“You watched an innocent girl get hanged so these pieces of shit could cover up the truth of what they have been doing for over a decade.” She kicked Conwell hard. “Selling people off to slavers for supplies.”
“I command you to shoot her, Barry! Look at what she has done! She’s come back to finish us all off!”
Barry’s gun came up again as he fought some inner turmoil of what to do and who to believe.
“Barry, you once asked me to trust you,” she stepped towards him arms wide. “I am asking you to do the same for me now. I am not the enemy.”
Barry looked around the room and back out in the hallway at all the carnage, then back at her. With a deep sigh, he lowered his rifle. “I trust you.”
“Did the Eight go outside to fight?”
Barry shook his head. “No, we were to stay behind with the Sixth to patrol the streets.”
“Then let’s go for a walk. We have news to spread.”
Vincent stood at the head of the growing group in the courtyard where they had all watched Auska hang only weeks before. He and Jennifer had gone door to door talking to people, doing their best to explain what was happening. It hadn’t been long before the gunshots within the compound had stirred a greater number of people much faster.
Word spread much quicker that way, and soon nearly everyone left in Sanctuary was milling around, awaiting some truth and clarity to what was really happening. Many had gathered meager weapons as they realized that a handful of the men on the walls were not their own.
Soon those of higher standing had rushed out to join them, screaming about murder and carnage that was taking place within the council’s apartments. Vincent had made sure these new arrivals were herded together and under watch. There was something about the way they moved, talked, and how their eyes seemed more nervous and concerned than the others that bothered him. How many of them knew the truth that had been happening for years? he wondered.
Vincent had been surprised that those upon the walls had been subdued so easily by the slavers. With their attention out into the trees, they had been easy pickings for the crafty invaders.
Now, it was a waiting game. The gunshots from beyond the wall had ceased some time ago, and already a handful of soldiers had returned and were calling to be let in. The gunfire within the apartment complex where the council resided had also ceased several minutes ago.
Vincent felt a tightness in his chest. Auska was strong, smart and dangerous, yet fear gripped him. And he prayed she was still alive. He had already lost too much lately. To lose her again after just finding out she was still alive would break him beyond repair.
From everything Jennifer and Wren had told him, the man she was with, this Everett, was just as likely to kill her as the council and their guards would be. It did not sit well with him. Not much of any of this did, but Auska was alive and that was something in this horrible nightmare his life had been of late.
He looked around and noticed both Jennifer and Wren weren’t with him anymore. He wondered if they were keeping an eye on the crowd or hiding. It didn’t matter.
“Let our soldiers in!” someone cried out, and several others shouted their agreement.
“What’s going on?”
“They can’t be trusted!”
The shouts and murmurs were getting louder. The energy in the courtyard was building dangerously.
“PEOPLE!” A booming voice cut through the crowds.
The crowd turned towards the steel walkway where the council gave their announcements. There walking across it was Barry, Auska, two other Eight Division soldiers, and the battered and bloodied form of John Conwell.
“People, people, listen to me!” Barry called out to them, gathering everyone’s attention. “You need to listen! A terrible discovery has been brought to light tonight!”
“Where the fuck is Everett!” one of the slavers on the wall called out.
As if on cue, Tony and a score of others from the Eight Division swarmed the wall from the sides and below. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, shots were fired and the last of the slavers were dead before they had a chance to react.
Auska pushed Conwell forward and onto his knees. “Tell them the fucking truth!”
Gasps and more murmurs erupted from the crowd at seeing Auska alive.
“People help me!” Conwell called out to them. “They are traitors! Trying to kill us all!”
“Wait!” someone yelled. “How is she still alive?”
More murmurs.
“Because he lied to you!” Auska called down to them. “Because the council has been lying to you for years. The ‘sick’ that they claimed died were sold year after year! To slavers!” She shoved Conwell. “Tell them,” and she leaned down close to his ear, “and I will grant you a quick death, prick.”
Now the shouts and cries were angry as full realization began to take over the mob.
“Tell them!” Auska slashed her knife down the side of his face, taking his ear clean from the side of his head.
Conwell screamed in agony, tears streaking down his blood-splattered face. “It’s true!” He cried. “It’s all true! But we…” his voice was cut short as Auska kicked him down into the mass of people below.
The people of Sanctuary were mad, filled with violence at what they had heard. Their fists and boots rained down endlessly on the frail body of John Conwell until finally there was little more than a pulpy mess.
“Things are going to change for the better!” Auska proclaimed after Conwell’s screams ceased. “The council is no more! A new age has come to Sanctuary, where we no longer will have those who are privileged and those who are not! We can all strive for the same dream, the dream of a better life for all of us!”
A cheer went up from below as the people began to finally understand.
“This is for my brother!” Jen cried from behind.
“Jen, no!” Wren cried as he ran across the walkway trying to catch her in time. “It was me, Jen!”
Auska turned and caught sight of the raised handgun. Before Auska could act the gun went off…
Auska opened her eyes, confused to see the dream world where Archer had died before her once again. As horrible of memories that she had of this place, this time it held a strange and majestic beauty to it.
The grass was no longer dry, brittle clumps as it had been, but rich and vibrant. Long lush stalks waved in a fresh, sweet-scented breeze that caressed grass and skin alike. The forest surrounding the glade no longer felt foreboding and dangerous, with the promise of a hidden death from monsters both human and fiend.
The sky was full of wonderful vibrant colors; pinks, purples, oranges, and reds mingled together in the most tranquil harmony she had ever seen before as the sunset in the distant mountains. Yet even with the slow consuming of shadows making their way across the landscape, there was no fear, no quickening of heart with the perils night could bring.
Auska inhaled deeply, as if for the first time in her life, the serenity of the place absorbing into her every fiber. All her worries, hatreds and fears disintegrated with each passing moment.
Never in her life had she known such peace.
“Am I dead?” she asked aloud.
“Not yet,” came a familiar voice in reply.
She turned to the spot where she had last seen Archer, where he had died saving her, where she had collected his bones years later. He stood there now in the exact spot, smiling at her as a father would their child.
“I was shot,” she told him. “Jen shot me.”
“She did.”
“Is this the afterlife?”
Archer shook his head. “No, this is the same as it’s always been. A dream inside your own mind.”
Her face screwed up a bit. “But it feels different, everything feels more alive, more welcoming, safer… peaceful.”
“Because, in a sense, it is.”
“You said I was not dead yet, but if I am here that must mean that I am dying th
en?” She was surprised that her tone held no fear or concern at the question.
“You are dying, yes.”
Auska took another deep breath, savoring the sensation that filled her whole being. “That’s it then. At least I was able to free Sanctuary.”
Archer’s smile was warm and saddened. “It doesn’t have to be it.”
“But you said I was dying.”
“You are,” he replied, “but dying is not dead. You can go back. You can fight to survive.”
The thought shifted conflict within her that surprised her. “There’s nothing left for me to do now. I accomplished what I set out to do.”
Archer scowled at her and ran a hand across her cheek where he used to slap her. “Don’t be daft, girl. There is always more to do, more to see… more to feel.”
Flashes of Vincent, Jennifer, and other faces assaulted her for a moment, then Wren’s face hung in her mind’s eyes for a long moment before it too disappeared. “I don’t know if I want to go back now.”
“You don’t have to, but you do have to make up your mind now,” he replied as he sat against the fallen tree where he had died.
“Does it have to be now?” she asked. “Can I not stay here a while longer with you?”
“It has to be now. Too much longer and the decision won’t be yours to make.”
“What are my options?”
Archer smiled at her. “You can come sit here with me and we will watch the sunset together, or,” he pointed behind her to the trail she had taken so many years before with Vincent and Kelli, “you travel the way you once did and find your way home.”
Home.
The word sounded as sweet as the air tasted here and her heart fluttered with something she had never felt before.
“I’ve never known a place I felt I could call home,” she whispered.
“It’s not too late.”
“What would you have me do?” she asked desperately, seeing the cool shadows looming closer.
“The decision is yours, kid,” he told her softly. “But remember the little girl you once were, what that young girl once defiantly told me.”
I don’t want to just survive; I want to live!
“Would you hate me if I stayed here with you?” Tears began to seep down her cheeks.
“I could never hate you, kid. But I will be here still when the time comes. We can watch the sunset together another time.”
Auska closed her eyes and took a steadying breath before opening them again. “Then I will see you later, and we will watch it together then.”
He smiled at her as she turned towards the forest path.
“…she is coming to…”
Epilogue
Auska entered the clearing holding her new rifle tightly. It was how she had remembered it the last time she had been here in real life when she had retrieved Archer’s bones. Yet the sensation she felt here now was peaceful, like it had been months before in her dream.
Making her way to the fallen tree, a few tattered remains of his clothing still remained, but all other signs that a great man had fallen here were dust in the wind.
Dropping her pack to the ground, she opened it and removed a bundle of cloth. Carefully she unwrapped its contents, letting the cloth drop to the earth as she held the sun-bleached skull before her.
“You’ve saved me more times than I can count.” Her eyes misted with tears. “But this final time has truly given me life. I will be back one day, and we will watch the sunset together one last time.”
Placing it on the ground by the log she positioned it so it would face the sunset, which was just starting over the distant mountains.
“Auska,” a pleasant voice called to her.
Turning, she smiled as Wren made his way over to her. “I am done here.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” she took his hand in hers and he kissed it softly.
“I wish I could have known him.”
She smiled at that thought. “No, you don’t, he would have hated you.”
They shared a chuckle.
“We should get going. It’ll be dark soon and we’ve got a good trek back to camp,” Wren told her.
“We best not keep Barry and the Eight waiting then.”
They made their way back to the trees.
“I am surprised Jennifer let you carry your pack here.”
Auska rolled her eyes. “She has her own to carry. Besides, I need to build up my strength.”
“She’ll never forgive herself for shooting you.”
“She will, and it better be soon,” Auska grumbled. “I don’t need a nanny anymore.”
“I heard that Vincent and the other council members want to make a new Division, one to go out into the world and find other decent people. They want to make a new settlement so we can expand next year.”
Auska smiled.
~Fin~
What Remains (Book 2): What's Left Page 23