Beyond the Gates by Jason D. Morrow

Author:Jason D. Morrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jason D. Morrow

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Liam

TWO YEARS AGO

When we received word of a mandatory meeting at the Red Rock Trail, I had a feeling more bad news was on the way.

I strapped my pistol to my belt on the right side, and on the left hung a sharp hatchet. My wife, Sarah, held hands with our nine-year-old, Skylar, as they waited in front of the house for me to leave. The meeting was in an hour, and the walk would get me there just in time.

I had seen construction at the Red Rock Trail entrance a few days ago, and I assumed the meeting would be to explain what that was about.

Our district was under control of a man named Gerard. I didn’t know much more about him than that. He was a Screven official, which meant we had to listen to him. Sometimes he would warn of a high concentration of greyskin herds roaming about. Sometimes he would tell us about new policies to be implemented by the Screven government.

Those of us under Gerard’s leadership weren’t bound so much by his directions. Not like other colonies, villages, or settlements. People in this district like my family and me were spread out, too far apart to form specific communities. And none of us had ever asked for Screven to take control of the area, yet here they were. This district had been taken over by them, and they had allowed us to live here so long as we bent to their rules.

None of us liked it. None of us wanted them to be here. But we didn’t fight it. There was no point.

Sarah stood next to me, looking toward the horizon. The meeting was scheduled too close to sundown, but I figured it to be a strategy. No one in the district wanted to be out after dark. Greyskins weren’t always the loudest creatures, so it wasn’t unheard of to walk up on one and not realize it until it already had its teeth in your flesh.

Gerard wanted the meeting to be short and sweet, and the lack of light would keep him from having to answer a lot of questions. The later the meeting, I thought, the worse the news. But I couldn’t imagine what sort of news he could bring us. We barely lived under Screven’s rule. None of us really knew who was in charge. To us, Screven soldiers were just another clan of raiders looking to expand their territory, though a bit more organized in their endeavors. The best we could do was to stay out of their way.

Sarah hated these meetings and would have preferred me to stay at home, but skipping out on the meetings was not permitted.

“It won’t be long,” I said. I tousled Sky’s red hair and leaned in to kiss Sarah. Her soft lips pressed into mine and she set her hand at the nape of my neck.

“I don’t like being here alone with that creature in the basement,” she said.

I didn’t like it either, but it was safer than the three of us traveling so close to dark.

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