The grinding and banging on the door seemed to grow louder, and it was obvious that the control officers were on the verge of flooding into the room. He looked towards the door and then faced the camera directly again.
“For anyone else still in the Facility,” he said, “just know that you are free. If you decide to stay, do it without imprisoning anyone to be here. If you decide to leave, live with my people in peace.”
He reached into his pocket once again, taking out a piece of paper. He unfolded it, then moved it closer to the camera. It was Reena’s son’s drawings, taken from her bunk.
“Reena,” he said once again. “I hope it’s okay that I’ve kept these for myself. May the Maker hold me until we meet again, when we all see the sky. For the Midlet. For Barus. For Bear. For you.”
As he finished his last words, he lowered the paper, and a crash sounded off screen. A control officer appeared on the tile’s display, led by his Stunner. The Stunner connected with Hokmah’s head, who stood still and kept his composure until he was knocked out and slumped over in his chair. The Stunner stayed on him while three other officers came into view and connected their Stunners to him as well.
Every tile in sight went black, with a single strip of yellow along the bottom that read Technical issues – tile functionality will return momentarily.
“Hokmah!” Reena cried out, still holding Quilen in her hands.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Reena’s head rose above the hatch in the middle of the Deathlands. She had seen it before, a week prior to investigate with her own eyes. She had wanted to be able to tell others that she was sure. Not that she didn’t trust those who told her, but rather that she wanted her own word to be the one that she gave to the people around her.
This time, however, the air smelled different. It was no longer temporary. The chill against her skin told her that she would never again step foot in the temperature controlled Facility. The cold was uncomfortable, but there was no discomfort she could not handle now that she was free.
Other men and women around her cheered, celebrating her presence and the ordeal she endured. She hugged every neck that came near her, laughing at their victory and weeping at their loses.
And then they started walking.
With tears, she announced to everyone how Hokmah had sacrificed himself for all of them. She also told them about Quilen Coomy, and how he laid his life down for her. They were very surprised, but they honored his memory equal to the others that they lost from among them.
They told her of what happened after she was abducted, and of the battle that never came. They shared Hokmah’s plan, and how he knew that he would not return from the Central Facility Computer alive. They had battled handfuls of control officers in the tunnels after Hokmah started his video feed, able to take their Stunners, and carrying the laborers who had been knocked out by them.
They followed the flags, still not knowing who placed them there. Some among them were afraid, saying that it could be a trap. That the flags could lead to some place even crueler than the Facility. They questioned why they saw no living thing for miles around them.
But Reena’s spirit could not be shaken. The hope that she held on to was proof enough. She encouraged the men and women who followed her for hours, emboldened each time she saw a new flag.
For Barus, she thought. For Bear. For the Midlet. For Hokmah.
They would be successful, she knew it. They already were.
.- -.-. -
From the moment that Gabriel arrived on horseback from the outpost, yelling on the way to the chapel, there was chaos in the town.
He had explained himself to the congregation once he arrived at the entrance – there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of people walking in the Deathlands. He and Zeke had seen them through the telescope, moving lethargically across the cracked plain.
Talitha and Jonah had smiled to each other, but everyone else screamed.
Their wedding ceremony had been cut off, and men and women ran out of the chapel to their homes, to their weapons, to their horses. Each horse galloped towards the Deathlands with a speed that only adrenaline could support.
“I have to go with them,” Jonah said to Talitha as he kissed her forehead and started walking down the aisle alone.
“Wait!” Talitha cried out. “You’re not going without me.”
Jonah tried to reason with her, to tell her that she would be safer in the town. He didn’t want her to be caught up in a battle, especially on the same day that they were supposed to have been married.
However, Talitha argued her own stance. If she was there, she said, there would be no battle. She alone could talk to both the townsfolk and the citizens of the Facility. She wrapped a heavy shawl around her and walked with resolve.
He knew that she was right. They jumped on the horse that they were supposed to ride into the sunset after they had celebrated their wedding with their friends and family.
Even Jonah’s father was on horseback, holding firmly onto Harrison’s waist as he controlled the reins. Talitha sat behind Jonah, still getting used to the power that a horse contained in their muscles.
A ride that normally took Jonah a few hours was done in barely more than one. He did his best to catch up to the front of the pack so that his and Talitha’s voices would be the first ones speaking between the two groups. He succeeded, luckily, because most of the other riders had spent time in preparation. He stopped his horse at the edge of the Deathlands, allowing the beast to catch its breath.
He looked across the desert, which had the thinnest layer of snow settling on it. In the distance, he saw what looked to be a small sea of brown moving around the horizon. After borrowing Zeke’s telescope, he confirmed that they were people. They were obviously not dressed for the cold journey, but they were not wearing the silver uniforms that he had seen during his time in the Facility. They were thin, which was completely unlike everyone else that he had met, besides Talitha.
Talitha looked through the spyglass as well, and told him that they must be laborers. She wasn’t completely sure, however, because she had never seen them with her own eyes.
He brushed the animal’s mane with one hand, speaking encouraging words to it, and he raised his other hand to his fellow townspeople as they arrived.
“Stay here,” he announced to them as they gathered around him. “They’re not an army. I can’t see a single warrior among them – look through the telescope for yourselves for any weapons.”
“They’re hiding them,” Raymond Cowel screamed.
Jonah wished that Raymond had not heard Gabriel’s proclamation throughout the town, or at least that he had been passed out in a barn. But he was here. And he would do everything he could to ensure a fight.
“Let us ride out there to them first,” Jonah yelled to the small crowd. “On the chance that they have weapons and they’re here to kill us, let them kill me first. But if I’m right, and they don’t have anything that could hurt us, let Talitha and me be the ones to show them that we are their friends.”
“You’re going to warn them,” Raymond screamed, putting his hand on his holster. “You’ve been planning this since she got here.”
“Shut up, Ray,” Schultz said, riding to Jonah’s side. “How’s ‘bout you and me tag along with ‘em, huh?”
Jonah looked at Schultz with a confused expression. How would taking Raymond be a good idea, he thought.
“Raymond, you can go on ahead of us – then they’ll kill you first,” Schultz said. “Then Jonah and me can get to shootin’ ‘em so we can get revenge for you. Sound good?”
A small amount of laughter made its way through the crowd.
“Go on ahead, Jonah,” Brick said. “If Raymond tries to do anything before you get back, I’ll knock him off his horse.”
Jonah nodded appreciatively to Schultz and Brick. He tugged at the reigns, guiding his horse to turn towards the silent desert.
“Don’t get shot,” Schultz said, o
nly halfway joking.
“You got it,” Jonah said as he pushed his horse forward with the back of his boot.
The two of them crossed the distance between the grass and the laborers within minutes. As they approached, the first row of tired men and women fell back and braced themselves.
“Citizens of the Facility,” Jonah announced loudly to them. “We’re not here to hurt you.”
“We’re here to help,” Talitha said, quickly jumping off the horse. She tried hard to not to fall as she hit the ground, transitioning her feet into steps toward the crowd. Dismounting was something she still had not mastered.
No one spoke.
“Are you thirsty?” Jonah asked. “We have water just up ahead. We have food, but it will take a while to prepare so that you can eat it.”
The crowd was no longer moving, except for a single woman running from further in.
“Yes,” Reena cried. “We are thirsty and hungry. Our skin burns. But we are all Dirt Walkers!”
The crowd of vagrants mustered a weak cheer.
“You look…familiar,” Reena said as she neared them. “Could it be possible that you are Jonah and Talitha from the videos in the Facility?”
“Yes,” Talitha cried out.
Reena pulled all of her strength together and ran to Talitha to hug her. The two embraced, while Reena cried. Talitha looked up at Jonah, not knowing how to handle the situation.
“We thought you were dead,” Reena said. “There were so many things that they said about you two that we hoped were not true.”
“We’re definitely not dead,” Talitha laughed.
“Are these your flags?” Onjo called out. “Are you the ones that left these here to guide us out?”
“Yes,” Jonah said. “Though to be honest, I left them here for me. I discovered your home by accident, and I placed them there so that I knew my own way back home. But perhaps they’re leading towards your new home as well.”
Reena let go of Talitha and turned towards Jonah with open arms. Jonah felt that there was nothing he could do but dismount and embrace her. She continued to cry.
Talitha took off her shawl and unwrapped the scarf from around her neck. She offered the warm clothes to the nearest laborers, who huddled together to share them. Jonah watched Talitha move amongst them in what was supposed to be her wedding dress.
“I know it’s hard,” Talitha yelled above the crowd, “but you have to keep walking. The sun is setting, which is good. When I first made this journey, the burns from the sun made me sick for weeks. But the darkness will make it easy for you to get lost out here. And it will get even colder, and you don’t have enough clothing on to survive the night.”
Jonah patted Reena’s back, as if to signal her to let go. Reena did not quickly get the hint.
“I’m Reena,” she said, finally releasing him. Then she announced the names of those around her.
“Well, Reena,” Jonah said. “Get your people moving.”
She waved the band of laborers to follow as they started taking steps towards the outpost. Jonah lead his horse by the reins for a few yards.
“I’ll run back and let the rest of the town know that you don’t have any weapons,” Jonah said to Reena, then yelled to everyone, “You don’t have any weapons, do you?”
Onjo raised a Stunner in the air. “I have this,” she said.
Jonah recognized it from his previous encounters with the control officers. He motioned Onjo to come in closer so they could speak quietly. Onjo did so with caution.
“My people are at the edge of this ground, where the desert meets the grass,” he whispered so that only Onjo, Reena and Talitha could hear. “They’re nervous – they don’t know what to expect from you. They all have weapons – things that will hurt you from a distance. Guns.”
Reena stiffened.
“Yes, we are familiar with guns,” she said.
“It is our intention that no shots will be fired,” he continued. “Would you mind giving me any Stunners that you have on you, to show my people that you mean no harm to them? The last time I was in the Facility, your Leaders beat me and imprisoned me.”
Reena chuckled. “We share those things common, Jonah.”
“They will use their weapons if they are afraid that you’re here to attack them,” Jonah said.
“I’m sorry,” Onjo said. “But we’ve just escaped from a place where the Leaders had all of the weapons, and we had none of them. I would feel better if those of us with Stunners could keep them, though we have no intention to use them.”
Jonah sighed.
“I definitely understand,” he said, worrying as he pictured Raymond hanging in his mind. “You have every right to defend yourself. But again, I urge you to be careful not to seem like an army. Can you at least hide them under your clothes?”
“Not without shocking ourselves,” Onjo said.
Jonah sighed once again.
“Okay,” he said. Please hide yourselves a few rows in, so that you can pass by my people without them being seen.”
“Reena?” Onjo asked, looking for her approval.
“Yes, I don’t think we have anything to fear from these terrorists,” Reena said, jokingly. “If they meant to kill us, they wouldn’t have signaled us out of the Facility to do so. Or they would have killed us where we stand now.”
Onjo fell back and slipped in between other laborers.
“But the greater question is,” Reena said to Jonah and Talitha, “do you have other intentions for us?”
“What do you mean?” Jonah asked.
“We’ve been working for other people’s comfort for our entire lives,” she responded. “Do you intend to become our Leaders?”
Jonah laughed.
“No, nothing like that,” he said. “In fact, there aren’t really any leaders here. We each have our part to play, and we need each other to survive. But if you want to leave our town and create your own community away from us, you are more than welcome to. Though I don’t recommend doing so immediately, because you’re going to need a lot of help to live on the surface.”
“I helped solve some of those problems,” Talitha snickered. “Hopefully you won’t have the same kind of difficulties that I did. However, be prepared to spend a lot of time in what is known here as an outhouse. It’s like a sanitation unit, only… Less sanitary. But that will pass.”
“There are no difficulties that we won’t be able to face,” Reena said. “You might have grown up in the Facility, but I don’t think our experiences were the same.”
“That’s true,” Talitha said. “But I just wanted to warn you.”
They walked a few steps more before Reena reminded Jonah he wanted to ride ahead to talk to his people. He made sure Talitha was comfortable walking the rest of the way with the laborers, and she said she was. He mounted his horse and was on his way.
“Talitha,” Reena said after of a few moments of silence. “I have some unfortunate news.”
“Oh?” Talitha said, surprised.
“I spoke to your father before we escaped,” Reena said.
“Oh,” Talitha said flatly. “I’m sorry for whatever he said to you. Please know that we don’t share many of the same ideas.”
“Maybe that was once true,” Reena replied. “But he changed. Maybe only in the last couple of days, but I believe that ever since you left the Facility, he was becoming different from who you knew him to be.”
“What do you mean?” Talitha asked.
“Before I left, he told me to let you know that he loved you.”
Talitha sighed.
“That doesn’t much sound like my father,” she said.
“I know it’s true,” Reena said. “He also said he was sorry. He said he was sorry not only for the last time he saw you, but for the man he used to be.”
Talitha was silent.
“That’s really nice of him,” she finally said. “But it would have meant a lot more if he came here to tell me that himself. How
do I know I can believe it?”
“I know he would’ve rather told you himself,” Reena said. “As soon as he found out that the surface was survivable, and that you might be alive, he made the decision to come here. But he couldn’t.”
“Big surprise,” Talitha mocked. “Did he get a new purpose assignment that kept him from coming up here? Some really important game on his wristile?”
Reena stopped, causing all of the people behind them to stop. She put her hand on Talitha’s shoulder.
“I know your father meant it,” Reena said, staring into Talitha’s eyes. “I know he changed. I know because he died for me.”
Talitha wasn’t sure what she had heard. As soon as the words entered her ears, her vision turned white and her mind blank. Slowly Reena’s face came back into focus.
“He what?” Talitha said, her lip quivering slightly.
Reena grabbed Talitha’s hand, then continued to walk. The group behind her resumed walking as well.
“Your father,” Reena said. “He was afraid of the men he worked for. It was a much different kind of fear than I know, but I could see it. He began to regret his choices, and in his final moments he decided to make a new choice. His superior was going to shoot me with a gun – that’s how we know of them. Your father jumped in front of it and saved me. That’s how I know he was a different man than he was even a month ago. He died for a laborer.”
Talitha’s eyes overflowed with tears while Reena described her father’s final moments.
“Thank you,” she said, barely getting the words out.
Reena’s arm was around Talitha’s shoulder for most of the rest of their journey to the edge of the Deathlands.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Before the laborers reached grass, many of them started talking excitedly. The last several hours were spent with no scenery but modest flags set against the cold gray ground. While the sun was incredibly beautiful as it neared the horizon, it was something that they couldn’t touch. When they could see trees in the distance, and then a small building with smoke billowing from its chimney, they started to realize that the surface was far more than the Deathlands.
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