Chapter 6- Finally, Forest City

Dale and Wilson once again continued their journey. They came across many more villages and small towns. These towns had flying vehicles, large towers and buildings, were very populated and the hierarchy was apparent over there. Wilson marveled at the sight of these vehicles and buildings. Dale sniggered.

 “Wait till you get to the city of your dreams! This is nothing compared to that.” He said as he heard Wilson praising the beauty of these towns.

A month after they started their journey, they entered a city that made the previous towns they had seen look like toddler towns. It was filled with the characteristic hustle and bustle of a city life, even at night. There were guards everywhere. Cars, carriages, Buses, Communication devices, various types of foods, inns, hotels, bars, people shouting and displaying their wares, some loud music was being played at a corner where some people were gathered watching a man and his three-tailed albino monkey dance. As they moved on in the carriage, Wilson began to see some ugly sides of this city. He saw some young boys being brutally beaten by some adults, two men pounding each others’ faces at a corner while quite a number of people watched on, waving some federation credits(the currency used all around the continent), and shouting excitedly at the fighters. They stopped in front of another inn.

 “Wait inside, I will be back!” Dale said, taking Wilson into a room in the inn. He ordered some dinner for him and left in a hurry, like he was late for an appointment. Wilson did not think too much about it and ate all his food.

He ate and drank everything given to him in minutes and laid down to sleep. He realized that he could not sleep from all the excitement. Afterall, Dale had told him that this city shared boundaries with Forest City. And that it was only a matter of time before they got there. He knew he needed to sleep, so that  he could wake up early to train. Dale had told him to keep training in preparation for the tournament in forest city. The tournament was a one day contest in which lots of teenagers of sixteen would participate regardless of where they were from. This contest always began with all the contestants fighting at the same time in a sort of battle royal match. They were disqualified if they raised their white flags which meant that they had given up or were thrown out of the large circle in which they fought. The top twenty would automatically be admitted into the academy. As the academy admitted just fifty people every year, it meant that thirty others who did not reach the top twenty, would be hand-picked based on the judgement of the top officials of the academy. So, the contest did not aim for winning only, but for also impressive performances.

Finally, Wilson became sleepy when he heard a scream from behind his window. He stood up with a start and looked outside to see some men bullying a young, beautiful lady. He shook his head as he remembered what Dale told him.

 “Never pay attention to what is happening in the city! There are lots of people who do a lot of bad things but the second you decide to help their victims, you become a victim too. You will never be the same again. Your dream will become like the stars, bright and unreachable. You will lose your freedom as well and become a slave till you die! I’m sure that is not what you want. So, ignore like they don’t even exist!” He had asked why. “Why? Because they are the ones ruling this city. And they have such connections that would make it impossible to do anything reasonable with your life. Not even if you travel to the other side of the continent.” Dale had told him.

So, with that in mind, he completely ignored the lady’s cries for help and went to sleep. His dreams were way too important to be wasted on a person he knew nothing about! Even amidst the lady’s screams, he slept soundly till morning.

The next morning, he woke up and saw the lady dead on the street with her head cut off and her guts spilling out from her stomach. He did not even blink as he looked away and took his bath, dressed up and left the inn. Dale was already waiting for him outside and together, they left the vicinity with Dale leading the way. They arrived at a bus station painted in a mixture of various colours and graffiti. Dale bought tickets and together they boarded a big bus that conveyed people to Forest City.

Wilson was fascinated by everything he saw, the various types of people with various skin colours. Some looked very dark, black even, like they were brought directly out of fire after spending years in it. Some were sickish yellow, some had reddish skin and some brown. There were those that looked completely normal. There were also dwarves, Extra-tall people, some of the passengers were fat and stocky. Some were ugly, some of average beauty while some others were very attractive. He noticed some people with robot parts or animal arts like they were combined with them. He sat at the very last seat along with Dale and three other passengers. When the bus that conveniently occupied a hundred people was filled up, it shook slightly into a start and slowly maneuvered between other vehicles and sped up as soon as it reached the highways specially erected for flying vehicles.

Wilson was beyond excited at the thought of him finally arriving at Forest City and fantasized about him entering the academy as one of the top twenty. His daydream was cut short when Dale spoke up.

 “You must have seen that dead lady behind your window right? She was one of the most notorious criminals in the city. Her records are the worst in the entire continent. So, you see why I told you not to get involved in these matters no matter how terrible they are? If you had gone to help her and I am sure you must have considered that option, you would be in the same state as she is in right now!” Dale said without looking to check Wilson’s reaction who simply nodded as he thought back to what had happened the other night and this morning. What if he had helped her? He did not want to think about it!

The bus stopped a few hours later at another bus stop.

 “Get down boy! We are finally at Forest city!”