External (Book 1&2)

26|Folk Tales and Funerals

We dug for hours next to the small stream in the park we had first visited when we entered the city. I sit numbly as William and Marcus lower his body into the ground. Lily is a mess next to Caleb who is comforting her, crying her eyes out at the loss of her friend. Kevin stands quietly, his eyes trained on the grass under him. Sabrina sits on the grass under a tree, she stares down at her small hands which were now clean from his blood.

Cayden stands respectively away from the scene, but still stares down at the grave with an appropriate somber expression. I sit against a boulder, the tears that were previously pouring down my face have seized. Now all I feel is empty. The feeling feels inappropriate at a funeral, like I should be acting in anyway but how I currently am. But, no matter how much I want to cry or scream or lash out, I can't.

I guess the best way to explain how I feel is tired. Or exhausted to be more accurate.

I watch the process numbly against the rock. I still cannot believe what just happened. It feels like a nightmare. I had lost Jacob. Jacob.

I can barely hear the words spoken. I just watch as William moves his lips and tosses dirt onto the cold body in the ground. I watch as everyone gets up to toss dirt on his body, but I can't hear anything. It isn't until I see William stare at me that I realize it is my turn. I get up from my seated position and move, but I don't feel in control. It's like watching as someone else takes over your body. I pick up some dirt in my hand and stare down at his cold, pale skin of lividity. It is just the shell of who Jacob used to be. I throw the dirt on top silently, covering more of him up.

William and Marcus then move forward to completely bury him. I watch as his body disappears behind the dirt. Once I see that last part of him covered, I move back to my seated position, which is where I stay until they are done burying him.

I watch as the others move away from the park, heading back to the camp. William crouches down next to me, placing his hand on my arm gently. I continue to stare at the grave as tears finally swell up into my eyes. Jacob is really gone.

"Come on. It's okay." William pulls me into a hug and I graciously except. We sit like that for a minute as I silently cry before I pull away gently. "Let's head back okay. We need to go back to the facility." He says softly and I nod. Our mission is complete, the city isn't safe to stay in.

I take a deep breath, making sure to feel the feeling of air entering my lungs. I have to take every victory, even when everything seems to be going the wrong way. My breathing is just one of the small victories. I walk side by side to William, slowly trudging back to the camp. Before we even reach the building I can hear arguing. Marcus's voice is the most prominent but I can tell its multiple people yelling. William sighs next to me and I can reiterate his feelings.

"-know you! How the hell we going to trust you?" Marcus yells. I soon realize that it is Marcus and Kevin who are yelling at Cayden.

"I thought I won your trust." Cayden turns to me as I enter the building. "Show them the bullet."

I walk over to my bag with no protests and pull out the small bronze bullet. Turning it over in my hand I look down at the sketched in .44.

"I didn't want to show you because I thought you guys wouldn't want to get the guns." I pause to give the bullet to Marcus. "We needed the guns." I say in a small whisper realizing that the risk was definitely not worth the reward.

I can see Marcus's face tense as he looks up at me, clenching the bullet in his hand. He looks as if he will begin to yell at me, but stops himself to turn back to Cayden.

"This is a .44. Did you guys kill the tent city guys?" Marcus asks, his jaw clenched in lividness. At his words William rushes up to examine the bullet for himself.

"I didn't. I don't like guns, never did. Konrad would always take guys to do trips, but never with me. Um, it was just one day I wanted to see where they always went, so I followed them and then-." He trails off, his face expressing his remorse.

"You didn't stop them?" Lily asks her face showing her horror.

"Sword against four people with guns aren't very good odds." He responds. "There was nothing I could do." He adds.

"Why'd they even do it. It seems so... pointless." William asks, trying to figure out the means behind the action.

"It-." Cayden sighs his face twisting into pain as he remembers the event. "Konrad has a power complex. I couldn't hear what he was saying to them, I was too far away, but I can only assume it had something to do with that."

"Why didn't he kill us?" I ask, it is the biggest question in my mind. It didn't make sense to me that he'd kill so many other people, but not us.

"He wanted to use you guys still. That much I know. You guys didn't seem like much of a threat since there was only eight of you." He shrugs, not really knowing the answer himself.

"I think we can trust him enough, but don't think were trusting you with any sort of weapon yet." William says, he had taken his sword before the funeral. Cayden seemed pained to give it up, but didn't protest. Cayden nods and turns his view to the outside. The daylight is almost gone, all that's left is a subtle glow of the sun gleaming through the tree line.

"We need to start a fire to keep the demons away." Cayden says suddenly with seriousness.

"You guys really call them demons?" Caleb asks suddenly, gracing all of us with the sound of his voice. It's crazy how long he goes without speaking, I don't know if he even speaks to Lily, at least I never really hear him.

"You guys really don't know much do you." Cayden says as he begins to gather his wood. It reminds me of Jacob, who would always do the fires at night to keep us warm.

"What do you know?" William asks. Cayden takes to rocks together, striking them together. William stops him to hand him the matches. Cayden looks at them in confusion before continuing to strike the rocks.

"They are what started the Great War. It was the whole world against the demons, at least that's how the legend goes. They tried everything to kill them, but nothing would. The population of the world just kept depleting and no land on Earth was safe from their reach. It resulted in a nuclear war out of plain fear. Very few survived that and we just had to learn to survive with them existing in our world." William listens to Cayden's answer as he strikes a match against the side of the box, starting a fire instantly. Cayden looks up in wonder before taking the match and using that to light the wood.

"Where did they come from?" William asks.

"There's different rumors, but we don't know. Some say they came from the void of space and other's say they are from deep underground. Either of those would make sense since they fear light."

"Their kryptonite is light, really?" Kevin says almost laughing. It is slightly ridiculous, like they are some sort of vampire or something.

"Their what?" Cayden says, confused.

"It means weakness." I say to clarify. It's strange to think this man has never heard of superman before. It makes me wonder how many other things we could learn from each other. Cayden nods in understanding.

The conversation dies out after that as we all simultaneously get ready for bed. I position myself near the fire again, though this time almost everyone has inched themselves closer to the fire. We all subconsciously thought that they light scared it away, but it wasn't fact until now.

I stare at the fire as I try to go to sleep. Though, my body seems to not want to let me. My mind keeps drifting back to Jacob, Danny, and my father. It is as if all of my bad memories are coming together at once to remind me. I can't get the image of Jacob and my father coughing up blood out of my head. I force myself to close my eyes and after many uncomfortable hours, I finally am able to drift into sleep.