Beyond All War

by Eric Keller

  After sharing a leery look, Jacob and Griff stepped inside. Light filled the space. A lifetime where, once the sunset, the world became a dim place, forced Jacob to take a step back from the bizarre brightness. Composing himself, he moved into a narrow entryway, shoulder to shoulder with Griff. Candles and lanterns glowed everywhere and, even full of fear, his first instinct was to rush around, putting them out to stop the wastefulness.

  A calm voice beckoned them, “In here.”

  A kitchen area filled one side while an area of comfortable looking furniture ran along a wall impossibly made entirely of glass. Across from some sort of padded bench, sitting in a wide armchair, was the man who must be the leader. He did not look physically imposing to Jacob, especially compared to the matching brutes who brought them there, but, in the copious firelight, his eyes shone and his penetrating gaze almost hurt.

  He did not get up, merely pointed to the bench, inviting them to sit. “My name is Harrison. You are Jacob and Griff?”

  They both sunk on to the incredibly soft seat and nodded.

  With a cold tone, the man calmly said, “I understand you, and your one-armed friend down below wish to stay with us.”

  Unsure what to do, Jacob nodded, Griff doing the same next to him.

  “That’s fine, however, we -”

  A knock on the door interrupted the man. He called out, “Come in.”

  Two women carrying trays walked into the room. Both were wearing short, thin dresses and Jacob smelled a hint of flowers in the air as they moved by. He chanced a look up at them. He could not recall ever seeing a woman for the first time as, until this painful adventure, everyone he ever knew he always knew. The sight of unusual females caused an instant pleasurable ache to float up despite his intense fear. One of them, tall with freckles, a few years older than him, apparently noticing his dumb stare, flashed a brief, uncertain smile. His face grew hot and he promptly stared back down at his feet.

  “Ladies, these young men are Griff and Jacob. They are thinking of joining us. This is Alice and Andrea, great examples of the lovely women you’ll get to know here.”

  The women murmured hasty greetings as they set down the trays. Griff and he managed to meekly say hello. Then the women stood before Harrison as if waiting for orders. He turned his palms up to the ceiling and said, “Can’t we show these young men some hospitality, they’ve traveled long and far. Let them see what they can expect to enjoy here.”

  They reluctantly turned to face them. Peering up through his eyelashes, Jacob saw the hems of the dresses lifting. He could not help himself, he glanced up at the unfamiliar, naked flesh. When the cloth was bunched up under their chins, Harrison said, “Give them a turn.”

  Slowly, the naked legs caused the naked torsos to turn, but Jacob shied away, averting his gaze from the scene. Finally, in his steady tone, Harrison said, “Thank you, ladies. That will be all.”

  Thankfully, with his stomach aching with hunger and his throat parched, Jacob could immediately forget the awkwardness and turn his attention to the food now covering the low table. There were items he recognized, roast potatoes, beans, and dried venison. Amongst those were a couple of items he did not know but looked wonderful, however, his eyes were first drawn by thirst to the tall pitcher.

  Harrison apparently recognized this look and poured them each a glass of the cool water which they greedily drank. He then handed them each a plate and said, “Go ahead gentlemen, help yourselves.”

  Jacob took the plate and carefully dished up some of everything as Griff did the same. Harrison added, “Take as much as you like. We’ve got plenty.”

  Even with the invitation, Jacob did not completely fill his plate, not wanting to look gluttonous to this composed stranger. Jacob said, “Thanks, this looks great.”

  Griff, already starting to eat, said, “Yeah, thanks.”

  A smile touched Harrison’s lips, but it did not seem to reach his unchanging eyes. “You’re welcome. While you eat, we may as well discuss what joining the Bank means. Perhaps, most importantly, everyone here is family. Must be that way for things to run smoothly, to allow us to continue to survive as we have. A key component to maintaining a family is trust.”

  He stared especially hard at each of them as if to punctuate before continuing, “This also means we can have no secrets or lies within the Bank. Everyone who comes in must be open and honest upon their arrival and every day thereafter.”

  Jacob glanced sideways at his friend but, unusually, Griff seemed too uncertain to speak. Not sure what to say, Jacob muttered, “Sure. I get that, makes sense, sure.”

  “Ok, good. Now, why don’t you two start by telling me where you came from.”

  Thankfully, Griff managed to gather himself, apparently made bolder by getting to tell their story again, he sat up straighter as he said, “We’re brothers. Jacob and I. Tina was taken in by our parents -”

  Harrison lifted a hand, cutting him off. “Actually, Jacob you tell me.”

  Nervousness instantly stole away Jacob’s appetite when the stranger turned his cold gaze on him. He tried to sound composed as he choked down a mouthful of food and said, “Right, ok, well, like Griff said, we lived on a farm with our parents. After the attack and all, we, well we were able to live off the land, you know, it was tough, but we got by. They took in Tina. The five of us managed, barely, but we got by. But then, last winter, things got worse.”

  Jacob knew he was awful at lying and he knew his tale sounded stilted, and this knowledge made him even more uneasy. He took a drink, trying to calm himself. Griff’s story had length, peppered with helpful details and descriptions but Jacob decided to shorten his telling and get it over with.

  “Both our parents got sick, very sick, and our supplies ran out. When the weather finally cleared up, they sent us three, they sent us out to find food. We didn’t have much luck, so we hiked down to the river. On the bank there, we found an old boat stuck on the last of the ice.”

  He tried to grin like Griff would at this part, but it felt ridiculous. “Not sure what we were thinking, desperation makes idiots I guess, but we got in that boat to try and get out where we could fish better. The current was super strong, and it took us downriver.”

  Griff, apparently unable to hold his tongue as Jacob massacred the story, jumped in, “Yeah, it was fast. Before we had time to think we were miles away. Couldn’t stop. Thought for damn sure we were done for.”

  Harrison merely turned his focussed glare on Griff, the message clear that he did not appreciate the interruption. Instead of a witty retort, Griff stopped talking and sheepishly looked down at his plate, and Harrison looked back to Jacob, silently telling him to continue.

  “Right, well, we got lucky, sort of anyhow. We crashed into an ice dam thing and were able to jump out of the boat there. We hiked for a couple of days, trying to make our way back home. Then, when we were sleeping, those, well those people, I guess they were called Preppers, they found us and made us go with them back to their buildings. That’s where we met up with Clarence and those patrol guys.”

  Jacob forced himself to look Harrison in the eye, trying to make him think he was telling the truth but also trying to figure out if he believed him or not. The steady look he got in return revealed nothing.

  . . .

  An interesting day to say the least. The return of the patrol. Critical questions surrounding Hale’s death. A pair of liars and an amputee girl. On top that, before he could address that multitude of issues, Harrison had been told about Kinma killing Luke. When it rains, it pours.

  Murder was not unknown to the Bank, but it was rare. Early on, two men were killed when a brawl broke out and Harrison exiled the perpetrators. Later, one man killed a woman after she
bit him and he was summarily executed. Another killed a newcomer for stealing beef jerky, and Harrison cut him to half rations for a month. The Vikings killed a man for no real reason, and they were not punished at all. His rationales for these different penalties were kept purposefully vague so no calculation of the risk could be done by potential killers. Plus, Harrison could then favor those he wanted to if need be.

  This uncertainty, however, meant Kinma’s crime created a dilemma. Harrison could not allow women to think they could kill men when they did not like what was being done to them or no male in the Bank would be able to sleep safely. Plus, Luke was well-liked so the others would want a steep penalty imposed. However, women were in short supply, and they were valuable pieces in the chess match he was playing to maintain control. Right now, there were too many unknowns to address the dilemma smartly, and he had learned long ago to avoid making final decisions in chaotic situations. In order to buy himself time to think and strategize, Harrison ordered her locked up.

  Now, these idiot boys were clearly lying to him, making things more difficult. He had hoped that putting girls in front of them would have them falling over each other to get in his good graces. However, that had been misguided, the nakedness seemed to scare them even more than the Vikings did. He glared at the one named Jacob and said, “That is quite a story.”

  The nervous kid, his fork halfway to his mouth, merely nodded. Normally, Harrison would torment the liar for a while, toy with him by asking questions until he knew he was completely cornered. Tonight, however, other duties pulled at him and he was keen to know where these people came from, he wanted this done.

  “Unfortunately, I don’t believe it. Not a word of it.”

  Intensified fear seemed to seize both of them, but, surprisingly, the dark haired one gathered himself fairly quickly and said, “Sure, I can understand that, it is pretty unbelievable, but it’s all the truth.”

  Harrison nodded and asked, “So, if I gave you and your friend each a paper and pen, tell you both to write down the names of your cherished parents, you’ll both write the same thing?”

  At this, he let the two fools share a look as he enjoyed watching them try to silently come up with a solution to this simple conundrum. Plucking a dry cookie off the table, Harrison took his time to eat the morsel, expecting the kids would cave and confess. Instead, Jacob emphatically shook his head at his friend, and they both returned their looks to their plates.

  Deciding to try one more tactic, Harrison said, “Fine. Be defiant. That’s your choice. However, I cannot let you stay here if you choose to lie. We have plenty of food, plenty of room and plenty of women. Liars like you, though, get exiled to the forest to freeze or starve or both. Last chance boys, tell me the truth of where you came from, and I will let you and your friend downstairs stay. Utter one more lie though and I’ll have you immediately escorted from Thule with nothing but the clothes on your back.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  JUNE 25, 2046

  DAY THREE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE

  In the darkness, Kinma rubbed at her skin. Luke’s dried blood had stuck hard, and she was filled with disgust as she tried to frantically scratch it off.

  After killing Luke, with her mind racing and panicked emotions coursing through her, she tried vainly to plan an escape. Somewhere to hide the body, some way to explain Luke’s disappearance, fleeing into the wild. But, before she could do anything, to Bankers walked in looking for the recently deceased. They observed the obvious scene and, with alarming speed, she was seized and locked in the narrow storage room that served as their jail cell, a thin chain on her ankle holding her to the wall.

  Sitting in the corner, her knees clutched under her chin, she tried forced her mind to think through the scenarios of what Harrison could do to her and how she might outmaneuver him; however, every time she ventured near intelligent thought, only Hale came to mind.

  In the blackness, covered in Luke’s blood, the shock at realizing she would never be able to speak with Hale again morphed into an intense, all-encompassing pain that coursed through her body and mind as she screamed into the nothingness.

  . . .

  Sweat rolled down Jacob’s back under Harrison’s stern, angry gaze but he actually felt relieved. Getting to leave this demented outpost unscathed sounded perfect to him, regardless of what hardships they might face in the wilderness. More importantly, Jacob realized their foolishness created a greater problem than risking their own safety, they had made these dangerous men aware that a place existed somewhere which might be a great prize for them. If they were free of this demented group there could be no more slips of information and these cruel men would not be able to go looking for Malden.

  Griff beat him to speaking and quickly said, “Oh, ok, but what we told you is what happened. I get why you don’t believe us, it’s crazy, but that’s what happened. It’s probably best if we simply go.”

  For the first time, emotion reached Harrison’s face. Jacob recognized the change to his mouth as the physical act of smiling but it did not reflect happiness in any way, and this scared him even more.

  Jacob hurriedly set his plate with his half-eaten meal on the table and got to his feet. “Sorry, obviously this was a mistake, I mean, a mistake by us. I’m sorry to waste your time and thanks for the dinner, but I think we should go now.”

  Griff, probably sensing their chance to escape, returned to his senses and set his plate down as he said, “Yeah, all this here looks great, but I don’t think we’d fit in.”

  A brief bark of a maniacal laugh escaped from Harrison despite his eyes remaining harsh. “Sit back down.”

  Taking a step away from the couch, Jacob said, “Thanks, but I think we’ve wasted enough of your-”

  “Sit down.”

  Jacob kept moving. “No, we are just going to leave.”

  Harrison let out a sharp whistle. Griff and Jacob sped up their exit but, before they got far, the two massive men with the blonde beards stepped inside, easily blocking the way. Jacob turned back to Harrison and said, “Oh, thanks, we don’t need an escort or anything, we can find our own way.”

  The leader spoke calmly behind them, “I gave you fools a chance. I treated you nicely. Gave you good food and water. But you chose to lie and then defy me. Now, you’re going to tell me the truth, all of it and right now.”

  The mountain-like men easily walked them back to the couch where they were roughly seated. With the silent, imposing men standing over them, Harrison leaned forward in his chair and calmly said, “I am not an idiot. I can see the two of you are not related, and you’re not starving. You are not from some isolated farm. You are from somewhere established, somewhere with people, food and supplies. Somewhere that has managed to escape our attention up to now. Tell me where you are from, or I will make you tell me.”

  Jacob, realizing the pleasant threat of exile was only a ploy, opened his mouth to reply but, with fear, both for himself and for his home, filling him, no words came.

  . . .

  The sturdy defiance surprised Harrison, he expected the terrified kids to crumple immediately. Frustrating but he figured it would make no difference in the end. When the threat of true harm became reality they would not last long.

  He nodded to one of the Vikings and a huge fist immediately smashed into the redhead’s ribs. He gasped for air as Harrison turned his attention back to the other one. His eyes were now wide as he looked at his friend doubled over. “Ok, how about now? You smart enough to play along? Where are you from?”

  The kid’s lips moved but, annoyingly, no words came. One of the Vikings cuffed the redhead in the back of the skull, knocking him to the floor. Finally, the one named Jacob looked down at his feet and said, “I can’t
. I can’t tell you. Sorry.”

  Harrison reached over, lifted the kid’s face back up by his hair. “Why? Why can’t you tell me?”

  “My family is there. And, and, a girl, my friend. And, beside, there are rules. The Seven Rules.”

  “Your rules don’t matter here son, you’ll see that soon enough. Get that one up on his feet.”

  Without a word, one of Vikings grabbed a handful of red hair and dragged the boy to the counter where he held him upright. No struggling, the redhead merely stood looking baffled and scared.

  Harrison sighed. He was fine causing physical pain to people, and the Vikings would surely enjoy helping. However, Harrison viewed such steps as undignified and rudimentary, he preferred to use his wits to cajole someone into cooperating. He said, “Alright Jacob, maybe you and I can make a deal before this gets out of hand. You say there’s this girl back home, I understand you don’t want to put her at risk. You’ve got a friend right here, not to mention the burned girl down below, who are both at serious, immediate risk. But I think you can keep them all safe if you handle this proper like.”

  A hint of hope flashed into his frightened, darting eyes and Harrison continued, “You tell me where this place is, and I won’t torture Griff here, you won’t have to listen to him scream in agony all night, and you won’t have to watch later while my massive friends here do what they wish with the one-armed girl. Then, if we decide to go to this place you’re from, I promise I will ensure your family is not harmed and I will make sure that girl you want is yours and yours alone. You can live out your little lives together in bliss.”

  He paused to let the idea sink in, but the kid kept his gaze on his feet and shook his head with annoying immediacy. One of the Vikings tore open the redhead’s shirt, exposing his pink skin. With the terror in the room now palatable, Harrison leaned in, “It’s going to get extremely unpleasant. Tell me now and tell it true.”