Nonexistent

"Dude, shut up!"

"Why? It's not like they can hear us anyway."

"So what?! Be quiet!"

Nathan rolls his eyes at Liam's behaviour. Indeed, this was their first time breaking into a house, but Liam didn't have to be so stuck up. What's the chance of someone noticing them? They had lived unseen for the past 7 years.

"Agh! I got it!" Liam says happily, looking at the lock system that he had successfully shut down.

"Finally!" Nathan says, shivering from the cold.

Liam cautiously pushes the door open. It seems that everything is clear and he goes all the way in. He beckons for Nathan to come, then he closes the door quietly.

"Okay," Liam whispers, “we find whatever perishable items we can, then we're out. Got it?"

The blonde boy nods, already looking around the house. Not too extraordinary, a front foyer, living room to the right with two doorways, presumably a hall and the kitchen, closet door to the left, picture frame directly in front of them. The picture features two guys and a girl. They look happy. Nathan decides he hates them.

"Nathan, I'm serious," Liam warns, catching his attention.

"Okay, okay!" Nathan says in a harsh whisper.

Liam puts his fingers to his lips and Nathan rolls his eyes. Honestly, he didn't know why the boy had to be so careful all the time. Nathan makes his way through the living room and approaches the kitchen, his stomach grumbling with thoughts of what he may find. But seriously, couldn't Liam just-

Okay, Nathan swears that he didn’t see the vase. In retrospect, he feels that the occupants of the house put it there on purpose to catch burglars in the middle of the night. At any rate, it makes the loudest crash Nathan had ever heard, or maybe it just amplified the already deafening sound of his racing heart. His nerves tense and his instincts go on high alert and he nearly jumps when he hears Liam speak from the side of him.

"Oh, for God’s sake, Nate!" Liam whisper-shouts.

"It wasn't my fault!" Nate fires back, his shaking hands up in protest.

"I tell you one thing! One thing! And you can't do it?!" Liam inspects the mess of multi-coloured ceramic splayed in fragmented pieces across the tiled floor.

"I didn't see that right there! Honest, Li-"

"Wait," Liam silences Nathan. "Did you hear that?" He looks around the room in confusion.

"What?"

"Shhh." Liam says, putting his hand in the air.

Nathan goes quiet and listens intently. It sounds like someone moving around in the dark hallway. Liam goes for the door and motions for Nathan to follow. They are almost out when they hear:

"Who's there?"

Liam goes rigid and Nate’s eyes grow wide. They are frozen in place and don't know what to do, halfway between the living room and door.

"Who's there?" The person asks, more forcibly.

Nate and Liam hear more whispers and what sounds like an argument.

"Well, I'm just going to go out there, anyway." They finally hear. Nate curses silently.

He and Liam share a glance before hurrying to find a hiding place. They choose the closest secluded place, behind the couch. Soon after, they hear footsteps coming into the room.

"Hello, is anyone here?" The voice asks.

Nathan and Liam hold their breath, hoping, for the first time it seems, that they are not heard anymore.

"I know someone was in here," The voice warns. “Vases don’t break by themselves.”

Liam scowls at Nathan.

A tired sounding voice speaks, "Give it a rest, Lo, they probably can't hear you anyway."

"That's where you are wrong, Mace, if they had not heard me, they would not have hid," Lo says smugly.

The boys hear an exasperated sigh. "Logan, you're probably just hearing things again." Another voice says.

"That was one time and it turned out to be an ear infection!" Liam can hear the frown in his voice.

“This table is old as dirt anyway. The vase was probably too much for it. It tips to the side, the vase falls. End of story.” Mace reasons. “I'm going back to sleep."

"Me too." The other voice agrees.

"Fine," Logan concedes.

The boys hear the steps fade away until there are no more. They wait ten more minutes, then cover the distance to the door as fast, carefully, and silently as they can. They run through the familiar streets and alleys until they are close to home where they slow down to a walk.

"Never again!" Nathan says, panting for breath on the stairs of the abandoned building he and Liam call home. It is one building among many.

"Agreed," Liam says, wiping sweat off of his head.

They walk into the building, turning left into their apartment and lay down in their respective beds. Nate stares at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"What's wrong, Irish?" Liam asks.

"They heard us," Nathan says bluntly, looking at Liam.

Liam just nods, realization hitting him at the same time Nathan speaks.

"That means that they're just like us."

Nathan can’t sleep that night. He turns and turns. His side, his stomach, his back, his other side. Every time he closes his eyes he sees the picture in that foyer. People like him and Liam living in an upscale neighbourhood with electricity and an alarm system. His resentment strengthened as the sun rose.

Liam woke up promptly at 9. An ‘internal alarm clock’ he had explained to Nathan awhile back. Effects of living in a posh family, they were never late to anything, ever. Nathan was already in the kitchen, drinking cold instant coffee. Liam didn’t look surprised, in fact he looked about how Nate felt, tired and hungry.

“I’m going to the Yards today,” Liam announces.

Nathan looks up sharply. This was unlike Liam. The notorious Yards gave good pay, sure, but at the possible cost of your life.

“Don’t look at me like that, you know this life hardly pays. And last night, well.” His voice trailed off.

Indeed, Nathan knew and he understood that the night before was a complete fail, but that didn’t make Liam sound any saner. Nathan kept his thoughts to himself, though, finished his coffee and left without a word.

He walked around aimlessly, trying to dissipate his anger. He was angry at Liam for going to do something so dangerous, he was angry at the Earth for freaking out and fucking up his life, but most of all he was angry at the people who walked right by him with no knowledge of his presence, or rather he was angry at the people who did this to them. It was the chip in their arm. It tapped into some part of their nervous system, rewrote their neurons to respond to the chip’s code and people essentially turned into robots, playthings. Of course, there were basic functions that people could do on their own free will, but a lot of the decision based centers in the body were controlled by the chip. It also controls cerebrum functions, which is the reason why they cannot see Nathan, or Liam, or any others without the chip. The chip came in different forms. The general chip was the one most of the population had. Then there was the chip given to those in law-enforcement of any kind, including military. It was exactly like the general chip, but it also allowed them to see those who tried to slip under the radar without a chip. Doctors, lawyers, professor, they had chips that made them exceptional at their jobs. Government officials and elites had the option to go chipless or receive special ones like mood enhancers, or intelligence boosters.

The whole ordeal made Nathan sick to his stomach. How could people do that to other people? He rests against the side of a building, looks up at the sky. Three hours had passed without Nate even noticing. He had only a slight clue of where he was. Not far from home actually, he had been walking in circle. Back against the wall, Nathan began contemplating. He had known Liam for 7 years, he didn’t want to leave, the boy was like a brother, but the thought of Liam never coming home one day, killed in the Yards, made Nathan’s head hurt. The day wore on. He went back to his and Liam’s apartment, found a note on the door.

Gone to the Yards, sorry mate.

Nathan kicked the door, screamed, crumpled the paper, slid down the wall onto the concrete in a grief induced anger. He already felt in his body that Liam wouldn’t last long out there. He knew that Liam knew that too.

Liam came back that day. Nathan said nothing to him. They ate dinner in silence and did not mention the boxes and cans of food that now lined the counter. The boys went to bed angry and sad and full for the first time in years.

Liam was gone when Nate woke up. Nathan looked at the food disdainfully, sneered at it even. Then he opened a can of pineapples and ate it begrudgingly. He stayed home that day and read. Liam came two hours later than the day before. He looked worn out. His hands were wrapped with bandages splattered with blood that was not his. Nathan would stitch up his bruised face after dinner. More bags of food were on his arms.

“Are we stocking up for the next apocalypse or something?” Nathan joked.

Liam smiled and Nathan could feel himself breathe easier.

Nathan woke up at the same time as Liam the next morning. They ate breakfast together, then Liam was on his way again. The routine repeated for four days. On day five Nathan awake with the worst feeling of dread in his chest. He recognised it as the same thing his four year old self had felt fifteen years ago.

“Li, you can’t go today.” Nathan said over a bowl of beans.

“What? Why?” Liam looks at Nathan curiously.

“I just have a bad feeling, okay, Li? “Please don’t leave.” Nate pleaded.

“I’ll be fine,” Liam assures.

He leaves. Nathan spends the entire day on his feet. At around three, there’s a heavy knock on the door. He opens it to find a man about two times his size.

“Nathanial Myers, brother of Liam Myers?” The man asked.

Nathan’s heart speeds up. “Yes?”

The man gestures to someone behind him. An even bigger guy comes into Nathan’s view, holding a body that looks like it could be Liam but it can’t be Liam because Liam is big and that body is small waytoosmall and Nathan can’t breathe.

“Whoa, kid, sit down, breathe. Your brother is still alive, two of his ribs are busted and his wrist is fractured, he’ll heal. He won’t be able to fight again, though. Pity ‘cause he was damn good.”

Nate hears this from three dimensions away. Stuff happens around him. Li’s body is brought in, he manages to point them to his bed. They bring in a generator, electrical appliances. “Think of it as insurance” he is told. Then the two guys are gone and Nathan feels like he just ran a mile.

Liam coughs, then groans in pain. The noise brings Nate back to Earth and he rushes over to Liam’s bed.

“I’m sorry, Nate,” Liam rasps out.

“Shh, its fine, you need to rest.”

“You told me not to go and I went anyway and- and- God.” He devolves into a painful coughing fit and Nathan rushes to find him some water. He gets Liam to sip some and the cough subsides.

“Thank you,” Liam breathes.

“Sleep, Li,” Nathan begs. And Liam does.

Contrary to what Big Dude said, Liam did not get better. Every day he was weaker, barely able to get out of bed. Nathan felt like a part of himself was dying and he was powerless to do anything about it. Liam was strong though. They were in their third week, food supplies dwindling, but Nathan didn’t care. He had just finished cooking breakfast, pancakes and sausage, Liam’s favourite from his childhood.

“Water or juice, Li?” Nathan asked Liam. He didn’t respond. Nathan tried not to freak out. It was probably one of those mornings where he had to physically rouse him. He approached the living room turned bedroom slowly. Something was wrong, he thought as he looked at Li’s sleeping body. What-? Then he realised - the blanket, it wasn’t moving.

“Li, no Li, please.” Nate pleads with no one because he knows that his best friend - his brother - is dead. He has lost his family again.

He cries. He cries until his eyes no longer fill and his mouth is dry from dehydration. Then he collects Liam’s body and he goes outside. The light temporarily blinds him and Nathan realises that life went on while his shattered once again. He carries Liam effortlessly, the boy had lost so much weight stuck in the bed for three weeks. He walks to the building next door and knocks. A tall, brown haired man around forty answers.

“Hi Mr. Eldom, I- I need to bury him,” Nathan’s voice cracks and his eyes drag up tears from some part of his body. “I heard that you had a friend at the cemetery and I was, well, wondering...”

“Of course, son. I am so sorry for your loss.” The man answers kindly.

Still, Nate can’t help but think bitterly, Sorry doesn’t bring my brother back. He waits patiently outside while Mr. Eldom puts on more suitable clothes.

“Do you want me to take him?” Eldom offers.

“I’ve got him,” Nate says stiffly.

They make the walk to the cemetery quietly. Nathan stands off while Mr. Eldom and his friend discuss something, then he waves Nathan over.

“There’s a plot open right now. Ted can remove the original casket, put your friend under it. He’ll even give him his own.”

“Brother.” Nathan corrects.

“Excuse me?” Mr. Eldom asks.

“He. Is. My. Brother.”

“Of course. I am sorry.”

Nathan follows him to a little shack. A casket lay open on a table. He walks past Ted, who has his arms outstretched, and places Liam inside the box himself. Liam, someone so selfless, so utterly good, fated to die at the age of seventeen and to be buried under someone else. Nate chokes back a sob.

“Do you want him specially dressed-”

"Don’t you touch him.” Nathan says hoarsely.

Ted puts his hands up in surrender. He aides Nate in carrying the casket to the plot, four feet deeper than the regular six. Mr. Eldom jumps into the hole and assists in the laying down of the coffin.
Weary from the work and losing his brother, Nate collapses in the grass. His body shakes with his tears and he gasps for air to fill his lungs and remembers that air will never again fill Liam’s lungs.

“Do you want to say anything?” Ted asks quietly.

Nate turns his gaze to the sky and curses the sun for shining so brightly on a day like this.

“There’s nothing left to say.”

Ted nods his head and begins to fill the hole. He stays until Liam’s body is buried under four feet of dirt. He stays when Ted puts the other casket in, and he is there when the hole is filled to the top. He stays until the sun disappears and the moon takes its place. Then he gets up, walks away from the cemetery, walks away from the neighbourhood. And he never looks back.