World War 1 and World War 2 had both been horrible in their own way, but humanity in all its adaptability had rebuilt what was broken and continued on, surviving to see another day, leaving the hate that had made the sparks of war behind them- Or that's what it said on paper anyway. Yet the people of the countries that had started it all were punished for the mistakes of their leaders, and even when things began going back to normal, the memories and the hatred carried on through generations, living on through stories and igniting the flames of old hatred in the young. Hatred as their heritage.
Hatred for the different. Hating for the color of ones skin, for those from other countries, for those of other religions. Fear and hatred going hand in hand.
Violence and oppression being used to lead the people, turning their hate and fear into anger. That anger leading to even more violence-- Yes. The first two world wars had been horrible, countless people being killed-- But neither of the two quite as bad as the third, and final world war. The earth had been burning, body count rising each and every day. Cities being destroyed, man against man, despair taking hold and the hatred didn't stop until everything had been reduced to dust and humanity could no longer afford hating each other for their differences, but reluctantly having to shake hands and work together.
Twenty years had passed since that time.
The so called experts estimated that about 10000 people were left alive. Only ruins of cities around the earth, everything else swallowed by sand. Stronger and stronger weapons had resulted in what could most possibly be the end of humanity. It had been a prototype. Too strong, uncontrollable force, burning away the alive and the dead as if they were one.
No one had expected it.
No one had expected it to cause the seas to vaporize, much water going underground, no one had expected the forests to burn and not grow up again- No one had expected almost every single city to become ruins. But here they were, the last 10000 of them-- Coming together under one government, wandering from the very corners of the earth to start rebuilding, both their lives, and their numbers. Hatred wasn't something they could afford. Not now.
And so, the government had ordered that everyone would help rebuild. People were not to leave, because there simply wasn't enough of them. They all had to stick together.
They even hired people, who wished to help with keeping people in town. Border patrols were common, and then there were people who were paid to go out and retrieve those who tried to escape from town, those who wished to explore something outside of that shell of a city, or those who made money by collecting scraps from the ruins out there and selling them to the highest bidder. But those who did often had a good reason to.
One who had a good reason to, was Yoite.
Just a teenager, and without a family- what else could he do, but travel the desert in search of things to sell. He was too young for any other kind of work, and so thin that no one would hire him anyway. So it was the only thing he could do to survive. Like this he could pay for a small space to live when he was in town, clothes and equipment and food and water to bring along on his travels. He preferred it anyway- Didn't like people much. Didn't like the sound of chatter, didn't like having people around him at all. So even if there was the chance of being caught and put under surveillance- This was the best thing for him.
Out in the desert now, the dark-haired teenager could just barely see the lights from the city, but not hear the sounds, being too far away for that. He had set up camp for the night, not wanting to travel while it was dark- Could search the area for anything valuable though, which was what he was doing, his duster-coat and hat having been ditched by the tent so they wouldn't get in the way for his movement or vision as he dug through the sand, wearing goggles so that he wouldn't get anything in his eyes while he searched. Having been doing this for a few years already, he already knew what he should and shouldn't do and how to most effectively go through an area to find things he could bring back and sell.
It really was hit and miss though, and so far, this area had been a total miss, and he knew he shouldn't stay in one spot for too long-- Especially so close to the city, as he didn't want to be spotted by the border patrol or those who were just paid good money to bring back people and who didn't really care either way as long as they got their money.