The Dome

Note from Nakari: Anyone is more than free to make the first post. This is just information you need to know before posting. Please feel free to take the liberty of first post! THIS IS NOT A FIRST POST. PLEASE REALIZE THAT THIS IS JUST BACK STORY INFORMATION.

It was hot.

Hotter than a normal day would be. Most of the time it was pretty decent weather. Upper to mid range 90's or up into the hundreds. Humans had adapted. They could stand more heat then back in the day. Guess that's what happens when you live in a world like this.

The world itself wasn't too bad. There was clean water, food to eat if you traveled with a decent enough hunter. Not so much vegetation though. You had to be a carnivore to survive out here. Ryan could feel the sweat beading down his face, getting in his eyes.

"Gah" he grumbled as he whipped off his shawl. He reached up and wiped the sweat onto his sleeve. He replaced the shawl. IT was not common for humans to get sunburn much anymore, but with the sun today, he didn't want to take chances.

The group had been walking for some time. It had to have been half the day. They had been moving at a decent pace, must've cleared a good 30 or 40 kilometers today. He supposed it was time to take a little rest, seeing as the rest of his crew, apart from Kingsly that is, was lagging behind something fierce. Ryan stopped and turned around. They werent too far behind. Maybe a hundred yards or so. He could see their little heads poking over the last sand dune. Kingsly had stopped beside him. The guy wasn't even breaking a sweat. Ryan raised an eyebrow to his travelling companion.

"Sometimes I think you're a mutant" He gave a small smile, and a chuckle.

He turned back to the rest, who had just arrived. Morgan was carrying most of the supplies, seeing as he had a certain affinity for hiding from danger while the others took care of it. Ryan had to give credit to the guy though. He was so afraid of getting sun burnt that he brought along a large telescopic parasol for the crew to sit under in times like these. This probably was one of the reasons Ryan put up with his cowardice.

"Oi' Jayson, How about you set up a little picnic for us?" He said that like it was a question. It wasn't.

He supposed Morgan was more often than not, the brunt of everyone else's jokes, but what are you gonna do. In a group of guys like this you cant go running off scared every time a bison shows up. Regardless of his cowardice, he was a helpful member of the team and They needed someone like him along.

It was cool. The cool of Winter ending and Spring beginning.

Ainsly actually had to wear a jacket when she made a quick sneak out of her house at seven o'clock this morning. Ainsly liked seven a.m. It was the time before the Government got the cameras turned on and before anyone else was awake. She had climbed her favorite tree, an old oak right up against the Dome.

As the young girl pulled her dark hair in a braid, she saw a crack in the Dome where the images didn't quite fit together. Ainsly climbed as high as she could, pressing her face to the spot and looking out. When her eyes adjusted to a brightness she wasn't used to, she gasped.

It was...beautiful. Beautiful in the most horrifying and terrible way. Beautiful in the way that makes you want to cry but also doesn't allow you to turn away. Ainsly had only witnessed this beauty once, when she was 7, and her cat had kittens. She smiled out into the beauty, knowing that, even though she'd die if she went out there, she would give her last breath to see the outside in person.

She watched the outside world for several long minutes, then let out a sigh. That was a world she could never be a part of. As Ainsly went to move away from the crack, she spotted something. A large, bright green umbrella. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped into a large, unbelieving "O".

Ainsly climbed down from the tree as fast as she could and sprinted to the Twins house. They would be the easiest to get awake. Then she'd go get the other two. Ainsly checked her watch, it was almost nine. The twins would just be getting up, but she knew she could go straight in because their parents would be awake.

Ainsly charged through the house and into the bedroom the twins shared. "Rhi! Vic! Wake up!" She shook Rhi, then Vic, then Rhi again. She'd always been closer to Rhi, and she wanted to share this with her, first. "Wake up! You're not going to believe this!" She whispered in hushed excitement. When that didn't work, she yelled: "WAKE UP!"

Rhianna was dreaming of a lecture she'd seen once, many years ago. In it, the lecturer had spoken for an hour on the effects of the Dome on children as they grew up. He had several reasons to allow brief visits to the 'outside' despite the risk that they all knew the outside carried. It was just too hot out there to survive. Everyone knew it. But this so called professor had claimed that it had a negative affect on the learning capacity of children, was bad for morale, and also made the population in general have a fifty three percent increase in the chance of depression later in life. In her dream, though, as the lecturer concluded his speech, he had received a standing ovation, whereas at the actual thing he had been arrested and taken away. No one had heard of him again. In her dream, the sound of applause had forced the Dome to crack, and splinter, and glass had rained down upon them all. Those who hadn't died from that, had died from the heat, but in her dream, Rhi survived. But she had been all alone.

"WAKE UP!"

Rhi gasped and moaned something unintelligible as she was dragged from sleep. It was cool, but suddenly she was reluctant to leave the little bubble of sleep warmth that she found.

Sly was shouting her name over and over again, and she frowned as she rubbed her bleary eyes. "Ainsly...What, what are you...?" She had only ever seen her friend like this a few times, and each time it had been worth the rude awakening. She grimaced, and sat up, looking at her close friend with a look that said this had better be worth it. Sitting up, she was still in pajamas, in a little white vest top and shorts to keep her cool in the warm night.

"What are you even doing?" But it was clear that when she said it, she wasn't irritated. Instead, Rhianna was excited, looking forward to what she was sure was going to be an interesting discussion. She pulled Sly down to sit on her bed as she turned to her twin.

Rhi picked up one of her pillows and threw it at Vic, aiming it at her twin's face. "Vic...Vic! Wake up...Sly's here. Vic!" She then quickly turned to clutch Ainsly's wrists, grinning. "What's going on, hon?" She then glanced about, and realized that Paige wasn't here yet either.

It was dark, so very dark and there was crying surrounding them. Victory could feel Rhi next to her, and she was shaking. It was soo hot, how could it be so dark yet so hot? Spinning in circles she could feel her long hair slap her face. Suddenly it was so bright, blinding even, and everything was sand. Sand and more sand and Rhi was crying. Their world was destroyed but yet, she knew they were ok. A hand laid on her arm and she looked up only to be blinded by the too close sun.

Suddenly there was a pressure on her face and Vic jumped up her eyes blurry before she saw Rhi and Sly in the room and she smiled sleepily. "Hey Love what you doing here?" She said to Sly while standing up and grabbing so clothes and getting dressed in the closet, knowing that if Sly was there so early that meant an adventure was going to take place. “Is it a short adventure or jeans?” She asked as she pulled on her favorite cami and peeked from the door way. Her stormy eyes smiled as she watched her sister and their good friend. Sly seemed really excited, Vic was nervous because anything with Sly had a tendency to be… An adventure that would get all of them in trouble and Vic saw all of the ‘Black’ marks on her record as worth it.

Ainsly smiled brightly, excitedly. "Jeans, definitely, Vic. It's chilly," Ainsly beamed. "We have to get the others before I can tell you anything. This is big, though, bigger than anything I've found before!"

Ainsly had found a lot of big things before, and it had gotten most of them in a lot of trouble. Ainsly was usually let off with a slap on the wrist, as was their youngest friend, whereas Olive and the twins usually got the brunt of the punishment. The only reason Ainsly got off with anything is that, while she'd lead her friends to her discovery and show it to them, she would pull herself and the baby of the group away before anything bad happened. Honestly, they usually got caught because Vic was so loud. She loved her friend, though, and didn't blame her.

Ainsly thought back to the last time they had found a crack in the Dome. It had been when Ainsly was 13, and it was her birthday. Johannah and Harry (her adoptive parents) had set up a picnic on the edge of the Dome for the girls, and she had accidentally found it when they were playing hide-and-seek. The others had been so excited that they tried to break through the Dome. All the girls, all five, had gotten in huge trouble for that.

Ainsly smiled deviously at her twin friends. "C'mon. Let's go get Olive so that we can head out!" Ainsly was one of the few people who didn't call Olivia "Paige" like she liked. Ainsly liked the name Olivia or Olive, so she kept to her first name. As the girl stood, she pulled her cardigan tighter around her shoulders. She was wearing a camisole and cardigan, which was rare because of the scaring on her back. The girls had all seen the scars, but Ainsly was still self-conscious about them. "Hurry up!" She giggled, playfully pushing Rhi. "Get dressed!"

Olivia was sleeping soundly in her room dreaming for once in her life about the outside world. Currently she was clueless about the fact that she had kind of been sleeping in longer than she usually did since she was always the one to wake the other girls. While laying there on her belly with her beautiful shoved into a pillow while he hair was in a mess around her she dreamed about walking outside of the dome. This was all a dream though, none of it was real was it? She couldn't believe her eyes because here she was walking in what seemed like a jungle with animal and different kinds of noises all around her. With each step of her feet there was a crunch beneath them as the mixture of leafs and twigs beneath her broke into different pieces. She reached out, touching a vine that hung low and close to the ground. Right after touching the vine, something swooped down, scaring her and making her trip so she fell face first into a pile of leafs and twigs.

By this time she kept tossing and turning restlessly, she was sweating a little and uncomfortable in her sleep even if she was still staying asleep. Chances were that she was going to have to be woken up just for this dream to end all because some times she could be a really deep sleeper when she was really tired the night before. One hand gripped the pillow as the dream continued, only scaring her even more than before even if in her dream she tried to not be afraid of the fact that she had absolutely no idea where she was going and was beginning to wonder where the girls -that she was like a mother to- were. Finally she whispered something in her sleep then mumbled something in her sleep and gripped her pillow tightly while the dream just kept going.

Adventure. At the word, and 'encouraged' by Ainsly's playful push, Rhianna stumbled behind a screen to get changed, rummaging quickly through her wardrobe. "Sly, what have you got us doing this time? You know our mother will kill us if it's another one of your 'experiments'". Rhi grinned as she pulled on some jeans, referring to one of the few occasions they thought it would be a good idea to steal some fruit from a nearby orchard and attempt to turn it into some sort of alcohol for a project. Of course, they hadn't been found out until it was almost ready, and since then it would be a cold day in hell before she willingly invoked that sort of fury from her parents again. They would just have to be more careful next time.

Rhianna stepped around from the screen, dressed in her jeans and a tank top, pulling a white shirt over that. She glanced at Vic with an excited smile as she moved in front of a mirror to wrench a brush through her hair and then tie it back. It had been a while since Sly had woken the Twins like this, and they glanced among each other with secret smiles and excited giggles.

"C'mon. Let's go get Olive so that we can head out!"

Rhianna almost groaned as she felt the anticipation building, but agreed. Besides, Paige didn't live too far from her house anyway. "Come on" She smiled, taking Vic's and Sly's hand and pulling them towards the bedroom door.

As she moved down the stairs and out of her room, she could hear her mother calling. "Victory? Rhianna? Are you going out? Is everything okay honey?" Rhianna stopped, grimacing, pausing a moment to call back "Yeah, we're fine. We're just going out. Back soon, promise" And then she slipped out and through the back door, grinning as she glanced back at Vic and Sly.

"So...To Paige?"

Lydia, strangely, had been up for hours. She'd had a bad dream, and she couldn't sleep. Lydia had thought of sneaking over to Paige's and crawling into bed with her, like she liked to when she was scared, but she'd decided against it. She was 16, after all, and the young lady was trying to deal with more issues by herself.

Lydia decided that, and nearly ten o'clock, she'd get dressed. She decided on a cute but simple dress with a jacket to keep her warm. As she left her house, she noticed that the rest of her family, including her brothers, were busy in the fields. Lydia shrugged, heading over to Paige's house, anyway.

Lydia rounded the last corner to her friend (and almost mothers) house, letting herself in with the spare key and heading up to her room. Lydia noticed that Paige was still asleep, which was unusual. "Paige?" Lydia whispered as she shook her friend. "Paige, it's 10 in the morning," She told her.

Ainsly held the hand of her friend tightly. "I almost can't wait to tell you! It's going to drive me crazy," She said with a squeeze of Rhi's hand and a huge smile. "It's really exciting...maybe life changing!" Ainsly was almost shaking with excitement, and her smile was equally excited. "Lets run,"

Morgan grunted, back so sopping with sweat that the salty liquid was dripping down onto his shoes in globs. He could plainly see the droplets of sweat cascade upon his dirty brown sneakers. In the beginning, they were green. He shrugged his shoulders and arched his back, shifting some of his burden from one side of his body to the other, eyes downcast, head bowed with effort.

"Oi' Jayson, How about you set up a little picnic for us?" Ryan commanded in his typical passive-aggressive fashion.

It wasn't the arduity of the baggage he was forced to lug around that so exhausted him. Nor was it the brutal and relentless beating he was taking from the sun. Nor was it the temperature, which happened to sit at around a humid one-hundred degrees fahrenheit. It wasn't even the fact that he'd rather be inside of the dome, relaxing on his family's farm.

No. He was mentally exhausted, not by his circumstances, but by his companions. Don't get him wrong, he doesn't wish any ill will on them, but he simply wasn't sure how much longer he could stand being the giant 4th wheel of the group. The ugly duckling. The ass to every joke. So he wasn't a fighter. So we wasn't the heroic type. So what?

They thought him a coward. Some even said it to his face. They didn't respect him, respect what he could bring to the group. Many times he pondered simply ditching them and running away, but where would he go? Wander out on his own? That'd surely spell his death. Run back to the dome? Even if he could find his way back without the others, they wouldn't welcome him in alone unless he had a damn good story.

And Morgan wasn't a liar.

And he couldn't stomach just leaving his brother behind like that.

So he brushed their insults off as best he could, biting his tongue and reminding himself to hold his head up every now and then. It was ironic, really. They'd rebuked him for speaking so "frankly" about their living circumstances, and the unforgiving sun. They'd given him shit for bringing the parasol.

And now they boss him around. Command that he take it out.

Morgan bit his tongue, taking a deep breath and letting it all out in a sigh. He didn't like working himself up. He knew he'd never act on any of his so-called darker impulses anyway, so there was no use anguishing over them. Letting his bags fall to the ground, he grumpily began setting up the large green parasol for the group to find refuge from the blistering heat of the sun's rays.

Refuge. Isn't that another word for seeking shelter? For hiding?

Who're the cowards now?!

At that, a slight grin touched his lips. He'd never say something so crass out loud.

This is such a shit mess. I'm tired of living. Everything is so disorganized, I hate it. And god dammit, I can't stop sweating. If this heat never goes away I'll die by something other than my own hand. Wouldn't that be funny - a martyr. Sheesh, man I'm really starting to lose it. Julian closed his eyes a moment.

"Sometimes I think you're a mutant."

The sentence hung in the air, causing Julian's otherwise dazed head to snap in the direction of the voice. Due to being somewhat of a lone wolf, he was more than aware that he wasn't particularly wanted. This made him increasingly attuned to insults, but still unconcerned at the same time. Somehow he'd been taken in by a group of rolling stones who, ironically and hysterically to Julian, gathered much moss. Putting the mutedly funny bits to the side, he knew he wasn't exactly one of them. .Julian had never been one of any crowd, known to walk alone for the most part with the exception of his brother who up until recently, tagged along behind him. At any rate, Morgan, Kingsly and Ryan decided to keep him - for one reason or another.

An ascent of the heatwave, which Julian had learned to live with, delightedly coated his body with sweat. A long-worn white tee shirt and smeared jeans now sagged with the weight of bodily moisture. Julian tugged on one tattered strap of his rucksack, his mahogany eyes unenthused and dilated while Morgan as usual received an onslaught of ridicule. Poor kid. In all honestly Julian didn't mind Morgan, and that was due to his eerily familiar persona. Morgan reminded Julian of Quincy.

Then there was Ryan - some sort of a douchebag that Julian would have dismissed in high school as a classic case of 'not enough love' syndrome. But in these days, Julian had to consider it typical. People weren't really soft, accepting and kind. Especially the men. To take offense so late in the game would be a stupid and cowardly move. The typical dynamic which encompassed who could exhibit the best characteristics to win the biggest jerkoff award never piqued Julian's interest. After all, it wasn't like Julian to be bothered with others and their theatrics. Being a part of the slightly dysfunctional male clique was more of a survival tactic than a personal preference. But then again Julian did suppose surviving was a personal preference. But then again even after that, he wasn't sure about wanting to be around anymore. Not without Quincy. Some may have thought, if Julian would have ever spoken of his younger brother, that Julian lost his purpose in life.

Remaining at the ass-end of the queue, Julian pressed some sweat-matted hair from his eyes and rolled his shoulders. His whole body ached - more specifically his shoulders and back which were growing in muscle mass due to his ongoing labor. He paused, locking and unlocking his knees while he absentmindedly hardened his jaw.

He'd familiarized himself with the sound of his stomach screaming in emptiness and agony. More often than not he just ignored it. At this point in time, his skin was so hungrily clinging to his bones that every distinguished muscle carved itself against it. This wasn't to say that he was sickly thin, or ill looking in any way. It was more that his natural muscular toning was coming to surface. Julian supposed that was due to his lack of potato chips and double cheeseburgers. Which he would have killed someone for in the state of things.

Olivia grumbled, still deep in sleep when Lydia had came into her room. She said something in her sleep because her dream was terrifying to her to be honest. She tossed over her dream still very much terrorizing her because in her dream she was still outside, running from something that had been following close and loudly behind her. The other girls that she considers as family were way ahead of her as she lead the mysterious creature away from them. She was crying, afraid of what had just been happening but when Lydia shook her and told her that it was 10 a.m. she snapped awake, and gasped for breath. Clutching her pillow against her chest she looked at Lydia then sighed softly. "Are you serious?" She asked softly as she wiped the bead of sweat that was still remaining on her face. Slowly her hand went up to her hair where she pushed her hand over her smooth blonde hair. "I'm sorry I guess I was just really tired." She closed her eyes for a moment before slowly rising from her bed and rubbing her eyes.

After several moments of just sitting there and running a hand through her hair she opened her eyes to look at Lydia. That soft, gentle smile coming to her face as she looked at her. "I'll be out in a few, could you leave the room so that I can get myself all fixed up?" She asked and when Lydia stepped out of her room she threw herself off her bed and went to go look for something to wear. She stumbled a bit when she started towards her dresser that held all of her clothes, Oops. Olivia, Paige, searched for a pair of clothes which she proceeded to throw onto her bed as she cleaned herself up. Instead of hair sticking to her neck now it was up in a neat, clean bun while she now instead of smelling disgusting she smelled like she usually did which was this oddly weird sweet scent. She rubbed her face then quickly changed out of her pj's and into the outfit that she had just laid out.

Finally once she was all fixed up and looked as if nothing was bothering her she walked out of her room, going to Lydia's side. "Alright so where are the other girls? Have you checked if they are up yet?" She asked curiously, not knowing whether or not the other girls were actually up or not since usually she had always been the one to wake them up. She looked at Lydia, messing with her hair a little before noticing her outfit. "Nice outfit, I like it Lydia." She smiled then messed with her bun for a moment before she slowly started to lead Lydia down the stairs. "Come on, let's go check on the other's." She called out half way down the stairs, trying to avoid any questions about why she had slept in so long because really she had no answer for that question.

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WIP (OOC: I'm still brain storming so I'll add this later)