Beyond the Walls

Chapter 28

The rest of the day entails eating an excess amount of food, something my Convex past is simply not used to. However, we know that we won't be able to carry lots of food and so, today is about getting all that energy. As the evening falls, we gear up. Packs of food, water, and survival supplies. We say our goodbyes to Ajax and Monet, before loading into a cart pulled by two horses. We arrive at the far end of the Convex sector within half an hour. With weapons affixed to us, we hop off the cart and continue the journey to the train through the forest on foot. True to its schedule, the train arrives at the platform in the bunker on time. We climb aboard as the doors open.

Ruben settles into the old, torn up seat in the middle of the carriage and I allow my guard to recede as I cuddle into him.

"Do you think we need someone to stay awake to keep guard?" Aston asks. "In case we get the beasts like last time."

"I'll keep the first watch," Killian says.

I melt further into Ruben, breathing in his scent as the rumble and motion of the train lull me to restless sleep.

"Hey, Elle," a voice whispers me awake at once.

My eyes land on Killian's freckled face behind the seat. "Hello?"

"Um, it's your turn to keep watch," he says.

Rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes I sit up, allowing Ruben to lay his head on my lap, still asleep. "Alright."

"Look, Elle, I'm really sorry about –"

"No offence, Killian, but I'm not interested in hearing it."

He chews his lower lip and nods, eyes dropping to the ground. He leans back into his seat, closing his eyes for a moment. "Will you forgive me?"

"Just go to sleep," I say. "You know I did everything I could to protect Monet. What happened to her wasn't my fault."

"Yeah, I know," he mutters.

"Does she know?" I ask, turning my head and locking my gaze with his. "Does she know that you wanted to kill me?"

"Well...no."

"I worry about her safety if I'm honest. If you have the potential to hurt me, who says you wouldn't hurt her?" I hiss and Ruben stirs.

"Hey, what's going on?" he slurs, blinking against the lights of the carriage.

"Nothing," I say. "Killian was just switching watch with me. Go back to sleep." I run my fingers through his hair and lean against the wall.

Killian starts to say something but cuts himself off. My fingers fiddle with Ruben's hair, slowly tracing down his temple and then cheekbone. My heart swells. In a world that has otherwise cast me as the enemy, this man somehow continues to love me. He's far from perfect himself. But in this cold world, he is my soft, warm epilogue.

"Hey, guys!" Aston yells, several hours later, dragging me from sleep. "Look! Quick!"

I somehow stumble to the other side of the carriage, slamming my hands on the window. In the waning morning light, a stretch of rubble emerges. Collapsed concrete, dust and material continue for kilometres into the distance. Then all at once, the train hits its breaks, gradually pulling to a stop in front of the wreckage.

"What the hell?" Ruben mutters our collective thoughts.

"Should we get off?" Killian asks.

"Well, anything could be there, and we risk being stuck until the train circles back," Aston says, peeling his hands from the window.

"I'd say we should have a look," I say.

"Right into the bear trap as always, Elle," Aston says, shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure we will regret it."

"Let's go, then."

We hastily gather our supplies onto our persons and disembark the train. The ground beneath my boots crunches as I scan our surroundings. The collapsed concrete stretching for kilometres into the distance also piles into a makeshift wall. Taking the lead, I step onto the first chunk of concrete and begin picking my way up and through the wreckage. The boys follow. As I emerge on top of the concrete mountain and right myself, my jaw drops. This city is a destroyed wasteland. What was once a place teeming with buildings and prosperity is reduced to rubble. The dust long settled.

"This city has been destroyed for years," I say, glancing back at the guys.

"But who did it?" Ruben asks, his mouth pinched and his eyes frantic.

"This was not your father, Ruben," I tell him.

"How can you know?"

"Well..." My mouth goes dry and I swallow. "I guess I don't know."

Tearing my gaze from his, I watch my feet as I pick my way down the concrete pile and closer to ground level. We arrive at what appears to have been a village. Crumpled bricks scatter the landscape, arms of wood rot where they fell. People's belongings are strewn; clothes leeched of colour from years of sun exposure, old rusted pots and children's toys. Broken furniture and rubbish litter the area. The breeze raises a cloud of dust at my feet, revealing a photograph half-buried in the dirt. I pick it up, blowing off the dust. A smiling man and his young curly-haired daughter staring back at me.

"Where are you?" I whisper, sighing and tucking the photo into my back pocket.

We keep moving deeper into the village. That's when I twist my ankle, slip and land on my butt. Someone's skull rolls around in the dirt before coming to a stop, its face staring me, jaw missing. I yelp, scrambling backwards.

"Why would my father do this?" Ruben asks to no one in particular.

"We don't know who did this," I insist, shaking off my ankle as I stand.

"I just can't think of who else would –"

Ruben is cut off by a gust of wind that carries a manic cackle. It reverberates off the concrete rubble and sets my skin crawling.

"What the fuck?" Killian says as we bunch closer together. Of course, he's never encountered the beasts.

I pull my sword out and cautiously approach the sound. From the rubble in the distance emerges a figure. Incredibly skinny and partially silhouetted, the person raises their hand and waves at us. They stumble forward, picking their way through the rubble with ease. Gradually, their features start to show. A man, mostly bald apart from the stray tufts of hair sprouting his scabby scalp. He's missing half an arm and his skin is tinted a bile colour. His hollow cheeks are scratched with what looks like human nails and his eyes are so wide I can almost see the whites. He throws his head back, shrieking with laughter.

"It's Elizabeth Fallon!" he yells. Within seconds, dozens of beasts materialise from the rubble behind him, cackling a cacophony of madness.

"Fuck that," Ruben mutters and an arrow flies, hitting the man in the arm who screams and drops to the ground.

He writhes and yanks the arrow from his flesh. Around him, the beasts howl and shout. Baring their teeth and flashing their primal eyes, the beasts move forward effortlessly, familiar to the uneven wasteland.

"Run!" I snap, spinning on my heel and leaping away.

We scramble back through the village, skirting the broken terrain hastily. We climb the crumbled wall, the beasts catching up and setting panic blaring through my veins. Somehow, we break over the wall and pick our way down.

Jumping to the ground, we take off, leaping over the electrified train track. For the second time in our lives, the beasts chase us. Across the gravel and into the long, bright forever expanse of grass fields.

"Idiots!" Aston shouts above the screeches and cackles of the beasts that grapple for my blood.

----

/AN/

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the update and thank you for reading. Trust these guys to head straight for danger :') 

I'm curious, who is your favourite character and why?

I hope everyone is well and safe, please look after yourselves and others! 

- Emma :)