The Final Chronicle of a Randall

A large, indestructible compound confines a large decaying city in darkness and despair. There is no sun nor sky. No bird song, nor breeze. No flora, nor fauna. It’s the skeleton of a city. Only ash, decay, and the shell of what life once was long ago. This is Mordenelle.

Down below among the destruction is a long line of drone-like prisoners wearing dull gray uniforms waiting for entry to a canteen building. They seem to be lifeless, having no reactions to their surroundings, all but one: Tommy Randall. A mature 14 year old with a buzzcut and bright green eyes.

He stands bored staring at the heads of those in front of him when he spots a speck of ash daintily waltzing through the air. He watches intently as it dances closer to the ground and lands on the hard concrete beside him. Tommy watches it bask in the peace and quiet until--

Red pant-suit wearing Miss. Haddock, the leader of Mordenelle walks past with haste and purpose, stepping right onto the speck of ash. Tommy almost flinches as the speck of ash disappears under Miss. Haddock's authoritarian steps. Her small team of riot-geared law enforcement follow taking rhythmic synchronous steps. Tommy watches as they disappear inside the canteen.

Moments later an alarm starts to blare repeatedly through speakers on each street corner.

"WARNING! WAKER BREACH! DO NOT QUESTION YOUR SUPERIORS, ALWAYS DO AS YOU'RE TOLD, SINGULARITY AND VANITY IS A DISEASE, THINKING OR SPEAKING FREELY IS A SIN, NEVER LEAVE YOUR BUNKER AFTER CURFEW, NEVER QUESTION WHAT IS BEYOND!"

Instantly in one swift movement all prisoners cover their ears and lay face down on the ground. Tommy blends in, but his expressive eyes give him away.

Up ahead a guard zaps a prisoner with an electric baton. The prisoner’s muscles contract, yet there is no protest, not even a peep. The guard flips the prisoner back in line and moves along to the next one.

Tommy discretely looks around, anxious to escape, when down the road he sees a man and woman sprint across the road. They disappear behind the buildings as quickly as they came into view. Suddenly a swarm of guards chase after them. Tommy's eyes light up with curiosity.

ZAP! Tommy flinches as the guards get closer. He is soon next and has to hurry or he’ll miss his window. As the guards turn away, Tommy sprints down the street unseen. No one in line seems to blink at Tommy’s departure.

Tommy runs and passes collapsed skyscrapers, piles of rubble, junction after junction searching for the two mystery characters, until he spots their silhouettes catching their breaths in an alley.

Tommy quickly approaches and their heads snap in his direction. “Follow me!” Tommy calls. They hesitate. “Come on! Quick!” Tommy reiterates as he runs off. The man and woman follow.

The three of them avoid guards and squeeze through tight spots until they finally reach what looks like a half collapsed Charity Shop. They quickly enter, find a wall to hide behind, and catch their breaths. Tommy stares at them in awe. "Holy shit! You're Wakers!" He exclaims.

"I'm Wren, this is Lucy." Wren responds while keeping an eye out for trouble. As Tommy begins to introduce himself the sound of clunky military boots sound from outside. Wren pulls Tommy to him and covers his mouth. They all hold their breaths until the guards pass.

Slowly Tommy approaches a large bookcase and pushes it to the side to reveal a secret room. “Come!” he says. They curiously enter to find Tommy's room. Their eyes go wide with surprise. There is colour, art, posters, trinkets, and personality.

"Thanks for the help. If it weren't for you we could have met our end right there." Lucy says.

"Don’t take this the wrong way, but how are you alive? Where are your parents?" Wren continues.

"I’m good at hiding. But this was all my parent's, well originally my grandfathers, but they died a while ago...." Tommy responds. "What did you say your name was?" Wren asks.

"I'm Tommy Randall." he responds. Lucy and Wren are baffled. "Did you say Randall?" Lucy asks. Tommy nods and pulls out a dainty, gold necklace with a heart charm from under his shirt. The heart is engraved with small flowers. He opens the charm to show a small photo of his parents, Jane and Peter Randall. "Yeah, my parents led the rebellion before I was born. This was my mum's" he answers and clutches it tightly.

"There were always rumors of another living Randall, but I thought that was a myth..." Lucy states.

"My gran'pa told me all about the outside and my parents' mission. They believed that the outside can support life again and were fighting to free the people. They called Mordenelle a ‘prison’ - Miss. Haddock’s personal playground.’ Since then I've been hiding and looking for other Wakers so I can finish my parents mission.” Tommy continues.

"Oh kid, I hate to break it to you, but you can't come with us." Wren says.

"What, why?" Tommy asks, deflated. Wren gives him a stern look, "It's too dangerous."

Tommy takes a stance. "You think I don’t know that?! Both of you remember what the outside is like. You remember what oceans smell like and what the sun feels like. Everything I know is what I've been told! I wanna see the sun, I wanna touch grass! And what the hell is “golf” anyway?! My parents wanted me to experience the world... " Tommy stops to catch his breath. Wren and Lucy watch with sympathy. "So please... let me help." he finishes. Wren and Lucy give each other a knowing look.

"Fine. But you are not our responsibility. We’re going to the old loading docks. That's the plan. It's not far from here." Wren responds as he surveys for danger. "Alright, it's clear," he says. Wren and Tommy follow as Lucy leads the way to the front.

As they open the door, they carefully exit and blend in by walking emotionless in a single file line. The alarm continually echoes and bounces off the crumbling buildings. They turn a street corner when a patrol of guards approach. Sweat forms on Wren's forehead. Lucy clenches her fists. Tommy gulps.

The guards keep their attention before them. They are in the clear... or so they believe until a guard narrows his eyes at Lucy and recognizes her. "Hey!" the guard calls. Shit.

Lucy, Wren, and Tommy take off running. The chase is on. The guards yell after them and bullets rip through the air in their direction. Wren grunts in pain as a round clips his shoulder.

The guards are left in the dust. Right as Lucy glances over her shoulder with an early-winners grin, she crashes into a guard coming around the corner. The guard drops his baton on impact, then lands a punch on Lucy. Tommy stands watching in shock as she falls to the ground.

Wren jumps into action and kicks the guard in the gut with little effect. The guard grabs hold of Wren and puts him in an inescapable head lock. Wren tries with all his might to break free, but his face begins to turn into an unnatural purple shade.

Tommy quickly picks up the guard's baton and hits the guard over the head until he lets Wren go. He then zaps the guard and watches the volts surge through his body until he collapses unconscious.

Wren kneels on the ground holding his throat, gasping for breath while Lucy comes to. Blood now seeps through the uniform on Wren’s shoulder. Impressed, Wren looks at Tommy and gives him a light nod of thanks. "Now come on! Let's go!" Tommy shouts, baton still in hand.

Wren pulls Lucy to her feet and they get back on track. As they weave through the ruined streets of Mordenelle, Tommy catches their distorted reflections in cracked windows. On their other side Tommy sees a rusted and forgotten playground, though now it’s merely a cemetery of children's hopes and dreams.

They approach the outskirts of the city when Wren yells, "Up ahead! Right there!", but up ahead seems to be nothing but kilometers of concrete wall in all directions.

"Where?!" Tommy yells. They continue to run until they reach the towering wall. Wren and Lucy begin to press areas of the wall frantically as if searching for something. "There has to be a hidden lever!” Lucy yells.

The guards are gaining on them now, their heavy boots hitting the ground at high speed. From behind them, three armored vehicles follow. The ground begins to shake as they approach. Tommy stares at their impending doom not with fear, but with determination. He kisses the heart charm around his neck, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and extends the baton in a fighting stance.

The rumbling of the engines come to a halt as they park around them. A car door opens and Miss. Haddock's shiny heels step out. She straightens out her pant-suit and steps forward to face the three Wakers. Tommy shoots daggers at Miss. Haddock. Behind him Lucy and Wren continue to desperately search for the hidden lever.

"And wherever did you come from?" Miss. Haddock asks Tommy with disgust. "I thought I removed all these pests already. Fix it” She says to a guard. Meanwhile, Wren's hand brushes over a section of the wall that seems to move. He grins.

Tommy stands strong as the guard aims his gun at him. "Stop!" Wren shouts!

"Or what exactly Mr. Vance? I have to say I'm impressed. Nobody on record has ever recovered as many memory wipes as you. I really thought that last one would stick. It certainly looked painful" Miss. Haddock sneers.

"Let the people of Mordenelle go. You and I both know what's on the other side of this door." Wren dares as he moves the piece of the wall to reveal a rusty lever. The guards shout in fear "No!" and "Please!" another one begs.

"And kill all of us? Charming plan, but you don't have the guts." Miss. Haddock replies.

"That's what you want everyone to think." Wren says, then with strength, pulls the lever. Tommy sees as Miss. Haddock grabs a guards gun and opens fire on Wren, but he jumps into the line of fire!

The guards all duck down in fear as the doors open with a deep metallic rumble. A large cloud of dust fills the opening as blinding rays of sun enter. They all cough and squint at the sunshine and slowly realize that their limbs are still intact, their senses are functional, and realize the truth behind Miss. Haddock's deceptive rule!

The guards quickly rise to their feet and aim their guns at Miss. Haddock. "Now listen--" Miss. Haddock begins. "Shut up or I'll shoot!" a guard yells.

As the dust clears, they see Tommy laying on the ground. "No!" Lucy yells. She runs to his side to find him bleeding from the chest, struggling for breath. She tries to stop the bleeding, but it's no use. Tommy turns his head to see the outside and weakly reaches for it.

Wren and Lucy carry him outside to reveal our location: a destroyed and overgrown London. Big Ben has fallen and the London Eye stands still, many broken wagons are hanging on by sheer will. All the water has evaporated from the Thames.

They lay him down on a patch of grass. Tommy smiles through the pain as he grasps the grass beneath him in his hand. He sees the blue sky and feels the heat of the sun on his skin. “Your parents were right Tommy. You were right. We did it, we can help everyone now. Thank you" Wren dotes.

Tommy clutches the now bloody heart charm on his mum’s necklace. Tears spill from Tommy's eyes as he uses his last breath to say "It's better than I ever imagined"...