Chapter 20
The winds blew long and hard, impeding my progress as I trudged, struggling along the plateau. Clear of vegetation, clear of any windbreaker, the winds had long and far to build up strength.
I kept walking.
At the back of me, the Earth dome was getting smaller, and I had no problem with that. In front of me, the town that held the outcasts from City Central, it grew slightly larger with every step, grew closer in view and spirit. The winds pushed hard against me. I had to stop for a second. My eyes burnt as dirt whipped into my face. The pain seared to the center of my head. I winced, holding my hand to my face. Forces were working against me, it was nothing new.
My head was still aching. I held it in my hand as I made good time across the plateau. I stopped for a second, listening to the howling of the wind. It was primitive and powerful, it was nature like I had never known. I felt angry, felt robbed of a true life. I was grown in a glass cylinder, and when I left I was stuck in a space station, with fabricated memories in a fabricated world. This world was real. Even if it killed me, I preferred to be here.
The sky was filled with clouds, moving quickly across the horizon. The clouds were laying a dark blanket across the atmosphere, the sun trying to push through the cracks in between. It created a mix of dark and light across the plateau, constantly changing, unpredictable.
I continued to walk towards the town. Melissa would be waiting for me there, I was sure of that. Maybe I could make some real memories to hold on to, to comfort me.
Maybe I could make a real life.
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