by Edge, T. C.
“Needlessly?” I ask, letting out a breath of air. “And what about the Graveyard? What about all the thousands who died from the nuclear weapon you sent into an innocent city?”
The woman holds up her hand as the man on the left begins his retort, cutting him off. “Is that what you believe? Is that what you've been told?” she asks calmly.
I don't answer for fear I'll say something out of turn. All I do is nod.
“That bomb was not sent by us, Miss Drayton. We had no access to such weapons. It was the work of High Chancellor Knight.”
I can't help but screw my face up in disbelief, shaking my head. For all the man's manipulation and elitist policies, he's surely not capable of murdering so many innocent people. Would he really kill his own countrymen? Destroy one of his own cities?
“It may be difficult to understand, but it's the truth,” continues the woman, seeing the look on my face. “The bomb brought people together under a common goal when dissent was brewing. It gave the people a reason to hate the rebels, to unite against them.”
“But, killing his own people?” I'm still shaking my head. “Not even Knight could do that.”
“You've been lied to your entire life, Cyra. The truth is far from what you know, what you've been told. It's true, I can assure you of that.”
“And how do you know it's true?” I question.
“Because I was there,” she says, her voice impassioned. “I was once of Eden myself. I asked too many questions about the source of the bomb and was banished, sent out beyond the Divide to die. I was taken in, fed, watered, cared for. I discovered a people leaderless and divided, scattered to the winds by the war and the virus that came soon after.”
I watch her eyes, and see no lies inside them. Only pain, memory filled with torment and heartache. A single tear drops down her cheek and she quickly raises her hand to brush it away.
“Your ruler is only interested in keeping power for himself, Cyra. Augustus Knight is as ruthless as they come, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He's ruled for nearly a hundred years, and has shaped this country as he's seen fit. If we don't stop him, no one will. We have no choice.”
Her words hang in the air, and a silence once again dawns. Knight's treachery runs deeper than I'd ever have imagined. But if this is true, surely he's capable of so much more. Surely this entire rebellion is folly....
As I prepare to speak again, my mind filling with a thousand questions, a sudden sound fills the room.
It comes without warning. A loud, ear piercing wail that cuts straight into my brain.
Then there's a heavy thud behind me, and I turn to see the doors swing open. The wailing siren grows louder and several guards rush forward, guns held up to their shoulders.
“What's happening?” shouts the Leader on the left, standing from his seat.
“We have missiles incoming, sir,” shouts one of the guards. “We need to get you all to safety.”
“But that can't be! We're hundreds of miles from the Divide!”
The guards continue rushing on towards the Leaders, moving straight past me as if I'm not there. I swing my eyes to the back of the hall and through the open doorway, seeking Jackson. He's there, rushing down the corridor, eyes lit in alarm.
I begin moving towards him as he explodes into the room, his voice calling out so that everyone can hear. “They're coming!” he shouts. “They've found us.”
Jackson grabs me by the arms and stares into my eyes. “You have to get underground, Cyra. This place isn't safe.”
I turn back to the guards, who are progressing through the hallway, flanking the Leaders as they rush forward. A shaking rises up through my feet, the entire building beginning to tremble as an explosion sounds from outside. Dust falls from above, cracks appear in the walls, and a roar fills the air.
BOOM.
Another explosion rips through the wall on the left, fire pouring in through a gaping hole as the hall jolts and rocks. Jackson's arms rush around me as I watch the Leaders collapse to the floor, driven off their feet by the force of the blast.
“We have to help,” I shout, ready to dart forward, but Jackson holds me back.
“No, Cyra, it's not safe!”
Another shock-wave runs up through my body as I rip myself from Jackson's grasp. I can hear him behind me in the roaring din, calling for me to come back.
The guards lift the Leaders to their feet, pulling them on as rubble begins dropping from the ceiling, segments of it torn off by the violence of the explosions around us.
They're 30 metres away and still coming, stumbling over rubble and fallen debris. I watch, unable to help, as a slab of stone comes plummeting down onto one of the guards' heads, crushing his skull in an instant. His body goes immediately limp, dropping to the floor in a heap.
Then I see it. The sight of the ceiling caving in completely, ghostly and crumbling right at my feet. I stop in place, unable to press forward, knowing it's coming. Soon, in seconds, the entire ceiling will collapse.
I scream forward, urging them to rush past me, but it's too late. They're close, so close, only feet from me when the sky comes crashing down. It drops so fast they have no time to react, no time to move or escape.
Tons of concrete and stone come collapsing down on top of them. I watch in horror as they turn their eyes up to see their death looming. Rock meets skull and bone in an explosion of red blood. Bodies are crushed into the stone floor, their screams immediately cut short.
There, in front of my eyes, they're all crushed to death.
30 - The War Begins
All are dead but one.
A single Leader remains, the one on the right. He darts off to the side before the ceiling comes down, dodging around broken stone and brick. He moves fast now, his cloak flowing behind him as he goes, miraculously avoiding all falling debris.
I stand, struck dumb as the world falls down around me, staring at the crushed bodies at my feet, at the blood weeping from their burst veins. Then I feel a hand on mine, a voice calling into my ear: “We have to go, Cyra!”
The Leader pulls me back and my mind snaps into focus. I twist around and pace towards the door, towards Jackson. We all rush down the corridor, just as the rest of the building begins to collapse behind us. Dust and smoke fills the air, fire licks at our backs, and an endless rumble continues to shake the foundations of the city.
We burst into the lobby, and see a hive of activity. Guards file out from other rooms in the building, some limping, others bloodied and burnt. They pour through the large front door, weapons ready to fire.
Beyond, outside on the streets, I see a war raging. Soldiers hide behind barriers, firing at an unseen enemy. Artillery guns boom, sending explosive missiles back at the incoming forces. Fire swirls in the wind as explosions rattle the city. Buildings crumble and burst into a thousand bits in the distance, crushing people beneath them as they topple to the ground.
I turn to see Jackson directing people, his face already growing dark with ash and smoke. Then he swings back to me, eyes bulging, and shouts: “We need to get out of here.” He turns to the Leader. “We need to get you to safety, sir. Get you to the tunnel.”
I grab Jackson's arm, his wide eyes locking again with mine. “The others,” I shout, as another explosion rocks the building. “I have to get them out.”
Jackson sends his eyes to the entrance, grimacing at the sight of the war zone out on the street. He seems to hesitate, working out what's best perhaps, before speaking. “OK, follow me.”
Ducking low, we exit out onto the street, Jackson at the front, the Leader and I just behind. By now the Leader has pulled his cloak from his face, yet his features remain hidden beneath a veil of soot and dust and black ash. All I can make out are his eyes, keen and blue and lit within his dark visage.
The sound outside is cacophonous and deafening. Bullets whiz like fireworks. Missiles shoot with loud rushes of air, pounding into buildings with almighty booms. I see the faces of men and
women, screaming in pain and fear and anger, yet fighting on.
Around me, my senses grow finely attuned to the danger. Any time a bullet threatens to get near, I see its ghostly form appear seconds before it rushes by. I pull Jackson back just before one rips through his neck, the bullet tearing into the side of a building and ripping off a chunk of brick with a loud crack.
But there's no time to thank me. I see his eyes glow with gratitude but nothing more. He continues on, and we follow, keeping to the side of the street, largely unexposed to the fighting.
Soon we're back at the canteen, rushing through to find families cowering together under tables and up against the walls. The place is shaking, but mainly intact, yet to be hit by the bombing. If it does, though, all these people will die.
The Leader knows this. He steps forward, jumps up onto a table, and calls for the people to retreat, to get to the tunnel. I see scared faces grow with resolve at the sight of him, alive and fearless, standing like a beacon of hope above them. They begin moving, emerging from under their tables, rushing out of the building and further down the street.
“What's the tunnel?” I call to Jackson.
“It's an escape route into the mountains. A contingency in case this ever happened. They told me that it leads for miles to a safe location.”
He begins fiddling at his belt, pulling out a set of old fashioned metal keys. “I have to stay with the Leader, to protect him,” he shouts. “Your friends are on levels three, four, and five below us.”
I nod, snatch the keys from his hands, and quickly turn towards the door. I rush straight through, kicking it open, and begin galloping down the stairs. One level. Two levels. Three levels.
I turn in and push through another door. Ahead of me lies a long corridor, cells extending into the darkness to the left and right.
“Ellie! Theo! Link!” I call out.
I hear Ellie's voice, echoing from the other end, and rush into the gloom. Tremors run up through me as I go, the floor beginning to shake and rattle. Ellie's face appears, up against the bars of a cell, eyes lit up and wide.
“What the hell's happening?” she shouts as I approach.
“The city's under attack,” I say, stuffing the key into the lock and twisting quickly. With a metallic click the barred door falls open and Ellie rushes out.
I hug her briefly. “Are you OK?”
She nods. “I'm fine. Where's Link?”
“On another level below. Come on.”
We turn together and run back towards the door, down the stairs, and onto level 4. Ellie calls for Link. I call for Theo. Then we hear a reply, a rugged, course voice in a cell nearby. Link's there, fingers wrapped tightly around the bars. I see his knuckles, bloodied and torn, and know he's been trying to get out.
When I open the cell, Ellie jumps into his arms. They kiss and hug for an all too brief moment before another boom shakes the walls, sending a shower of dust down onto us.
“Link, get Ellie upstairs. Jackson's there with a Leader. We need to get them out to safety.”
I begin rushing back to the door as they follow in behind me. “Where are you going?” shouts Link.
“Theo's down below. I need to get him. I'll meet you up top.”
My lungs are burning now as I clamber down another level, taking several steps at a time. Once more I enter a long corridor, cells on either side, darkness beyond. I shout out again, this time only for Theo, and hear his voice down the hallway.
“I'm down here, Cyra,” he calls as I run towards his voice. When I reach his cell and open the door he bursts forward, arms wrapping straight around me and hugging me tight. I grip him back as the world continues to shake above us, dust sprinkling down from the ceiling.
Then he pulls back and kisses me on the lips. A short kiss, soft and tender yet filled with passion and urgency. I hardly have any time to react before it's over. Yet I don't feel the urge to pull away.
“Sorry, I just didn't want to die without knowing what it's like to kiss a girl,” he says. “Not like at the Pairing. I mean, properly kiss a girl.”
His smile defies the current state around us. The shaking walls, the ceiling dripping with dust and broken stone, the endless sound of rumbling and explosions above. I can't help but smile back.
Then we start running: back down the corridor, up the stairs, and back into the canteen. All hell has broken loose. The ceiling at the far end has caved in, the searing sun now pouring down from above. Crushed bodies lie everywhere, unable to flee before the missile tore through the building, sending hundreds of tons of concrete on top of them.
“Cyra!”
Jackson comes rushing towards me, blood trickling from his head. Behind him the others stand, weapons scavenged from dead soldiers in their hands. Link keeps watch at the back, his eyes on the hall, ready to warn us of any falling rubble or stray bullets.
“That's everyone,” I shout. “Now where's this tunnel?”
“Down the street. The entrance is in an old subway.”
“OK, let's go.”
Jackson leads the party once more as we step back out onto the street. Dead bodies lie all around us, ripped apart by bullets or bombs or deadly shrapnel. Behind us, the fighting continues to rage, the city booming with a chorus of explosions and the endless rat-a-tat of machine gun fire.
People flee from all directions as the Leader calls for them to escape to the tunnel. Soldiers run the other way, rushing towards the fighting in defence of the city. Part of me wants to turn and join them. But I know it's all futile. All of these soldiers are going to die.
The streets grow quieter as we get further away, the zipping and fizzing of bullets past our ears fading. Jackson leads us to the right and I see people disappearing underground into the tunnel in the distance, a few hundred feet away from us.
But there are two who aren't moving. Two men, standing still in the middle of the rubble-strewn street. They aren't trying to flee or escape into the tunnel. They're just standing there, tall and upright, staring straight at us.
“STOP!” I shout.
Jackson and the others spin around to me. “What's wrong?!”
I stare forward at the two men ahead. I've seen them before, and they're not from around here.
“They're Watchers,” I shout. “I've seen them guarding Knight.”
We take a collective intake of air, and I see genuine alarm spread over the faces in front of me. “What the hell are we going to do?!” cries Ellie. “We can't get past them.”
“Yes we can,” says Link, his eyes narrowing. “Theo and I can handle this.”
“No, Link!” shouts Ellie. “They're fully trained Watchers. You'll have no chance!”
“We have to try,” says Link calmly. He turns to Theo, who looks equally determined, and nods.
“Jackson, can you flank around us to get to the tunnel?” asks Link.
Jackson nods. “We can take side streets.”
“Then do it. Don't wait for us. When you get around, go straight into the tunnel.”
“No Link!” shouts Ellie. “Just come with us.”
Link takes Ellie's face in his palms and kisses her. “They're here for us. We need to make a stand now. Go, Ellie. I can't fight if I'm worried about you.”
“Thank you, Link,” says Jackson. “Cyra, you're coming with us.”
I find all eyes falling on me. Go with Jackson and Ellie and the Leader, help them get to safety? Or make a stand with Theo and Link, and probably get killed or captured in the process?
“Cyra, come on,” says Jackson. “We need to go!”
I glance up once more at the two Watchers ahead of us. They stand, patiently, waiting for us to make our move. Jaws like stone, eyes dark as the night, bodies wrapped in black. I have no idea what the limits of their powers are. But I can't leave Theo and Link alone.
“I'm staying here. You go, I'll see you at the tunnel.”
“Cyra, no...”
“I have to, Jack! I'm not going to change my mind
. I'll see you at the tunnel.”
Jackson shakes his head, moves in towards me, and tries to grab my hand and pull me away. I resist, pulling back.
“Go with them, Cyra,” says Theo. He turns around, eyes pleading. “Please, help them escape. They might need you.”
“You will need me,” I say.
“Get the Leader to safety. That's more important. Go, Cyra.”
He turns back towards the two Watchers and he and Link begin walking forward. I start to go with them, but still feel Jackson holding me back. “Come on, Cyra, there's no time!” he shouts, but I just watch as the two of them walk away. To death or capture. Not to victory.
“Come on, Cy!” shouts Ellie. “Come on!”
I still watch Theo and Link marching forward as I'm dragged away towards an alley by Jackson and Ellie. The two Watchers begin walking forward too, casually strolling towards them. Then, just as they're about to clash in the middle, I'm pulled around the corner and out of sight.
I have to fight the urge to go back now as we rush down the dark alleyway, caught in the shadow of two tall buildings. Jackson urges me to the front to look out for danger as we go, but my mind is all over the place. A section of the wall crumbles in front of us, but I don't see it coming, my focus and concentration shot to pieces. We stop just in time as the wall falls down, clambering over the pile of bricks before more of the building begins tumbling down just as we pass.
“Focus, Cyra!” shouts Ellie behind me.
We carry on, emerging into the light of another wide street and turning left. Ahead now I see more fighting as the soldiers of Eden continue their advance from all angles, enclosing the city in a vice and squeezing tight.
We stay to the side and keep on going, my senses returning to me. White wisps cut through the air in our direction, explosive clouds appear seconds before they turn into reality. I lead the party on, weaving a path through the dangers before they cut us down.
Jackson and the Leader fire as they rush forward, shooting without mercy at the forces ahead. But in my head all I can think of is school. Boys, only 16, forced out here to do battle against an enemy they've been told awful lies about. Boys from Arbor and Agricola and all across the mainland. Innocent boys with mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters.