Living Dreams

Chapter 2

Dustin

There were people crying and yelling all around me and those that were not doing either were attempting to calm those who were, especially the children. I lifted my gaze above their heads and studied the brick buildings surrounding us, each of them towering over the people. In the distance, I could see a couple towers hovering over the rest of the city.

Lempake. I remembered the name that figure had called this wretched place and I doubted that I would be able to forget it.

"What do we do now?" Ele asked and I sighed before mindlessly patting her arm.

"We find out where we are and what we're supposed to do to get back home." I offered her a smile before turning away from the frail brunette beside me. "We'll have to-"

"Listen up!" A baritone voice shouted above the noise, followed by loud piercing whistle. I whipped around, staring at a middle-aged man who stood on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the square. Silence followed him as everyone turned to stare at him. "Look, I will not lie to you and say that I know this place, because I don't. But I do know one thing, we cannot stay here! We must find out way home and that man told us what he had to do to get home. We have to beat this world!"

Ele made a small noise beside me while others mumbled amongst themselves for a short while.

"I cannot fight this world alone and so I'll need volunteers. We will fight and conquer this world together! Who's with me?" He shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

A cocky smile played on my lips as I stared at that man. He knew that he needed to keep the morale high and that he couldn't do it himself.

I turned to Ele and nodded my head at her. "Be careful."

"What are you doing?"

"Being an idiot." I stated, turning on my heel and shouldered my way through the crowd, towards the man who stood on the fountain. I finally made it through the last of the crowd and nothing stood between the two of us as I strode forward. "I'm with you." I told him and he beamed at me before clapping my shoulder.

"Good to see that lightening don't kill you, boy!" He laughed quietly before turning his gaze back to the others. "Come on! A two man army isn't enough! Men! Women! If you want to return home, then you must fight with us!"

"I'm in." Another voice called and a large man shouldered his way through and lumbered towards us. He stepped on my right and I stared up at him, aware of the fact that he was at least another foot and a half taller than I, which was saying something since I was 5'10''.

A few more joined in, both men and women. A kid a few years younger than me joined the growing number of volunteers, but I could see the hesitation in his steps. I nodded at him and he glanced away.

After a short while later, the fountain was surrounded by volunteers, by people who wanted to fight their way out. I glanced up and saw Ele staring at me in surprise and confusion, but I just shrugged. I guess this is why my mom always said that I was reckless. I chuckled to myself.

"Excellent!" The middle-aged man called as he surveyed his volunteers before turning back towards the crowd. "If any of you change your minds and want to help, all you have to do is find me or one of these brave men and women. We will welcome everyone!" With that, he jumped off the edge of the fountain and turned towards us. He grinned at me for a second and then towards the others. "Well, we do need introductions, so I am Cedric. As for all of you, I'm afraid there's to many of you to learn your names in one day and I, for one, hate those 'introduce yourself to a crowd of people even though no one will remember you in an hour' things. So, instead, we're going to do things differently. We're going to partner up with someone and you're going to get to know that partner. And, while you're getting you know your partner, I want us to look around the city and help sort out the remaining people in places that they can live in. We're all going to want a safe place to sleep tonight after all of this."