Aletheia

Chapter 13: Will

WILL HELD HIS BREATH AS HE watched the gates open before his eyes, never in his 23 years of living had he thought he'd ever see what was on the other side of that wall. The old metal creaked and groaned, but held together. Just before the crack showing the outside appeared Will squeezed his eyes shut. He listened as everyone around him rapidly began talking, he couldn't decipher much from what they were saying but at least there weren't any sounds of wild beasts. He felt someone nudge his arm and he opened his eyes, seeing Claire pointing to the land that awaited them outside the walls of rock and moss.

He looked. He didn't know what he'd expected, maybe some kind of magical place where the trees grew from the sky. But it was grass, hills upon rolling hills of grass and what looked like a slightly far off forest. It looked as normal as normal could be. Ryn was standing a bit before them, her back turned to them, what was she thinking? He shook his head, he didn't care what she thought, she was there out of necessity, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to leave the city. The other Protectors had pulled back the crowded, keeping them from running off behind them and out the city. Although that would fix their overpopulation problem.

Will had a feeling there was a reason the Governor didn't want anyone leaving, there was something out there... Something he didn't want them to see.

"Come on." Ryn said, walking forward. Within seconds she was out of the wall's perimeter, standing in the fresh green grass. Will glanced at Claire, she nodded and they followed Ryn. The moment they stepped past the rough dirt ground to the fresh grass they heard the gate clanged shut behind them. Will turned to look back, but there was the wall, the other side of the wall. They were outside the city, outside the claustrophobic grips of the wall. They were free.

~

"Can you give me the gun now?" Will asked, walking beside Ryn. Without looking back she reached into her pocket and threw one back. Will caught it, a little confused, that was too easy.

"I couldn't just give you a gun in the middle of town, you need to be authorized and trained to carry a weapon, and since you never got your certificate, I believe you're not qualified for either. But you're probably going to need one if you get yourself stuck in a hole." Ryn said, half laughing. Beside him Claire snorted, laughing along.

"What about Claire?" He said, holding his annoyance below water.

"She has her own, you don't have to worry about her. We train all our Keepers in weaponry, although it looks like she left that part out when describing her job," Ryn replied, forging on towards the nearby forest.

Will spun around, "You have a gun?" He couldn't tell if he was mad or offended at her not telling him, did she not trust him?

"Yeah... The Governor made me swear not to mention my job and its entitlements to anyone, not even... you, or mom, or Ebony." Claire said, pulling it from the inside of her coat. It was a good size smaller than anything Will had ever handled but it was a gun none the less. Will winced, how did he not know his baby sister had a gun.

"Will. Stop looking at me like I'm some wounded puppy." Claire snapped, her eyes giving off the same fire they always did whenever they got into a disagreement.

"You're 17 and you're walking around with a gun! Why! You're just a Keeper, you read a damn book, listen to a freaking tree, and give kindergarteners story time so they aren't stupid, you don't need a gun!" He stopped, turning to face her.

"You started using a gun at 12 and I'm the one in the wrong here!" She yelled back, stomping towards him, sometimes she still seemed so much younger than him.

"That was in the Academy and you know that doesn't count!" He felt the anger he had kept locked up inside for months finally beginning to boil to the surface.

"Shut it, both of you." Ryn's growled, snapping her head back to glare at them.

"Why in the hell does she need a gun!" He clenched his fists, drawing in a deep breath.

"She holds the damn history in her hands, she has the power to say whatever the hell she wants with people automatically believing her. Why would she not need a gun? Who wouldn't want to have control of that? The power to change history." Ryn said, sounding more calm than ever. When had she been able to control her anger? She used to be the hot headed one, the one who would lose it over someone taking her fork instead of theirs. And now here she was, not even a twinge of anger seeping into her voice. Either she'd lost her anger or she'd found a way to control it. Will had to spend 2 weeks in both her, and his sister's company... How was he going to last?