The sound of gunfire rang out across the yard.
"That's enough for today." Alis commanded the newbies to hand over their weapons. The new soldiers were dismissed, and a set of guards walked them back to the buildings. Alis looked over the remaining guards as they cleaned the guns and packed them away.
"Hey Alis."
Alis looked up, "Hey Greg."
"How're the newbies doing?" Greg asked.
"They've got work to do. Evander is promising. I'd like him to move to the next unit soon." Then, Alis looking a little sheepish, continued, "Everett's not doing well. With practice he may do well with shooting, but he's still green and tender. He wouldn't shoot an animal even if he needed food. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he felt bad squashing a berry."
"You're not giving him enough credit, Alis," Greg said.
"I'll continue to train him. We'll put him on hand-to-hand combat training too... but I don't think that will make much of a difference," Alis said. Her soft, but intense blue-violet eyes peered out of the corner of her eyes and up through her eyelashes as she took a gun and began helping the guards clean.
Greg gave a gentle, decompressing sigh. "It's okay anyway. I'll be taking him away from you more. He's going to go on some foreign intel missions for a while. We need our allies' support now more than ever."
Alis wrinkled her forehead and raised her brows. Her eyes softened with earnest skepticism and her mouth conformed to show the same. "Is it a good idea to send him? You have other operatives. Everett can't fight and, as far as I know, he's not a negotiator."
"He's friendly and trustworthy. And this may be a good way to give him experience as well as confidence," Greg said.
"Fine. I have to trust that you put a good team together," Alis said. "And if it fails, A loss of one boy won't topple the organization."
Later that day, Greg gathered his team of foreign negotiators. In the Commander's lounge a long table was erected with seven, foldable, gray, metal chairs. At the table sat Everett, Evandar, Cassian, Destry, Idryssa, and Alis. One chair was empty – Greg's. He stood in front of the room as his team entered and took their seats. On the table, the team could see a simple white sheet of paper. There was a crudely drawn map on the paper. The landmarks were labeled, otherwise the team would not have been able to identify the uneven circles and squares on the childlike picture. Alis didn't look thrilled to be there.
As usual, a guard was placed outside the door and inside.
Greg began: "As some of you may know, our position here at the Old School Yard is quickly becoming unsafe. We had hoped that being outside the farmlands would enable us to have a position where the Community couldn't locate us, but, despite our base being well fortified as a former Community hotspot, we can't rely on it and ourselves alone. The Shadow Council leaders feel that we need to recruit allies in other regions of the country. The Community is not the only region on this continent to follow the Government laws. However, there are areas which we believe we can get a foothold in while we try to devise a way to get another anchor point further into the Community. I believe this is a team that will be able to develop those allies in other sectors."
My eyes darted back and forth between Greg and the others gathered in the room. Silence enveloped the room as Greg's voice dissipated among the listening ears. No one objected. They were there to serve the Shadow Council.
"What are the details of this mission?" a boy at the back – Cassian – asked eagerly.
"There is a community to the south of us, across the plains. My intelligence tells me that they have loosened up their interpretation of the government's laws over the past few years," Greg said.
Alis placed a hand over the middle of the map and raised her other hand to grab Greg's attention. "Sorry to interrupt Commander, but are you sure this southern town is the best? If this southern community's government is lenient towards their citizens, would the citizens have any reason to fight? Let's just say Public Punishments aren't used; they would have no reason to rise up," Alis said, disgruntled.
"Alis may have a point. We need people with fire in their bellies," Idryssa said. "If they have no pressure to make them rise, they won't need to join us, nor want to. That is, unless we have something better to offer."
In the end, would what they are fighting for be better?
"Well, we'll figure out how to spin it on our way down there," Greg asserted.
"But wouldn't it be best to plan?" I, who had been silent and unsure during the meeting, not knowing what of value I could add, asked.
"We don't have time," Greg said.
Idryssa added, "Okay, let's do it. Has the meeting already been set up?"
"Yes, as soon as we give them the signal, they'll be there," Greg said.
Cassian enthusiastically butted in, "Let's do it!"
Alis looked down at the paper on the table and pursed her lips. I looked over to her and met her sharp eyes. She collected the papers, "Okay Greg, Let's at least plan out the tunnels we'll use and get them promptly to the guards."
The tunnels were emptied. Scouts were sent in after the guards had cleared the tunnels to double check there were no Community soldiers about. Those scouts fanned out as they stood at their checkpoints in the web of underground tunnels and cavernous rooms. Torches and fireplaces were extinguished. It was the blackest black you'd ever experience and if not for the walking, it would have been the deepest quiet. The footsteps of the scouts, guards, and away mission personnel was unnerving. The footsteps, and the skittering of kicked rocks, and the echoes. The echoes sounded like the dripping of water leaking into a puddle.
Each person had a gun on their hip. Some of the specially trained operatives had rifles. Alis was one of them. A strap wrapped around her torso with an empty holster and ammo attached. She held the gun in front of her body. The rifle's domed flashlight was ready if needed. She had a utility belt around her waist full of weapons and gear. A few others were equipped similarly. I had a belt with a small gun on one hip and a knife buckled in tight.
There were long stretches of tunnel that didn't intersect with any other sections of tunnel. In those cramped corridors, the team ran. Where the webs crisscrossed, the situation became stickier, and the team slowed to a soft walk. Cassian led the team as he crouched around every corner. Alis was second in line to back him up when multiple tunnels intersected close together. Cassian, Alis, and the scouts had lighters. A flick of powder dropped into the tiny flame gave the team and scouts the signal that the crossing tunnels were safe, and the team could move forward. No one talked as they moved through the underground.
My heart raced. Bile rose in my throat, and I gave out an airy belch. The stress of sneaking was giving me heartburn and the further we moved underground the more my breathing increased until the point where I was hyperventilating. My head felt light like a balloon full of helium. It was taking all I could to not tumble over a pebble or my own two feet.
Alis seemed to race down the tunnels like she was a rabbit in a rabbit hole. The others followed nimbly. I struggled to keep up in the middle of the line. Flashes of lighter fires popped in and out like fireflies.
Turning the final corner, running along a short straight path, the party came to a door. The door's guard lit his lighter. Alis lit hers. The guard rapped a tapped rhythm on the door. The person on the other side rapped a rhythm back. Our guard put a key into the slot. The clinking of gears echoed through the door. Then a fainter clinking came from the other side. The guard from the other side swung the door open as he was replacing a key into his own pocket.
Alis led the party wordlessly past the two guards. Once the party passed the guards, they shut the doors, and the clinking of the locks shutting reverberated up the last tunnel.
The tunnel curved upwards. The foreign negotiations were walking up to the surface. The blackness started to fade. Yellow light was beginning to light up the tunnel walls. Alis slowed the party down. I wondered where they were going to pop up. Were they going to pop up out of the ground like meerkats? Were they going to come out into a bathroom like roaches coming out of the plumbing?
The tunnel opened like a widening gasp. A cave expanded before us. The troop stretched forward like a string diagonally pulled across from the side of the cave to just into the light within.
The brightness burned. Dots floated in front of my eyes. Alis stopped. I almost ran into the person in front of me. "We're going to take a break here but keep your weapons ready." The team sat on the cold, hard dirt. Alis remained standing with a gun in her hand.
One of the men from the team said calmly, "Alis, have a seat."
Alis' face was hard as stone with a furrow carved in her brow.
The man rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her a caring look. She sat and the man took her place with a gun loosely in his hand.
Alis, the others, and I ducked and weaved around the stones until we were in the open mouth of the cave. A round sun of light could be seen in the direction of the cave entrance. We went in that direction.
The darkness and stone fell behind us and the light of a beautiful day opened before us. The grass was green, and the trees were full of leaves. A narrow, barely visible, dirt path twisted through the small patch of woods. Passed the trees was a cabin in a smooth patch of bright grass. The house was on an oasis in the middle of the forest. It looked well kept. However, as Alis led us into the grassy meadow, I looked around suspiciously with my hand hovering over my weapon. A twig snapped and I grabbed onto my pistol.
"Boy, put that damn thing down." I had drawn my weapon on Evander, who was behind me. I replaced the weapon in its holster.
With a side eyed glare Alis cocked her head revealing the raging wolf flaring up in her eyes and resting on a bed of stony set lips. A growl-like order rumbled through her lips, "look ahead". The team had shifted diagonally across the empty meadow. A gray cabin looked like a lonely rain cloud looming low in the meadow. With their guns drawn, each held a wide stance.
The windows, placed evenly on each side of the door, whooshed when the wood slid up their tracks. The group's eyes darted back and forth only to see hands retreating behind the curtains. The door creaked open, "Did we come here to negotiate or fight?" the man who had spoken said with a calm smirk and then took a small pause, "I'm prepared to do either.
The cabin was one square room with the same logs inside and out. It was a newer log cabin, and looked like the ones people used to have built for the woodland rustic look. Despite being very open, it felt very dark. The kitchen was separated only by a step up and a different flooring color. There were two decrepit couches in the living area. There was a scuffed table and chairs in the kitchen. Some additional chairs were scattered around the room. Plaid blinds were closed over the windows.
The house clashed with the aesthetic of the individuals in the cabin waiting for us. They were dressed nicely. Their resistance hadn't picked up speed like ours yet. They were still able to sneak away to the woods and dawn their normal wear.
"It's nice to meet you, Alis." A gentleman said, shaking her hand. "And you, Greg" He nodded in polite recognition.
"It's nice to meet you too," Alis responded.
The man escorted Alis and the others to the kitchen table. "Would you like a drink?"
"No thank you," Alis said as she sat down. This was our cue to sit.
The remaining seats became occupied by his members. A few remaining members remained standing in the living room and near the door with their arms crossed. They too had weapons upon their hips.
The gentleman who had welcomed us sat down at the head of the table. Alis was to his right. "I am going to ask you to put your guns away. We have guards set up outside and we have guns in here if need be."
Alis put on her stern face and nodded her head towards her team to put their weapons away.
"If they could hand them over too," their leader said.
Alis stared him down, "I'd prefer if they held onto them. They will keep them away." She swept the room with her eyes and spent a moment too long on me. My stomach lifted up and I gulped to keep my stomach and my nerves down where they belonged. "Continue."
The southern leader's face became as hard as Alis'. He now stared at me with her same intensity. I wasn't sure which one to be more afraid of. "Keep your hands on the table please." The southern leader said with his eyes mainly aimed at me.
Alis gave another nod. This time it was solely directed at me, yet this time she didn't take her glare off of the southern leader.
I did as I was directed and put both of my hands on the table, palms pressed firmly to the surface.
The man, whose focus was now back on Alis, continued, "Everyone's tense. We've started to see a change in our community. Things are becoming laxer. Which makes many of us wonder if we need to form this alliance. We are doing well here."
"Ryan, we're not. The Community is stricter than ever." Alis said with a voice that was firm yet pleading.
"But we don't need their eyes on us. We don't want it to go back to the way it was."
"Are you just going to hope it continues in that direction?" Alis said.
"Alis, you're a nice young lady, but you haven't given us a reason to get in the middle of your fight," Ryan said.
"Our fight? It will be everybody's fight when they crack down again," Alis said.
Ryan paused. His face had started to rest, but there was still no mistaking the doubt and worry chiseled deep underneath. "You sound so similar to so many others in our Community. People are worried, but I have to consider what is the best for us."
"But this is best for all of us," Alis said.
Ryan, who looked to be in his late 20's or early 30's, looked down his nose at Alis with a hint of solicitude. "It may not be best for everyone. What's good for one person may not be good for many."
Alis' fists were beginning to clench as she tried to keep her composure.
"Then why –?" Alis was about to speak again when suddenly Ryan raised his hand to stop her. His head was tilted to lift his ear towards the door. Then, we all heard it... there was a sound of discharging weapons and a crash outside of the door.
I pulled out my gun. Afraid to hit my own, I aimed low. One cop's knees crumbled under him. Everything became a blur to me. I didn't know if I was right side up or upside down. The trees seemed to grow from the ground and yet also out of the sky. Soon I fell to the ground. Dust and leaves seemed to twirl around me like gnats in my eyes. Like a hound, the Community cops had flushed us out of the small building and into danger. I was unsheltered in the open air, and hard as I tried, I couldn't get back to the cabin.
A cop tumbled over me. I didn't know if the cop was dead or passed out, but I took the chance and took the man's jacket off of him. In my haste I left the gun next to the cop and ran to the cabin. I needed to get back to the cave and to the Council, but I couldn't have gotten back to the cave even if I tried. There were too many cops swarming the forest now making the noise of winged bugs buzzing passed ears as they shot at the Shadow Council ambassadors and the southern people. Under the disguise of the cop's jacket, I ran making my way to the cabin where again in my confusion I fell to the ground and rolled. I was close enough now to the structure to roll into a crawl space under the wooden cabin. Spider webs tangled me in a silky thin wrap like strands of women's hair lightly touching skin.
My breathing was heavy as I laid on my stomach underneath the house. In my burrow, the skirmish noises were muffled.
Even when the noise stopped, I remained under the house. I didn't have a clear view of the field or the woods. I had no way of knowing if everyone was gone. I wish I could get out and see. By this time, my clothes were crusted with dirt. Things were crawling over my skin. Some veils of spiderwebs still hung off my arms. My breathing barely began to slow. It still hurt for me to breathe. It felt like I was taking in water.
It was nightfall by the time I crawled out of the hole. It was quiet. It had been quiet for a long time. I couldn't see a thing in the dark. I couldn't hear a thing. I knew the cabin was against my back, but I didn't have a direction to go. So, I took out my lighter. The flame gave me enough light to stumble forward in the night.
I had a general idea of where to go to get back to the cave if I oriented myself with the cabin's front door, but Alis was the one who led us to the cabin. I moved slowly trying to make as little noise as possible and trying not to fall or step on any small animals. I didn't need to crunch a small bird or rattle the nerves of a snake.
I reached the forest's edge when there was a snap of a branch that echoed through the trees. I paused and listened until the rustle of birds' wings ceased. Then I looked down. My foot rested in the middle of two broken pieces of wood. I halted and snuffed the light. Dead, dried, and crisp leaves crunched within the immediate radius of where I stood on the edge of the forest and meadow.
I heard another branch snap. Someone or something was out there.
I flicked on my light. Then flicked it off.
I waited anxiously, straining my eyes to see through the darkness.
A small, glowing, yellow eye winked. Someone was there.
I flicked my light back on and moved towards the light slowly. I stopped and turned the light back off. The other person did the same. The eye of light had closed. I moved forward again without the light first, then flicked it on and off again twice. The other person flicked their light on in the pattern used at the tunnel's door. It was like a dance of the fireflies. As I moved closer, the light seemed to lower until I realized the lighter was held at ground level.
As my eyes lowered to look at the light, I saw one of the Shadow Council members was at my feet. It was Evander. He was holding the lit lighter inches above the ground while struggling to lay on his side.
"Can you stand?" I asked. Evander shook his head. I knelt down, blew out his lighter, and extended my arms to wrap around the young man. "I'll try to help you up." Evander grimaced. I didn't know if I'd be able to get him up on his feet. In the meantime, the young man gaped his mouth like a suffocating fish out of water. Evander wasn't standing on his own. The dead weight of his body was pulling me down. "We'll get you back to the camp." The man's feet folded under in abnormal directions. My eyes darted around nervously. I still didn't know which direction the cave was in. "I don't know where to go. Can you help?"
Evandar was still trying to get on his feet, but they kept sliding.
Eventually, we made it back to the cave. Or a cave. I still felt disoriented and didn't know if this was the same cave or a random one in the woods. By this time, my lighter had gone out and I was down to the one Evander had.
I lowered my head and then pushed down Evander's head to get him through the opening. I wasn't sure how much lighter fluid was left in the tiny container, so I had to find the hole in the wall fast. "Come on, it's just a little farther." I rubbed and pounded my palm against the cave's wall. There were no gaping openings. "Where is it?" I desperately whispered. Finally, around a boulder I noticed a skinny crack. But now how to get the wounded man inside and down to the door? "We've got to get you down the tunnel now."
"Just leave me here." Evander whispered painfully.
I was about to tell him I couldn't just leave him here when Evander cut me off and said, "If the guards are still down there, they can help, and they won't be too far away. Nothing will help me survive better whether I go down a few feet or stay here. And staying here is easier."
"I'll be back as soon as I can with someone," I said then wiggled into the narrow crack leaving the Evander sitting on the ground propped up on the boulder.
I navigated the narrow passageway down to the door. Evander's lighter remained lit to light the way and the guard, squinting through the dark, saw me. Despite seeing the tiny light, the guard raised his gun. I raised my hands and the light floated up above my head. "I need your help."