Edge of Mercy (Young Adult Dystopian)(Volume 1) (The Mercy Series) (2 page)

“Come on. They’re gone, and we need to get out to the fields.”

Using the wall, I pulled myself to a standing position and stepped around the other sleeping bodies until I traipsed behind his retreating figure. I took a deep breath of the stale air and struggled to keep up with his quick strides toward the cafeteria. My exhausted body protested the hurried pace, but I didn’t slow down or complain. I needed to fill my belly with a little food and check on Star before a day of work consumed me.

“Are you still working in the fields? Zeke said you start guard duty this week.”

He turned and gave me a quick once over, his eyes scrutinizing in a way that made me uncomfortable. Shivers ran up and down my arms, but the chill in the air wasn’t the reason. He made me feel like I’d stolen the community’s last bean. But he looked away, and I breathed a relieved sigh.

“I start tomorrow.”

“Is it true, you’ve been chosen as a council candidate?”

He nodded.

“Why would you want to do that? The Council is so self-absorbed, self-important, and makes decisions to protect only themselves.”

His hands clenched at his sides and his brow furrowed. That had been the wrong thing to say.

“The Council protects
the community
. Their decisions are for the benefit of all.”

“Yeah, but, you know they get the best of everything pulled from the fields, and don’t tremble next to you or me each night in the community cells. Will you go to their sanctuary once you join them?”

He stopped and grabbed my shoulder, preventing me from moving forward. Red-faced, skin tight, a small scar on his forehead whitened in reaction. I wondered briefly how he’d gotten the scar.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You haven’t been here long enough to understand the decisions that had to be made, so just shut-up about things you know nothing of.”

He turned away and I watched him tread heavily toward the cafeteria, not another glance behind him. Same old, same old. From the moment the community took me in, Thomas and I were like crooked and straight—totally opposed. I don’t know what I did to deserve his animosity, but he clearly couldn’t stand the sight of me, which was fine because I wanted to stay far, far away from him, too.

My pace dragged thanks to fatigue and lack of motivation. The thought of another day of veggie surprise for breakfast and field work until evening depressed me, but I trudged into the dining hall and ate without once glancing at my plate’s contents. It was for the best I didn’t examine the food. A stew of beans, carrots, cabbage, and various other vegetables over a mushy grain was the usual. I just shoveled it into my mouth and made my way down to the basement sanctuary to say good morning to Star.

I carried a full tray with me for Quillen, her full-time caretaker. I didn’t know if Quillen was his first name, last name, or only name, but I liked him. He watched over Star like a doting grandfather and handed me books once a week, quizzing me on the subject when I returned them the next. He struck me as highly intelligent and reminded me of a middle school math teacher I dearly loved, back before the schools were closed to prevent the spread of infection.

Along the way, I passed a few faces of people I recognized. I nodded and smiled, but didn’t stop to talk. Mostly I kept to myself in the community. A small circle of boys, a few guards, Quillen, and Star made up most of my socializations. I didn’t need any more. In the world as I knew it, it wasn’t like I was running for queen of the winter dance or anything. Those days were long gone, and a few loyal friends were all that were necessary.

I turned another corner and made my way along the familiar path. The building we lived in was massive, and I’d been told it was once a mental institution, but they’d released the patients when the infection grew to uncontrollable levels. It kind of became every man for himself. So, there were closed off sections of the structure into which no one dared wander. They were sealed off, thick, locked metal doors with small windows blocking anyone from entering, not that anyone tried. There was probably a reason those areas were closed off—such as infected Draghoul lying in wait for some unsuspecting explorer.
No thanks
. I stuck to the accessible areas only.

I opened a heavy, unlocked door, maneuvered down a stairwell, and glided into the underground sanctuary where only the most important were allowed on a regular basis. I didn’t get any ideas I ranked high enough to actually be allowed into the sanctuary. The only reason I had access was to visit Star.

Honestly, no admittance didn’t bother me. It was dark and creepy down here with most hallways unlit to conserve the electricity needed for the shockwall each night. The shockwall was a massive amount of electric wiring wrapped around the top of the outer fence and a line of defense against attacks at night. It wasn’t needed during the day and only activated at night, once again to conserve electricity, but we all heard the dire warnings that someday the electricity would run out. So, we used as little as possible, and creep-factor wasn’t enough of a reason to fill the lower hallways with light.

Fortunately, I had a remnant of the old days. I had a handheld light that when shook, glowed faintly. The harder and longer you shook it, the brighter it burned. Pocket-sized, I kept it with me always, just in case.

I pulled it out now, gave it a good shake, and progressed down the hallway. As I made a right turn, two guards came into view. John Cane and Levi Wilson were the daytime guards for the Council chambers. Whether the Council was in session or not, they sat in front of the entrance, guarding the room itself. Supposedly, inside were documents and plans to which regular members couldn’t have access, so the guards kept the room clear of prying eyes.

As I came upon them though, I could tell immediately the Council wasn’t in session. They burned a small fuel lantern, played cards, and talked low to each other.

John was a friend of Zeke’s, so I considered him one of mine as well. He was a little on the short side, freckled with light brown hair. Most of the time, he had a joke or a funny story to tell, so when the guards traded out in the evenings, we anticipated John’s arrival to the dining hall. As for Levi, other than his name, I didn’t really know much about him. He had red hair, stood about a half a foot taller than John, and never smiled.

I stopped briefly to see what game they were playing. Looked like a version of an old card game my dad and I used to play called
war.
“Who’s winning?”

“I am.” John grinned.

“Bull. I am and you know it.” True to form, his lips never moved, not even a twitch of a smile.

John looked up at me, his grin widening. “You want to play? We’ll deal you in.”

“Nah, I’m more of a spectator than a player.”

“Okay, suit yourself.”

Instead of sticking around to watch them though, I spun on my heel and continued down the corridor. “Some of us have to work, you know. Not all of us can sit around playing cards all day.”

Levi spoke, his voice a growl, “You try sitting in this hallway for hours and hours without a break. It’s not as fun as it looks.”

I really didn’t think it looked fun at all, but I gave a nod of my head and continued on. At the end of the hall, the path branched off two ways, like a “T”. I threw a nervous glance over my shoulder as I turned left. I’d never turned right, had no reason to, but I was curious about what was down that way. It wasn’t closed off like all the restricted sections, so if I wanted to, I could explore the area, but truth be told, as interested as I was, my fear outweighed my curiosity. Hard to say what I’d find, so better to stay with the paths I knew.

I continued down and turned right, spotting two more guards stationed outside another locked door that led to a hallway from which the Council’s living quarters were accessed. Though they greeted me with the usual hellos and unlocked the door without argument, I responded with a nod, moved past them without stopping, and plodded to the door at the end of the hallway.

At the end of the left side of the hallway, I knocked on the door. Though a small lantern burned at the guards’ feet down the corridor, no light shown around me until the door opened and a soft glow spilled out. Once I was inside the room, the guards closed the outer door with a thud.

“Charlie’s here, Star.”

I handed the tray to the lean, gray-haired man, who was older than my forty-ish father had been last time I saw him, and strode into the room. My sister was sitting on the floor, her curly mop of white-blonde hair stuck out in various directions. The color was the same as mine, but unlike my cropped do, hers was a mass of adorable ringlets on top of her chubby little cheeks. Her hair could never be tamed, no matter how hard I tried each morning.

She bounced on her bottom and reached for me the minute her dual-colored eyes registered I was in the room. I rarely thought about her eyes nowadays, but when I’d first noticed her left eye was ice-blue and her right eye was brown, to be honest, I thought something was wrong with her. But Quillen had been there too, and he’d assured me it was normal for her and meant she was unique, special even. Now, I only wondered about the oddity occasionally.

“I see you’re no worse for wear after last night, huh?” Quillen spoke around bites and crossed the room to sit at a small round table in the corner.

“I slept even…a little bit. Could you hear it down here?”

He shook his head, chewed, and swallowed. “Noah came by to speak with me about it this morning. He wanted my opinion as to why the attacks were more intense lately.”

Noah was a member of the Council and Thomas’s father. Thomas looked like a younger version of him, and both seemed more pensive than most of the men here. Yet, unlike the other members of the Council, Noah often sought out advice from those in the community before making decisions. I liked him.

I scooped up my sister and danced around the room with her.

“Be careful. She just drank her milk, and I can’t guarantee it won’t end up all over you.”

Recently, Quillen introduced Star to some of the daily veggie special, but she still got her belly filled with goat’s milk every meal. It didn’t smell pleasant if she spit it up, so I didn’t perform any more twirls as I moved.

The goats had the life, if you asked me. They got to hang out in the sunshine all day, grazing and playing. Then at night, they were brought down to the sanctuary for safe keeping. There were only four remaining, so they’d never become the night’s dinner. The milk they produced was much more valuable than their meat, and currently, they were the only livestock in the community. They were treated better than the human members here.

“Why do you think the attacks are worse?”

He cocked his head to the side and chewed slowly, as if in deep thought. “I told Noah I thought it was the time of year, and the infected are running out of random victims. Most of the healthy people have either left the Dead Forest or been turned.”

I hung my head and rubbed my thumb over Star’s chubby knee. It was not pleasant to think about all the lost people. If not for the community bringing me in, I would be one of them.

“Is there anything we can do about it?”

He shook his head but stared at me out of the corner of his eye. “Nothing right now, but I suggested Noah might want to move everyone down to the sanctuary.”

“What did he say to that?”

“What do you think? He said Jonas would never go for it. Too much work involved clearing out space, and we couldn’t spend the electricity to light all the rooms down here.”

I did not like Jonas. Besides the fact he considered himself the leader of the Council, and most people just accepted it as fact, he often made decisions that though might be the right ones for the community, often benefited him in the end. I wasn’t exactly clear on why, but no one dared oppose him most of the time, and his son Peter took full advantage of his father’s position, treating the rest of us like the dirt we tilled and the weeds we pulled. I really didn’t like Jonas.

“Figures.”

I brushed and ponytailed her short, curly hair and played with Star as long as I dared delay the inevitable. But I knew Zeke would be waiting for me, so I passed my sister to Quillen and turned toward the door.

“Charlie…”

I turned back, ready for his usual advice. It had become part of our routine.

“Trust no one and stay out of the forest.”

With a nod, I opened the door and swiveled to go. He’d said the same thing for months.

“You…you are in real danger now, Charlie, in ways you couldn’t even imagine in your evilest nightmares. It’s more important than ever that you be cautious.”

Confused, I stood in the dark hallway and stared at the closed door, my small handheld light pointed in the direction of Quillen’s room and the ominous words still hanging in the air.
Huh
. His last words—he’d never said that before.

Chapter 2

The air was cool, raising goose bumps on my skin as Zeke and I hiked to the fields. A glance at the sky showed clouds moving in, and the lack of sun brought on a shudder. To me, the sun was protection, and I hated the idea of a season where it only shined occasionally. Bad memories of last winter still haunted me.

But for now, I had a bowl of morning grain and vegetable mush in my stomach and a shelter to go back to at the end of the day. I didn’t like to think about what
had
happened. Instead, I focused on the here and now, and when I allowed myself, what would happen tomorrow. I wondered if all our hard work tilling the soil and harvesting plants would be enough to get us through the coming winter, and what would keep us busy through long days stuck inside with only each other’s company? Maybe some of the community’s history would come out with the passing days. So much was still a mystery.

I looked at Zeke’s broad back. Did I dare ask again? Every time I asked a question, the only answer anyone ever gave was “the Council will tell us,” or “the Council already made a decision.” Apparently, no one questioned the Council. I was learning to keep my questions to myself.