Hope

The Village II

Suddenly, a knock on the door just as I had gotten comfortable on the couch watching Aaron finish up his game with Callum whilst Holly cleaned up the kitchen before we leave. I open the door to see the chief officer standing on my doorstep, immediately I stand upright and Aaron rises to face the man who built this village from scratch, a sixty year old man who has seen many years, who we owe our lives to. 

'Stand down men, you're not in the military' he smiled, patting my shoulder. 

'Please' I said 'Come in' 

'Oh heavens no Jerry I just... came to ask a favour' 

'Of course' 

He sighed before saying 'I hate to ask you Jerry but, would you mind taking the wall tonight? One of our men fell ill earlier on, he cannot work tonight' 

I looked back to Aaron, and then my eyes found Ash sitting on the stairs, peeking through the oak barristers, and she knew as well as I did that it would not be right to refuse. He was a gentleman of the highest degree, even if I said no he would assure me that there was no big deal, and he meant it. He would never ask twice, it's for that reason that I hate to say no to such a kind elder who is in need of my help. 

'Of course' I said 'I'll get me gear and go straight over' 

'I appreciate it Jerry, and I apologise for asking tonight' 

'Don't even worry about it' said Jerry 'It's really no problem' 

The chief raised his left lip and patted my shoulder again before turning his back and walking away from the doorstep into the moonlit street upon which civilians walked in smart clothes towards the town hall. 

'So now you're not going to it?' asked Ash as I closed the door. 

'I can't' I replied, shaking my head. 

'You could have said no Jerry, whom I meant to go with!'  

Holly joined Aaron and Callum in the room as I said their names. 

'But I wanted to go with you Jerry' 

'You don't need me to protect you Ash' I said, placing both my hands on her shoulders 'Aaron will keep you safe, alright? You have nothing to worry about' 

Ash sighed 'If I die, it's on you' she smirked. I gently hit her back 'Go on' I said 'Have a great night!' 

'I'll take care of her Jerry' said Aaron as they approached the door. 

'Oh, hey Aaron!' I called as he opened the door 'If you lose her, please don't go looking for her' my eyes found hers and winked. 

'Oh haw haw' said Ash 'Hey, if being a dry balls doesn't work out, you can try comedy!' 

Aaron laughed at the foul mouthed girl, as did I. Aaron opened the door and saw them out, he grabbed his overcoat and threw it on over his white shirt and black tie.

It's a warm night, there's a plus. It didn't seem it, but saying "of course" was not an easy task, I was looking forward to tonight for quite some time, yet here I am again, putting on my uniform and equipping my gun for another night on the perimeter. I've been on the wall well over a decade now, we never see any of them, not one. If you ask me, I'd say their extinct, and a lot of the time I believe it, if they had no food how could they survive, and if they did, it could only be a small number of them. 

But you can never be too cautious... though as I look in the mirror at my dark hair on the head of a man gripping a gun longer than my arm, I ask myself... can you?

It wasn't until we turned several corners that we saw the lights coming from the town hall. People gathered outside wearing fine suits and fluttering pink dresses ending at their high heels, sipping from a cocktail glass outside the open doors where inside was the chatter of many more along with a quiet, soothing background piano music played by a man I only recognise from seeing around the village.