The City of Wanderers - No Peaceful North Part One

Chapter Twelve

After Knox had taken his belongings from Wes' truck, moved them into what he assumed was his sister's and said their goodbyes, the two remained standing outside the arena with Wes' father. Once they were gone, Lawrence turned to look at Wes again and said to him "So, you look different."
"Yeah, so do you." Wes responded as he crossed his arms. Lawrence then asked "Where were you all these years? We all thought you had died or something."
"Living in Surrey with him." Wes answered as he pointed to Aditya, who awkwardly waved and said "Uh, hi."
"And who are you?" Lawrence asked Aditya and he answered with "Oh, my name is Aditya, though some people call me Captain."
"You're a captain?" Lawrence asked him again. Aditya replied "For the ferries, yes."
"You also work on the ferries down south?" Lawrence then asked Wes, who responded with "Only since the outbreak started. Not much demand for a high school biology teacher these days."
"Your eye though, what ha-" Lawrence was gonna ask again but Wes cut him off with "Work related accident. That's all I am willing to share."
Lawrence paused for a moment before explaining "So, you suddenly left town for some unknown reason to become a biology teacher who lives with a ferry captain in Surrey, where you've remained for the past twenty or so years. Did I get that right?"
Wes glared at his father as he rather boldly told him "You know damn well why I left."
Lawrence sighed and continued asking him "Really? You're still mad about that?"
Wes took a deep breath before explaining to him "For years people harassed me and even assaulted me over a rumour and you never once did ANYTHING about it despite being the CHIEF OF POLICE! And when I came to accept that about myself your reaction was to tell me I was mentally ill and should seek help. So I did."
Wes then looked at Aditya and continued "I found him. Aditya helped me truly accept that I'm gay and we ended up falling for each other. I don't know where I'd be right now if it weren't for him."
Aditya smiled at Wes while Lawrence was silent for a few moments. Wes moved closer to Aditya so he could hold his hand and finished explaining "Now we're married."
"Please Wes, every day since then I've regretted what I said to you and not properly supporting you like I should've. I am truly sorry." Lawrence tried to apologize to Wes, who wasn't having it.
"'I'm sorry' doesn't undo what you enabled. I didn't want to come back here because of it, I only did it for the kid." Wes told him before he took a deep breath to more calmly tell Lawrence "But I will accept your apology, but I can't forgive you yet."
"That's fine, I'm just glad you're still around." Lawrence responded as he took one step back and told them "Whatever, the mayor would also like to talk to you two. Come with me."
He then turned around and started walking back towards the arena. Wes questioned "They're in there?"
"Currently, yes." Lawrence answered. The two didn't say anything else, instead they followed Lawrence inside. He wasn't heading for what seemed to be the front doors, instead he went along the side to a different entrance. Wes wasn't sure what to expect going inside.
Inside was a hall that lead to another door that seemed to be sealed shut and the glass was fogged over. To one side was a bunch of lockers and the other was an open entrance into another hallway. It had windows all along the right side that were also fogged over, Wes assumed they once looked into the arena.
They continued following Lawrence until they encountered more two people sitting at a small roundtable in what looked like a common area for whatever that section was used for prior to the outbreak. Wes recognized one of them. His childhood best friend, Keri.
"The elusive first born son of my Head of Security has made his appearance in my city after all these years." Keri said upon seeing him. Wes noticed she looked a bit different from when he last saw her. Her left eye was entirely white, her skin was slightly discoloured around her eye as well and she no longer had a left arm. Everything else about her was mostly the same. She was a Filipino woman with light brown skin, curly brown hair that was always kept short and was wearing a similar outfit to Lawrence and the other woman next to her.
"Are you-" Wes was going to ask but Keri immediately answered "Your best friend from when we were kids? Yes, I'm still the same despite my appearance being altered. Or did you mean the Mayor? Also yes, I am self-proclaimed so it's more like a dictatorship except I'm not evil and I'm ruling a city nobody knows exists."
Wes didn't know what else to say. He wanted to ask about her eye but he didn't like it when people asked about his so he figured he wouldn't.
"I see you've subjected some poor soul to this place as well. Why would you do that?" Keri then asked Wes as Aditya replied "Oh, coming here was my idea actually."
"I was only along to make sure he didn't get lost." Wes added as Keri also added "So you could reunite Knox with Erin after Niamh killed their mom, yes."
"How did you know?" Wes questioned her. Keri responded with "Oh, I know everything that goes on here."
She then turned to Lawrence and told him "You're dismissed, Lawrence. You can go back to being Head of Security."
Lawrence nodded before turning around and leaving the area.
"So, for those in the room who don't know who I am, the name's Keri Hart. I am the Mayor of Fort Saint John but I also oversee most of Northern New Columbia and manage the Peace River Peacekeepers." Keri introduced herself to Aditya mainly, since Wes already knew her. She then turned to the woman next to her and said "This is my wife who hasn't said anything yet."
"Oh, yeah. I'm Ophelia, and you two are?" She asked them.
Ophelia had beige skin, long wavy blonde hair and wore the same outfit as Keri.
"Captain Aditya Madan, or just Aditya." Aditya introduced himself to Ophelia while Wes just said "And I'm Wes."
"Ooh a captain? What kind? Ship? Airplane? Or is it just what people call you?" Keri asked Aditya, who replied "Ferry captain, which I guess counts as a ship."
"Perfect, we need someone who knows how to operate larger watercraft here. That's if you're interested in staying." Keri mentioned as Wes butted in "We only came here to drop off someone. We have a good life in Pacifica."
Both Keri and Ophelia stared at Wes for a few seconds before Ophelia asked Keri "How many people here are from Pacifica?"
"A lot." Keri replied before then telling Wes "So that's where you've been all these years. I get it, this place was horrible to you and I was surprised to hear that you of all people were trying to get in."
She then stood up and grabbed something that was out of sight next to her. It was a skeleton arm with a hand that was in a pointer pose. She then asked them "You ever wonder why this place is also called 'The City of Wanderers'?"
Wes did wonder that, but Aditya answered before he could with "Is it the new name for this place like how Vancouver is 'Pacifica' now?"
"No, it's just this area called that. If you look through the windows behind you you'll see why." Keri told him as she pointed the skeleton arm towards the window. The two turned to look but it was fogged over, couldn't see anything through it. Keri then said "Might have to rub your hand on it, it's cold in there but warm in here."
Wes went to go do that. The windows were very cold to the touch so he used his sleeve instead of his hands. Keri and Ophelia then joined them as the inside of the arena became more visible, though still a bit blurry because of ice that formed on the other side of the window. Wes could see people in the arena but something was off about them. There was a lot of them and they moved around randomly and very slowly. He then realized what they were.
"Are those wanderers in there?" Wes felt like he had to ask.
"Yes, you can preserve them for longer if you keep them in freezing temperatures." Keri answered as Ophelia also added "They're also passive in the cold."
Wes backed away from the window as Aditya said "Well, I'm not sleeping tonight."
"W-what? How? And why? What is going on here?" Wes questioned.
"You were interested in biology, right? I recall you applying for university to be a biologist before you left." Keri asked Wes, avoiding his question. Wes decided to answer "Oh God, why?"
"Me and Ophelia need someone like you to help us with... experiments I guess. It's for science." Keri proposed as Wes immediately declined with "No, absolutely not. I will have no part in whatever madness is going on here with you experimenting on the dead and keeping them in some elaborate fridge."
Keri smiled and told him "Your loss."
Wes wasn't sure what to think anymore. He didn't expect to see what he saw nor did he expect to run into his childhood best friend asking if he wanted to do experiments on wanderers. She then proposed to him "If you don't want to do that, I could also use people like you two for the Peacekeepers. Doesn't have to be positions where you're dealing with wanderers, you could just be road patrol or a courier. Or maybe even a spy."
Wes was not interested but Aditya seemed to be intrigued for some reason.
"Thanks for the offer but we should probably get going." Wes told them as Aditya added "Uh, yeah, but we'll think about it."
"Fair enough, the exit is the same way you came in." Ophelia told them while Keri also said to them "And do think about that offer, it's probably better than what you're getting in Pacifica."