End of Days

Reaching Arcton

(7)

"Come on, kid. It's only a little further to the refugee camp." Franklin says, shaking me awake. These last three days have been terrible, and my father hasn't let us sleep past sunrise once.

"Franklin will you carry me?" I ask, giving my best puppy dog face.

"Sorry kid, I am definitely too old for that." He says, giving me a hand off the ground. He smiles and pats my back before walking over to the others. I grab my bag and roll up the blanket and pillow we snagged from the cabins on the first night before tying them onto my backpack once again.

I rub my eyes as we fall into a messy blob of half dead people. Maya is the only lucky one of us, small enough to be carried, and cute enough to convince others to do it. I gave her a piggyback ride most of yesterday until I finally bribed her with candy to make Alec carry her the rest of the way.

Enzo makes his way to the space next to me and smiles. "Good morning." Definitely a morning person. I glare up at him, but his smile doesn't waver. "We are almost there you should be happy," he says nudging me slightly.

"Happy? We've done nothing but walk and eat for the last three days."

"And in a couple hours we will once again have a warm bed to sleep in and new-found companions." He smiles adjusting his bag, "If you're tired I can carry your bag for you, give you a little break from lugging it around." He offers. I think for a second, then he chooses for me and removes the bag from my shoulders, slinging it over his own.

"Thank you." I say with a smile and he nods. Maya is the only one with the energy to carry on a conversation, so she tells stories about kids in her class. No one objects as we keep walking and learn all about the kid named Charlie who stuck a crayon up his nose. She swears that to this day he still sneezes orange.

After what seems like an eternity, we can finally see gates in the distance. Everyone perks up as our pace quickens. My father's pace slows slightly as he works to the back of the group where I am. He looks at Enzo, a small sense of nervousness in his eyes. "How's your American accent?"

Enzo's eyes widen slightly as he clears his throat, "how's this?" he asks, trying to hide his own accent. My father scratches the top of his head and lets out a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, try not to speak."

As the gates get closer, we see men standing on top the gate with rifles. "Stop." His voice is strong and demanding. We halt a couple feet before entrance. "Leader, step forward." We all look toward my father as he makes his way back to the front. He doesn't speak again, the gates open and behind them is a man standing proud with a smirk.

"Hello, welcome to Arcton. I'm Cyrus Adkins." He says, putting his hand out for my dad to shake, so much for being protective. I glance at Enzo who is looking around a little confused as well. He's probably surprised by the sudden acceptance of us as well.

My father steps forward and takes his hand, "Henry Castle." Cyrus smiles and drops his hand glancing around at us, "we actually came to ask for your help. A girl from our group, Sam, was taken by Republic soldiers, and brought to their camp. We know where they are but there's too many of them for us to take, most of us don't even know how to shoot. We were told you had a run in with them and won? I understand it's a lot to ask you to fight for us, but we have it on good authority that they're on their way here right now. Help us get Sam back and we can help you keep your people safe."

"Who told you about our run in? And how do you know that they're on their way here? More importantly, how do you expect to help us keep our people safe when you just admitted that most of you can't even shoot." Cyrus fires back.