• Chapter 1: A new awakening

    The boy rests inside a thick silver tube. It was seven feet tall and four feet wide. The door to it was glass, see through. Inside was red liquid that filled to the brim. Gray wires were placed inside his body. Three on his forearms, one for each of his fingers, eight on his back, four on his legs, and a thicker one in the back of his skull. It was pumping contents into him.
    Other tubes were placed along all the metal-walled room. They were put side by side, running endlessly down the row. All occupied.
    A man stood in front of the boy’s tube. He wore a long black robe with a hood that shielded his eyes and appearance. In his left hand were clothes, a matching uniform that’s given to all of the living dead.
    He brings up his right hand, palm facing forward, and presses onto the glass door. The gray wires start to emit a golden glow then fades as it disconnects from the boy’s body. The red liquid slowly drains down with a slurp. The man takes a step back as the door opens. It hisses like high pressured steam seeping through a crack. The boy opens his eyes—a dull grey color—and takes a fumbling step out. His wet foot slaps the cold steel floor. Red drips down his white hair and trails along his naked pale body. He stares emotionlessly straight ahead. The man hands him the uniform. The shirt was long-sleeved and had a closed collar. It was black with three stripes along the left shoulder that connects together into a single line down the side of the chest. The pants were just plain black. Same goes for the boots. He takes the clothes and starts putting them on without hesitation or desperation.
    “Follow” the man says as the boy finished dressing. He turned and started walking.
    The boy obeyed and went with him without complaint. They went down the stairs and into a hot room. It was fairly large but nowhere near as big as the tube room. There was fire burning in a metal indent in the walls. People were pounding molten metal with a hammer. They were shaping it into letters and numbers then they connect it together. The workers here had different clothing. Instead of a lavish black robe, they wore dirty ragged shirts and torn pants. They were slaves or peasant workers in need of money.
    The man and the boy walks up to a free station. “LR234” the man says to the worker.
    The worker starts melting the metal then takes it out and began shaping it. It sizzles as he dumps it into a bucket of water. He pulls it back into the flame, turns to put the boy’s shirt collar down, and then brands the left side of his bare neck. He set it there for a couple seconds then releases it.
    “Come” the robed man says as he exits the room.
    The boy follows him again. He didn’t feel the pain that was given to him by the hot metal. The red LR234 brand mark cooled to pure black on his skin. They walked up the stairs and continued further in the empty hallway.
    “You are a living dead” the man says without making eye contact. “Your existence is to bring misery to humans just like the one that branded you. Never befriend a human or show them the least bit of kindness. Always listen to your superiors. You can identify them by their robes like the one I’m wearing. Your kind isn’t easy to get rid of. A broken limb or a detached body can be easily reattached, but if your head is gone then it’s all over”
    They stop in front of a tall, geared, double door. Two workers struggle as they push it open with their boney bodies.
    “Other than that, you are free to do as you wish as long as you follow those simple rules” the superior nods to the outside.
    The boy—LR234—heads out the door.
    “Remember” he says before the door closes shut. “Listen and obey”

    click to read the next part