I woke up to a brisk morning breakfast and soon we were in the carriage, prepared to leave for the Seventh City. We said a few words of farewell to Basil. (I noticed Raven seemed more submissive than usual today.) Finally, we headed out. The journey was long and tiring. The travel was quite boring when you were awake. There was nothing to look at but wasteland, and of course Raven wouldn't talk to me.
I noticed the food was dwindling down and so did Raven. We eventually stopped in a checkpoint town between the border of two sectors and there we replenished our supplies. Raven was absent for a period of time during this pitstop - What could he have been doing?
Eventually he saddled up and left through the gate opposite the one we had entered through. We were now in a new sector, but somehow I knew it wasn't the Seventh Sector yet. The carriage continued on at a monotonous pace. We only stopped to use the restroom. (Which most of the time was for Raven. He pees a lot...not that I watch him or anything. I, on the other hand, go a little more discreetly and hidden.)
We had traveled for weeks. When we finally reached the next checkpoint, I had lost a lot of weight. We had had to ration our food, because I had under-judged the amount we would need. Raven helped me shop this time, but he still was gone most of the time. When he finally came back I asked where he had been. "Why do you keep wandering off at these stops?"
"No reason, really. A few drinks here and there, a few meetings with acquaintances, the time adds up quickly." For some reason, I accepted this. We loaded back up onto our cart and headed into the next sector. I asked Raven if we were in the Seventh yet, but he said no. "However, that's the next one we will arrive at."
I muttled through every boring hour. Time seemed to pass fast. One evening, dusk was upon me. I wasn't planning to go to sleep any time soon. I had just napped during the daytime. I sat there calmly...
That's when Raven kicked the horse. I'm not sure if that's what happened. I didn't see it, but due to its reaction, that's definitely what happened. I fell off onto the ground. Raven jumped off of the carriage right before it toppled over. Raven was a few yards away from me, and he was pointing a pistol at me. My eyes ignited with fear. "Where did you get that?!" I screamed through the tears. Raven had betrayed me.
"You had wondered where I was during the checkpoints. Now...you know." Raven said as he prepared to fire. "Any words?"
"Why?" The tears were soaking in through the cuts now, along with the dirt.
"I'll admit it. I'm a double agent. I work for the Judge that mans the smallest sector." he said, almost arrogantly.
I cried and awaited the inevitable. I heard sounds. He was going to shoot... "Raven. It's me, Claire..."
My eyes closed, I hear two things hit the dirt. First a small, quickly followed by a large. Then came the tears and I kept my eyes closed. "I'm so..." Raven said through muffled sobs. "I can't do this..."
I refused to open my eyes. His sobs didn't yet convince me. The second I came to him, I would be dead. "Please...Claire." A sob. "Kill me..." He pitched the abominable device towards me.
"If I kill you, I don't survive. So you must stay alive...for me. I will be happy for you when you're not. I will share the pain when you are hurting." The words rang true for Raven, whose weeping sounded painful.
He reached towards me. "Claire...Claire." I held the gun, just in case. I had a query: "Whose side are you going to stay on? There's only one available. Pick."
"I think...you know." The truth was, I didn't. But I assumed this meant Basil.
"I will go with you...As long as the Judge that you work for is the one we kill."
We headed into the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment