Vestige Chapter 7 - A Vow of Silence

We stood atop the wall, looking out at the sprawling landscape in front of us. The breeze cooled our faces and the wind sounded through the air. It was quiet and calming, even more so than anywhere in the orphanage was.

We looked down at the city before us. It stretched far yet was also surrounded by walls. Lights flicked and dots scrambled but like us, they too were confined. Though I had a great view I couldn’t see past the walls surrounding the city. Maybe we’ve reached what we’re looking for. Maybe it’s past those walls way out there. Only one way to find out.

“You feeling okay?” Aurelia wrapped bandages around my chest. The wounds had already closed themselves.

“Never better.” I replied.

“Don’t you dare do something like that again. You could’ve died!” She ties the last bandage.

“I’m surprised you didn’t die.” Jax said.

“Yeah, those wounds should’ve been more serious than they were.” Gray added.

It’s true that I should’ve died and yet I didn’t. My body is recovering faster than normal. My stamina is larger and my strength greater. Even my pain tolerance is better.

“We should get going. I have a feeling those men will be looking for us.” Jax stood up and beckoned to the city staircase.

“Hold on, give Lulu a minute to recover.” Aurelia interjected.

“No, I’m fine.” I stood up. “We’ve gotta get a move on while we have the chance.” I doubt that the door we locked was the only exit out of the wall. They’ll catch up on us if we’re too slow.

“Oh, ok. Just don’t push yourself.” Aurelia begrudgingly began to walk down the staircase.

The staircase going down was significantly shorter than that going up. It seems this city wasn’t built on the ground level, but rather a way above it. The staircase is made of the same stone material as the walls. Even the buildings in the city are built similarly.

As we reach the city, it’s scope begins to realize itself. The buildings are large and tall. The streets are cramped and narrow. Clotheslines and wires stretch from roof to roof. It’s clear that this city was designed to maximize space as much as possible.

Though it is light outside neon lights covering the structures brighten the sky. They flash in numerous colors and bring life into the dull city. As we walk the streets two things become obviously apparent to us.

First of all, this town is quite poor. Trash is littered on the streets and the walls look as they haven’t been cleaned in centuries. A reeking odor lingers as well.

Secondly, we’re not welcome here. They keep looking down upon us.

As we stroll the streets the monsters that inhabit this place stare at us. They're large, several feet taller than a human, and fleshy. Their faces are distorted and a large trunk protrudes from it. Big elephant-like ears sit on each side of their disturbed head.

The creatures wear clothes and walk like humans, yet their distinctly different. They look at us like they’ve never seen a human before and fail to speak to us.

“These things are starting to creep me out.” Aurelia tugged at my shirt.

“The hell are they?” Jax asked.

“I don’t know, but I get the feeling they don’t like us.” Gray strays away from a curious young creature who approached him.

“Well,” Jax smirked. “Let’s find out what they want.” Jax walked into a crowd of the monsters. They parted to make way for his presence.

“Hey! Fuckfaces! The hell are you and what do you want with us!” Jax shouted into the crowd.

The group of creatures immediately dispersed and many ran off into the shadows. Within the blink of an eye, the crowd was gone.

“Jax, what was that?” I asked.

“I’m trying to get some answers!” He replied.

“Is that really the best way to do it?” Aurelia retorted.

“Got a better idea than that?” Gray responded.

"I don't know maybe we could be more friendly to them?" Aurelia offered.

"Like they're being friendly to us." Gray snorted.

"Maybe they're just scared?"

“Alright, Alright. I got a better idea then.” Jax approached one of the monsters still here and cornered him so he couldn’t getaway. “Now you're going to tell me where we are and what you are-“ With one hand on the wall, Jax used his other to pull a knife. “-or else, got that?”

The creature stood there in shock. Frightened, not a single word came out of it. It trembled and shook until it fell to the floor in agony.

“Jax, give it a rest.” Aurelia pulled him away. The monster rolled in pain on the floor. Tears streamed from its eyes, yet it didn't make a single word.

“You’ve gotta be more considerate!” She said.

“Yeah, why? They’re not even human!” Jax argued.

“Quit it. We shouldn't be fighting over something like this, we have better things to do. We’ve gotta find somewhere to stay. We walked through the entire night, we need somewhere to rest.” I explained.

“Yeah, we can interrogate these things later. Let’s find food and shelter first.” Gray agreed with me.

We left the monster crying on the floor to find somewhere we could stay. I could start to feel fatigue weight me down and I couldn't imagine how tired the others must have been. So we searched for a place to rest.

None of the creatures would speak to us and their signs were in some unknown language. Suffice to say, it wasn't easy to get around. I mean I didn’t expect us to find a hotel or something along those lines, but I hoped there was somewhere we could get some help. We ended up walking into a somewhat welcoming looking building.

It seemed to be some sort of restaurant. All of the monsters inside were in the middle of eating, serving and cooking as we entered. Immediately they stopped to stare at us.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Even with eyes looming on us, the air conditioning inside was extremely cooling compared to the humid air outside. Even with the unwelcoming aroma, we decided to approach the counter. A tall scared creature stood on the other side.

“Hello?” I asked. The creature bit it’s misshapen finger-nails in fear. It stared blankly at us, offering nothing but silent attention.

“I don’t think they can understand us.” Aurelia offered.

"Good job, Sherlock." Jax laughed and slapped Aurelia's back. "Anyways it doesn't look like we'll get much service here.

“Oh man! Look at that!” Gray interrupted and pointed to one of the monster’s meals. Sitting on a china plate was a crisp juicy hamburger.

“That looks way better than any of the rations we have!” Foaming at the mouth, Gray exclaimed.

“You’re right.” Jax crossed his arms. “Hey, we might as well get ourselves some of that while we’re here and I doubt that they’ll serve us so.”

Jax pulled his knife from his pocket.“We might as well take some for ourselves then.”

“You can’t do that!” Aurelia yelled and attempted to hold him down. “We can’t kill them!”

“Why not? We killed our mother! That’s far worse than killing defenseless monsters like this!” Jax argued.

“You-” Aurelia signed and lowered her head to the ground. "Don't remind me."

“Jax. That was a little too far.” I said.

“Whatever. We don't have time to just sit around trying to communicate with these things.” Jax sighed and approached the creature sitting at the table. "We might as well get something out of this place before we move on." Jax raised his knife to the monster. It squealed at the sight of his knife and pushed the burger to him.

“Good.” Jax picked up the burger and handed it to Gray. Promptly the monster squirmed out of its seat and left the restaurant. Slowly one by one, many followed its lead and before we knew it they had all fled. Even those behind the counter, working had disappeared.

“Ugh, that was- well at least you didn’t attack any of them I guess.” Aurelia disapproved.

Gray immediately dug into the hamburger. “This is good stuff!” He praised.

“We only have enough rations to last a few days, so let's pack this up and get moving.” Jax began to store away stuff. "Gotta get past the next wall."

This world we found was strange to say the least. These creatures don’t understand us and are helpless too. Nevertheless, I can’t shake the feeling there was more to this. This wasn’t the capital, was it? Where must the capital be then? Past the next wall?

I sighed. To be honest this wasn’t what I was expecting would be past the walls. I didn’t think we’d be scaring away some aliens like schoolyard bullies. I guess I was disappointed. I expected to be thrown into a world of terror. I expected to have to fight for the safety of my family.

Actually, maybe I’ll still have to.

Suddenly an alarm began blaring. Red lights through the building began to flash and a loud siren sounded.

“Shit! Let’s get out of here!” Jax slang his pack over his shoulder and ran out of the restaurant.

“I knew we shouldn’t have threatened them like that!” Aurelia complained and stormed out.

“Hold on!” Gray shoved one last bite down his mouth and ran out.

I joined them outside and found it surprisingly quiet. What was once a bustling city of monsters was now an empty ghost town with only that of a siren bringing it life. The creatures were all gone and we were left alone yet something else was lurking in the shadows. No one was here, yet it felt like we were being watched.

“Alright here’s the deal.” Jax took charge. “We’re gonna bounce out that way. " He pointed to the wall. It looks like the next wall is about a mile down. Let’s make it our goal to find a way through it or into it.”

“Got it, man.” Gray agreed.

"Alright." Aurelia stretched her calves.

“Let’s get going.” Jax yelled as we began to jog.

The city was surprisingly calm even with the alarm. Jogging in the warm afternoon air felt good. Jax was much farther than us yet we kept a good pace. I strangely enjoyed the feeling of the stone every time my foot hit it.

“It looks like there’s a gate up ahead!” Jax shouted.

Indeed ahead of us was a gate leading to the other side of the wall. Slowly it was being lowered down to the ground. The pace of it's lowering was abysmal, yet we were far enough away to warrant rushing.

“We’ve gotta hurry.” Jax called.

"Let's go, let's go!" I egged Gray and Aurelia, who were behind me.

Judging by our pace we probably could have made it to the gate, yet fate had other plans for us.

“Ah!” Aurelia screamed somewhere behind me. “My leg-“ She fell to the ground and cried in pain. She stumbled into a bunch of trashcans and didn't recover. Hearing this, I stopped and ran back to help her out.

“The hell-“ Farther behind me, Gray disappeared into the shadow of a nearby alleyway. He was just gone before I even knew it.

I reached down and picked up Aurelia. A hole pierced in her leg, she was bleeding badly. I picked her up despite how heavy she was and began to run. "We've gotta get to Gray before the gate falls."

I made it a decent way back to Gray before I tripped and hit the floor. Aurelia bounced onto the ground. "Owww." She covered her wound. Something had it me in the neck. I could feel cold liquid seep onto my skin. The pain felt significantly worse than that of a bullet.

“Well, well, well!” From the darkness, beside me, an old man with a terrible receding hairline and raspy voice materialized.

“We got lucky Seymor! We caught the girls first!” Dreddian exclaimed in anticipation. He held his saber high and laughed maniacally.

Seymor and a group of eight other armed black cladded men approached from the darkness. In their hands, they held sniper rifles. The men wore dark concealing masks and had blades on their sides.

“You four arrest them, the others catch that boy! Don't let him make it into Desperation!” Dreddian ordered and pointed to Jax, currently sprinting his way past the gate. The four men ran towards him. Their pace was only rivaled to that of Jax. Failing to reach him, they fired at him, but to no avail.

Boom! The gate slammed down onto the ground leaving Jax on the other side alone.

On the ground, I pulled Aurelia behind me and readied my rifle. Her leg was shot and bleeding badly. I couldn't run away with her in that state so I was forced to fight back. Seymor, Dreddian and these four men stared down on me, grinning.

I jumped up on my feet and back to gain distance and fired into one of the men. Several bullets must have hit him, but he did little but flinch. The four men promptly spilt up to surround me.

Unharmed, the one I shot pulled a sword from his side and charged me in front. I met his sword with my rifle and pushed him aside. I knew there were others around me, yet he kept me close enough to him, that I couldn't watch my surroundings.

From behind me, another man kicked me in the back. I stumbled into the man in front of me. Using this opportunity, he ran his sword straight through my stomach. Searing in pain, I pulled the blade out of my chest and shoved the man away with my other hand.

Somewhere to my side, another man swept me to the ground. My shoulder roared in pain as I hit the ground. With the blade, I stabbed back at him, to no accomplishment. He grasped the blade and took it from my hands.

On the ground, I was stomped on by a man to my other side. Dreddian had taken use of my weaken and took my rifle. The four men held my arms and legs down. Helpless, I struggled and squirmed.

“I’ve got to congratulate you.” Seymor said as I attempted to kick him.. “Your the first revolution from the orphanage to ever make it into the city of Cadet.” He smirked

“You’ll also be the last now that you've seen our new task force in action.” He came closer to me. "They use a new state of the art serum we've developed!"

“Well that’s enough of that, take her away!” Seymor clapped. The men picked me up and began to move me along.

"No!" Aurelia, even with her injured leg, lashed out to help me. Before she could reach me, Dreddian kicked her to the side. "Oh this will be fun." He picked her up and began to laugh crazily.

Even throughout my struggle, the men dragged me through the city. I struggled as hard as I could. I shoved, kicked and yelled yet they kept me down.

Pretty quickly they put some tape over my mouth, as I kept trying to bite the man in front of me

I knew not the fate of Gray or Aurelia, but I was gravely worried. Where could they be taking us? Soon they carried me down a staircase threw me into a cell of some sort. Behind me, they locked the door and left me underground in a prison.

I stood alone in a small cell. There was no window, all I could see what the empty cell in front of me. Inside was absolutely nothing, not even a bed.

Damn it! I threw my fist into the stone wall. I failed to protect everyone and now look what’s happened! I've gotten myself locked up somewhere away from everyone else!

“Lulu, is that you?”

Aurelia! From the cell to my left, her voice called.

“Aurelia! Are you alright? Where's the others?” I walked to the far edge of the bars, just where I could barely see her.

“My legs bleeding really badly but besides that I’m fine.” She replied.

“I’m here too.” Gray called from the cell to my right.

“What about Jax?” I asked.

“I think I saw him go past the gate. He's probably still at the other side.” Gray sighed.

This couldn't be worse. Jax is separated from us. We’re stuck in a prison. The bars won’t budge and there’s no way we can chip through the wall or something. No one's going to come and help us.

Just then a door creaked open and footsteps came closer. Seymor walked in front of my cell and greeted me. He pulled over a wooden stool and sat down.

“We need to talk.”