by Jen Guberman
“Why? She’s gone,” I sniffed, wiping the tears from my cheeks, but they just kept coming.
“She needs to be with her family!” he protested aggressively.
“Just let them believe she’s alive and well!”
“I can’t do that to Lamb. You didn’t grow up knowing her and her family. Family was everything to her and the only time she wasn’t with at least one of her family members was once she was exiled. She’d want to be reunited with them, even if she is…” his voice trailed off.
A few minutes later, I could see the gate to Eastmeade, the second largest of the cities. Significantly larger than Rockhallow, Eastmeade had a thicker gate and walls with superior metal reinforcements. The buildings began to tower over us, the nearer we got to the city gates, and before I knew it, my entire peripheral vision was filled with skyscrapers.
“Zane, I think you should stop. Someone is going to see us!”
“We’re in a truck.”
“So? Even worse! We’re criminals who stole a truck from a city official!”
“Most drivers are from Eastmeade—it’s not an uncommon job here. They won’t question a truck,” he began mumbling
The opening in the gate widened, and Zane confidently continued forward.
“Keep your head down,” he said. “I can get away with being in the driver’s seat, but there are rarely people in the backseat unless they are criminals. I don’t want to draw attention. They’ll let me in because they’ll think I’m just a driver.”
I ducked my head below the window as I waited.
“Her house is about two blocks away from the gate, but I have to drive slow. There are already quite a few of people on the streets.”
Suddenly, I heard a faint beeping sound.
“What was that? How’s it going up there?” I called out.
“Fine. I think it’s our gas. Otherwise, we’re fine. A couple of people gave me some suspiciously prolonged looks, but I think we’re fine,” he grumbled. “Here we are. I pulled the truck over where the door on your side isn’t visible from the street. I’m going to go get Lamb’s mom. Stay hidden for now. You can get out of the truck, just don’t let anyone see you.”
“I won’t,” I said, stepping out of the truck and behind a tree.
Zane jogged over to the back door of a ranch style house with a neatly tended garden encircling it. While I waited for him to return, I tilted my head back, searching for the tops of some of the city’s skyscrapers, unable to find them. The city itself was massive—I’ve never been anywhere with so many buildings. Out of nowhere, I heard a wail, followed by the appearance of a frantic, petite blonde woman running toward the truck. I jumped out of the way as the woman fell over the backseat, howling Lamb’s name. Following the woman was a girl, slightly older than me, who looked like a taller version of Lamb with golden blonde hair instead of the familiar white-blonde of Lamb’s hair. That must be Della, Lamb’s older sister. The girl stumbled toward the truck as well, tears in her eyes. When she caught sight of Lamb’s lifeless body, she pulled her hands over her mouth in shock.
“Don’t let Tessy see,” the petite woman commanded Della.
“Someone needs to tell her though!” Della protested, tears spilling out of her eyes.
“But she doesn’t need to see this!”
“I don’t need to see what, mom?” a little girl asked, poking her head out from the side of the house. Her hair was long, with ringlet curls of fair, fuzzy hair. Her skin was pale, and she had pale blue eyes.
“Nothing, Tessy, go finish your chores!” her mother said, her voice shaking.
“Mama? What’s wrong?” Tessy asked curiously, approaching her mom.
“Go back inside!”
“Is that Lamb?” Tessy shrieked upon seeing her sister’s body in the backseat.
“Just go back inside the house!”
“Mama, no! That’s Lamb! What’s wrong with her?” she asked, stumbling as she ran over.
“She’s gone, Tessy,” Della said, crouching down to eye level with Tessy.
“What do you mean?”
“Lamb is gone. She’s sleeping, and she isn’t going to wake up,” she explained.
“Just pour water on her like she used to do to you before I was born. Remember? You told me about it! Try it!”
“Tessy, it doesn’t work like that. She passed away. She’s not alive anymore,” Della whimpered, trying to stay strong as she explained death to her sister.
“What? What happened to her?”
“An accident happened,” I spoke up.
“I want her to come back,” Tessy sniveled.
“We all want her to come back,” Della said, hugging her sister.
“Zane, honey, may I talk to you in private? And your friend, too, if she was there when it happened,” Lamb’s mother requested.
“Of course. And yes, she was there.”
The two of us joined her, away from her daughters for a moment.
“So, tell me what really happened. Don’t spare me any details. I need to know.”
“Ma’am,” Zane began to protest.
“She was stabbed,” I interjected, my throat tightening. “She was trying to protect me, and she got hurt when it should have been me.”
Lamb’s mother smiled through her tears.
“I don’t know how you two got here, and I don’t know what you three were doing when it happened, but whatever you do, please don’t let her death be in vain. I need to know that whatever the reason, it’s a just one.”
I hesitated for a moment, feeling guilty. All of this was for the Skeleton Key. At first, I just wanted it so I could do whatever I wanted, have whatever I wanted, be wherever I wanted. The longer I search for it and the more I go through, the more I’m beginning to agree with Cromwell—I want this to taint the system. I want this to be the chink in the armor. The exile system isn’t right. Some people deserve to be locked up longer than others, and some deserve to be locked up in higher security places. But some deserve a chance. Lamb didn’t deserve to be there like she was. Maybe she wouldn’t have left Avid if she didn’t have a life sentence there. I wouldn’t have left either, I’m sure. None of this would have happened. And people like Paren don’t deserve to spend their lives in caves or other prisons. Not all criminals are monsters, but the cities don’t understand that. This is about more than just a key.
“It is,” I replied. “I promise.”
“Is there anything you two need? Food? Water? More medical supplies?”
“Is there any way we could get more bandages and alcohol—for medical purposes,” I asked.
“Of course! Anything else? Would you two like to spend the night?”
“That would be fant—” Zane started.
“We can’t,” I interrupted. “We don’t want to risk getting any of you in trouble. The longer we are here, the more likely we are to be noticed. It’s best for all of us if Zane and I leave as soon as possible.”
“Understandable. Let me get you the supplies,” she said, rushing into the house.
She returned shortly after, her arms full of bandages and bottles.
“Here, take this,” she said, dumping the supplies into our bags. “Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you?”
“We could use more gas for the truck,” I said. “We used up almost all of the extra gas.”
“Done. Della’s boyfriend was a good friend of Lamb’s, and he’s actually training to be a driver. He has access to gas.”
She called Della over, asking her the favor. Della nodded her head and took off down the road. A short while later, she returned, dragging a child’s wagon behind her with a blanket thrown over it. She threw the blanket off, revealing a few red jugs.
“Thank you,” I said as she began to fill the truck’s tank, placing the extra jugs in the trunk.
“Of course!” she said sweetly, a look of care in her eyes mingled with redness as a single tear ran down her face.
“Is there anyt
hing else we can do for you both?” her mother asked, her face solemn.
“You’ve done plenty, thank you,” Zane said.
“We will take her now. We can take care of it all,” she said, looking sorrowfully at Lamb. “I guess you should be on your way.”
She approached the truck, commanding Tessy, who was sobbing dreadfully, to go back in the house. Della and her mother gently scooped Lamb up between the two of them and carried her in through the back door, bidding Zane and me farewell.
For careful measure, even though I was in the front passenger seat on the way out of Eastmeade, I kept my head ducked low as Zane drove us carefully out of the city limits.
“To Clamorite?” I asked, pulling myself up.
“I guess so,” answered Zane, looking at Lamb’s map for a second before picking a direction and driving off.
The next couple days were silent. Zane always was the one to drive—for hours on end, and every day, he would stare out at the ruins and the endless sand ahead of us without saying a word. He rarely stopped for meals, always saying he “wasn’t hungry,” except for the food he would pick at before going to sleep and after waking up. During the nights, we both slept in the trunk, neither of us able to bear the thought of sleeping in the backseat, and he knew I didn’t want to be completely alone. Instead of talking like we used to, once we laid down for bed, Zane would turn his back to me and not say a word. This continued until we finally reached Clamorite.
“Are you sure this is it?” Zane finally spoke, staring up at an intimidating mountain range ahead of us.
“I think so. But where’s the waterfall? I thought Clamorite was by a waterfall?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe it’s on the other side?”
“Let’s check it out,” he said, cruising along a surrounding road.
We continued for a while until I spotted the entrance to a lit tunnel in the mountain.
“There!” I pointed.
The closer Zane pulled to the tunnel, the better I could make out the fact that a rusty gate barricaded it.
“Try one of the buttons,” I said, pointing at the small control panel.
Zane pressed a few buttons until the gate creaked slowly open.
The tunnel through the mountain was short, with dim lights along the edges of the walls to guide us. We reached the end, and there it was—the waterfall.
I could see the waterfall in the distance through the trees, and a fair hike up the mountain. There were trees all along the sides and base of the mountains. The waterfall looked small from our position, but when we tried to follow the road, the truck sputtered for a moment and stopped altogether.
“Why’d you stop?” I asked.
“I didn’t. It isn’t working,” Zane said, frustrated as he continuously pressed and released the gas pedal.
“Is it out of gas?”
“I don’t know!”
Zane slammed the door behind him as he went around to the trunk.
“We’re out of extra gas,” he growled, spouting some profanity as he chucked a jug from the trunk.
“Let’s just take our stuff and walk, I guess,” I suggested.
“What are we supposed to do after here though? How are we supposed to get to Fallmont?”
“We’ll have to walk.”
“Do you have any idea how long that could take?” Zane yelled.
“We’ve walked farther before!” I retorted, flashing him the map. “It’ll take a couple days is all, as long as we keep a steady pace. But one thing at a time! We have to figure out how to get up there,” I pointed toward the waterfall.
Zane groaned, grabbing his pack and Lamb’s before tromping off through the trees without waiting for me. I gathered any stray items strewn throughout the backseat and jammed them in my bag before taking off sprinting after Zane.
“Wait… up!” I huffed from behind him. “Where are you going? The road goes that way.”
“We’ve got a lot of distance to cover before we make it up there. If we go that way by foot, we won’t make it by dark. This is a more direct path.”
“What do you expect to do when we do make it up there?”
“What do you mean? We have to look for the key.”
“Yeah, duh. But I mean, we’ve technically had places to stay in the other towns, or we were out before anyone would see us. We won’t be out of here that fast—it’s a long walk, and we don’t know what to look for. What do you expect to do when we get up there? We have to be careful.”
“We will just camp out in the woods nearby tonight and observe the place in the morning. Then we can make a decision.”
“We have to be careful. What if they can see us coming from up there?”
“Do you see anyone up there?” Zane shot.
“Well, no… But it doesn’t mean that no one can see us!” I whined.
“If you’re so worried about them noticing you, put your hood up. Your hair stands out when we’re out here. You blend better with it up.”
Without a response, I pulled my hood over my head, tucking back my hair.
The leaves rustled as we walked. A twittering whistle interrupted the rustling. I swore under my breath as I stopped in my tracks.
“What the hell was that?” Zane exclaimed, wielding his dagger.
“I don’t know,” I breathed, trying to stay silent.
“It sounded like—”
“I know what it sounded like,” I said. “But that’s impossible.”
“Maybe it’s not,” Zane pondered.
“No way.”
“But think about it! Does this place look like it’s been rebuilt? I think this place wasn’t affected by the war.”
“But Equivox looked similar to this, with all the trees.”
“These trees are much bigger, and there are all these other plants, isn’t it a possibility?”
“Zane, that’s crazy. There’s no way that was a bird—they aren’t around anymore. Not in the New Territory, at least.”
“Well, it was either that, or a person. I’d like to believe it was a bird!”
Suddenly, there was a rapid and melodic chirping.
“That one was different! E, there are birds here!” Zane laughed excitedly.
Then, a tiny, brown-feathered bird fluttered down from the tree, landing in the leaves a few feet away from us. Zane and I froze, mesmerized by the little creature as he kicked up leaves and pecked at the dirt, pulling up a fat earthworm. Clearly satisfied by his find, the bird flapped its wings and carried itself and its lunch up into a tree.
I turned to Zane, mirroring his excitement. We were taught that birds were killed off through a mixture of the explosions during war, the radiation in some of the areas farther away from the cities and exile towns, and the loss of trees for them to live in and find food around. I never thought I would see one.
I looked closer at the leaves and spotted a delicate looking tan feather with white speckles. I picked it up and tucked it carefully in my bag. I want to remember this.
“Let’s keep going,” Zane reminded me, motioning to the waterfall far ahead.
I nodded, trotting to catch up.
“How do you think birds survived?” I asked as we walked.
“These trees must have made it through the war untouched, so the birds still had places to build nests and find food and all that.”
“I wonder if there are other places like this,” I pondered aloud.
“Maybe.”
We continued toward the base of the mountain, taking only a couple short breaks for snacks and rest. After time, the ground started sloping upwards, making the hike progressively more difficult. The waterfall, luckily, was only about a third of the way up the side of the mountain.
“I think we should stop here,” Zane said past the base of the mountain as the sun began to set.
“Good plan,” I said, dropping my bag, exhausted.
“We should take watches.”
“Probably not a bad idea
,” I agreed. “I’ll take first watch.”
That evening, Zane curled up across from me, his back pressed to the exposed roots of a tree. His lips were turned downwards into a loose frown as he slept. While he slept, I sat there, casually twisting my dagger in my hands. A couple hours went by of me poking my palm gently with the tip of the dagger, just to stay awake, before I heard a rustling in the leaves. My eyes jolted open wide as I clambered to my feet, staying in a crouch in the darkness.
It was a few minutes before I heard the noise again—this time sounding like it was nearing Zane.
“I know you’re there,” I said, warning the mystery presence.
Silence, and then more rustling, growing closer. I wielded my dagger, ready to fight. A few more scuffling sounds, and suddenly a furry white animal, barely larger than my palm, with long, floppy ears appeared from behind Zane’s tree. Is that a rabbit? I thought those were gone too—I’ve only ever seen them in children’s books and in books for my old classes. It’s so cute! The bunny scampered off, clearly terrified of me as I stood cooing over it.
“Come back!” I whispered after the baby rabbit, sneaking after it. “Where’d you go?”
I gasped, my eyes wide in horror as they met the sight of the bunny, his little white body stained red under the talons of a ruffled-looking owl. The bird’s eyes glowed yellow in the darkness of the forest as he glared back at me, tightening his grip on the white rabbit as it twitched beneath his feet. The poor thing! I sighed, disappointed as I rounded the tree again to return to my spot.
As I turned, my eyes met Zane’s, wild and panicked as he held his golden dagger out to me.
“Oh my God, Eos,” he exhaled. “I woke up and you weren’t there, and I heard leaves and—don’t do that!”
“Sorry!” I apologized. “I heard noises, and there was this bunny, and an owl, and—I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you!”
“I thought someone got you or something,” he said.
“No—I was only gone for a minute. I wasn’t going to leave you there unconscious in the woods either. I just wanted a closer look at the bunny.”
“It’s alright. I’m just glad you’re okay. It’s my turn for watch anyways—go ahead and get some sleep.”
I nodded sleepily, digging my blanket out of my pack and making myself comfortable in the leaves. It didn’t take long before I was asleep.