by Melanie Ray
“Fight?” Xiam shook his head. “I don’t want to fight.” He gestured toward all the other warnos. “They were there first.”
“Xiam, we are going to die if we don’t get that car,” Zaria said firmly grabbing Xiam by the wrist. “Ignore your conscience, we’ve got to steal that car away from them.”
Xiam looked back at the car. The warnos had the car hooked up with a mobile energy giver. “They’re pumping energy into it, they’re risking everything Zaria. I can’t do it. When that car starts up-”
“Everyone will hear it,” Zaria finished for him. “If they start, we’re dead. If we start, they’re dead.” He grabbed Xiam by the collar, much like Yed would do in this situation. “It’s survival of the fittest this time. Either them or us.” He let go and headed over. Instinct kept telling him to go back, to flee, to try and outrun everything, but his mind wouldn’t listen. He could only see the car starting up, the waryes coming and Muinela and his unborn children being...
He bottled up his fists and closed his eyes. He opened them again with renewed vigor and ran toward them.
With a quick smack to the jaw of the driver, he opened the door and pulled him out. The other warnos stared at him in disbelief, while a couple tried their hand at fighting him back.
Zaria watched as Xiam showed up by his side. The fighting stance was even, nobody knew how to fight, but at least he’d been around Yed enough to see a couple maneuvers. Wait. He glared at the warnos as if each one was a predator, and in his best impression of Yed, crossed his arms. “Get away from the car, or this Protector will kick your ass. I don’t give second warnings.”
His bluff worked and the others scattered. He breathed a sigh of relief and motioned for the others to come over. “I’ll get behind the wheel, Xiam, you help Ezra and Muin get in.”
Zenny got behind the wheel and looked at the ignition. This was it, any warnos in the area would be caught, but there wasn’t any choice. He grasped around for the keys hiding in the visor. He put the keys in the ignition, and with trembling hands, turned the ignition.
In a blur, waryes descended upon the backyard. Warnos screamed and ran as Zenny peeled out in reverse. He crashed into the next house's fence, stopped, turned the car out of the yard and tore out of there as fast as he could.
They drove out into the forest as far as they could before the car ran out of energy. Ancient Happy lived out in her Den, deep in the forest. She wasn’t so much an ‘I love everyone’ warno. Children were easy for her to get along with, adults, not so much. Zenny teased once that one of her middle names should have been Crabby, until he found out her real last name was Grumpy. He didn’t know whether to laugh or not.
Zenny continued to walk steadily with his wife, brother, and sister to her small town. Walking through forests weren’t easy, but chances of running into a waryes would be less here. Oh, the waryes. His first experience. He’d seen part waryes before, they tended to be crabby and more serious but nothing like a pure. The black soul invading eyes with that long, fleshy tail. Their uniform, nothing but a black shirt and black pants, not even bothering to wear armor? Why would they? Zenny’s poor kind were easy enough to slaughter.
When they reached her home, Zenny put on a small smile. The Den was an underground cave, the entrance a small entrance protruding from the ground. He lifted the handle and went inside. The others helped as they looked around the closets. There would be a secret lever to let them in.
Xiam smiled as he found a small lever behind a jacket. A secret door opened in the back of the closet. They all headed down the stairs and shut the door behind them.
"Here it is," Xiam said gesturing around him. They were in the underground area of Ancient Happy’s place. "Just like Grammy said." It wasn’t very big at all, but what should they expect for a hiding place? The ceiling cleared at about four feet so they all stood without crouching. The distance was about ten by fifteen, similar to his living room area. The walls weren’t colored, instead there were rocks and dirt like the space had been carved out. Even the floor had no color to it, a bare wooden and splintery mess of boards.
Muin breathed hard, and said, "I can't believe this is happening. What kind of world are Zaria and Cooey going to have?"
"It's alright," Zaria said as he massaged her shoulders. "Don't think about that, this isn't permanent. Waryes attack out of the blue. This one's bigger but you'll see. Within a week, we'll be back home. Everything will be fine..." He looked over at Ezra."...well, almost everything."
Ezra stared at the ground miserably. It didn't matter whether they had to hide for a few days or a few weeks. Nothing would change the fact that Yed was gone.
Ezra’s mother, Scentella, looked anxious as well. "We must trust that they are in a better place." She took the necklace off her neck and opened it. A picture of her and her husband were in there. "Io."
"I'm sure Dad's fine," Xiam replied. "He'll eventually come." He hugged Iri, "Are you okay too?"
"Yeah." Iri looked over at Muin. "Muin, how are you?"
Muin shrugged her shoulders as Zaria held her.
Ezra continued to stare at the ground. She let her mind drift back.
"Well, how are they doing?" Yed knelt down and put his ear on Ezra's tummy.
"Hey you two, you ready to come out yet?" He poked her tummy.
Ezra laughed as she felt a poke back.
Yed poked her tummy again.
"Yed." She chuckled as she felt a poke back. "Are you gonna do this all day?"
Yed shrugged his shoulders, smiled and poked her tummy again.
...Yed...
How could he really be gone?
"I heard some. They went this way."
"Remember, don't shoot randomly, get the females first."
Yed kept his back against the wall of an abandoned store. Oh, I can't believe this. He looked around him at some of the now worthless furniture around. Who needed couches and chairs at a time like this? I can't believe the king said that. Why? He knew it would cause protest. He hit his fist against the wall. I've got to get back to Ezra and the others, but how? They’ll have gone somewhere safe, so where would they have gone too?
He looked out the door making sure he saw no more waryes. He was a long distance away from home but otherwise fine. His unpowered car wouldn't move and by the time he found someone who could help he was already late for the meeting.
At first, he was mad. He blew his one chance to get his family back. Then, once the media reported what was happening he couldn’t be happier he missed that one meeting. If he had made it, he would have ended up like the rest. As tragic as everything was though, there was only one thing that mattered:
Getting back to Ezra and the others.
I'm sure they're fine. They survived. I just need to find them. Yed told himself that over and over as he walked. He hid behind a tree as he spotted another group of waryes coming by. There's so freaking many. What, did the whole kingdom invade? When the coast was clear, he snuck out again.
Seeing another small place near him, he quietly went inside. The house was in shambles, but he spotted two warnos huddled together. Yed held out his hand to them. "You two alright?"
The female shook her head. "They're all over!"
The male brought her closer and looked at Yed. "Who are you?"
"I'm a Protector and I'll do my best to get you out," Yed answered.
The male looked him up and down. "You're not wearing a shirt and all the Protectors were destroyed."
Yed held his hand firmly up and said, "I vow I am a Protector. I missed the meeting and I had to ditch my shirt and vest so I didn’t become an instant target."
The female held on tighter. "I think we should believe him Rofy. What choice do we have?"
"Fine." The male was still not fully convinced. "Where do you think you're going to then? You got family you're trying to find?"
"Family?" Yed blinked, "Well, they aren't technically family. We are close though, or we all used to be close." He started to s
mile. "Actually, well, they are family."
"Good luck," the female said sniffling. "We're all scattered and hidden now, how can you find-"
"I hear voices," a voice bellowed through the walls.
Yed tried to grab their hands and run with them, but the female screamed and the male just didn't trust his word.
"We need to get out, now!"
"Quit yelling, honey, they will hear you!" the male yelled back at the female.
Too late. If they didn't trust him, then he couldn't really help them. Yed got out and pressed himself against the place to make himself less noticeable, but couldn't help from overhearing the screaming inside.
"No, don't take her, please!"
"Help me, help!”
"You can’t take-”
Yed closed his eyes tightly as he heard a waryes weapon go off.
"Rofyyyyy!"
He watched out the corner of his eye as the female was dragged out. Eliminating Warnos and stealing females? Again? He moved as the waryes left his line of vision. Forget Protectors being targets after all, everyone had become one.
I couldn't do anything, they refused to trust me. Too late now, I need to get back to the others. He looked in another abandoned home and saw a map sticking out. I'm not that far away from the safety house. If I could find them and take them there, we'll all be safe.
Then again, how far away were they?
"Daddy, I'm getting really tired," Prince Regwallis shouted as he tried to keep up with his father.
"Shut up and keep moving," King Sheward demanded. Where he was heading to, he didn't know. They were cut off from the secret exits outside the palaces. All they were doing now was running from the waryes' chasing them. Protectors were all canceled out at the castle, his wife had been killed, he had been injured, all he could do now was run with his son.
Even that couldn't last forever as the wound he had sustained bled profusely. Finally, he could no longer do anything but stagger, then collapse to the floor.
"Daddy?" his young son said innocently.
King Sheward breathed very hard. "...Regwallis." He closed his eyes briefly and gulped. "No matter what anyone ever says, your daddy didn't bring this on. I simply didn't let them come in without a show of pride. We're warnos but we are not pushovers. Repeat that."
"We're warnos but we are not pushovers," the prince said sniffling as he bent down beside his father. "Are you going to quit moving like Mommy?"
The king smiled. An innocent way of looking at death. "Regwallis, I didn't think this day would come for some time." He struggled to remove the crown from his head and placed it on his son's head. The crown slid over one of Regwallis' ears haphazardly. He was a little warno and too young to wear the crown.
"You need to survive and keep the kingdom alive. Even if it doesn't seem like it's worth it. Every life is worth it, understand?" The king said gently as his breathing faded away.
Regwallis tried to keep the crown up but it fell down over his ear again. "Okay. Everyone's worth it. Daddy?"
The king only stared back, his eyes no longer blinking.
"Well, well, well. Look, we found the new king."
Regwallis turned around and saw waryes. He tried to run away but stumbled.
One of the waryes picked him up. "Must be, he's wearing the crown." He looked down at Regwallis’ father. "King Sheward is dead." He scoffed, "That was easy." He looked at the frightened Regwallis. "This puny kid is the new king?"
"Of what?" another waryes said. "A fallen kingdom? This place is done for."
"Yeah," The waryes dropped Regwallis, "done for." He grinned wickedly as he took Regwallis' crown. "Let's get out of here, this place is about to be rubble."
Time passed by slowly as the waryes attacked. Day in and day out it was becoming worse. No one had suspected the attacks would be so vicious, so gigantic. Food was becoming more scarce.
Zaria looked hesitantly. They had brought some baby food, thinking ahead about that, but for real food they didn't gather as much. They brought what they had on hand, but it wasn't enough. They only had enough for two maybe three proper size dinners. "We need to find food."
"Zaria," Muin said frowning. "It's too risky, they are always out there."
"We can't stay here and starve." Zaria said firmly back. "There's no choice, we've got to go find food. Xiam?"
Xiam nodded. "He's right, we're gonna die of starvation if we stay here."
"Xiam." Iri pulled on Xiam's shoulder. "It's dangerous. Maybe, can we find something like covetall?”
“Nothing’s like covetall, trying any kind of spray will mess up our hair even more.” Xiam touched her hand gently. “There’s no reason to try, your pink hair is beautiful.” He gently rubbed her cheek. “Now, I have to take the risk.” Xiam stood up beside Zaria. “I remember when we used to visit, there would be a store about a mile away.”
“Probably ransacked but we could see if there’s anything left.” Zaria smiled confidently at Muin. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”
“It’s so dangerous.” Muin sniffled. “Are you sure you have to go?”
“I’ll be right back Muin, stay put.” Zaria gave his wife a gentle kiss on the cheek before following Xiam out.
Zaria looked over at Xiam. “If places are ransacked, we’re going to need more than one. One warno traveling alone is better than two.”
“Agreed,” Xiam said nodding. “I’ll head to the left and you head to the right. We’re bound to find something.”
Xiam traveled carefully, watching out for any sounds of the enemy. It didn’t take long before he finally saw the store. It wasn't ransacked but it didn't look protected.
"Stop right there!" An angry warno pointed a weapon at him.
Well, it didn't look protected.
The shop owner glared at Xiam as he held the waryes weapon. "What do you want?"
Xiam held his hands up, "Just some food." He pointed down the road. "My family's running out of food."
The shop owner held his hand out, "It'll cost you."
Xiam handed him twenty wiggles but the shop owner glared.
"Food is rarer than this," he said as he grabbed five cans of something, "100 wiggles."
"For five cans of vegetables?" Xiam couldn't believe it. "I've only got eighty wiggles.”
"Then here." The shop keep grabbed some bread. "Three cans and a loaf."
Three cans and a loaf. That shouldn't have even cost five wiggles back at home.
"Food is running out, it's your decision," The shopkeeper yelled as he saw another warno approaching, "What?"
"One can," the warno said quickly.
"Thirty wiggles," the shopkeeper said as he caught the money and threw the can at the warno. He looked over at Xiam. "Well?"
Xiam fiddled around with his money. "Here." He handed him the money.
The shopkeeper threw the loaf and three cans at him. "You come back again, it'll be twice that. Now get, it's not safe around here." He headed back to a cold dark corner of his shop.
Xiam looked down at the three cans and a loaf. Maybe things weren't going to be as simple as they thought. I hope Zaria finds something better.
Zaria grinned as he saw a store ahead of him. He'd been walking for miles but he finally found his destination. "Hello?"
A warno popped out slowly. "Sorry, sir, there's not much food. It's all been robbed," he said as he gestured to his little store. "Take what you can find."
Zaria headed into the store. Shelf after shelf was empty. He finally found a can of veggies that fell to the floor. "One can? There's no way we can survive on this."
"It's slim pickings now," the owner said as he came in from behind. "You said we? You've got family?"
"Yeah, a whole troupe. My wife and sister are even both pregnant with twins," Zaria groaned. "How is one can of veggies going to help out?"
"Both pregnant? Oh that's really rough." The owner sighed and pulled out another can of veggies. "I don't have much myself stranger but here's an
other can. Hope it helps a bit."
Zaria graciously took it. "Thanks. Oh, I'll be so happy when this is over."
"It'd be nice," the shopkeeper said as he looked out his window. "I really feel less and less like that’s going to happen though." He looked back at Zaria. "Go get back to your family, waryes will start their patrol again any second."
Zaria looked at the two cans of veggies sadly. Oh Xiam, I hope you did better than-
"Stop!"
Zaria froze as he saw waryes in front of him. Without thinking he dropped the cans and ran.
The waryes yelled stop again as they chased after him.
Stop? Yeah like he would stop. He didn’t have any covetall on his hair or on his green tail. Zaria kept running until he found an old Den to hide in.
"See him?" one of the waryes asked.
"Let's go, we'll find more eventually," another waryes answered back.
Zaria crept out a bit. Is the coast clear?
Unfortunately, he didn't creep out fast enough. The Den was heavily damaged and it didn't take more than a ricochet of a couple of bullets to make it unstable. Right before he made it out, it crumbled.
Zaria lied beneath the rubble, pinched and unable to move. Muin. He tried to move but the weight was too much. Thoughts raced through his mind as he continued to struggle. Thoughts of his family. His friends. His Muinela.
He stopped moving after some time when he realized it was too late. No one was around to help him. If anyone found him, it would be the waryes. Muin...I'm sorry. He finally let his tail collapse to the ground. He'd never see her again. He'd never see anyone again.
He never even got to see his kids being born...
Zaria closed his eyes and knew he had to accept fate.
Chapter 17
THOUGHTS
Yed kept walking endlessly. After thinking hard, he knew the safest place the Cattral's would go. Ancients always tended to think ahead and be over precautious and Ancient Fornotia and Ancient Happy were the closest to them. The problem was deciding which Ancient's house to visit. He'd met the Ancient Fornotia briefly once for a dinner invite, but he had no clue where her house had been.