Young Writers Society

Word count: 3.563

Alice

Revolution. It was Shael who taught her that word. It had to be preserved, but not everyone was worthy to be its guardian.

"Hey there, little girl", the man approached her such a long time ago. His body made a nice, soothing shadow, and for a moment, the sun's bites perished.

At the time, she could only see his left shoe. She was scared to death when the shoe appeared before her face, in a blink of an eye. But quite some time had passed since she could have moved her body. The heat took all of her strength hours ago, and she knew she was to die soon. Sand had filled her eyes, nose and mouth. She would have screamed the moment she saw the first vulture watching her, sitting still on the rock, if she only could.

Her tribe had abandoned her. She thought they loved her, but not even tearfull faces and mother's begging for forgivness when they left her alone could convince her there was a sip of humanity inside of them. They couldn't feed her, in these barren lands, so they decided to throw her away. Like a used rag.

"Do you know what revolution means?", the shoe had asked her.

Water, she wanted to beg, but only desparate cry left her throat. She had barely moved her forefinger, in a poor attempt to touch the shoe. It was too far away.

"Far above the vast blue skies", the shoe had moved and started talking dramaticly. The sun washed on her once again, but her skin was so burnt that it didn't even make any difference. "Are the countless worlds with thousand lives." She heard his laughter when he made that poor rhyme. "Thousands of planets my dear. Each star on the nightsky is a sun as bright as ours. And each one of them has their own planets, just like the one we are standing on."

I will die. Water!

"Each one of those planets", the shoe had stopped before her face again, and the shadow covered her whole body, "revolves around those suns. That is, my princess, one kind of revolution."

Is this what the Death looks like? Poor vultures won't have too much of a feast anyway. She felt it was her last thought. She closed her eyes.

"But not the one we are interested in", voice echoed from before her. Man's cool breath covered her face.

She opened eyes in disbelief only to see grown up man crouching on all four deep in sand. His eyes were black, just as his hair. She had never seen such a dark color before.

He stood up now that he caught her attention once again. Now that she didn't give up.

He might save me, he doesn't look like death at all, she thought at the time. His breath smelled like strawberries. Death's breath wouldn't smell like strawberries.

"Now, do you want to know about revolution, kid?", his voice was more harsh this time. "I will save you anyway, but remember, the way of the revolution is the way of truth."

Say something! She screamed back then. The sand inside her throat and mouth hurt her, and nothing meaningful came out yet again.

"Do you? Fight what opresses you, kid!", he screamed.

She heard wings flapping around. She would speak, or she would become dinner. Another set of barks left her mouth. The tear dipped the sand beneath her eyes. "Yes!", she finally managed to whisper.

"Good, beautiful. You just chose yourself a path of revolution". The man crouched before her. He lifted her head, and dipped little bit of water inside her mouth. She coughed, and managed to spit some of the sand out. She felt the greatest satisfaction in her life when the water washed her eyes and her face. But then he lifted her, and tossed her over his shoulder. The white, thin cloth covered her completely. Silk, she learned later. The most beautiful material she had ever felt.

"Now", he stood in place for a second, "don't you die. We have a long way to walk."

Alice wasn't sure which emotion she felt about this memory. Anger, because what she had to do right now might be worse than death in the middle of the dessert. Gratitude, since he saved her and shown her the cruel reality this world had. Or respect, for he made of her what she was today. Love, perhaps...

Her big, black boots were merciless towards the little branches covering the forest floor, and sometimes the poor little snails. But the boots themselves were nothing more but pieces of leather glued together.

She was furious since the tree branches were grabbing the giant backpack that she wore, but there was nothing she could do about it. She aimed her anger, together with the massive army knife towards the innocent rabbit. He would make a tasty little dinner before they go.

She consulted the map and the compass, and kept walking the same direction. Soon enough, there was a campfire burning in the distance. She hurried her step a bit, being unable to hide her excitement.

Finally she broke out of the thick forest, and found herself at the round clearing where there was a hut, campfire and six logs. There was no one here yet. Well, she was early, and none of them was a type of man to come early. But at least she was certain none will be late.

She untied her blonde hair, which was long enough to touch her shoulders. Her figure was slender, but muscular. She was a beautiful woman.

She took off her backpack and tossed it next to the campfire. It had to fly a few meters to reach its destination. Before she found her log, she picked up a stick from the ground. The rabbit won't skin and ram himself to that stick all alone, anyway.

About the time she put the rabbit near the fire, the the cracking was to be heard from somewhere in the forest. Ah, the "loud" one. He had made so much fuss in the capital.

Sixty year old man cursed when the branch he tried to move slapped him across the face, but he found himself inside the clearing right after.

"This place is a hell itself!", he yelled.

"Daston", she almost whispered, turning her head away and focusing on the rabbit.

"And you must be Alice!" he said from behind. Getting closer, he continued, a little bit calmer: "Woah. Whatta piece we have there."

"The rabbit is mine", she made it sound as stubborn as can be.

"I never noticed the rabbit", he answered while taking his place, on a log next to her.

She became furious once again, but she never let him see. No one could maintain the stoic face better than she could. All the lonely years made her that way.

The old man unhooked the strap holding his guns and ammunition. He did it four more times, the armament making a nice pile beside him.

"I knew you would be early", he declared thoughtfully, smiling for himself.

The old pervert! She felt hot blood filling her cheeks. He would come early just to have time to bother me? Shael should better hurry or he'd have to come up with another plan!

"You look a bit like her", he then said. "I think you have the same eyes."

And then she couldn't be angry anymore. She had read about his life, and his Dana. He must be talking about her. "You can have some rabbit meat", she have had said, not daring to look at the man. "What was she like?" Daston grabbed a stick with a roasted meat and started eating, slowly.

"I can't even remember. But I'm sure she had an eyes as beautiful as yours", he told her. "Ahhhh", he exhaled, "I think either Hashi or Fade will arrive next."

From their bios, those two were quite the fierce man. Hashi, the carrier of a long lost culture and art of swordsmanship. They practiced it somewhere near the southern borders, but he was the last one of his kind. The State eradicated the entire school of Hāto, with the excuse of carrying deadly disease. He had once written a book just for her, which helped her get strong.

It was strange how no State citizen ever reacted, even though the medicine was near perfect. It was hundreds of years ago when the last victim to a disease was recorded.

The people in this state are being controlled for such a long time by now, that they don't even think by themselves anymore. So is the word 'revolution' long forgotten. But the way they are now, they would rather kill anyone using that word. Shael was well aware of that.

The other one, Fade, she didn't know much about. He was the one who had to work alone.

"What do you know about Fade?" she asked Daston.

He stopped cleaning his nails with the knife of his own, and looked at her. "I know he is in the party with five of us. I know that the voice... Shael picked him."

The poor man could never get rid of that habit.

"What more would you need?" he continued.

Yes, he had the right.

"Why are you doing this?" he suddenly asked her. That was so straightforward he made her loose her firmness once again today.

"Because I owe my life to that man. It's his to do with it whatever he likes", she answered.

"You know he wouldn't make you do this if you really didn't want to."

She knew it. "Then why are you?" she asked only to buy some time. She had to dig to the bottom of her heart to be able to answer his question.

"Me?" he smiled. "There is nothing else for me in this world."

He was so sincere that it hurt. "I do it because I trust Shael. What he does is right", she said.

"Yes...he is kinda like them, you know?" he said pointing his thumb to the large mountain lurking behind them, which they never dared to look at so far. "He calculates everything, and you feel like he can't fail. And you know hell awaits you when you are near him. But, my dear, that is not your reason either. Try harder."

She pouted. "Then what!" she said loud. Then she let it slip through her lips.

"It's because I want to."

He gave her a soft smile, and then seemed like he got lost in his thoughts. She had only now noticed his face was covered with pale scars. Scars people inside that mountain were trying to carve in for such a long time. But she wasn't afraid. Shael had trained her well enough.

They both looked deep in the forest only to see two men coming. It seemed like Hashi and Fade had met and traveled together.

"It must mean the time of the gathering is near; those two wouldn't be early a second", Daston whispered to her.

The men emerged from the south, the mountain being north-west from her. She noticed they never glanced towards it either. They walked without a word. Hashi was the one carrying only sword on his back, not even a backpack. His hair was tied tightly into a bun back at his nape. He wore a long, gray bathrobe-like outfit made of silk. He also had a black hair, although not as black as Shael. As if there were more than one shades of black.

Fade was frightful sight himself. The man wore dark-blue coat, with lifted collar. He had something strapped tightly at his back. His hands could easily belong to a lumberjack judging by their size, but they were somehow familiar. He could probably squeeze a human skull with those hands. But it was not them to draw the attention. It was the scars around his mouth, sewing scars. He looked like a creature from her nightmares. Now that she thought, he could easily be carrying a body strapped back there.

And it was Daston making her loose her wits so far.

The moment those two reached the clearing, door of the hut opened.

"I tell you, I spent the last year calculating it", a young man's voice was heard, "we have zero chance of success. Zero!"

It was Shael who first came out, followed by the last one of the party.

The smart, but the weak one?

The guy was rather her height, and maybe few years older than her. That reminded her that she was, with her nineteen years, the youngest one of the crew. Dan was the only one younger than forty, being twenty-six.

Shael tapped his back. "Would it make difference if we had one percent? Or fifty?"

Dan nodded, still looking worried. It's because they couldn't afford to fail at all. What is worse, they never really got to know why.

Shael was as stunning as always. Tall man, wearing a brown pants, and a black sweater. His short hair was as dark as always and those eyes, piercing through whatever they were pointed at.

Dan was the one she was afraid of. He could have been the spy. State knew something was going on, and what's the better way for them to deal with rebels they knew nothing about, than to provide them with perfect material. Anyway, she had no time to think it through again. She had to trust Shael.

She noticed Hashi was red in face. Daston leaned over to her:"It seems Fade is not the chatty one", he tried to whisper. No one heard him, but she thought the joke was stupid nevertheless.

"We are just in time", Hashi stated, trying to be as calm as possible. Considering his bio, she had always thought he was silent guy. Being near Fade must have made him nervous. She knew it would make her.

"Everyone sit down", Shael ordered. It felt as if the silence itself stood among them, as soon as they took their places.

"What we are about to begin today must not fail", he announced. Dan looked as if he would complain, but he remained silent. "It is for the sake of humanity. It is for the sake of justice. It might be for the sake of existence itself."

Daston was the one staring into the fire, and Fade seemed like he didn't look at anything in particular. Hashi observed him with respect, and Dan... he looked like a little puppy standing by its owner's leg. Damn that weakling. But he had a gun and a few rounds strapped around his hips, and he didn't look physically weak at all. Damn that man!

"You may leave now", Shael broke her thoughts. He looked her in the eyes, "or you will go inside risking your life knowing we have zero chance of success", he continued talking to everyone.

Silence. No one will speak. None of them can betray him. Dan looks uncomfortable.

Sound of the sword unsheathing. "My blade is at your service." Fade nodded. Dan kept looking at him, and Daston looked as frightened as ever.

"Well", Daston spoke, "I spent almost thirty years inside. I can withstand one more. But promise me, if I get caught, you will kill me yourself."

"There would be no need for that", Shael replied. Dan again was looking like he would complain. Maybe the odds for the old one are not so good, is what she thought and regretted instantly. He was a good man after all, she wouldn't like him to die.

"Well then, Alice?" Shael said. His voice echoed the forest. His eyes were scanning her.

"Me? Why me?" she nervously said. This crew was something else. They made her loose all of her mind. Why are you doing this? Daston's words reminded her. "I’m here because I want to", she sounded a bit like a stubborn little girl.

Shael smiled warmly, the way he always smiled to her. Am I in love? And why the hell didn't he ask Dan? He looks like he would rather be somewhere safe anyway. Now that she thought, Dan came with Shael. She was jealous. What’s wrong with me! Contain yourself Alice, now!

"That sets it. Dan, bring the suits", Shael ordered. Dan nodded, and hurried into the hut.

"And you?" Daston broke the silence. Hashi, intrigued, observed the old man and Fade himself looked surprised. It was the first time the man had shown the emotion so far. He was bald, and his eyes were green, which was unusual, but they were the most human thing about him.

"You know I can't tell you. But you know it's important." Daston didn't look satisfied at all, but he slightly nodded.

She didn’t notice when Shael moved beside her. "Get your weapons ready. We can't afford to wait for anyone." He sounded somehow like a worried father.

She realized she was getting lost in thoughts way too much. Everyone was ready: Daston had his weapons strapped and got long brown coat who knows when. The silent duo didn't change anything, and Dan came out with big trash bag over his back and a notebook in his other hand.

She unpacked her backpack, which contained a normal-sized one, rounds of ammunition and a disassembled sniper. Ammunition ended up strapped in cross across her chest, and the gun was put together in a matter of seconds.

"Last thing", Shael said. Everyone recognized the sign and pulled out dozens of papers tied together.  Shael's instructions; they had all learned them to the letter by now. The papers fell into the fire one by one. It was somewhat scary watching the blank first pages with the five names on, burning into the ashes.

As soon as the papers were gone, Shael took over the trash bag, and faced the mountain. "Let’s move!"

Everyone stood there frozen, watching the vertical cliff standing beside them, and a giant mountain spreading behind. Fort Mountain, and the city built inside it. The pride of the nation. It was so exclusive that, once you get in, you may never again get out. Yet so many have dreamt about working inside the fabled Fort Mountain. If they only knew.

It was the unbreakable fortress. And they are going to assault it.

The group of five finally started following Shael, one by one, Daston being last. He swallowed the lump, and hurried.

It must be painful going back there again, his personal hell. She had to shake these thoughts off. They were threatening to make her run away crying.

The dawn was approaching. Soon enough, they came across the ten meter high steel pipe. The ladders were sloppily welded to its side. It must be Shael's work. He threw the bag into the grass, and it revealed white outfits and bags.

There was no need to instruct them. They all knew what to do. She had often thought about this: Shael actually never needed them. He needed their abilities, and he needed hands. He couldn't be at six places at once. Chess pieces. That's what they were.

He carefully planned each of their moves. One year of life inside the place where everyone wants you dead. Will I manage? But he trained her for this by himself. Of course she could manage it.

Soon enough they were all in hermetically closed outfits with tiny bottles of air. All of their equipment they couldn't store in had its own bag, like her gun.

One by one, they climbed the pipe. There, a narrow opening through a one meter thick pipe awaited them. How the hell did he cut it? The opening was sealed before; now that it's open, green smoke was pouring out.

It was the pipe leading all of the Mountain's waste out, built like that all the way to the desserts.

They were all inside. Shael had the only lamp, and led the way. Since they left the hut, no one said a thing. It was a little bit sinister, but just as expected.

They found themselves in front of a large door.

"It's time", Shael said.

With his sword on his back, Hashi flexed his muscles.

Once they go through that door, she will not have a single moment to rest. Not a single moment to stutter. She will not fail.

The door moved by itself, and the toxic waste started pouring out. Everyone hugged the wall, trying not to be taken away by the force of pouring liquid, but Shael pushed through it with ease, thus entering the fort. Since he was the only one able to do it, the rest of them had to wait.

Finally the door started closing, but there was still waste bursting out. They all trusted Hashi. He won’t fail them now. He must fail us never, to be precise.

When the door was only few centimeters wide and still closing, Hashi stepped right in front of it, inserting his fingers. The waste was slowing down. He screamed, and the door started opening once again.

All the waste ran out.

From the inside, they all could hear danger alarms turning on. Here it goes!

They slipped in. It has finally begun. There is no turning back.