The traitor

We rushed out of the tent, and away from the now actually dead body. I knew him. He was a friend, a man the people loved. He often gave me little notes when i was young. He told me stories of the old world and made jokes wherever he could. I was left with countless thoughts in my head. Was he murdered? Who did it? Who's next? Am i next? Who are they? Who are they? Who are they!? An anger filled me as the thoughts rushed through me.

By now most people were prepared to go. My dad made sure that i was fine and went to address the people. My mother came rushing to my side, trying to comfort me. We set off, tents, bags and all our belongings on our backs. By now the sun had disappeared and all i could look at was the seemingly infinite wasteland, covered in ash with subtle winds blowing across it. As we walked my mother followed closely, doctoring my head and cleaning my face for me. "Try to forget what just happened. Sometimes things just happen and we cant do anything about them. If you need to talk, me and your dad are here for you." she said, comforting me. I couldn't respond. I wanted to, i wanted to tell her I'm ok, that ill be fine, that it was nothing but every time i tried to, he popped into my head. Screaming at me to kill him.

I tried to shake the image from my head and rushed forward to where my dad was leading the group. I asked him who this "They" is that the man mentioned. He didn't know. But he told me to keep quiet about it. When i asked him why he simply responded with these words, "mass fear". That's all i needed. I mean I'm a very well collected person and this event wont leave my mind and i feel like i cant relax, not while "They" are out there. What would happen if everybody felt like this?

I barely finished the thought when my dad's voice brought me back to reality, "There's a storm approaching. Tell the others to equip their masks and helmets and make sure the children are properly equipped. You know the drill" I was stumped. We had sunlight earlier this morning, how is there a storm approaching now? The wind confirmed my dad's statement when it picked up and the ash nearly blew high enough to hit the skin on my face.

I did not argue. I put on my mask and helmet, yet another cool looking but really uncomfortable contraption and rushed of to help the people. In less than five minutes all 60, or well... 59 people had their masks and helmets on. I was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of pride. We might not be a large group but weir efficient and soon they will be my people.

I rushed forward to meet my dad just in time to see it on the horizon. It was a category 3 hurricane at least. One of the largest i had ever seen, "is it really a good idea to push through that?" i asked concerned. "Not really but we are out of water supplies here and there are still 2 days of travel to the next city. We cant stop. Tell the people we have a heavy one approaching and that we will have to move forward in the shuttle formation.". I nodded and went to tell the people. I wasn't too familiar with the formation since i normally walk with my parents during storms but from what I've seen , people basically form a triangle shape with and have their storm packs attach to each other. In five years we have not lost a single person to the storms and its all thanks to my dad.

By the time the people were set up and marching forward, the storm had arrived. It was a harsh one to say the least. Me and my parents walked just barely ahead of the others, using a compass to guide them. The suit i was wearing was certainly useful. Since The Fall the storms on Alenya had only ash and glass shards in them. If we were not wearing the suits, we would be consumed alive by the storm. This doesn't change the fact that every time the wind came by, it felt like i was being shoved to side by a person.

We walked like this for over four hours before the storm stopped. When it finally left us alone we did a head count to ensure we had everyone with us. Only 58 were counted. We asked around and nobody had any idea who was missing. To our knowledge everybody was accounted for but the numbers didn't add up. We decided to settle for a few hours while a search party left to find the missing person.

Slowly but surely over the next few hours, the clouds parted again just enough for us to see the late afternoon sun. It was beautiful. The sun reflected of the ash and glass covered ground with a radiant beauty. It was as though a rainbow was painted on the ground, blinding yet beautiful.

When the party returned they reported that they found nothing. This immediately put me on edge. Not only was a great man dead but somebody has gone missing. I tried to shrug it off as my dad gave the command for us to pack up and continue walking. We were almost completely out of water by now. The trip to Velisare turned out to take longer than it should have due to some bad weather.

I loved Velisare. We use to travel every few months by there and every single time they had something new and exciting for me to explore. It is also where i pick up my tools for my art.

The thought kept bothering me like a child begging for answers, "Who are they?". No matter what i tried i just couldn't shake it. When we eventually stopped that night it was cloudy again. I had set up my tent and my storm anchor just in case. I couldn't sleep that night. Every time i closed my eyes He was there. Smiling at me before his face catches fire an he screams at me begging me to kill him. I dreamt of his notes, of his stories but every dream, every note, every story ended with some grim retelling of what happened.

The next morning I awoke to the smell of smoke. I could not place what it was or where it came from. When i finally regained my senses i realised my tent was on fire. Not completely yet, the base had caught fire in one of the corners. I rushed for my extinguisher in the opposite corner of the room but when i got there it was not where it should have been. My mind raced with questions, answers and general chaos. I stood there for a few seconds just thinking through what to do next. No matter how hard i tried to ignore it, one thought kept surfacing, "This is Them". The corner that caught fire had nothing near it that could cause the fire and I'm not dumb enough to leave something dangerous on during the night. I must have been asking to many questions and now they have come for me. Thoughts kept racing, looking for solutions. When i tried to leave the tent, i found the zipper to be broken.

Slowly i realised. This is it. The fire is spreading, my oxygen is running out and there is no escape. I had no idea why nobody came to save me, I'm assuming that it was for the same reason as when he died. Nobody is around. Is this how he felt? Lonely, anxious, hopeless? I hoped that my dad would at least find the traitors before more harm was done. I sat there against my bed as the fire spread and i started choking. One last thought entered my mind, "please comfort mom, dad". I closed my eyes and accepted my fate as the fire began licking the floor of the tent near me.

Before i could fully let go however, i remembered something. I cant cut through the walls with my survival knife. They were made from a Happiness infused cloth to protect against the weather. But the night before i begged my dad to lend me his knife. This "They" made me feel unsafe and i wanted protection. Only the men in our group are allowed these special weapons for safety reasons. He understood and gave it to me and i stored it under my pillow. If anything can cut this material, that will.

I rushed to my pillow that is now halve way to cinders and yanked the knife out from underneath. I wanted to grab my suit but when i looked back i saw it hanging where i left it. Now up in flames of course. Though it was dangerous i rushed to one of the few lower walls that were still mostly clear of flames and stabbed with the knife. The knife felt weightless as if cutting the air itself but when i stuck it into the wall it barely went through. I tried to slice it like my dad taught me years ago but the tent fabric was just to tough. I sawed at it, slowly making the hole bigger. I couldn't get out fast enough. The more i sawed the more exhausted i became, the more i choked on the smoke. When the hole was finally large enough i fell through onto the ash and glass mixture that is the ground. That last impact knocked me unconscious.