by Valerie Puri
“Well, I will do something you’ve chosen not to and actually be there for Ethan.”
Jennie turned on her heel and left the house. She slammed the door behind her to drive her point home. She would cross every bridge in this place until she found Ethan.
Standing alone on the platform outside the door, she took in her surroundings. The stars were out now, peeking through the leaves. Lights coming from the treehouses made it look like the stars also lived amongst the trees. It was beautiful.
The night air was still and quiet with an owl hooting in the distance. Had the drama not unfolded behind the door at her back, she would feel at peace here. Ethan deserved better. She would be distraught too if she were in his place.
A chopping sound came from the trees to her right. It sounded like someone splitting firewood.
Could that be Ethan?
Drawn to the chopping sound, she followed her ears. She had to cross the suspension bridges slowly. She could hardly see where she was putting her feet. She didn’t want to miss a step and fall to the ground below. That would be a long way to drop.
She saw movement ahead. A shadowy figure of a man was hacking at a tree trunk with what looked like a machete. Tentatively, she crept closer. She didn’t want to surprise someone in the dark, swinging a blade. With each strike from the machete, chips of bark flew into the air.
The man let out a roar and slashed at the tree with so much force, Jennie could see the blade bite deep into the trunk. He tugged at the handle, trying to pull it free, but it was stuck.
Giving up, the man raised his fists above his head and pounded the tree. He rested his head against the trunk.
Jennie heard him sob and took another step closer. This had to be Ethan. Who else would be out here alone at night, taking their frustration out on a tree?
“Ethan?” She put a tentative hand on his shoulder.
He tensed, spinning around brandishing his fists.
Jennie’s heart leapt to her throat. She held up her hands in surrender, stepping backward. She lost her footing and tripped. She cried out as she fell, afraid she would fall off the edge of the platform.
A muscular hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back to her feet. The man pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. She was shaking in his arms. Finally, she looked up to see who the mystery man really was.
Ethan’s emerald eyes, wet with tears, peered down at her.
“I’m so sorry,” he kissed her forehead. “I didn’t mean to scare you. For a moment, I thought you were a lemeron.”
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” Jennie frowned, wondering about the monsters. “Can they get up here?”
“No. I just forgot where I was.” He let go of her and turning back to the tree. “I forgot who I was.”
Jennie’s heart broke in half for him.
“I came to check on you and make sure you’re okay.”
Ethan shook his head. “It was a mistake to come back here. I should have known having a real mother was too good to be true.” He spun back around to face her. “Let’s leave.”
“And go back to the Commune?” Jennie asked.
“No. Let’s leave it all behind and find somewhere new. Our two settlements can’t be the only ones left in the world. Let’s find who else might be out there.”
Jennie reached out, taking his hands in hers.
“It’s late. We’re both tired and sore. I’m sure we both could use a good night’s sleep. In the morning, we’ll figure out what’s next.”
As much as she would enjoy going on an adventure with Ethan under normal circumstances, that was probably the worst thing he could do right now. He wanted to run from his problems. Like it or not, he had to face them. He had to face his parents.
Eighteen
Belle
Travis needs more time to calm down.
Belle didn’t try to approach him. He was still upset with her. If she needed to find him, she knew where to look. For the past three days, he’d been living at the stables. Remaining out of sight, she kept an eye on him there from the apple orchard.
How strange that her best friend’s safe haven from the world had now become Travis’s. Jennie would often retreat there if she was troubled. She always told Belle that no one ever bothered her there. The horses were a comfort to her.
I guess Travis needs the same kind of comfort right now. We’ve all been through so much.
Doubting his father and Belle losing her cool with him probably didn’t help.
As much as she loved Jennie, she found working with animals stressful because of how much they depended on you. You could fail them just as easily as people.
She preferred working on the solar panels. On days like this, when the weather was cooler and the clouds drifted overhead, it was perfect. Except today, it wasn’t. She wasn’t sure if it ever would be again.
She sat in the grass hunched over her toolbox, stripping a replacement wire.
Usually, work helped take her mind off things, but it wasn’t working today. Every time she heard something behind her, she thought it was Sash coming for her. Her heart would stop and she would spin around only to see a squirrel scampering about. She could still feel the prick of the needle in her arm and the black sack being pulled over her head. If Sash showed up again, no one could save her this time.
Jennie and Ethan were gone. Travis was a thirteen-year-old kid with a good heart, but he couldn’t overpower Sash. Who else would help?
She couldn’t focus. She cut and stripped the same wire over and over again. Each time she stripped it, she cut through too many of the copper strands, so she’d have to trim it and start over. Every time she messed up, it got shorter. At this rate, she wouldn’t have any wire left.
“It’s useless!”
She threw the wire remnant on the ground and slammed the lid of her toolbox shut. Returning to her locker, she shoved her tools inside and locked it.
Belle made her way back to the town square. Maybe she could pass her time watching the birds play in the fountain.
A cold wind blew, messing up her curls. She shivered. Over the past few days, it had been too quiet in the Commune. It was midday, and no one was out on the streets. Usually, people would be out shopping, conversing, or tending the plants in their garden beds. But no one was around.
Everything had gone awry since Jennie left. They were a society filled with fear and without elders. Those who used to stop in the streets to say hello now scurried away from anyone they saw. It didn’t matter who.
Belle understood it. No one knew who was part of the Order. They could live next door, and you would never know. Everyone was a suspect to everyone else.
The atmosphere is so rigid, it could snap at any moment. When that happens, chaos will take over. Panic will ensue. Is that what the Order wants?
The more lemerons that gathered outside the wall, the more their decaying stench filled the air. The Commune was a pot of water slowly coming to a boil. It was about to bubble over.
She reached the edge of town as the schoolhouse bell started tolling. Someone was calling an assembly.
“Now what?” She groaned.
She filed inside the central Sanctuary building just like everyone else. No one spoke or acknowledged each other, almost like a pack of dociles.
So, this is what fear does to a society.
Normally, there would be at least some idle chatter in the crowd, but no one said a word. On the other side of the room, someone coughed. Belle shook her head. This was too much. People needed to snap out of it. There was a war to fight outside the Commune, and no one was lifting a finger. They were too afraid of the dangers within the walls to do anything at all.
The chairs in the grand chamber slowly filled. It seemed to take hours for everyone to arrive. Belle shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
When the doors slammed shut, she whipped her head around to see who closed them. She frowned.
A man strode up the length of the central aisle. His face and e
yes were battered with purplish-green bruises. There was something about him that looked familiar.
Where have I seen him before?
The Commune was small enough that most people knew each other, but this man wasn’t someone she knew. But she had seen him. And recently, too.
She shifted again. There was something wrong about him.
The man’s footsteps echoed as he climbed the platform at the front of the room.
“My fellow citizens, thank you for coming,” he said.
His voice was gruff but Belle didn’t recognize it. He scanned the room through his bruised eyes. One of them was swollen half shut.
“Some of you may know me, for those of you who don’t, I’m Isaac Fenske.”
Now Belle had a name to go with the face, but the name wasn’t familiar to her.
“We’ve been living together our entire lives, but recently the balance of our society was thrown into chaos. Marlene abandoned us, and Victor betrayed us.”
That’s not right. Belle frowned. Marlene went to get help. She didn’t abandon us.
“We are afraid of each other when we should be afraid of the lemerons at the wall. Our friends and neighbors aren’t a threat. Those monsters at our gates are. We must rise up together and fight for our survival.”
A few people in the crowd murmured their agreement. Belle wanted to agree too, but something about him was off.
“We don’t have anyone to lead us through this nightmare. This situation is unprecedented. That’s why I humbly ask your approval to let me stand in as an interim Elder until two new Elders are selected. If you consent, say ‘aye.’”
Two new Elders? Marlene was coming back. What was he playing at? Only Victor needed replacing.
The room was silent. Belle scanned the crowd, wondering if anyone would answer his plea for power. Nearby, a few people were conversing with each other. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were both nodding.
One of them looked up and shouted, “aye.”
The other one echoed him with an “aye.”
Throughout the room, more people were adding their “ayes” to the chorus. The people in the room came alive with new hope.
That’s when it hit her. Belle’s eyes grew wide, and she felt the color drain from her face. She remembered where she saw him.
This man, Isaac Fenske, was lying unconscious and bloody on a table in Goggles’s lab. She remembered seeing him before the fight with Sash. She hadn’t been sure if he was alive or dead when they left him behind during their escape.
He was very much alive now. How did he manage to escape?
There was something about him, and this sudden grab for power which made Belle think of Victor. This was a move someone from the Order would make. But what could she do without proof? She only had her suspicions.
Jennie’s parting words echoed in her mind: do what you can to keep the Order out of power.
A smile tugged at the corners of Isaac’s mouth.
“Anyone opposed to my proposition, say ‘nay.’”
Belle whispered so only she could hear. “Nay.”
Nineteen
Travis
Travis rushed out of the assembly hall and down the front steps of the Sanctuary building. He had to get to Belle. Where would she be?
I got so caught up on her causing drama between me and my father, I lost sight of the bigger problem: the Order.
Who was this Isaac guy, anyway? Travis was thirteen now, so he could vote on decisions such as this… at least he thought he could. If Jennie were there, she would have told him how these things work.
He didn’t know for sure, so he remained silent. What would he have said? He didn’t know enough about Isaac to say aye. He also didn’t know enough about him to say nay.
Maybe this guy will do good things for the Commune, as he promised.
Travis had to talk through this with someone. Belle seemed like the best person. He also needed to apologize to her for how sour he’d been. She had a bit of a temper, that was all. She was just sticking up for him, after all.
“Travis,” someone whispered behind him.
He spun around and grinned.
“Belle. I’m so glad you found me. I was looking for you. Look, I’m sorry about -”
“It doesn’t matter,” she cut him off, keeping her voice low. “We messed up. Big time.”
The smile fell from his face. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants.
“What do you mean?” He asked, afraid of the answer. It was bad news, based on the concern etched on her face.
“We can’t speak here. Come with me.”
They crossed the square and entered the apothecary shop. The little bell hanging above the door jingled. The aromatic scent of herbs and spices was a welcome one. It was a major improvement from the smell of rotting flesh outside. Countless little drawers and bottles filled nearly the entire wall behind the counter.
“Why are we here?” Travis whispered.
“Uncle Albert. Jennie said we can trust him, remember?”
“Well, yeah.”
It was obvious they could. Uncle Albert was the person Travis sought out after the tensions with his father and Belle. He spent a good deal of time here after that fight. Uncle Albert calmed him down and assured him father was one of the Truth Seekers.
The knot in his stomach unraveled at that news. Even with the confirmation that his father was one of the good guys, he still couldn’t bring himself to go home. He needed some space to clear his head.
A little old man opened a creaky door behind the shop counter. He stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him. He peered at them through the round lenses of his glasses.
“What can I do for you two today? How about a little dried mint to add to your morning tea? It will help settle your stomach if you feel queasy from the smell outside.”
Travis and Belle exchanged a curious look. Was this some sort of prompt for a secret password only Truth Seekers know?
“None of that, thanks. We need to talk about other business.” Belle got straight to the point.
Uncle Albert pursed his wrinkled lips.
“I see.” He glanced through the window behind them. “Did anyone see you enter the shop?”
“I don’t think so,” Travis said.
“Well then, hurry on back before anyone sees you standing there,” Uncle Albert said.
He shuffled to the end of the counter and lifted a section up. It swung open on a set of hinges like a horizontal doorway.
Travis and Belle stepped through the opening. There were even more bottles and drawers hidden behind the counter, each one filled with herbs, medicines, and tonics. A spool of twine was next to a stack of paper.
I guess that’s what Uncle Albert uses to bundle up things people buy.
The old man lowered the counter, letting it fall the last few inches with a thud.
“This way.” He opened the short door he had come through earlier.
Travis and Belle had to duck to avoid bumping their heads on the top of the door frame. Uncle Albert walked through without issue. He closed the door behind him, barring it shut from the inside.
Travis swallowed. The last time he was here, the old man didn’t lock the door.
“What’s changed since I was here last?” He asked. “Is someone going to break in and attack us?”
“Nothing more than precautions,” Uncle Albert said.
Travis blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to the dim light in the back room. It smelled even more potent than the front of the shop. The overpowering scent of mint made his eyes water and nostrils burn. His nose twitched and he sneezed loudly into his arm.
“Uh, sorry,” he wiped his nose with his sleeve. Nothing came out, but his nose still felt gross.
Uncle Albert mumbled something as he lit a few candles. The old man crossed his arms.
“Next time use the side door,” he scolded.
“Sorry, I didn’t know,”
Belle said.
“Uh… I forgot. Sorry.” Travis dropped his gaze to his feet.
Uncle Albert studied them for a moment through his glasses. He sat down in an old chair at the head of a table.
“Just remember for next time.” He gestured for them to sit.
Belle and Travis sat at the table.
“I heard the bells calling the Commune Council meeting. These old bones don’t let me attend any more. Now tell me, what’s this all about?”
“I think someone from the Order may have just been elected as an interim elder,” Belle said.
Uncle Albert took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He looked much older than Travis remembered. It had only been a few days since he saw him last, but something was weighing heavily on him.
“I see,” he said wearily. “What makes you think he, or she, is part of the Order?”
“I saw him in the underground lab where they turn people into dociles,” Belle leaned in as she spoke.
“What was his condition?”
“He was beat up pretty badly and unconscious.”
“Why do you think that makes him part of the Order? It makes him sound like one of their victims.”
Travis nodded. That was a good point. Maybe Belle was just worried for nothing.
“Does the name Isaac Fenske mean anything to you?” She asked.
Air hissed through Uncle Albert’s nostrils. He replaced his glasses and studied her, hard.
“I know the name Isaac Fenske well, but he is not one of us. Your intuition is right, young lady. Isaac is part of the Order. If he’s now taken control in the Commune, we’re all in trouble.”
Belle leaned back in her chair, her face pale.
“Well, crap,” she said.
Travis swallowed. This wasn’t good.
Twenty
Sash
“They believed you?” Sash asked.
Isaac stroked his chin. “Certainly. People are so afraid that their own mother or brother might be part of the Order, they failed to recognize someone who actually is. No one opposed me, and no one volunteered to stand in as the other interim elder. Fear and a compelling speech are powerful motivators. We have the Commune under our complete control.”
