Four

PART 2: Twinning

Knowing the settlement’s layout is piss easy as there are maps drawn all of the walls on each building, but seeing the carefully constructed designs used to fortify this place is beautiful. Portable huts built like snow-globes are scattered around in different dark colours, and there are large tents with wooden beams to obtain stability. Wooden huts are built and beautifully lit by golden lanterns and there are empty barrels set alight for more lighting on pathways and roads. Walking down the dirt path in a white gown makes me stick out like a sore thumb, Andre has somehow adapted to his outfit and pulled up his white gown to show more of his jeans and shoes. We walk through wondering crowds and lively people who’d just woken up from their sleep during the day, but still there is no sight of children playing or getting in trouble.

I look over to Rosé pretty side profile, the light glowing across her face and her hair blowing forward as the wind slowly picks up. “First snow should be soon, if my self-made calendar is correct,” Luka snickers, digging into his pockets to find his work.

“It’ll only get colder from here,” Andre gazes around the crowds of people who search for warm clothing at small side-home markets people have made. The real marketing area is placed by the pit, small plazas here and there that trade food for clothing and clothing for food.

“Winterlen has always had three rules,” Rosé starts. “Honesty, no gunfire inside of the walls and all children under the age of 16 must stay inside at all times.”

“Except for the winter,” Andre corrects.

“Yeah except there isn’t much to do outside in the snow nowadays so most stay inside all year round. Those who turn sixteen are granted permission to start working, become a guard or become someone who scavenges for the settlement. It’s that simple.”

“So that Barlie kid, how old is he?” I ask.

Luka brings a finger to his temple. “The one who went out with Ang? He turns sixteen in a couple months.”

“The only reason why he’s allowed to train is if only Ang teaches him, and because he’s one of the only kids here who’ve seen the freaks outside. How he used that g*n? How he got it?,” Andre chokes for a second. “Is beyond me, but he isn’t allowed contact with the other kids and is bunking with your brother too, I’m pretty sure.”

“So he’s got a follower.”

“Something like that.”

The night is quiet outside, the only loud noise created is from the chatter amongst people. Discussing about their long painful sleep during the day, their low iron and Vitamin D levels due to the lack of sunlight. I’ve heard people complain about how Winterlen’s shipment of Vitamin supplements are late as well. “That college settlement north-east from here is currently feuding with the Hillside settlement again, for reasons we are unaware of, as we haven’t gotten the chance to talk to any of their survivors. At least us and Two are keeping up with supply runs.”

All four settlements have a mutual agreement to have regular trades with each other to simply keep the peace. Most are reliant on Three’s work as they have a bigger land mass and the place is just better. Little camps and safe zones made my smaller groups of people usually have to beg settlements to trade with them, making deals that are never on going. I guess it’s up to them if they want to survive on their own and start their own little world themselves. Then again that’s how Four came to be, and the other settlements. We are all just survivors, and the ones who don’t like being a part of big communities such as ours, usually are the untrustworthy ones, they keep too many secrets and find it hard to lead a whole community on their own.

“The raiders are getting pretty close,” I overhear guards talking. Rosé’s eye brow cawks upward and she stops the boys chattering away in the night, to listen to a potential problem.

“He’s from one of the hunting teams,” Rosé whispers to me.

“Did he say raiders?” Andre and Luka finally pitch in.

“Yeah I’ve heard, your team was the one to find their camps right?” another man says.

The only thing dividing us from them is a circle of women having a little motherly chat about raising kids in the darkness. Two posts on both sides of us, and a stack of three large boxes that say ‘wheat’ on each side. We move in close to the mothers club happening and I can get a small glimpse of the two guards. One is dark and his hair is almost memorising, long black and red dreads decorated with materials such as feathers and beads. It would’ve taken hours to create such a display. His uniform is casual, but from the machete placed in its scabbard and strong build he probably is in a hunting team as well. The second man, is the old bearded one who stood with the boy on top of the northern wall.

“Yes that’s me, there are camps surrounding the entirety of this joint, probably going to come knocking on our door soon.”

“Surely you were rewarded for finding these camps?”

“No, not at all,” the bearded man states in frustration, “Tiffany hasn’t even heard of this news yet.” I can feel my heart racing, as the faces of all three of those hiding with me drop and look more angered than concerned. “There could be bandits among us as we speak, probably listening in right now. I need to get Tiffany alone, in private,” he hangs onto that last word, almost inappropriately and I feel my skin crawl. Rosé’s arms snap back and she pulls out a blade from her boot, marching through the group of mothers and facing the two men.

Her hands stretch out and she latches onto the old man, one hand holding on tightly to the oily hair hanging down from his face, and the other holding the blade close to his throat. She wraps her sleeve around the knife to make it look less threatening to the crowd around us, but people still stare eagerly. “What’s going on here?!” His lip quavers, that snarky look from before fading away completely, convincing the watchers around us that he is innocent. Heck he could’ve convinced me as well. His friend backs up slightly, spinning around and darting off into the crowd of lively people near the well.

“Luka, go get him!” Rosé demands. This is a side I’ve never seen before, she’s fearless. Ready to cut him down just by one wrong word coming from his mouth. Luka hesitates for a second before nodding to himself and running towards where the darker man went. Andre meets me at my side, sensing the slight confusion in my face.

“He said he was going to tell Tif in private,” he questions.

“His last trip out of the walls was three weeks ago, Andre!” Rosé snarls back, she looks up at the man dead in the eye. Despite her shortness the knife makes up for her dainty self. “It’s been three weeks and not even the elite team knows of this info, why are you hiding it!?”

“You’re from the elite team?” he take a second to get a good glimpse of all of us. “You were listening in on us, huh? You guys are probably the bandits, huh?! I never found a single person in any of the camps out there, but here they are, right inside of the walls.” The crowd around us grows tense, I can feel the tension growing between these survivors and us right now, and I can tell we are losing.

“We aren’t the bandits and you know it! Don’t be an i***t!” Rosé growls.

“The fact that he’s pinning the blame on people even he knows, aren’t the enemy…” I say calmly, Rosé catches on and places the knife back into her scabbard. Andre gives me a smile of approval and parts my shoulder with his right hand, stretching over his chest awkwardly.

“We’ll ask you more questions when Tiffany hears of this, right now we need to get away from the crowds,” Rosé orders and she tries to get behind the man but he starts fighting back. His body jolting around and jumping, he gets out of her grasp and Andre jumps in. Obviously finding it hard to move as his left arm rises in attempt to grab him with nothing. The man starts moving quickly towards the crowd and Rosé and Andre start sprinting towards him, we can’t afford for him to get away. Until suddenly all stops in silence and the only thing heard is the click of a g*n being loaded, no firing is aloud within the walls so picking that sound up is rare.

“Don’t move!” a giant figure, stood firmly in his spot on the dirt road. Two hands holding a pistol aimed directly at the big bearded man, he stops in his tracks and recognises the man’s voice. The thick Kageane accent and deep voice makes everyone but Rosé and Andre stop, as they grab onto the man and snatch a pair of cuffs kept on an approaching guard who hear the commotion. Luka holding the second culprit’s hands tied behind his back, approach the same Kagaene man from the clinic when I woke up, from behind and together the two get taken towards the closest tower to be confined. “Oh!” The Kagaene man smiles in surprise. “You’re finally out of the clinic!” His voice echoes across the road and he puts his g*n back into the holster strapped to his belt, holding up the large heavy looking camo cargo pants. His white tank top exposes his wide Pidgeon like chest, this man despite the end of the world occurring, probably never missed gym day.