He had never been outside that factory, and even when he did get out, the only things he managed to see were walls and ruins. It was the first time he was seeing the outside world. Fana was essentially a city built in the middle of the desert. It didn't resemble Elxis at all. Mike hadn't the chance to see what Elxis looked like, but he knew it was famous for the technology, the beautiful buildings, and the power. Fana, however, was the complete opposite. It was a small territory that belonged to Elxis. The central market consisted of stalls lined left and right, holding fruits, vegetables, and other goods. The city's buildings were old structures from before the war who the there people had repaired them and lived inside them. Mike looked at everything around him like a little child. Someone else might say that Fana was a poor land, but in Mike's eyes, it was a small, beautiful place where everyone lived their own life.
"Um, sir…"
Mike turned his head toward at the boy standing next to him.
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Mike felt strange being addressed that way by the boy. All his life, he had called his superiors that.
"What is it?"
"What do we do now?"
"What do you mean? We search," Samantha stopped and said.
"Yes, but that won't work. We need to split up, each searching for a warehouse and a place to stay."
What Samantha said made sense, so Mike agreed.
"Okay, you take…" Mike froze because he didn't know the girl's name or her number.
"457… I'm 457," the girl said, understanding what Mike wanted to say.
"Um… maybe we shouldn't call each other by our numbers."
"Then what should we call each other?"
After a pause, Mike replied.
"Kalli… your name will Kalli"
The girl's cheeks flushed while her eyes lit up. Mike didn't understand why she wasn't speaking—maybe he had said something that upset her?
"You two go together and find a shelter, while Liam and I will look for a warehouse. Let's meet back here."
The two girls went off to find shelter, while Mike and Liam set out to find a warehouse.
Hours passed, and they found nothing. Along the way, they spotted some warehouses, but some were too large and well-guarded, while others were too close to central areas, making it too risky to approach them.
"Did you have a name?"
"What?"
"You know, were you always a slave?"
"If you're asking my name, it's Mike."
Liam's face lit up with a cheerful and playful expression that reminded Mike of James.
"So you weren't always a slave."
"No, I was born a slave."
" Then how do you have a name?"
Bam!
The sound made both of them turn toward its source. It was a slave who had knocked over a box of bottles, and his boss was beating and cursing him for the mistake.
Mike wanted to help but stayed where he was. He wasn't a hero,he was also a slave.
But Liam stepped forward, ready to strike the man who was beating the slave. Mike grabbed him from behind just in time and stopped him.
"Why…?"
"Because we're slaves too, remember?"
Liam stopped and just stared at Mike. But Mike was looking at something else.The building where that slave worked was a food warehouse. It was small and relatively remote from the center— it was the perfect place to steal food.
"Come on, let's go back."
"What? But we didn't find anything."
"Yes, we did. Let's go find the others."
When they found Samantha and Kelly, they went back and gathered the rest of the slaves. Mike led them to the place the two girls had found—an abandoned apartment building, fairly far from the center. Inside, there was lots of trash, discarded items, and broken glass, but somehow it was better than the room he used to share with the other slaves in that factory.
"Listen up, everyone. Today we need steal food from the warehouse."