Outside the Dome
Description
It's the year 8000, and humanity has evolved.
A series of natural disasters and nuclear explosions have wiped out half of the world's population in preceding years, leaving but a few lucky million to survive the catastrophes.
The few who survived created a permeable dome, inhabiting an area where southeast Asia would have been a couple thousand years ago. The land was still somewhat fertile, allowing humans to grow crops and sustain the growing population. Along with the growing population, technology also matured; the permeable dome being a prime example. Although citizens wired into the security system could leave and enter the dome, most inteneded never to leave.
Aside from the dome, the rest of the earth was imagined to be covered in cooled lava; desolate, scorching, and uninhabitable.
It was taught in school for children to never end up outside the protection of the dome. Survivorship outside was close to zero. If one were to leave the dome, they were pronounced dead in the security system, so the rare few who did survive and planned to return back were killed when they did.
Even with all these truths, it still petrified Kyungsoo when he returned back home, only to find rows of gun barrels pointed at him.
Foreword
"Stop! Don't move!"
The dust rose slowly off the ground, then drifting back down as if the earth were in deep slumber. Nothing pentrated the thick silence as Kyungsoo stared at the rows guns pointed directly at him. The soldiers, some were familiar faces and others Kyungsoo had seen once or twice, glared at him intently, their fingers placed at their triggers, ready to fire. The dome's plasma currents hummed faintly against the tense background, being the only things Kyungsoo could hear besides the irregular, fast paced beating of his heart.
"Do Kyungsoo, you are hereby proclaimed dead, and should not be standing where you are now. Returning has granted you a fast and speedy death. Be prepared to die."
As the multiple barrels clicked and locked on their target, Kyungsoo turned his right foot slightly towards the opposite direction.
I'm not dying. I'm perfectly fine, but they will kill me. Kill me for no reason...
It was as if all time had stopped, and in that miniscule second, Kyungsoo felt his body become animated. His chest rose and fell as he took in a deep breath. The last of his oxygen left his body when the first shot crackled through the air. The last string of fear snapped inside his mind as he sprinted across the coal strewn floor, buliding up a haze of gray dust behind him. A rampage of gun shots flew through the air, penetrating where Kyungsoo once stood a second ago.
The adrenaline pushed Kyungsoo far away from the dome, but he knew it was futile to do so. He was unable to return to safety, where his mother and father were still waiting for their son to come back. He was without food, water, shelter, and direction. Having nothing outside meant certain death.
Kyungsoo didn't want to die, but that decision was not his to make.
Comments