We walked in the general direction of the village, changing course occasionally to lead us to the village. We were all nervous but spirits were lifted when Emma started singing a song. It was catchy, and soon everyone was singing it.
"The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah.
The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah.
The ants go marching one by one,
the little one stops to suck his thumb
and they all go marching down and around to get out of the rain."
We all sing along to the song. We are getting quieter as we go, and by the time we get to the 6th verse, we all are silent or whispering. Or giggling. There were some who giggled.
After about fifteen minutes Kadek asked us to be quiet. We almost all quieted down, but the sounds of footsteps were like a thunder storm and we were beating a path by walking together. After putting some heads together, we all split up to be discrete. I pass a banana tree in the darkness. I quickly jump up and grab one from a low branch for later, and who knows? Maybe it hurts to be hit with a banana? I mostly want to eat it though. Kadek raises his eyebrow but says nothing. What's wrong with a banana, I check it. It is a banana and is in good shape, it's perfect, actually. With the exception of a slightly green top. We arrive at the edge of the village. We follow Kadek to the center of the village and come to the doorway. We all tie an end of a string to something near the door or on it. I attach mine to the heavy inside handle so I can find it if I have to leave. Just in case.
"I need a volunteer to be a guard and make sure nobody gets in and no-one comes out without a string." Coral annonces in a hushed voice. Over one hundred hands shoot up like bamboo. She laughs so hard she falls over. Eventually she stands up, and is almost able to keep a straight face.
"I'm just messing with you guys. Oh, that was so funny, you guys. You all raised your hands! Oh, I couldn't help myself, it was too easy." angry sounds rose from the crowd. "What? Scared of the dark?" Coral challenged. The crowd slowly filed in, leaving a trail of trip wires and a disco show of lights. It reminds me of laser systems in old cartoons. Hand in hand, Coral, Emma and I walk into the never ending darkness of the town hall in search of food,supplies, and survivors.
As we walk in, we are depending on only Corals beam of light. Emma and I have flashlights too, but we are saving them for later. We wander in the darkness, going where there aren't many, or any strings. Every once in a while, someone will yell out for help, just to say it was a false alarm. I liked to imagine what the false alarms are. Spiders, each other, a box? I'm not very creative I guess.
The strings were all Emmas idea. In an ancient greek mythology she read, there was a man named Theseus who slayed an ancient beast called a minotaur. He found his way into and out of a maze by tying a string to the mazes entrance, and following it out later. Emma is actually really smart and pretty strong for her age. I don't know why I keep forgetting it.
We head down a corridor without any strings entering. I think about it. We are always directly involved with anything and everything. Coral and I found Kadek, I found the map, Emma is one of the head botanists. I wonder how that all happened. I assumed we would be the ones to find the survivors, or Keepers, or whatever I saw and heard. That's why I was surprised when a voice yelled out for help, and that they found people. There were running footsteps towards the voice, like all of the other times. That's why I was so surprised when the footsteps never stopped. I started to have suspicions. When there was nothing said about a false alarm for at least five minutes, I ran towards the voice.
YOU ARE READING
An Inch Of Infinity (Short Version)
ActionIn the near future the entire world is conquered by a group of people known as Royalties, or the Royals for short. They declared war on the planet. If you were not with them, you were against them. by the end of the 21st century the world was utter...
