IGNATIUS The Colors of Rage

Chapter e Seizures

During the next hour, all the members gathered and drove a trail of four cars across the territorial brick walls and across the inner mile. It was a long road lined with thick untouched forest. There, animals and plants lived unbothered between two large brick walls in their own cushion of nature. The drive through was quick. Only one mile. Then, the group lined up at the middle wall’s iron gate. The gate cranked open and they entered the outer mile.

The outer mile was a village of tens of thousands of people, stretching many miles around in a huge loop. The trees were thinned and small homes were closely packed together in clusters. Dim oil lamps burned from front doors and windows. Each home had a rain system consisting of a large barrel that collected water from the sky. Straight outlines of sheds, chicken coops, and greenhouses casted their reflections of the canopy of stars hovering overhead. 

The cars crept to a stop in front of the outermost wall. This wall was the cocoon that held the entire community together. It was structured from the bones of large boulders and beams sealed together with concrete. It was the largest, thickest, and more intimidating than the two walls inside of it. 

Baine rolled down his window and fresh air blew through the car. It was cold against his face and inside of his lungs. Rich with the smells of people. Salt, boiled vegetables, and chicken. He looked across at Amare who sat beside him in the passenger seat. His black flawless skin blended in perfectly with his black guard gear. 

“Take everyone and stand guard,” Baine ordered him. “I want to go alone.”

“That’s foolish,” Amare responded. “If you encounter an obstacle, who is going to help you?”

Baine shook his head. “I have a good feeling that the obstacles have already been removed for me. Get everyone else on the same page. Then, open the gate for me.” 

Amare spied the cars behind them in the rearview mirror. He held his handheld radio up to his mouth and held the button. “We’re guarding the full perimeter tonight. Let’s get going.”

The three cars behind him shifted off of the road. Seventeen people got out. Dressed in all black, armed with radios, and pistols that could shoot a single shot at a time. They climbed up the side of the wall and spread themselves along until they could no longer see one another. Against the starry night, they practically vanished. 

Amare turned toward Baine and held out his hand. “I wish you luck, sir.” 

Baine took it, shook, and let him go. “If I’m not back by sunrise, kill that woman locked in the basement.” 

“With pleasure.” Amare climbed up the side of the wall and stood with his awaiting team. Baine peered ahead at where the road and wall met. The road seemed to end there, but it was deceptive on purpose. From the inside of the wall, two house members cranked the stone entrance to the side, allowing only enough for his car to pass through. Then he laid his foot flat to the gas pedal and sped through the barrier on the only road of the vast mountain valley that leads away from New Eden, a path deeply sheltered beneath heavy untended forest.