5 Grand Peak

*

As we disembarked from the helicopter, I saw the other landed helicopters coughing up suit wearing individuals as well as different kinds of people in casual clothes that looked to have gone through hell.

Unfortunately, most of the them seemed to have been actively battling day and night to survive unlike me, which made my inner demon sulk. I couldn't find comfort in the masses. No one was wearing a medium rare traumatised face like me.

It made sense. If you're strong enough to endure almost 3 months of constant struggle for survival against these unnatural odds, then you'd definitely turn into a hardened warrior. Or at least an immitation.

I can't even imagine what most had to go through. Losing family on the way. Having to fight and kill those who were once human. Not only grown men and women were subjected to this, but even children as well.

We were all led down the pathway that extended from the helipad platforms to the gigantic building.

It exuded a safe and reassuring aura, towering over us like a deity. All around was the rough healthy ground marred by weeds. I never thought I'd say this but..... I've never been glad to see these green suckers/nomads in my life. They were best scouts for healthy ground.

There was a large entrance at the ground floor of the building, where we were led to.

A couple of the us were led down a different path to the residential areas. Clearly they were Standard Invigorated.

Sandra walked up to me and began her exposition.

"We call this the Grand Peak. Its a building reserved for Elite Invigorated and leadership personnel. It also houses the elderly and children who don't have anyone to take care of them. It also serves as a basic training facility and a strategic liasing platform," she said.

As we walked in, I saw the hundreds of people young and old walking around, children playing or interacting, but with much less youthful fervour. The light that is ever present in the eyes of children of their age was either dim or gone.

Several young to middle aged men and women were tending to the children and the elderly. Some helping the elderly up the stairs to the first floor or sitting and listening to their stories, while they sat by the smooth stone benches. Some were helping little kids to read books or playing simple games.

"There's a lot more people capable of such charity than I thought," I blurted out and then realised it was somewhat inappropriate.

"I wish I could say that they are all doing it from the kindness of their hearts but that's not true for all of them. Most of these are people who have lost everything. Some were even on the verge of madness.

They are doing it to try and find purpose. To fill in holes of the hurt of losing all those they love. This could easily have been me. But I prefer to shoot and punch my frustrations out. Charity without the compassion and heart leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

Seeing the frown on her face as she looked at some of the helpers convinced me that she truly loathed some of their actions. Though, I myself didn't really think it was a bad thing to do.

"Besides, despite what you saw when we came, relations between different people aren't all rosy.

The violence and cases of invasion, sometimes even sexual harrasment are the course of the day.

We've had to detain some fools who still had the energy to protest against breathing the same air as other people of different points of original. <Sigh >. Some of the helpers are those who got sick of it and decided to work here," she said breathing out in resignation.

"I don't condone that behaviour, but I'm not really surprised. People are agitated and looking for places to vent their frustration. Discrimination would be any insane person's first choice. Don't get me wrong...I'd welcome racial appreciation any day, but I don't think an apocalypse is enough."

"What do you think would bring people together if not a disaster of this scale?" She looked at me as she asked.

I looked at her as well and sighed. Sandra was an anomaly to me. She was very cheerful yet I could feel the towering anguish through her green eyes. The fact that she was still friendly while carrying a deep burden all by herself made me admire her. I carried burdens of grief too, but for a long time I had never been able to handle them while in that pit/hole/tunnel.

"Frankly, I don't think there is a singular answer to that problem. That's because the problem itself is layered and has many subjective facts to consider.

For example, many women consider all men to be dogs, only lusting for their bodies. When guys look at it, we are offended, however the truth is, among those girls, some really have been hurt deeply multiple times, even though the notion itself is absurd.

The same concept of conflict can be applied here. I'm not saying these two are even remotely on the same level, but we do have people who have been subjected to bad treatment that led to them to fabricate stereotypes that stand to represent everyone from certain racial groups.

On the other hand, there are those who genuinely don't know anything about certain people simply because they don't know them. Therefore they end up assuming that the stereotypes created by wronged parties are true.

On the third hand, we have jerks that just don't like the fact that your skin colour, eye shape, colour, culture and tastes differ from theirs."

Sandra's eyebrows were raised. She clearly didn't expect me to produce such an answer I guess. Well, being an author means I have to research and understand the implications of certain problems we have.

"So, you're basically saying that bad representatives from different racial groups and ignorance are the biggest fuels for discrimination?" Sandra asked intrigued by my opinion.

"No. There are many other different reasons. The subject itself cannot be justified by any means but there are people in the world who try to make a difference. How? By visiting different places, learning different languages and cultures in order to understand different people. A wise comedian once said 'The cure to ignorance is travelling the world'."

(A/N: Trevor Noah).

"A comedian?" Sandra asked.

"Yes. So, as for the solution. We do have something that has been known to join people of different races together."

"What's that?"

"FOOD!"

"Food?"

"Food!"

Sandra laughed and my heart skipped a beat. Hey heart! Mind your own bloody business! If you skip a shift we die! This is no time for a crush.

"I agree though. Different foods do bring people together."

"Yep. In fact, if I were a good cook, I'd cook maize meal and vegetables for you. It would be the best energy giving food for all Invigorated."

"That's a sweet sentiment. I'll show you to the canteen later."

"I suddenly feel the urge to sleep. Maybe next month, whenIknowI'lldefinitelybekillingmonsterssomewhere."

"What was that last part?"

"Nothing."

As we reached a foyer, Astrid turned to us, the new recruits.

"I'd like to say you could take it easy for a while, but time is not on our side and we can't afford such luxury. We'll give you a few hours to rest and eat before you need to be briefed and .... to answer your questions. Please do use that time wisely," she said as she left us.

A couple of helpers came to us and led us to our rooms. We climbed up the stairs that led to different floors. After being Invigorated, scaling through the numerous flights of stairs became as easy as pie.... a few weeks later when my legs no longer felt like jelly.

The walls as we passed were pristine, clean and smooth. They may not have been decorated, but gave off a homely feel.

I was led to a room on what I think was the 21st floor.

On arriving, the helper told me that I would be getting new clothes soon. I nodded and entered the room. It was 6 square meters, with the same smooth stone walls. A mattress was lying on the floor, beneath it a special fabric, which I assumed was meant to keep the mattress from getting dirty.

The floor was not as smooth but more like an aligned layer of concrete with rough edges. To the right, from my position as I stood by the door, was a tub full of hot water and a towel by the side.

I didn't need to think too much before undressing, stirring the waters with my foot to confirm if it was safe territory and then sinking my body in.

The tub was pretty large at 2.5 meters in length with a height of a meter. It was probably the standard model of a bathtub used by all the rooms in order to cater for differences in size.

I enjoyed the waters as they flushed away my fatigue. The accumulated dirt literally melted off my body, leaving me feeling fresh. I rested my head on the tub rim.

I miss my country. Having a singular ruling party for decades, ever increasing inflation, continuous introduction of new currencies and a rigid system overall was heaven compared to the current conditions.

A knock came from the door. I got out of the tub and almost strolled over to the door naked in my still lingering comfort. I wore my pants but refused to desecrate my skin with that torn and dirty shirt again.

I opened the door to see an African American lady with honey coloured skin. Her hair was braided, but it barely looked so. She had a round face that was decorated with upturned hazel eyes, a straight nose and pink ideal lips. She had shallow cheeks that did nothing to show warmth from her smile.

"Here are your clothes, s-," she said only to stop abruptly. Her wide open eyes stared at me as if they had seen a ghost. I could see terror and relief at the same time as her slender hands trembled and slowly grasped for my naked shoulders.

I never thought the touch of a woman on my skin could feel so tragically sad as I gazed into her eyes wondering what was happening.

"J..James... JAMES! Oh my God, James!" her hands alternated between my face and shoulders as she breathed heavily, tears already streaming down her face.

Before I knew it she embraced me so tightly that I thought she was going to kill me.

"I am so sorry! Please forgive me! I WAS SO SCARED! I PANICKED! I saw people dying left and right in horrible ways and I was....so scared! PLEASE DON'T DIE CURSING MY NAME! JAMES please, forgive me! YOUR SISTER WAS SCARED!"

Her screams made me unsure of what to say. I wanted to try embracing her back, but she quickly went on her knees and looked at me with her bloodshot eyes. A sad smile was on her face. She grabbed my pants tightly asking for forgiveness over and over again.

Sigh. I severely underestimated how much pain this disaster caused. From the looks of it, it seems I look like her younger brother. In her panic from seeing people die she must have ran without looking back, surviving after being Invigorated.

Two helpers came and held the lady, taking her away. Another one came to me and handed me the clothes I was supposed to receive while I remained in a daze.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, sir. She's new. She had been doing fine for the last two days but..... "

"I understand," I said with reassuring smile," I would like to talk to her sometime. Maybe I could help."

"Oh... Alright then. We'll see when she recovers."

I took my clothes and closed the door. I put on the long sleeved black shirt and blue jeans. On my feet were a pair of converse tennis shoes which fit quite nicely.

Later I was taken to the canteen, where there were rows upon rows of stone tables and benches set up neatly with people of different age groups eating.

The layout resembled that of a fast food restaurant, with the cooking area on the far side, barred by a wall that covered the entrance such that the servers looked as if they were coming out of the wall from my position.

We were served rice with a foggy rich soup that I have never tasted before and fresh bread. Cool and refreshing orange juice, which I recognised to be from those 100% fruit juice boxes I usually bought at the market, was served as well in generous proportions.

I ate hungrily, feeling a part of me gaining strength as the fluffy rice and rich, warm soup tangled in my mouth. The scrumptious fresh bread with a warm feel and fresh smell made it even better. The finesse of the juice had an overall thumbs up to my stomach which unravelled steadily.

I had been worried that eating solid food after not eating for 3 months would kill me instantly, but I guess Invigoration worked like a charm, acting to reassemble my stomach again to receive and digest the food. If I'd died from eating rather than from starving... Let me withhold my piece.

After the meal, I was guided back to my room as I still wasn't used to the layout yet.

Three hours later, I received a knock again and after reluctantly getting off the mattress to answer the call, I saw Sandra waiting for me.

"Hey. Glad you look better. It's time to for you meet someone. Our benefactor if I may say," she said with her usual bubbly tone.

"Who?" I asked.

"The Advocate."