1
He opened his eyes in front of his shelter house. It's door was intact. Then he realized: he could control his body. He reached out to open the door, stepped in, and walked to his bedroom. The walls were clean. New, as if never touched by decay. And there was Ilona, alive, well, and zipping up a luggage bag.
"You didn't have to come." she said. "I would've made it in time."
His lips moved before he could think. "There's no time to talk. We have to get to the wall."
He Took her bag and led her out to the car he brought.
As they drove, she turned to him smiling, "Thank you for coming. I love you."
Her words stirred something within him, a feeling he couldn't grasp. This wasn't real. He knew that. And yet, if illusions could bleed, he wouldn't want to happen to her. Not if he can stop it.
They got to the eastern gate of Miller's Circle(the octacore). Hundreds of people gathered around the entrance, with a few talking to someone through the screen near it. A while after, a squad of soldiers arrived, with Alfred among them. Eventually the gate opened.
One by one, the people entered. Kazimir watched them with one image in his mind: two hills of corpses. The trees were green, alive. The breeze stirred the leaves. The sunlight fell warm. It all felt real. Too real. A spark of doubt crawled inside him. But still, it couldn't change what he knows: what his eyes perceive is nothing but illusion.
Their turn came to move. Ilona pulled him by his arm towards the gate.
Inside the personal elevator, one of eight in the section, ilona held his hand as numbers got higher until it reached "7.1". The elevator doors opened, and they stepped into the seventh level of the building.
As they walked the corridors, screens covered the walls broadcasting a message by Egon Janz, the shelter's second in command, explaining how to access maps. Soon, another message played with soldiers explaining how to use existing items in the rooms to create furniture and beds. Blankets and pillows would soon be distributed.
Through the map on the screens, they looked for an unoccupied storage unit. They couldn't find one big enough for two, so they settled for a small room.
They stacked twelve boxes and covered them with thick blankets and two pillows. A bed that filled half the room. Meals were provided, enough for the day.
At night, they lay down together. Ilona fell asleep quickly. Too quickly. Kazimir kept his eyes open. He fought sleep for as long as he could. If he closed them this dream would change. He didn't want that. But eventually, he couldn't fight exhaustion.
The sound of the alarm woke him the next morning. Same room. Same hard bed. His back ached. He couldn't get up. So he went back to sleep.
***
Upon waking again, he felt strangely energetic. and now, the doubt grew bigger. For the first time, he began to doubt which reality was the dream. Still, he chose not to fight. Not here. Not while ilona was alive beside him.
Later, Alfred, came to his room. He asked kazimir to meet him at the diner. Over mugs of coffee, he congratulated Kazimir on the baby. Then, he picked kazimir's hand and pressed a necklace into it. A gift for the new baby. He received it from his father, who was also be the child's grandfather(obviously). Alfred had a vesicostomy when he was 21. With no future kids of his own, the necklace would pass on to Kazimir's child.