Lachlan smiled to himself feeling a bit too content to have aggravated Wren, who really did not deserve it. To Lachlan’s amusement Wren, had just made it all too easy to pester. He knew he would apologize to Wren sometime in the future, but he could contemplate later, well later.

“Centaur!”

 Well, I guess its time Lachlan thought to himself turning around and throwing a quick wave to Wren. He jumped out his seat and lightly jogged to his home where he knew his mother Hazel was eagerly awaiting him to say goodbye. He often wondered if his grandparents had named her Hazel because of her beautiful green and brown eyes. Lachlan knew what was waiting for him the minute he opened the door; a lecture scolding him and warning him to be careful and return home safely to her. He always listened to her speech even though it was the same warning speech she gave him every time he had to leave outside the walls. Lachlan would never dare interrupt her speech or try to quiet her. He knew that he was all she had in the world, and he loved her more than life itself. Lachlan was somewhat of a new member to Apokaluptien. Anyone who was not born into the camp is considered new. Lachlan and his mother were one of the lucky one’s who was taken in after the camp walls were built some many years ago much before his time. Lachlan knew little about his father, except that one day he ventured off to look for food, during a time when he and his mother were hiding in one of the old worlds ruined buildings. His father had left, never to come back. His mother told Lachlan that they had waited three days, but soon came to the realization that his father would never come back, and if they were to stay any longer it would only mean death. So his mother had taken Lachlan and departed out of fear that if they stayed longer they would both starve to death. They had wandered around for days until they were found by Axel himself and his men who graciously took them back into Apokaluptien.

 To this day, Lachlan knew some people thought of him as an outsider still, but he didn’t mind the attention this brought him. Axel was the main reason Lachlan joined the Centaur, he figured that if Praetor found him and his mother so long ago, maybe one day he could find a mother and her child and take them back to the safety of their camp, saving two lives as the former Praetor had done for himself and his mother years ago. Lachlan felt a deep loyalty and embedded to Axel and his men for what they had done for himself and his mother who would in most likelihood not be alive to this day without them.

Lachlan knew that his mother dreaded each time he left the walls, fearing one day he won’t return to his father, of whom he was apparently almost the spitting image of. Lachlan made it a habit of reminding her than not the heavens nor the heels could separate him from her, and that he would always come back to her, and each time he told her this she couldn’t help but smile at him and call him her baby boy. Although most young men would find it belittling to be referred to as an infant, Lachlan never told her to stop calling him that and always let her run her hands through his uncontrollably tangled black locks.

“Okay mom, I really have to go, you don’t want me to get latched for being late do you?”

“Lachlan I do not find that amusing.” His mother said trying her best to hide her smile from him.

“Your eyes say serious but your mouth is telling you to laugh.” He said this giving his mother a loving squeeze on her soft pastel hands.

“You listen to me and you be careful. Swear to me Lachlan.”

 “I swear.” He vowed.

 “And mom, I love you.” Lachlan extended his broad arms and held his mother for a few moments as he did every time before he left.

  “And I love you my baby boy.” She said stroking his coarse dark hair. Lachlan placed a single kiss on her cheek and began to leave.

 “Would it hurt you to run a comb through that mess you call hair once in awhile?” She called over his back.

 “Hey, I have this mess of hair because of you!” Lachlan said laughing to himself, ruffling his dark brown curls and gently closing the metal door and throwing one last smile to his mother.

Lachlan began jogging back to where the Centaur were standing and tried to discreetly blend in with the rest of them to hide the fact he was late from the Praetor. He decided to move the crowd to where is friend Ainsley was standing, he preferred being around her in comparison to the other Centaurs. He found some of the other younger Centaurs company unbearable, and the older one’s had no sense of humor whatsoever.

“Nice of you to join us,” Ainsley whispered barely audible to anyone except Lachlan.

 “Do you think they noticed?” Lachlan said quickly passing a look at the Praetor.

“Do you think I care if they noticed?” Ainsley said back.

 She was looking straight ahead so for the Praetor not to notice she was speaking during their routine scouting plan of the day, which was principally the same routine as always.

 “Why are you in such a foul mood? It’s not because of what I said to Wren was it?” Lachlan said smirking.

 “Wren can take care of himself, I could care less about whatever immature dispute you two had.”

“Right. Sure you don’t.” Lachlan said slightly nudging her.

 Very discreetly Ainsley stuck her middle finger out from behind her back, a euphemism from the old world, that was meant to be offensive for whatever reason. To Lachlan, it was just a finger.

“Right! Gear up Centaur!” one of the nameless Praetor screeched.

Lachlan rolled his eyes at this. He could not stand having to gear up into all that uniform. He did not understand why they had to take so many precautions, when the only real danger was drinking contaminated water found in the city, and no one was imprudent enough to do that unless they wanted to die. They had found a safe way to produce clean drinking water long ago. Lachlan did not believe that the other things told in stories existed. He was sure at some point there was some truth in the stories but figured that the things described probably died out long ago, or else someone would have seen them by now when they went out scouting for supplies. If the creatures told in stories were alive they would have attacked despite the large walls surrounding Apokaluptien, and they hadn’t so to Lachlan that meant they were just forged creations told by scared people trying to scare others. He believed the main reason for the walls and all its security was more of the very real threat they faced which was other people. There were rumors of savages residing just outside of their walls and lands. The so called clans, who if they had seen their supplies and living style, might want to take what Apokaluptien had, to steal their safety and protection. He believed the only reason that Axel and his men kept the story of the other intact was to use it as a ghost story to keep people from simply leaving and searching for something they may deem better than Apokaluptien but to Lachlan, their Apokaluptien was most likely the best anyone was ever going to get. Lachlan did as he was told, and began dressing himself in his thick body suit which was created so that the Centaur do not come into contact with strong doses of radiation all at once after leaving further down into the ancient remains of an old city, where radiation peaks where apparently higher than at their own camp. It is said that the areas outside of camp and down the highlands were believed to have been afflicted with stronger doses of radiation. As you go nearer to the remains of the city the radioactivity increases. The suits also prevented others from actually getting some color to their skin as most people in camp never got much sunlight and when the Centaur actually got to, their suits concealed their skin from touching its warmth and caused you to burn up underneath the heavy suit when the sun hit. This wasn’t a problem for Lachlan though; because his complexion was naturally dark from his father’s genes. This was another thing which made him slightly stand out at camp. Even though the Centaur never ventured near enough to the city they still had to put on the time consuming suits, which took far too long to secure onto oneself and Lachlan knew that radiation was the main cause for people to not have very long life spans on average, but he found it hard to believe that just a few miles away from the camp, could have a vast difference in radiation than they were already plagued with daily. But rules were rules for a reason he thought, and who am I to question it.

“Excited?” Lachlan whispered to Ainsley.

 “Shut up. You are going to get us into trouble if you keep using that big mouth of yours to talk to me.” Ainsley shot him a look of forged contempt.

“Sorry.” Lachlan trying his best to pretend to be.

“What do you think our training will be today, ” Lachlan said, sparking exhilaration in his eyes.

“You obviously couldn’t have been that sorry if won’t keep quiet like I asked you to. It’ll probably be the same training we do everyday.”

“Actually you asked me to shut up not keep quiet. But details be dammed. For the record you know, you did talk to me first.”

“Wait.” Ainsley said in a stern tone.

“For?” Lachlan asked in sincere confusion.

“Is that Axel? What is he doing here?”

“I don’t know but he’s coming our way.” Lachlan said, every hint of mischievousness had gone from his voice and in replacement a sense of urgency.

“You two.” Axel said without any emotion in his voice.

 “Yes sir?” Ainsley spoke up confidently.

 “I’ve been told you two are doing exceptionally well as Centaurs, I can’t stress how content this news makes me.”

“Sir, I’m honored that you -” Lachlan could barley finish his sentence when Axel continued to speak.

“That is why you two will be going with a Praetor today. You two will help him scout the area of a location past the normal millage you Centaurs are used to.”

Before either Lachlan or Ainsley could answer Axel had disappeared to go and fetch one of his faceless men. Lachlan thought of all the Praetor as faceless because it was so rare to see one of them remove their headgear. Lachlan was shocked when he saw the man that was being assigned to them actually remove his headgear to speak back to Axel. Lachlan noticed how the man speaking with Axel seemed to have a frustrated expression which began to spread over his face, only to quickly fade as Axel said something which seemed to shut the other one up. Lachlan wondered what sort of man would dare talk back to Axel. The man had dark eyes nearly black, Lachlan observed; it matched his dark facial hair and stood out due to his abnormally white skin, which was extremely pale even for camp standards. He was stunned at everything which seemed to be happening at once and didn’t have time to process it until he saw the man put back his headgear and begin to strutting over to them. Lachlan was not certain as to why he felt so nervous but he could not shake the feeling that something was amiss about the whole situation. He knew he should have been feeling privileged, as often when Centaurs get to go on missions with Praetors it means a promotion. However, all he felt was a sick feeling of dread spreading across his stomach. He could feel sweat starting to pour down his arms hot and sticky underneath his suit. He looked over at Ainsley, and saw that she was noticeably feeling the opposite her compelling blue eyes were glimmering with anticipation, and he could tell even with her facemask on that she was trying her best to conceal a smile underneath it.

Lachlan told himself that the only reason why he was feeling so anxious was because the realization was hitting him that he was going to go out further into the world than he had ever travelled in his life, not including when he was an infant, which he didn’t completely count because he could barley remember any of it. The only memories Lachlan held of the nightmarish tales his mother told him, of their survival in the real world were vague and foggy. The resembled some far away dream, that you try to remember but can’t seem to get a full grasp on it. Each time you try to remember more of it slips away, it was almost impossible, it felt like trying to hold onto running water with your bare hands opening and closing just to let more water slip between the cracks. Lachlan was going to go further than most people in camp ever had in their lives either, besides for the Praetor who were all personally approved by Axel and the past leaders and only after being in years and years of Centaur training. Some Centaurs never even made it into becoming Praetors. Lachlan was not sure which concept was making him feel so insecure, the fact that Axel had personally approved Ainsley and himself to go on the mission, or just the simple fact that he was about to venture off into one of the most terrifying yet exhilarating thing there is; the unknown.   

Next Chapter: Ainsley: Chapter 4