Divided (13 page)

Part Three:

The Tribe

26

Arys

     ‘So this is your tribe?’ Papa asks Kayra, looking behind her at the people she came with.

     ‘Yeah, you could say that,’ she says, smiling at him.

     Papa walks up to Kayra’s group of people. They look hesitant, but a few people offer him smiles.

     ‘Hello, my name is Noah, but everyone here calls me Papa,’ he says to them. ‘I’m the leader of the Tribe. Welcome! Make yourself at home, and we’ll get someone to organise tents for you all. I see you already have weapons. Dinner is soon!’

     Papa walks back over to me and hugs me again.

     ‘I’m so glad you’re back, Arys!’ he says, before walking back towards his tent.

     He picks up his book before entering.

     ‘We need to talk,’ I tell Kayra.

     ‘If it’s about Kai-’

     ‘It’s not about Kai! Though now you mention it, we can discuss that too. Right now we have to talk about our plan.’

     I lead Kayra into Kai’s tent, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the phone Papa gave me before I went to find Kayra.

     ‘What?!’ Kayra exclaims, her eyes now fixed on the phone. I think she thinks it’s a rock, too. ‘You’re kidding? We have signal
here
?! I have to tell Nina!’

     ‘Signal? What? No, Kayra, we need to phone dad!’

     ‘Wait... Dad?’ she asks, startled. ‘We can talk to dad? Right now?’

     I nod and press the buttons Papa told me to press. I hold the phone to my ear and wait until I hear the beep.

     ‘This is 247227, requesting communication with 015429,’ I speak into the phone, hoping I got the numbers right.

     There is a short silence, before several beeps and my father’s familiar voice comes through.

     ‘Noah?’ he asks, slightly panicked.

     ‘No, it’s Arys. With Kayra,’ I say, waiting for his reaction.

     ‘Both of you?! Together?’ he sounds really happy, but there’s something else in his tone that I can’t figure out.

     ‘This could be really dangerous! Did anyone see you? Hunters?’ he asks desperately.

     ‘A few but Kayra helped take care of them,’ I assure him. ‘We only came across two in the city ourselves, but Kai dealt with them too.’

     ‘Hang on a minute, Arys!’ he now sounds petrified and my heart beats faster. ‘Parker! Show me cameras 4, 7 and 1!’

     ‘Dad?’

     All I hear is tapping for a few seconds, before I hear my father gasp loudly.

     ‘Get out! Now! Run, Arys! There are Hunters surrounding your camp! Loads of them!’

     I turn the phone off, and take out my sword.

     ‘Kayra! Hunters are here and we’re going to have to fight!’ I tell her, running out of the tent as fast as I can.

     Kayra takes her own sword out of its sheath and follows me.  We run to Papa’s tent, warning as many people as we can along the way. Then I see them coming through the trees: Hunters everywhere. They reach camp within seconds and the war begins.

     Mothers run with their children into the trees, armed only with wooden daggers and bone throwing knives. I made a lot before I left, but that won’t be enough to kill the amount of Hunters running through camp. The children have been taught to climb the trees when Hunters come, and I see children climbing them now. But the Hunters are acting differently. They’re setting the trees on fire, with the children hopelessly stuck at the top. The screaming starts as my world starts burning again. The Tribe try and fight back, but the Hunters are strong, stronger than they’ve ever been before and most of them are armed with knives or sharp sticks. Even with the help of Kayra’s group of trained people, the Hunters still have the upper hand.

     Tents light up all around me, the fire has caught them. People who were hiding inside begin screaming. The horror surrounds me and I’m too lost in the madness to move. I can’t do anything but stand rooted to the spot as I watch mothers scream as their children are stuck up burning trees. Hunters never burn trees.

     ‘We have to fight!’ Kayra screams at me, before running off, fighting the Hunters.

     Kai shakes me and I alert myself properly and tell myself to join in with the fight. I catch up with Kayra, and charge with my sword, next to my sister. A Hunter lunges at me; I parry his attack and stab him in his chest. I feel the blade dig into him, taking his life. I’m officially a murderer. I ignore the thought, and swing my sword in a full circle, digging it into the neck of another Hunter. I join Kai’s side before the Hunter I killed hits the floor. Kai’s in a frenzy, his knife a flash of silver as it speeds through the air, stabbing into Hunter after Hunter.

     Fire burns throughout the Tribe, the death toll increasing everywhere I look. Kayra’s group have begun to take control, their more advanced weapons proving more effective than the knives we have. I sprint forwards, targeting a small group of Hunters. But then in the corner of my eye, I see him.

     ‘Papa!’ I scream, running to him.

     The world blurs around me, but I run to him as fast as I’ve ever run before, hitting Hunters out of my way as I do. He lies on the ground, a stick stuck deeply into his left shoulder. He’s still alive! I reach him and fall to the ground next to him. Blood runs down his shoulder, staining his shirt red.

     ‘Don’t leave me, Papa!’ I cry, tears blurring my vision. ‘Kai!’ I scream, turning around for a second, trying to find him in the chaos that surrounds me.

     All I see is death and fire. Nothing but death and fire.

     ‘Papa, please stay with us. I need you! We all need you! Please, Papa!’

     I hug him, trying not to hurt him. Blood soaks my side. Papa’s blood. His eyes are still open and he’s breathing faintly, he’s still alive. Kayra runs over, killing Hunters in her path as she runs to me.

     ‘Papa! No, please Papa!’ Kayra shouts, beginning to cry. ‘We have to do something, he can’t die!’

     She takes off her jacket and holds it around the wound. Neither of us try pulling the stick out, in case it makes him worse.

     He suddenly coughs weakly, and he looks at both me and Kayra.

     ‘Stop, Kayra,’ he croaks, staring at her. ‘It’s useless. I have to leave now. I’m an old man, I can’t protect Arys anymore.’

     ‘Please, Papa! You’ve always been with me! You can’t leave now; you’re going to be okay! You are going to survive! You have to... for me? Please, Papa,’ I beg him, tears falling from my face onto his shirt.

     His eyes are sad, and they flicker from my face to Kayra’s.

     ‘I’m proud of you. So proud of you both,’ he says weakly. ‘But I can’t survive this; my body is too weak for it.’

     ‘No, Papa!’ Kayra and I both cry at the same time.

     ‘I’ll be okay. I’m going to be with my wife now,’ he says, smiling slightly.

     Kai comes over, keeping Hunters back with his knife. I also hear gunshots in the distance. Zach and Callum are putting up a fight. I ignore Kai’s questions and hold Papa’s head in my hands, crying, pleading for him to hold on just a little longer.

     ‘Please don’t give up, Papa!’ I plead. ‘I can’t live without you!’

     ‘You’re the hero, Arys,’ he says.

And then he closes his eyes and the life leaves him forever.

27

Arys

I sit staring into the fire that remains, leaving nothing behind but ash. We fought for over an hour and Hunters and Tribe People alike lie dead all around camp. I can’t yet bring myself to face the fact that people I love have gone. People are crying, screaming for their loved ones all around me. My family I have grown up with and have known all my life. I finally open my hand, looking at the eagle pendant I gave to Papa. This is all I have left of him, and it’s slightly red with his blood. I examine the detail and a fresh wave of grief washes over me. I should have made it better! Papa
deserves
better!

     Kai approaches me and kneels in front of me. He holds my hands in his and I know he’s bringing more bad news. I brace myself for the worst.

     ‘It’s Cara,’ he says. ‘She was burnt in the tree. She died saving her sister.’

     ‘
No!!
’ I scream.

     More tears come, and I hide my face in my knee, the tears soaking me, but I don’t try to stop. He holds me tightly.

     ‘He’s at peace now. As is Cara.’

     ‘What about Holly?’ I ask desperately, already scared of the answer.

     ‘She’s alive. Cara’s sacrifice saved her. She has a few burns, but people are tending to her already.’

     I take a deep breath and stop crying. I have to stay strong.

I walk around camp, seeing the damage up close. People are crying over the dead. There are so many bodies. I find Holly, who is crying loudly and hug her. Somehow, her presence helps me.  She’s wearing Cara’s horse pendant, and has abandoned the sheep. She’s no longer a follower, she needs Cara’s strength.

     I walk to where Papa’s tent was, now just ash. I sit down on Papa’s blanket. The blanket avoided major destruction, but is hot as I sit on it. His books have burned, and I realise that the only thing I do have of his is the pendant and his blanket.

     ‘
Arys, we need you. I know it’s hard but you can’t abandon the Tribe like this.
’ I hear Kayra say to me.

     I don’t want to do anything but sit and cry, but I force myself to stand up from Papa’s bed. It’s not just hard for me; loads of families have been torn apart today.

     ‘
What do you want me to do?
’ I ask her.

I stand up and pick Papa’s blanket up. As I lift it, I see there’s a little wooden hatch hidden underneath it. I bend down and examine it closely. It’s dark brown in colour, covered in dirt and has a short string to open it. I grab the string and lift the lid open. Books are piled inside, their titles hand-written. I notice Papa’s handwriting and pick up the books quickly, longing for a part of him to hold onto. I open one and flip through it. The pages are lyrics to songs, or perhaps poems that he was writing or were completed. I collect them all in my hands and carry them through the forest, towards the lake. I sit by the tree with the lake in the distance, and open another one of the books. I see titles for songs as I flip through the book, until the lyrics to one song catches my attention. It’s the lullaby I sang to Alaoden. This is a book of the English translations for the songs; the originals were in a different language that Papa learnt in the Old World. Papa taught us most of the songs in those languages. This is the only song that I know the translation to, he said that we should know the meaning of the song through the music and through the way in which it’s sung; the lyrics mean nothing. I quickly flick through the rest of the pages, looking through Papa’s songs.

     ‘
Arys, water,
’ Kayra says to me.

     I take my backpack off, unclip the top and put the books inside. I reseal the backpack and walk with it over my shoulder.

     Upon reaching the lake, I take my bucket and swim into the water. The water is freezing; I feel it seep through my jeans and my top as I wade slowly through the icy-cold water. The clouds cover the sun, and the cool air makes me shiver even more. I fill my bucket with clean water and walk back to camp.

     The people are all still crying when I reach camp. I don’t think the crying will stop, just like the running hasn’t in fifteen years.

     ‘Arys, please help! It’s Edgar, he’s hurt,’ Sydney says.

     She’s the mother of three young boys, Edgar, Antony, and Ron. She’s usually very pretty, with her long brown hair tied up neatly, but now she’s covered in burns on her face, and her hair is a total mess. I follow her as she runs to a tree and crouches with the seven year old boy. He’s lying down, hunched over in a fit of coughing.

     ‘This might sting, but I promise it will help,’ I say, ripping some of my jacket to use as a cloth.

     I wash it in the bucket of water, wring it out and press it to his burns. Edgar closes his eyes, wincing in pain. He’d make a brave soldier, but he’s too young for battle.

     ‘Sydney, please get some cloth so I can bandage him,’ I say calmly.

     She runs past all the rushing people and the wounded on the ground. I turn back to Edgar, who is looking at me with wide eyes.

     ‘Sing to me?’ he asks quietly.

     ‘Which song do you want?’ I reply.

     ‘The one you always sung when I was a baby?’ he requests. ‘The one I fell asleep to.’

     I don’t usually sing to the older children, now they understand words, the lyrics could scare them. But today, they’ve seen too much destruction to get scared.

Fight the nightmares that try to come,

Don’t give up till the battle’s won,

Slay the monster, kill the beast,

Stay alive at the very least.

     Edgar begins crying, but I carry on singing, my voice strained, cracking under the stress that’s been building up for the past few days.

Save your town and save your kin,

Never let the Hunters win,

Hush now, child, don’t try to flee,

One day soon, we’ll all be free.

     Edgar’s still crying as I finish singing.

     ‘I fled,’ he whispers to me. ‘I ran away and now my brother is dead all because of me being a coward!’

     I finish wiping his burns.

     ‘No, it isn’t your fault, Edgar. You did the right thing, you had to hide, and you didn’t flee.’

     Sydney comes back with strips of cloth in her hands and gives it to me.

     ‘We don’t have much, is that enough?’ she asks as I take it from her.

     ‘It’s enough,’ I reply, starting to wrap it around Edgar’s wounds.

     I work in silence, trying to block out the sounds around me. Everyone is still screaming, crying. The smoke is still rising around the camp. Everything is overwhelming. I finish wrapping his wounds, and start looking for Kayra. As I leave them, Sydney holds Edgar and starts to cry over him.

     I eventually find Kayra sat at the edge of the clearing with Kai, away from all the madness at camp.

     ‘We need a plan,’ I say. ‘Hunters will be back to kill the survivors once they regroup.’

     Kai stands up and approaches me.

     ‘We were just planning something, actually,’ he says.

     ‘What have you got so far?’

     ‘We need to sneak into the Compound, but to do that, Kayra can’t come. Neither can any of the people who came with Kayra, as they’re all being tracked. I think that’s how the Hunters found us so quickly. The Festival is next week, and if they’re still alive, I know people who can get rid of the tracking chips, but it could take a really long time to do everyone, and that’s time we don’t have.’

     His voice is calm, despite everything that’s been happening. I try to focus on the plan, and ignore all the death, but my mind constantly goes back to it. Like the earthquake.

     ‘Okay, but why are we going into the Compound?’

     Kayra steps closer to me.

     ‘Dad told us to, Arys. But first, we really do have to go to this Festival.’