily. The moment two vehicles halted at the other side of the wall, where the bones were, he moved hastily, covering his head with the hood and peeking his head over the little fence raised like cheese.

"Hmm... they’re here," he said, turning toward the moving still moving toward the dark corners of the wall on the left, called him, and made him press on the green button fixed on one of the brick walls added to the cheese fence.

At the press of the green button, debris began falling from the wall and landing in front of the vehicles, and from the wall, two cracking lines of about twelve feet tall became visible, and in a short period of time, it collapsed into each other, letting the inner side of the city of Gorg be visible.

The headlights of both vehicles flashed twice, then turned off before moving through the now gate and into the city completely, and when they entered fully, the wall automatically folded back as if no door was ever even there.

As the vehicles moved through the fine road coated with hard metals, countless men holding guns of all kinds stretched their hands, straightened their backs, and greeted them, and when the vehicles moved past them, the men giggled slightly before moving forward, checking the areas at which the lights weren’t touching.

When the vehicles moved past the windows of two buildings, two small heads popped on the window on the inside before hastily moving from the window and turning into shadows as they ran, opening doors.

Reaching a bus stop at the front of the buildings, the vehicles halted, one halting at the back of the other. Wind swelled torn newspapers, letting them fly beneath the first vehicle and on the right side as the front doors of it opened slowly. And from within it, a red soldier’s boots slammed heavily on the slightly wet but dried ground, letting tiny quells of dust spiral.

As the second boots joined the one standing firmly on the ground, the ground shook as a nice-looking man with brown hair walked out, his hair flaunting in the air as he shook his head. Moving out of the seat fully, he placed a golden staff on the ground, letting its five claws crash and pierce through the metal ground.

After a minute of scanning the road they trod, he walked toward the back door and slowly opened it, placing the golden staff in his right hand and spiraling the light arm before stretching it forward like a Spanish prince opening a door for a queen.

And from the dark part of the back seat of the first vehicle, a smooth shimmering fleshy leg tore out, followed by a wide garment that kept falling on the ground from the seat the person was in as she finally stepped out. And when the young guy holding the golden staff closed the door, he held the lady’s arm, then walked her to the door.

Two children, a fine boy with one front tooth broken and a girl with big shimmering eyes, ran toward them, welcoming them.

The moment the young guy, the lady, and the children entered the door the children ran from and closed it, a man with a black hood covering his head got out from the driver’s side of the second vehicle and walked toward the door adjacent to his.

Slowly, he opened it and lowered himself as he respectfully greeted and gave the person sitting calmly inside a warm welcome.

For two minutes no one stepped out from that area, but as the man raised his head slightly, he quickly lowered it as he noticed two bright red eyes glowing brightly as a man with fifteen beads wrapped around his wrist walked out harshly.

And when he got out, he waited for no one; he simply walked toward the same door the young guy and the lady had entered. For him, he didn’t touch the door, but it blasted open for him when he stared at it once.

And when the man in the hood walked toward the back seat’s door, hoping to open it, the door opened on its own, and from it, Kang and one other man walked out from both sides of the door and walked toward the same building.

The hoody man sent out a cold breeze as he inhaled deeply, moved to the door, locked them, and walked to the door of the building, slammed, and with a tap of his finger, the door flew back, fixed.

He banged his hands lightly, opened it, and finally closed it shut.

The moment he entered, he saw countless men, some dressed in the same black hoodie he was in, while ten of the thirty men sitting in the room were wearing outfits of different colors. Slowly, he walked to the large table they were all seated by, looked at their frowned faces, and greeted, but no one responded, only the small girl with big eyes did.

"Why have we been summoned here?" the child with one of his front teeth broken said, tapping on the lap of the lady with the long garment.

Sssshhh.

The lady placed a finger on the boy’s lips, silencing him, but even after raising her head, she noticed the boy’s question had caught the attention of all twenty-eight people.

...

In Kai’s room, snoring sounds echoed as the nurse’s head slightly jolted from the table she rested her head on. Every second, she kept brushing her hand over her cheeks, yet her snoring never stopped.

But on the bed, Kai’s eyes remained open as if he was afraid of sleeping, as he watched the birds flying high above in the night sky and diving and vanishing when they reached the upper side of his window.

And around him, the shadows he’d been seeing all the time roamed, floating around him like restless souls of dead people. But whenever he tilted his gaze toward them, they stopped moving and stared back at him, bowing their heads and grinning.

Outside his room, Gray, Wang, Oin, and Max all remained on their beds, their minds reeling the images they saw in the hospital room Kai was placed inside: from the nurse who had become as hard as stone when they reached there, the bed which had also turned to stone and shattered on the ground, and finally to the claws on the walls that bled smoke.