Niklaus: Dark Days

Troops in crisp khaki uniforms marched in perfect unison down the cobbled road. They were flanked by several large-wheeled vehicles that kicked up clouds of loose dirt as they went, sending it into the balmy breezes of Spring. This wasn't the first group of militants to pass, nor would it be the last. A boy and his mother stood staring down at them from a particularly tall hilltop. They were separated from the edge of the barrier by a tall electrified fence.

"They look like ants from down here," the mother said to her son, a solemn smile on her gaunt face. She half hummed, half sang the old nursery rhyme her grandmother had taught her. "The ants go marching ten by ten." Gunfire cracked in the otherwise silent rolling hills. A figure was running across the fields. Bang bang.  It stumbled and fell, but got back up and continued to run. The soldier formation stopped all at once. They spread their feet shoulder-width apart and fell into parade rest. One soldier stepped forward and raised his rifle.

Bang.

The fleeing figure collapsed into the brush. He wouldn't get back up.

The formation snapped back into place and continued on their merry way, as if nothing had happened. Son looked up at Mother and sighed. "Why do they keep trying to run? They will never make it?"

"Some people were meant to die trying," she replied in a slow tone. "One day that one brave soul will make it far away from here." Her voice cracked. "And he will start a good life for himself. He will be healthy and have children who will grow up never knowing of this place, of this stupid fence..."

"Mother, why are you crying?"

She simply shook her head, smiling a teary smile. "Come, Niklaus. We don't want to worry your father too much." Although the boy was bursting with questions, he nodded and padded after his mother as she made her way back to the large fortress that comprised the center Cochem.

~*~

"They are getting more frequent, Anna," pressed Bernhard Adler, standing up and leaning on their shabby wooden table with both palms. "Passing the city multiple times a day.  More people than usual going missing." It was far past sunset, but the sorry remains of dinner hadn't yet been cleared. They had put their son to bed and proceeded to get into a very harsh argument.

"I'm not going to risk it, Bernhard," warned Anna in a tone only a protective mother could vocalize. Her blue eyes blazed with cold fury, cheeks reddening as her temper rose.

"Soon it will be to late to risk anything," he countered.

"We are not sending our son to fend for himself out there!"

"THEN HE WILL DIE."

Little Klaus Adler jumped slightly as his father slammed both hands on the table so forcefully that the dishes had actually been propelled slightly into the air. Anna instinctively shrunk backward, shielding her face with an arm. A tense silence settled upon the room. Who could speak after that? Bernhard could have sworn he saw motion by the door, but when he looked the space was completely empty. His son had darted down the hall and snuck back into his room without so much as a peep. When they came to check on him later, they found the boy in a seemingly peaceful slumber.

~*~

There was a knock at the door. Klaus looked up from his breakfast as his father stood to answer it. "Who goes there?" Bernhard asked through the door. He missed his video surveillance, a luxury taken from him during the war.

"Police, open the door!"

It was a blur. Anna had grabbed her son and ushered him into the hallway. There was shouting at the door. A gunshot. Yelling. Another gunshot. The mother's fingers trembled as they detached her necklace and pressed a button on the emerald pendant attached. They turned into the bedroom. The necklace split open to reveal a key, which she pushed into a hole in a large wooden cabinet. It slid to the side and revealed a metal door, one protected by a hand scanner. More gunshots echoed in the front room. Furniture shattered, people fell.

"Put your hand on it, hurry!" Anna grabbed her son's tiny hand and placed it on the scanner. He couldn't remember ever seeing anything like it before. The light traced his palm, back and forth, before blinking green and opening the door. "Go!"

Klaus was confused. Even as a child, he was unnaturally inquisitive, overly cognisant of his surroundings. Why were the police forcing their way inside? Where had this door come from and how did it know his hand? Why was mother sending him away? "B-but Mama..."

"Hush, my child. Go. Run until you cannot run any longer.”  Bernhard roared in the background, quickly followed by one last gunshot. Silence.

“There should be a boy and a woman.”

“Find them. Take the woman alive for questioning.”

“And the boy?”

“Kill him.”

Anna grabbed a pack from inside the door and forced it onto Klaus’ small shoulder. “There will be help along the way,” she whispered. “Remember you are never alone." Her voice cracked as tears streamed down both of their faces. Two soldiers forced their way down the hallway, checking one of the side rooms before continuing.

“Clear.”

“Check the bedroom.”

“Roger.”

“I love you, mama,” Klaus could barely say the words properly. He felt as if he were drowning in his own tears. “Please come with me!”

“I can't.” She began to shut the door. Electricity crackled through the air and into her thin body, shocking her into unconsciousness.

“Mama!”

“The boy!”

Klaus took one last look at his mother, slammed the metal barrier shut, and locked it manually from the inside. Try as they might, the soldiers couldn't give chase. Neither parent's handprint activated the scanner, and the material was impenetrable through normal means. He tore down the dark tunnel with nothing to guide him.

After several tumbles, a few run-ins with giant rodents, and what seemed like hours, Klaus collapsed into the cold rocky floor, unable to push his little legs any further. He felt faint, nauseous, and the adrenaline couldn't let his heart stop racing. Snot and tears had collected on his face, dried and dirty now.

“Mama... Papa...”

The world was going dark.

“Go.” His mother's voice echoed loudly in his head.

~*~

A man awoke in bed two decades later. He gasped, sitting straight up in a cold sweat. The sheets clung to his chest, sticky and uncomfortable. “What the...” Klaus could have sworn someone had actually told him to 'go’. It had felt so real. He touched his face. Damp. What the hell was in that drink last night? Was he still hallucinating?

Klaus slid out of his bed, relishing the cool wooden floor against his feet. He made his way to the bathroom, splashed water on his face, and stared at himself in the mirror. It was just another one of his crazy ass dreams-- the ones responsible for the dark circles under his eyes as of late. “Fuckkkkk,” he groaned, dragging his fingers down his cheeks. “Fuck my life.” So tired. So very tired. Why couldn't he just sleep?

It wasn't as if the dream was even real. Laine and Henry Adler, his parents, were alive and well, now living in Florida. He had no recollection of living in the highly fortified own, nor of the man and woman that had portrayed his parents. His shaking hand found a bottle of pills in the first drawer under the sink. Two little pellets fell into his hand and promptly found their way into his mouth, followed by a gulp of water. They were the best kind of sleeping meds; only able to be prescribed by a doctor. Of course, that didn't stop them from circulating around the underground markets.

Klaus dragged himself back to his room, cranked up the thermostat, and collapsed into his soft silky bed. Duchess hopped up as well, brushing her body against his bare chest. The cat meowed loudly, as if she sensed something was wrong.

“Hush, mein schatzi,” he murmured through the veil of sleep and threaded idle fingers through her fur. Tomorrow he would forget this dream, just like every other.

Outside Klaus' apartment, CP patrolled the dark streets in trains of military issue hoverbikes.

The ants go marching ten by ten.