Too Broke For Afterlife

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The number of soldiers streaming into the world is endless. It's surprising how this number of users isn't crashing the tiny jungle. 

Hundreds and hundreds of them are flying over our heads with helicopters, parachutes are gliding to the ground and we can only watch as our escape route is being cut off.

Guns are being pulled and I realize that there is only one way out.

I turn around to Walter.

"The other end of the bridge that's covered in that grey cloud...where does it lead?"

We all look over to the big nothing that wavers around the stone.

"Nowhere. I planned to build something there later and to remember the spot, I placed an empty space that could be removed eventually."

"But if it's empty space then we can enter it, right?"

He looks at Clemens confused. "Yes but there is nothing inside. It's like super thick fog. That's it." 

The humming of the helicopters intensifies as they are coming closer, lowering themselves down to bridge level.

Nox turns to us. "We can hide in fog. Everyone grab each other's hands."

"What?" Walter's expression drops. "No! That's too dangerous, we don't know what will happen. And once we are inside we could get lost."

"It's our only chance." Nox stares at him intensely.

The first soldiers have reached the bridge and are now marching towards us.

Some raise their guns.

"Grab each other's hands. Now."

Most of the group still is unsure.

Nox is the first one to grab my hand, confused I use my other to hold Clemens. He grabs Judy and Judy holds Walter.

Within seconds we have built a chain.

I stumble back a few steps when a helicopter lands right next to us. Nox pulls me back.

"Okay, we will run into the fog on 3. Get ready! 1...2...3!"

Everyone starts running and I can hear the soldiers yelling behind us.

As Clemens and I seem to be the slowest, we weighten the chain down but luckily it's only a short distance, maybe 200 feet.

Before I know it, the blue sky disappears and we are surrounded by thick grey fog. It's so incredibly thick that all I can see is Nox' arm.

As we keep running, none of our steps make a single sound yet the ground feels solid.

I feel how the fog enters my airways and clog them, making it hard for me to speak. 

After a bit, we slow down and Nox finally lets go of my hand. 

"Everyone close together," she whispers. Or more, she coughs. 

I get pulled into a very tight circle. I can see Nox and Walter. I assume Clemens and Judy are standing next to them. 

"How big is this empty space?" Nox asks quietly. 

Walter mumbles: "It's endless. No limits." 

"Then how do we get out of here?" 

"Are you serious?" Clemens huffs. "You should have asked that question before we ran right into it."

"There was no time," she hisses. "Walter, what about your teleportation?" 

"Won't work."

As far as I can tell, he is shaking his head, looking disappointed. 

"I have to activate it before use but my pc is still in Always Night City. And we can't get there."

Frolorn and hopeless, the group is silent. Until out of nowhere I get a genius idea. 

"Judy," I whisper. 

"Yes?" 

I try to find the right words before I continue. 

"You said you can use DREAMS to change things in real life. For example the key to get me out of the room." 

Judy doesn't respond. I can't blame her for that, our fight earlier was very ugly. 

"What if you can use DREAMS to go to Always Night City and turn on the teleportation device?" 

"Isabella, that's genius!" Nox looks at me impressed as new life streams back into her body. 

"Judy, you have to do it. This is our last chance." 

"That's what you said earlier as well. And those words are the reason we are in this situation to begin with." 

Judy clearly doesn't seem convinced. 

"Why don't you do it?" she suggests. "Remember when you turned up in my dream and gave me the crystal? You clearly know how it works."

Nox thinks for a second. "No, I can't. Else the author would have to write my POV which she has successfully avoided for the past 134 chapters. You are our only hope."

"F*ck..."

Although I can't see Judy, I know that she is biting her lip right now, the arms crossed like an angry child. 

"Judy, do it," I say, trying to convince her. "Use this superpower of yours for something good for once."

We are waiting for a response as I'm sharpening my ears, checking if I can hear something from the soldiers. But so far there seems to be no one nearby. They must have run into other directions. Or maybe they didn't even follow and are now preparing to blow the space up. 

"Fine. I'll do it. Lexa, please prepare a session."

An unfamiliar robotic female voice answers. "Preparing session. Falling asleep in 10 seconds."

<<<

2019

Eckley, CO

"Cam? Fuck, Cam!" A voice violently shakes him out of his sleep. He slowly opens his eyes but it's too dark to see anything. Cameron's body shivers and his back hurts. His fingers explore the ground beneath him. It's hard and a million tiny rubbery stones press themselves into his skin like needles.

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing here?" A light hits his eyes and he squints. It reminds him of the shrill neon tubes in the supermarket. As if they were pressing themselves through his pupils into his brain. 

The light moves away from his face and Cameron sees Sonny standing next to him, bend over. "Did you seriously decide to sleep outside? You'll catch your own death in these temperatures!" Cameron tries to sit up and looks around. The flashlight illuminates the red rubbery ground of the basketball field. How did he get here? What happened? 

"I...don't know." "What do you mean you don't know? Did you sleepwalk?" Cameron shrugs his shoulders and then slowly stands up. He feels dizzy. "Apparently. What time is it?" His right hand wipes over his cheek and through his hair. The rubbery pebbles which got stuck to his skin drizzle onto the floor. "11:29 pm. I heard you get up and leave the room and I followed you but lost you for a minute and then I found you here, sleeping." 

Cameron furrows his eyebrows. He remembers looking at his phone after seeing the shadow before he left to follow it. That was at 11:25 pm. So only four minute had passed since he stepped out into the car park? That is how long it probably took him to walk from their room to this place. So that makes sense. But usually dreams last way longer. He remembers reading a study saying a normal dream takes 10 to 20 minutes. So how did he manage to dream all of that in only four? 

He stood there, behind the containers, for half an hour. There was no skip in time. He experienced every single second. 

Cameron can feel his head beginning to hurt. All of that, seeing Kaz again, the shadow, the fucked up dream and waking up outside in the cold, is just too much for him. The only thing Cameron wants to do now is to sleep in his bed and not get up for the next 48 hours. And he doesn't want any more dreams.

~~~~~~~~~~

The alarm went off at 6:45 am and it took Cameron a good minute to motivate himself to get up, go to classes and to see Kaz. He decided to just forgive Sonny because he had no energy to continue ignoring him and Cameron hates fighting anyway. He loves harmony and would rather forgive someone out of the blue than paying the other person back. And the feeling from last night, not having Sonny as a friend anymore, was too much to bare. 

It doesn't take long until he has to face last night's dream. During the morning prayer he can't stop looking at Kaz. First of all because he looks like an angel in his school uniform and with his curls that frame his pale face like a halo and underline his big green eyes. But he is also looking for signs of some sort of drug use. 

Cameron knows that's stupid because a) you can't always see that, b) it was just a dream and c) Kaz is not the kind of person to take drugs. 

But on the other hand Cameron realizes that he probably doesn't know him as well as he makes himself believe. Yes, the week they spent together last summer was intense and beautiful but how good can you possibly know someone who you've spent only seven days with and haven't seen for over a year after that?

Cameron knows that he fucked up yesterday. He has to apologize. Even when the thought of talking to Kaz is making his stomach turn. He feels embarrassed after how their conversation went yesterday. He will never forget the mix of confusion and annoyance in the boy's face. 

Everyone is getting up and instead of following Sonny, Cameron waits for Kaz, who is talking to his friends. When the group passes him, Stan takes all of his courage and clears his throat. 

"Wait!" The boy turns around and looks at him. "Can we talk for a second?" Kaz looks like he isn't sure but nods. "Sure. What's up? " His friends give Cameron a weird look but continue to walk away. "I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I guess I freaked you out. You're probably right, my memories must have gotten messed up." Kaz starts to smile. "Don't worry, it's fine. I could've been a little nicer as well. Our brains can be weird sometimes." Cameron nods and smiles back.. Phew.