《Ruins of gold》


 SKIP THIS THIS CHAPTER ISNT CANON and stuff like that (previous chapter 1 )

    There used to be colors. Not just the colors of grain¡ªyellow and endless¡ªbut actual colors. The green of the forests, the brown of the trees, hell, even the blue of the water and the skies. But now it¡¯s just this. Yellow. The only thing you can see is the yellow of the eternal grain, with the very infrequent black from the grain fires caused by fools.


    Unfortunately grain wasnt something Jonah just saw. He felt it under his boots when walking, squishy in a way that never felt right. He smelled it everywhere he went. Dry and lifeless, a reminder of humanity¡¯s  fate. He even had to eat it. With entire ecosystems collapsed grain was the only thing left.


    The only place he didnt have to deal with it, even for a little while was in his haven, the Blackroot Vault.


    It was a sanctuary of sorts, a rare air pocket in a world filled with yellow. Inside it Jonah could feel stone under his foot, hard and not giving, always staying like it was, he could forget the suffocating smell of grain, that never changed. But deep down he knew this haven wouldnt last. The walls that kept the  grain away was only temporary, just like the peace it offered. Thats why he wanted to find something more permanent. Something that could be considered a true home, a place to stay at for the rest of his life¡­ If such a place even existed.


    It started as an usual day. Jonah took care of his duties,mainly the relocation of the books from the old library which was discovered recently by his father. His father Johannes was an explorer and he liked to give gifts and mementos to his son from the places he discovered. These gifts varied from stamps to photos to journals, and maps of the old world. One time he gifted his son a globe. The brass metal stand of it was rusted in some places, and there was minor damages to the globe itself. Some of the colors were dulled but none of that stopped the globes ability to spin. Jonah thought it was a great gift. He would fall into deep thought while looking at the globe, wondering what could have been. But unfortunately for him the current world infested with grains is what he got. The latest gift his father Johannes gifted him was a set of photos which he found in the old library. They were pictures of the city where the bunker was near, taken on a few hills that still existed. Finding this interesting Jonah visited the hills where the photos were taken from. When he reached those hills he compared the city with the pictures. While doing this he felt calm. He felt happy instead of sad because of what the city could have been. This intrigued Jonah. After this moment every day he would go up the hills and compare the pictures and the city.


    On the day he was relocating the books from the old library to the bunker, after doing his duty Johan started his hill climbing routine. He walked from the bunker to the first hill, feeling the grain under his feet, hearing the sound of grain shuffling and rustling with the wind. It was oddly relaxing despite the circumstances they were in. After walking on the grain for a while he reach the top of the first hill. He sat down at a spot where he could see the city from and took a deep breath, setting down his pocketwatch on the ground before starting to compare the landscape with the photograph.


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    Nothing was different from the last day and the day before that. It was still only yellow with some ruined buildings scattered. Even though nothing felt different he felt happy and calm. Truth was he found some beauty in the view. If you ignored the fact that it was the reason for humanity¡¯s downfall it became beautiful.


    He got up and walked to the bottom of the second hill. Then he climbed the second hill and did the same. Then  finally Jonah climbed the third hill, tallest of the three hills, tall enough to see the entire city and began surveying the land,  cross-referencing the city with photos his father had found. He examined the land vigorously with his eyes again, hoping to see a change¡ªsomething different that wasn¡¯t just yellow, something that gave the slightest bit of hope, of color. And this time he found it. There were people that were different from the vault inhabitants in the city. He thought they were different people for a second, but he was wrong. They were a group of survivors, the ones taking the history class to be specific, living in the Blackroot Vault, running outside.


    When Jonah noticed that he looked at his pocketwatch to tell time. It was 16:49 ¡°That¡¯s weird,¡± Jonah thought. ¡°The history lesson should have started 9 minutes ago.¡± Finding this odd, Jonah, now feeling uneasy, started descending the hill with a fast pace.


    The history lessons were both an anchor and a distraction for the people who hesitated, whose hesitation caused the world to burn. Not wanting the same mistake being done again, the people made the history classes a constant. It was one of the few constants left in a world where everything was changing. No matter the chaos, no matter the weather it was held at the same time at the same place every time.The reason for this was to show the world that humanity¡¯s history would not fade, to make a statement no matter what.


    But now, that changed. The history lesson hadnt started even though nine minutes passed and instead of starting the class, the history students were trying to run away, seemingly wanting to get away from the bunker. This was wrong. The last time the history classes were delayed was when the vault¡¯s food storage was raided by a group of bandits. This happened seven years ago and Jonah remembered it very well because it happened when Jonah was still attending the history class.


    Jonah got to the bottom of the third hill and started running towards the students.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    Honestly not sure if this should even be the first chapter anyways wanted to write something about art and how it was used to combat the monotonous yellow but couldnt fit it anywhere this chapter without making my already long info dump thingies even longer

 Echoes of color (chapter 1)

    Chapter 1 revamp


    There used to be colors. Not just the colors of grain¡ªyellow and endless¡ªbut actual colors. The green of the forests, the brown of the trees, hell, even the blue of the water and the skies. But now it¡¯s just this. Yellow. The only thing you can see is the yellow of the eternal grain, with the increasingly frequent red and black from the grain fires caused by fools.


    And in this world filled with yellow a Jonah was born.


    Grain wasnt something Jonah just saw. He felt it under his boots when walking, squishy in a way that never felt right, but he could never truly know what the right feeling was. He smelled it everywhere he went. Dry, stale and lifeless. He even had to eat it. With natures fragile balance broken and entire ecosystems collapsed grain was the only thing humanity had left. Fortunately for Jonah there was a haven of sorts,the only place he didnt have to deal with it, even for a little while was in his haven, the Blackroot Vault.


    Blackroot Vault was a rare air pocket in a world drowned with yellow.It was meant to be a billionaire¡¯s doomsday bunker and its door was open when the first Yellow Tide hit ,atleast that was what they said.


    The bunker was designed with security and survivability over comfort in mind. Jonah liked that. He hated thinking about how he would lose one of the only things connecting him to the previous world, the stones, if the owner was different and less focused on survival. He liked the feeling of stone under his feet. Unyielding and constant. The original owner seemed into farming or wanted to become self sustaining inside that vault, so there were many rooms dedicated to farming and seeds. Those seeds and rooms saved the current blackroot vault inhabitants from certain death but even those seeds were starting to be not enough. With more bunkers and places of life collapsing more refugees started to find this place. And unfortunately the walls that kept the grain and problems away was temporary, just like the peace it offered. Jonah knew this safe haven wouldnt last. But he stayed anyways because there was no alternatives he could find. However just because he couldnt find it yet didnt mean there was no place he could call a permanent home. And his father Johannes was his main hope of finding that mythical place. His father often had a very small glint of sorrow in his eyes. When his son asked why or if he was sad he often answered with something in the lines of ¡°Im happy because we two are alive.¡± Jonah didnt believe the part about him being completely happy but believed the latter.


    Johannes was an explorer with a cheery personality, one that went on long scouting expeditions with hopes of finding something, anything useful that could fix the dire situtation their bunker was in. Johannes also liked to give his son gifts from the old world ranging from stamps and photos to journals and letters. When Jonah was young he also gifted him toys and gifted his wife jewelry and anything he thought would catch her interest or be funny. One time he gifted his son a globe. Its colors were dulled , the brass stand was rusted in various places, the globe itself was slightly damaged and had chipped at some parts but none of that stopped its ability to spin. Infact for some reason the damage to the globe made it so it span slower but longer. It also made a steady sound.Jonah often fell into deep thought -wondering what could have been- on a table in the corner of the archives while listening to the globe and reading the journals or books his father gave him. But unfortunately the world infested with grains is what he got.


    Johannes¡¯ latests gift to his son was a set of pictures he found in an old library .They were pictures of the city where the bunker was near, taken on a few hills that still existed. Finding this interesting Jonah visited the hills where the photos were taken from.He checked his pocket watch and got out of the vault. He saw the grains the moment he got out. He started walking on the squishy grains, taking his time, looking at the surroundings as always. It was a good past time activity as he had lots of free time since he just finished his looting duty. Jonah liked taking detours so he could go through the city. Even though it couldnt match the feeling of the vault , cement with grain growing on it was way better than dirt. He took a detour this time too. Wandering through the streets, finding unique building and going inside, only to find almost nothing to bring back because it was already looted. Just as he was about to exit the city the stillness and silence of the world was broken. The air shifted, and Jonah felt it on his face, on his clothes, now fluttering with the wind.The soft swaying and rustling of the grains grew into something louder, almost like a hum growing into a screech, piercing into his ears.


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    Instinctually, he reached into his left pocket, grabbing the diving goggles for his eyes and a cloth for his mouth. As he pulled them out, his fingers brushed against the cold metal of his pocketwatch.Then suddenly, a zap shot through his hand. He flinched slightly. but there was no time to react. Without hesitation, he bolted toward the nearest building with a basement.


    After running for a while he reached the basement in time.He took the cloth and goggles off his face. The basement itself was dark and there was grain growing on the floor. Jonah settled down on a chair, took a breather and started listening to the sounds outside -mainly the wind- and waited. After a while the wind died down. Jonah waited for a few minutes anyways just in case and left the basement, continuing his walk towards the first hill. After walking for a while he left the city and soon reached the bottom of the first hill. Ascending the hill wasnt that different. It was just slightly more exhausting.


    After even more walking he reached the top of the hill. There was a place elevated from the rest where he could sit on. It also had a good view of the city. He set down his pocketwatch, took a deep breath and sat down. He reached for his pockets to pull out all the photos. They had gotten mixed up so he seperated them based on where they were taken from. After doing this he started comparing the landscape, the city with the photos. The picture was taken at night but unfortunately because of visibility issues it would be impossible to compare the pictures with the city at night so he had to settle on dusk. The two were vastly different. In the picture the city was glowing because of all the various sources of light, the streets were crowded and busy but most importantly there was no grain. However the city in its current state was desolate. Buildings were ruined and there was so much grain. It was everywhere, even the roofs of the houses¡­


    He stopped thinking and started focusing on the whole picture for a while.Then he looked at the city infested with grains. Ignoring what the grains did, truth was they were both the same in a way. Both told a story. One through its energy and vibrant motion, the other through its solemn stillness and order. They were the opposites in a way. Even though grain had swallowed everything, there was something serene about the way it did. Jonah exhaled slowly, relaxing his tensed muscles, putting the photograph below the pocketwatch. For a moment he let himself just exist on the quiet hill, not mourning the dead, not worrying about the problems, not resenting the grain for what it did. He just was, for a moment.


    After spending quite a while like this he slowly got up, smacked his pants a few times to get the grain dust off, and lifted his pocketwatch and photographs off the ground and put them in his pocket, then Jonah climbed the second and third hills, they were similar to the first but this time there were no winds so it was a worryless walk. After that Jonah got back to the vault. From this day on doing this became an essential part of his daily life. Climbing hills comparing them with the pictures and just being, not worrying.


    It was another day like this. His father was out exploring, and he was assigned to gardening duty. It couldnt really be called gardening because he wasnt doing any gardening, just making sure nobody came inside the garden with grain seeds stuck to their clothes or body so a security of sorts. That position was abolished but was recently added back due to the possibility of refugees and newcomers coming inside the garden without bathing and using isolated clothes.


    After his duty Jonah started his hill climbing routine again. Walk through the city, go to the first hill relax look at the surroundings and repeat for second.


    Jonah, while continuing his routine reached the third hill. He did the same as he always did. Compare the surroundings vigorously for any signs of change, put his photograph below his pocketwatch on the ground and relax. But unfortunately for Jonah just after he put his pocketwatch down this routine would be cut short by a few students in history class attire, running outside the bunker, seemingly trying to get away from it. He grabbed his watchout his photograph in his pocket and flicked the watch open and looked at the time. It was 16:49. Jonah¡¯s eyes grew wider. ¡°9 minutes¡­¡± He muttered¡­..

 The First Sign (Chapter 2)

he came face to face with a few of the students.


    to the vaults entrance and heard¡­ Nobody. Nothing. There was even no grain in the vault entrance unlike the usual.


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 Attempts (chapter 3)

    Jonah and Marcus both took a step outside the bunker, their boots slightly sinking into the soft grain, stirring up golden dust.Then they took a second step, a third step and on the fourth step, just as they were about to properly leave the bunker,


    ¡°I forgot. Need to leave a note for them . I¡¯ll be right back¡± and Marcus walked back into the vault at a quick pace.


    Jonah didn¡¯t follow, deciding to wait at the entrance of the vault. The vault itself was inside a hill, branching down. Jonah, thinking there was enough time, decided to ascend the hill. It wasnt that steep, but even if it was, climbing it- No. The grains took even that away from them. Ascending the hill wouldnt be that different. Jonah walked up the hill. The soft grain helping him. The hill couldnt be considered barren because there was grain but ignoring that it was barren, there was nothing else, only grain. Ascending it was very easy thanks to the grip the grains gave to his boots. After a while Jonah reached the top of the hill.He took a deep breath, set his pocketwatch down as usual and started surveying the surroundings. There was nothing except the golden grain but that was common. Then he started surveying the city itself. The city was in ruins, grain growing out from every roof, every crevice. It was the normal for Jonah at this point but he still tried to imagine. Imagine what it would have looked like in the past.Then gradually an image -his idea of what the city could have been- overlapped with the city. The yellow grains on the streets, ruined buildings, abandoned cars. In his mind Jonah threw all that away and replaced them. Ruined building stood tall reaching for the skies, radiating with light again. The streets were no longer buried under grain, it was solid now. He imagined the residents, taking inspiration from the pictures and little bits his father used to tell.The streets became vibrant, brimming with life once more. People were rushing to work, laughing with friends, some of their hands full with freshly baked bread. Jonah glanced at the buildings and focused on the interesting ones, bakery and a specific car workshop. bakery¡¯s windows fogged due to the heat of the freshly made loaves.The car workshop hummed with engine sounds, steady. Jonah looked at the residents faces, inspecting them too and after a while, far away he spotted a group, Aria¡¯s group. At that moment his image of the city collapsed, returning to what it was like now. Desolate. The buildings collapsed, the streets changed and the pedestrians vanished, only leaving behind the grain and nothing else. Aria¡¯s group was way in the distance. Was her group the one that was searching for the battering ram? As he was having thoughts like this Marcus called out, seemingly searching for him.


    ¡°Jonah where are you? Left the note let¡¯s go.¡± And then Marcus looked at the top of the hill, seeing Jonah. ¡°Actually can you take a look and tell me where they are?¡±


    ¡°I already looked, i was only able to see the group Aria was in. They are quite far from us in the city. Cant see the other group though.¡±


    Marcus started shifting his weight from one foot to the other again. ¡°Alright lets go then the others are hopefully alright. Wonder where they are though. They should have been nearby.¡±


    Jonah got up, dusting his pants , put his pocketwatch in his pocket . Then he descended the hill and approached Marcus, standing just by his side. Then they started walking at a steady but quick pace towards the city.


    ¡°The generator should be on the upper floors of a building. I cant recall exactly which one but i believe i know the general area. It wasnt working though. Will you be able to fix it?¡±


    Jonah, still walking wondered about that. Could he actually fix it? He tried it a few times with his father and failed on most those attempts. He succeeded eventually but it was partly thanks to his father. Could he do it without him? Maybe he could. No. He had to. He already suggested this so he would see it to the end.¡±I will fix it.¡± And then Jonah inhaled sharply, getting ready to question Marcus once again. ¡°Also why didnt you inspect the inside for air vents properly? You and your expression made it seem like a good idea so why?¡±


    ¡°Honestly this seemed more logical to me. If there were any air vents inside one of my friends would have certainly mentioned it. And this is a good idea too, using the moment between the power and emergency power and making use of the safety protocol to get the doors forcefully open even if grain got in. I would have absolutely missed that without you. Maybe not missed since someone from inside the bunker could have shouted it but still. Thank you.¡±


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    Johan, after hearing his answer relaxed his shoulders a little. It seemed like Marcus did believe the fact that grain got in. ¡°I see and no problem. By the way if the doors were locked how did Aria know grains got inside?¡±


    ¡°Someone from the inside shouted ¡®grains¡¯ then stopped. It wasnt that hard to piece together what happened unfortunately. Probably the door connecting the main part to the stairwell closed and locked up too.¡±


    ¡°The grains actually got it?¡± Jonah¡¯s eyes quivered for a slight moment before turning back to normal. Even though he was expecting it, hearing it was still very sudden to him.


    ¡°We havent seen it ourselves but yes i believe it did.¡±


    ¡°How? What about the farms? Did the grain get in there too?¡±


    ¡°We¡­¡± Marcus slowed his speech for a moment ¡°dont know. Thats the thing. Their voices cut off after saying grain. We hope it didnt get in but thats merely a hope. Actually lets hurry we dont have that much time if the grain actually got in.¡± And Marcus started sprinting the rest of the way towards the city, Jonah followed. ¡°Was Aria¡¯s group carrying a battering ram equivelant? If this doesnt work we might have to break the doors itself after decontaminating the entrance¡­¡± Marcus trailed off and started to run towards the city, crossing the rest of the way with astounding speed, not waiting for Jonah to respond.


    Jonah¡¯s chest tightened, beads of sweat sliding down his forehead but he followed Marcus while trying to keep pace. He was however falling behind, partly because of the exhaustion and partly because of the fact that Marcus was simply faster than him. Soon after, they reached the city. They didnt stop running though.


    ¡°Follow me, we will have to try a few buildings¡± Marcus shouted, due to the distance between them and right before entering a home, in a loud voice ¡°Check the top floors of that building.¡± Marcus pointed at a building with his finger. ¡°Shout if you find anything im trying this one¡± and then he vanished into an apartment.


    Following Marcus¡¯ finger with his eyes, Jonah saw an apartment. It was seven floors tall and it seemed stable enough to not collapse in on itself. He ran into the building. On the entrance floor there were three apartment doors and a stair. Jonah didn¡¯t have time to waste so he ascended the stairs three steps at a time, or at least he tried to because he tripped and fell. The stairs here werent solid and grainless like the bunker. Muttering some curse words under his breath he got up and settled on two steps at a time.He continued ascending the floors, ignoring the doors and eventually reached the top floor. There were four doors this time, one leading to the roof of the building. Jonah ignored that one and went into one of the three doors. The inside had bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and rooms like that, furnitured accordingly. It would have been a very normal home had the grain not existed. Jonah searched the entire floor but there was no generator. He searched the sixth and fifth floors but still. There were none. Jonah left the building in a hurry, going to a nearby building. He did the same things as the first one but this time there it was. A generator. It had grain growing on the top of it. It was probably the one Marcus was talking about. Jonah, hoping that it was still functioning shouted ¡°Marcus! I found the generator. Come to my voice!¡± and he waited. While waiting he tinkered with the generator, trying to fix it and clean it off any grain. He did the second and before he could do the first Marcus arrived.


    ¡°Thats the one i saw.¡± Marcus took a moment to catch himself, breathing in and out deeply. ¡°Did you try it? Is it working somehow?¡±


    ¡°I was about to try but it seems broken. Did you happen to find any gas?¡± And he tried to lift the generator but it was too heavy for him.


    ¡°I saw none.Let me give you a hand.¡± Marcus grabbed one side of the generator, Jonah did the same. It was still heavy but now it could actually be carried. They went down the stairs one step at a time and eventually they reached the entrance of the building. They were tired but just the generator wasnt enough. They needed to fix the generator and find some gasoline.


    ¡°We need gasoline now. I also need to fix the generator.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Marcus went into the same building again and came out, this time carrying a rusted bucket.


    ¡°Thats rusted wouldnt that cause some problems?¡±


    ¡°It would in the long term. The rust would damage the filters but we need the generator now so it should be fine¡±


    ¡°I understand. Also did you see a pipe or hose or anything to siphon with? I was focused on the generator so i didnt pay much attention to anything else.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t, but it shouldnt be that hard to find. I should be able to find it. Also you should check the generator to see if it actually works.¡±


    ¡°I will¡± and Jonah started tinkering, with Marcus disappearing into one of the buildings nearby. Jonah continued tinkering for a while and eventually he ran his hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. It was broken without a doubt. He needed to fix it. His father would know what to do at a glance but he wasnt here so Jonah had to do it by himself, using what he remembered. He knelt by the generator, inspecting it. Jonah had to think, had to remember what to do what to inspect qhat the problem was. Then suddenly he found the answer. He knew what the problem was. He needed some tools to fix it though so he began his search for them.Simple tools like screwdrivers and wrench and such would do and they werent that rare but they werent that common either.The problem was finding an alternator, air filter and something to clean the generator with. Those three were the most likely for the generator not working. Jonah remembered an old car workshop nearby. He, now thinking that was a good place to search started walking with a quick pace again, this time towards the old car workshop.