Side Split

Endless Fields

I walk through open fields throughout the night, not expecting them to ever end. I've no clue if I'm even going in the right direction to get to the city which is a worrying thought I have to keep pushing to the back of my mind. There are occasional sounds of insects in the grass which breaks the silence but for the majority of the night; I'm the one that is disturbing whatever may be living beneath me with my sweeping footsteps.

Eventually, exhaustion begins to set in and I decide to start looking for a place to camp for the night. Cai isn't here this time to destroy my lungs by having to keep pace with him which has meant I've not made as much ground as I would've liked to. I spot a small stone ruin in the distance and slug my legs over to it, slouching against a meter high, moss-covered wall. There's been a few of these ruins on the journey between the city and the village which is odd as I don't remember hearing about people living beyond the city's borders, at least not this close.

As I attempt to sleep, tossing and turning on the hard, muddy ground, I watch the final phosphorescent streaks of light drown in the darkness. The consistent thought about leaving the village keeps haunting my thoughts, especially leaving Cai there without even saying goodbye to him. It must seem like I scarpered just as I was about to start working with him. Will he resent me for that? I highly doubt the leader will tell him the true reason I left so most likely I'm going to be made out as an imposter that wanted to sabotage her plans. Which would technically be the truth now, but it wasn't a day ago. She'll feed him a well-crafted lie to make herself appear as the strong leader they deserve to follow blindly into battle behind. I don't blame the people of the village for doing that, it's not their fault they've been unable to see her true colours.

I'm also fretting about how the President will receive me once I re-enter the city. I have my suspicions that I won't be hailed as a messiah for returning but hopefully, it's not a terrible interrogation where he forces me to tell him everything I know about the village. I don't want to allow him to find out that because it isn't a priority at the moment. Yes, if the leader loses patience and threatens an attack then I may tell him a few things about it but I aim to convince him to change some rulings so that an attack isn't necessary. Letting him know about the village will put hundreds of people's lives at risk should the President lose his cool over what the leader has brewing. A plan is slowly formulating in my head about how I should approach the situation and what I should talk about which takes a while to compose itself in my head but once it is settled I'm able to start drifting off.

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I wake up to the sun blinding me in the ruins, rays of light piling through the cracks in the clouds and over the low wall I ended up dozing off beside. The village is far gone now and all I have to worry about is entering the city again and hope that I don't get thrown back into a cell for another few years.

I stand up, feeling slightly refreshed after an uncomfortable night on the ground. More expanses of fields lie ahead of me, much of it fulled with dying grass, each blade brown on the tip. Just like it did yesterday, it comes up to my knees which means that if the leader wanted to track me it wouldn't be the most difficult job. Insects are more vocal now the sun is up, chirping and some hissing from within the overgrown grasslands. I've always wondered why the President has been so deadset on building the city up yet has never expanded out here. He wants power and it's a rule of thumb that the more land you control, the more powerful you are. Perhaps the President is overemphasizing his power and he doesn't own more than just the city like he sometimes alludes to. The city is massive and he has rebuilt parts of it but I'm sure he could do so much more if he wanted to, even if he doesn't control the whole of this planet.

After a few hours of walking in the scorching sun, I rest in the slight shade that the long grass provides. My tongue is dry and the effects of dehydration are starting to take hold as I find myself unable to properly salivate. Hopefully, the city is only a few hours away now.