Children of the Eternal

XXIX

Jon Knight's words lingered in the air, a bitter reality that Will wished wasn't true. The truth was important, but it was frustrating they could not do more.

Will waited for Shin to protest, only for the older boy to say nothing. People accepted the cruel truth and sprung into action, carrying supplies and helping the dying from their rooms. Vanessa took charge, organizing everything like she was born to lead. Jon helped carry a woman out, not showing any reaction to the ghastly stench coming from her. The younger ones were told to pack up necessities.

"Is that why everyone was here?" Will asked in a low voice as Kate collected cans of food for a box. "Were they here to move the sick?"

A can clanked against another as she froze. "Maybe. I was so focused on Anna. Vanessa probably didn't tell me. Maybe she was hoping it wouldn't come to it."

Will picked up a discarded can and handed it to her. "Where will they go?"

She sighed. "I'm not sure. These things are usually kept as secret as possible. We'll all be taking different routes there. If the guards find us, it will lead them straight to the new location. Sometimes people are taken to different places to throw off the trail. Then they are moved later. Although the sick people need help right away." She put the last can in with a loud thud. "Some of them probably won't survive."

Will accepted the box from her. "Are you going to leave Anna?"

She moved on to her next task, but a tremble ran through her. "If the Dark takes this place, I'll have to. I just worry about Matthew. He's lost so much this year."

Will winced. He hoped Matthew would understand they had to leave. But while all the preparations happened, Matthew stayed with his mother. The sounds of the dying disappeared from the hospice, yet that didn't make anything feel better. It felt more like Will was standing in a graveyard.

Kate jumped as a faint rumbling broke the silence. "What's that?"

Will took a cautious look out the open door. "It's all right. I think the supply cart is leaving."

She nodded and gave a strained laugh. "Oh right. I hope it has protection. The last thing that the Afflicted need is to lose those items to the Sacred State."

Footsteps echoed in the empty hall as Shin approached them. "Not much protection if we can't fight the guards."

"When does that ever help anything?" Kate asked. "There's always more of them."

"Wrong." Shin gave an impatient sigh. "There's more of us. If we all came together, we could fight them. We could make the Sacred State see that things have to change."

It surprised Will how much Shin's fervor affected him. He wanted a world where good people didn't have to die in the shadows. "Do you think that's possible?"

Kate let out a weary groan. "Not tonight. And I agree that things should change. We all want that. But I think someone is looking for a fight."

"We should be able to do something!" Shin said with a snarl as they stood in the almost vacant building. "People shouldn't have to die in the Dark. Someone should pay."

Kate gave him a wary look. "Don't do anything stupid."

"We all want to fight. We're all fighting every moment that we question the Eternal." Jon Knight walked out a room, carrying a locked box that Will suspected contained medicine. "The people in this hospice are the strongest warriors of all. As more question the order imposed on us, our cause grows. I've never believed as much as I do now that things will change. The day is coming."

"It should be today," Shin said.

Shin's nerve never ceased to startle Will. He had no fear of defying the Eternal Light or the heart of the rebellion.