After the Green Withered by Kristin Ward

Author:Kristin Ward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kristin Ward

CHAPTER TWELVE

Brigford is not what I had imagined. I knew about the concrete walls erected around large cities to keep in and keep out, but seeing it in person rather than on a screen is jarring. The walls are so high that I have to crane my neck to see the top of them. Along the top of the walls are dozens of intermittent towers manned by at least two Sentinels each. It is a forbidding sight.

We come to an entrance point in the wall and stop as a Sentinel comes forward. His uniform is familiar, like those I have seen throughout my childhood. The only distinguishing feature is the man himself. His square face has a large jaw that seems to flow into the thickest neck I have ever seen. His shoulders are massively wide, and the pads of muscle along his chest and arms make him look almost freakishly big. The deep voice that rumbles from his mouth only completes the picture.

"Credentials?" he gruffly asks.

I am more than willing to let Springer handle this situation and keep my mouth shut as he briefly explains that we have business within the city limits. The guard looks dubious and brings out a portable scanner to verify our privileges. I hold out my arm, almost wishing that we are denied access, but today is not my day for wishes to come true. Within moments we are saluted, and then, what can only be described as the jaws of hell, open before us and reveal the city.

My first impression is one of darkness. It feels as if the sun has been blocked from the sky, and all is in shadow. The buildings are so numerous and so tall that I can hardly conceptualize how many people are meant to live here. As we drive through the winding maze of streets, I notice a distinct difference between those buildings produced by the Company and those of the past. I see brick and stone structures with curves and character that I have not seen before, juxtaposed with structures like elongated modulars from my town. As we pass building after building, I begin to wonder how many people live in this city and how they survive. I see neither factories nor training centers. What does everyone do to earn credits?

As I am mulling this over, my conscious thought pieces together what I am seeing, and I answer my own question. There are no people. The part of the city we are driving through is a ghostly shell. It is with this realization that I look a little harder at the buildings that had so impressed me at first and see the worn facades and the crumbling brick. Windows in both the newer and older structures are clouded with age, and many are simply broken. Clearly, this part of the city has long been empty, and I don't have to wonder about the reasons too long when I see evidence of the decay and desperation in an alley between two of the abandoned structures.

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