“There’s a lot left to do,” he says. “Think of all the villages and homesteads out there just like Springhill. With little protection and limited supplies. All of these places need help. Think about the number of greyskins there are in the world. I think we’ve been given these gifts so we can take them out. So we can start the world fresh and be rid of all the greyskins.” His eyes sparkle with excitement as he speaks.
“You’re talking about a big number for a handful of people,” I say.
“I am,” he answers. “Though there are more Starborns out there than you think. We just have to find them.” His wide smile is as genuine as I’ve ever seen. “We have to let them know that it’s okay to come out into the open.”
There is one thing about Aaron. He truly does like to inspire. I personally don’t think we will ever be completely rid of the greyskins, yet Aaron seems optimistic. Of course, we can’t focus on any of that until our main threat is gone. The creator of the greyskins is always a step ahead of us. What worries me is that he hasn’t really tried to kill any of the Starborns yet. Sure, he set loose thousands of greyskins on us, but I’m not convinced he didn’t know we would win. I think he might have wanted to see what skills we really did have. I’m afraid we don’t know what his fury looks like.
We will soon. Sooner than I think, I’m sure.
When I’m about to leave, Aaron calls me over to him. “Quick,” he says. He points at the screen to an area just outside a built portion of the wall. “Guards aren’t supposed to be out that far are they?” he asks.
I see a blue, yellow, and red image moving across the screen. When he zooms the image in, we can see that it’s a human, walking
around the wall, though in no particular pattern.
“Is it a greyskin?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he says.
“Switch the view to normal,” I say.
He does, but it’s a black screen. “Doesn’t work at night or with the clouds. That’s why we use the heat signal this late,” he says. “We’d better go check it out.”
I agree and we both leave the Tower and move down the stairs. We sprint to the waint to tll and when we get there, we see a guard standing next to one of the unfinished openings.
“Have you seen anything moving just outside the wall?” I ask him.
The guard tells us no and says he hasn’t heard anything either. Aaron and I move to the other side of the unfinished wall, keeping our guard up for anything unexpected. Aaron pulls a pistol from his belt that I hadn’t seen before.
“I don’t want to take a chance,” he says.
The two of us walk around the entire perimeter and even out into the open field beyond, but we don’t find anything. When we make it back to the wall, we decide that it must have just been a guard looking around. There’s no other explanation for what we saw on the screen.
Though we found nothing, I can’t shake the feeling that a dangerous presence is among us. It’s not unlike the feeling I had when Connor and I were searching for Aaron and a group of greyskins came up on us. I had the feeling there was something wrong and we climbed a tree just in time to be out of harm’s reach.
But now I see nothing. I hear nothing.
I walk back to my house where Grandma and Jake are already asleep. I hope we will all be safe tonight.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The air was cold and the wind brought the temperature down by at least ten degrees, but none of the people in the long line minded as long as they were accepted into Screven. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people standing in line to be checked and approved for entrance. Evelyn had probably been in line for two days already, but she could see her and her four friends getting closer and closer to the entrance.
Screven was only accepting people during the daytime, so as soon as the sun was down, the gate was closed to the magnificent city, leaving so many people stranded out in the cold, icy wilderness, exposed to the possibility of greyskin attacks. On occasion, a Screven truck would drive up and down the line to make sure no greyskins were near, but Evelyn knew it was only a gesture to demonstrate the safety Screven could offer. If ever there were an attack on this line by the greyskins, no doubt Screven guards would lock themselves in, leaving the people in line to fend for themselves. And why shouldn’t they? Screven had no obligation to help anyone. It was only out of the goodness of one man’s heart that the city was built in the first place.
Evelyn thought back to about a week ago when she had heard the radio broadcast. Evelyn, Rachel, Whit, Alex, and Lisa had all been huddled together in a shack they had found in the woods. Their village had been taken over by a herd, and as far as they could tell, they were the only ones that had survived. Whit had been mindful enough to grab a radio before fleeing.
They had dared to light a fire in the tiny chimney even though the smallest flicker could catch the attention of a greyskin. It was either light a fire or freeze to death in the night. Alex, the oldest of them at the age of thirty, kept the radio as low as possible as he turned the dial, trying to find a signal.
Evelyn was the youngest at age twenty, but the others looked to her for leadership. Perhaps it was because she was the one that had gotten them out of the village and led them to safety. It hadn’t been anything really. She had seen an opportunity to get out. Those four were near her. She hadn’t done anything special in her mind.
All of them had lost so many friends and family. It was sickening to think that this had happened to them. They all thought their village was safe. It was up in the hills. Out of reach. But no. The greyskins came in the middle of the night, biting, scratching, and feeding.
Rachel brushed her fingers through Lisa’s hair, doing everything she could to comfort her. Lisa had seen her entire family taken out right in front of her.
“We aren’t going to make it very long,” Whit said as he stared into the fire. “We’ve got no food. We don’t even know where we are.”
“We will make it,” Evelyn said. “We just have to be careful is all.”
“I don’t suppose you have an idea of where we should go?” Whit said.
At that moment, Alex caught part of a sentence, a broadcast on the radio. Everyone stopped breathing when they heard the voice of a man. There was a little static, but for the most part his voice was clear. He sounded young, maybe middle-aged. Handsome.
“...know many of you have lost much. But that is why I created the city of Screven. It is to be a safe place for those of you without homes. Without shelter. The walls of Screven have been built to withstand greyskins for the next thousand years. Never will you have to face the fear of them again. You will be given a job. A place to live. You will work for the betterment of mankind. Over the years, we will build Screven to be even greater. We will expand. There will be colonies. Eventually the whole world will be a part of Screven and we can all be free again. Free from fear. Free from the undead.”
“Who is this guy?” Alex asked out loud. He scratched at his red beard as he held the radio up so we could better listen.
“To this day, no one truly knows the origins of the greyskins. Pursuit of that knowledge has long been abandoned. I cannot give you answers. I cannot give you what you have lost. I can only give you hope. I am Jeremiah, creator and leader of the city of Screven. All are welcome to join us here, but there is limited space. Keep listening to the broadcast, and you will learn of how to reach the city of hope.”
“Jeremiah,” Alex says. “Screven.”
“I guess we just figured out what our next move is,” Evelyn said to Whit. Whit didn’t say anything back to her, but he sat and stared at the fire, knowing they would be going to Screven the next day.
After two days in line, the five of them were ready to get some place warm. The line was moving but there wasn’t much daylight left and none of them could stand to stay another night.
“What if when we get to the front of the line, they are full?” Lisa asked through shivers.
“Lisa,
you can’t think that way,” Rachel scolded.
“It’s a real possibility,” Whit said. Rachel gave him a glare that would make most men recoil.
Evelyn ignored their talk. Most of it was negative, but for good reason. She was too cold to listen to them anyway. She kept to herself, alone in her thoughts, hoping that she wouldn’t have to spend another night huddled up against her friends and strangers. In order to keep warm, everyone in line had practically slept nudged up against someone else so they didn’t freeze. The night before, Evelyn had been pushed up against a large and smelly man who told her he hadn’t slept so close to a woman in twenty years. His comment made her sick to her stomach. But at least he was warm.
She didn’t care to do that again.
The line moved throughout the afternoon. Evelyn and her group wo her grould be cutting it close. Night was almost upon them and there were at least fifty people in line ahead of them.
When the announcement came that the gate would be closing for the night, Evelyn had only ten people in front of her. The first twenty or so people in line moaned loudly, complaining that if they had to stay another night, they would die.
Evelyn knew there was no point in arguing, though the guards were nice enough to explain that it was just too dangerous to do admissions at night. It made sense.
She pulled her coat tight around her neck and mentally prepared herself for another long night of little sleep and constant shivering. She clustered with Rachel and Lisa on her left with the large man on her right. She actually felt very fortunate to have the man huddle next to her despite his awkward comments and rude bodily noises that came in the night.
Hours passed and none of them were sleeping. Partly because they knew that if they could make it through the night, they would be citizens of Screven the next day.
“I can’t feel my toes,” Alex said.
“Go for a jog,” Whit said to him.
“No way. I’m not losing my spot in line to get warm.”
Whit shrugged.
Another hour passed and Evelyn had almost fallen asleep when the screams started to sound out. At first, nobody knew what was happening. Both men and women were crying out to the top of their lungs for help. Others jumped from their sleeping positions to try and get a better look of what was happening further down the line though no one wanted to leave his spot.
But the screams got closer and closer until Evelyn could finally see why the people were screaming.
“Greyskins!” Alex shouted out. “Coming this way!”
That set the entire crowd in motion toward the gate. Evelyn also ran, pounding on the large door, hoping someone would respond to her calls. But of course the guards weren’t going to open the gates. Why would they? They maintained a safe city. A city where no one would have to worry about the greyskin herds. If they opened the gates, everyone would have to worry. It was then and there that Evelyn was ready to accept her fate. All of them were about to die, just like their friends and family in the village they left behind.
Alex was the first to go. He had tried to protect Lisa and Rachel, but two greyskins jumped on top of him, gnawing him at the neck, ripping open his stomach. Rachel and Lisa had been protected for only a moment, then they were also torn to pieces. Evelyn jumped when she felt something grab her arm. When she turned, she saw Whit. He pulled her toward the door and held onto her tightly. She had always known that Whit cared for her. This had been so since the day they met all those years ago. He kissed her forehead and then turned to slap against the wooden gate just like everyone else.
Evelyn joined him, crying out for someone to show mercy. No mercy would come tonight.
That is when something odd happened. The more Whit hit his hand against the wooden gate, the hotter it became. He didn’t even notice that it had begun smoking until it was so hot that others had to back away. He and Evelyn looked at his hands in bewilderment. They were glowing a bright orange. People around them made a circle of defense as Whit pressed his hands harder against the wood until it started to catch fire. Soon, he had burned a hole all the way through it, large enough for them to step through. He motioned for Evelyn to go with him. They were the first to go through and then there were more. The large man that had kept Evelyn warm for the past couple of nights was pushing people through, encouhrough, raging them to get through the hole until a greyskin grabbed him at the leg and tripped him up. Then there were three on top of him.
At first, the guards didn’t know what to do with the people pouring in. Evelyn shouted for them to go out and help the others, but she knew the plea was useless. It was too dark to tell greyskin from human.
Though Evelyn had no idea what sort of thing just happened to Whit, she didn’t care. She only wanted to be next to him. Without him, she was completely alone. The others were dead. The guards surrounded Whit, watching him and his glowing hands intently.
The guards had no choice but to block the newly created hole in the gate even though there were countless people trying to get in. On scaffoldings at the top of the wall, soldiers were ordered to open fire on anything that moved. Shots rang out for thirty straight minutes until they were satisfied.
There would be more shots in the morning when they could see more movement, but for now, it would have to do.
People around Evelyn were crying. They couldn’t believe that so many had died so close to the entrance of the city. Evelyn could only think of the other three that had come with them. Alex, Lisa, and Rachel. Each of them had so much hope. Evelyn didn’t cry, but mostly because she was in shock. Then there was this whole issue with Whit and his glowing hands.
She looked at him. Guards surrounded him. His sleeves were burned at his wrists, but he didn’t seem to show any pain. Evelyn stepped forward to talk to him, but a guard placed himself in front of her.
“Sorry,” he said. “You can’t go to him right now, he is under Screven custody.”
“Why?” she asked. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“This is an odd situation,” the guard said. “Jeremiah will want to speak to him. Are you two together?”
“Yes,” she answered.
The guard looked at another and waved him in. He said something to him that Evelyn couldn’t hear and the other guard nodded a few times. The guard closer to her finally turned and looked at her. “Jeremiah will probably want to see you as well.”
The guards surrounded them and they walked through the city for a long time. Even inside the city walls it was dark and cold. Most of the citizens had gone in for the night and were resting comfortably in their new homes. The guards had Whit walk several paces ahead of Evelyn. She knew he probably had no clue what was happening to him. It was the first time she had seen something like that happen before. Personally, she was glad it had.
She thought Whit might have been in some sort of trouble for breaking into the city, but it seemed odd that the city leader would want to deal with it. Wouldn’t it be better to leave it to the guards?
She walked in dead silence with the group until they reached the largest building in the city. The guards led them up a set of stone stairs and finally into the building. Evelyn could feel the warmth sink into her skin. The change was so rapid that her limbs started itching uncomfortably.
Evelyn and Whit were finally led to a room on the other side of the building where they were told to sit and wait. They were alone in the room though there was a guard standing outside.
“Did you see the others?” Whit asked. “Did they make it through?”
Evelyn knew he knew the answer already. He only wanted there to be hope. He wanted her to say that she didn’t see them. Maybe they got through.
“They didn’t make it,” she said coldly. There was no use in telling him the gory details. He didn’t need to be told that all three of all threthem had been ripped to pieces. But they didn’t make it. There was no hiding that fact.
“Since when could you burn things with your hands?” Evelyn asked.
“Sinc
e the first time you saw it,” he answered, staring at the wall in front of him. “I don’t know where it came from or why it happened. I’m just glad that it did.”
“I wonder why Jeremiah wants to meet with us,” Evelyn said.
Whit shook his head. “I suppose we are in trouble. Would be a pity to finally get here and then be sent away. I don’t know what I would do.”
“Find a way to survive,” Evelyn said.
The door opened quickly and in came two guards followed by a tall man wearing a hat and sunglasses. He wore a thick winter coat and large boots. His brown hair seemed wild underneath his brimmed hat. The first thing Evelyn noticed about him was the unusual amount of fragrances he wore. It wasn’t terrible, but it came on very strong.
Whit and Evelyn stood. They knew they were in the presence of Jeremiah.
“Please be seated,” Jeremiah said. He motioned for the two guards to leave the room.
When the door closed behind them, Jeremiah sat down across from Whit and Evelyn, looking at both of them for several long seconds.
“We have a problem here,” he finally said out loud.
“I’m sorry that we broke into the city,” Whit said. “We were all in danger.”
“Broke into the city?” Jeremiah said. “More like burned into the city, right?”
Whit swallowed hard and nodded.
“The problem I have is that I run a city full of people who know that they are safe. But then there is you.”
“I assure you,” Whit said, “I am quite safe. I don’t mean any harm to the people of Screven. I only want to live here and to serve your city.”
“But what is to stop you from going into the banks here?” Jeremiah asked. “With a power like yours, you could break into anything. You could take control.”
“I assure you, I would not even consider such a thing. I didn’t even know I could do that until a few minutes ago.”
Jeremiah squinted. “So, you haven’t had the chance to think about all the things you could do. On top of that, you’ve started here in Screven by breaking the law. A law, I might add, that if broken, is punishable by death.”
The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) Page 38