Chapter 8
Samuel's Path: The Northern Tower
Samuel had traveled east, past the burnt city, and through the flat lands. He had left the mountain gate and settled in an ancient tower. He would stay there for a while. This was where he would wait for the next horde. He waited and watched to give the people who fled a chance to get away. He hoped they would reach the sanctuary. He was not sure if it was real, or just a myth. But it was hope. In legend, Sanctuary was a small piece of land hidden in a mountain valley where the creatures would not go. No one knew why the creatures stayed away. They just stayed away.
Gray and white billowy clouds rolled in the distance. The golden rays of sunlight occasionally danced on the white stone walls of the three-story watch tower. This made the tower visible over long distances. Maybe this was why the creatures tended to gather here.
Samuel had long since gotten used to the lights in the tower stairway coming on when he went by. He understood the science of the lights, but it still seemed like magic. The ancient tower was part of a wall. The remains of the wall stretched as far as anyone could see. The wall went north and south. It curved west at the ends. It was said that in the north it ends in ice. Ice so tall, thick and menacing that man nor creature could cross. In the south, it was supposed to continue west until it reached an ocean. Only a rebuilt wall made from the rubble of the past was left in the south. Samuel was the only defender to have seen the southern part of the wall or an ocean.
Samuel had often been amused when someone asked him if he was a defender. He had acted as one, but not without necessity. He had been an explorer, and he had been a watcher. He had traveled. He had seen and experienced more than most. He had heard talk of another ocean, but he hadn't even seen a picture or painting of it. Few travelers came from that direction, and even less information. Samuel paused. He had been stacking stones. Once he had hoped to make it to the Western Ocean; then the horde came. His attention returned to his work.
The wall came complete with scars, holes, and sections ready to topple over. Part of each day was spent stacking stones. The old white stones were very heavy and hard to move. But a chest high dry stacked stone wall would stop or turn most of the old gray creatures, when they were alone. They would clumsily bounce off, and head in a different direction. At times, repairing the crumbling wall seemed like a futile gesture. No one had ordered the wall to be rebuilt. There were no plans. There were only a few words amongst survivors. Each one willing to try and hope. It was what they had left to give. Soon, winter would end, and it would be time to go. He returned to the tower.
He looked through the long glasses. Jon and his wife used to correct him when he called them long glasses or worse, long eyes. They would tell him, "They are called binoculars." He smiled to himself. Jon's injury had worried him greatly; still, it was good that they were both behind the big gate. They can teach the others many things. But it was even better that they would be together, safe from the creatures.
Samuel watched a small party of travelers approaching the open gate on the side of the tower. He was totally and completely sure that they were creatures. These weren't the old grey monstrous looking ones. These were the newly turned. Not recent enough to be free of Unity, and cursing what had been done to them, or hiding in shame. These had passed that. But they were new enough to seem happy and carefree. They were willing to share the bliss that is Unity with all those around. They still looked human, while the parasite inside them sucks all that is human out of them. In the end, they all become the grey boney creatures rampaging across the landscape. Creatures willing to do anything, including kill, for the warmth or touch of a human being. Beings desperate for a taste, touch, feel, sight or smell of something they once were.
The next revelation came with a start. A child? A child. Samuel had not seen or heard of a child being turned. This one was walking calmly and lazily alongside the adults. There were no tales of creatures taking care of human children, and no creature had ever been seen having a child. No child survived the onslaught of being crushed, pulled or dragged by the old gray creatures. But the newly turned weren't any better. They abandoned children to starve or die of exposure. Some children were trampled, tied to random objects or simply killed. The worst were the ones that were crushed in a futile attempt for the Sisterhood of Unity to reproduce itself. The ones that were simply in the way. No one was allowed to block or slow the path of Unity. The Sisters often said, "We are Unity. We are Bliss. All will come to Unity. Unity is one. We are all." The Sisters said this the loudest right when the madness took them. Samuel reached the bottom of the stairs. He said to himself, "Jon told me that what new thing came after the hoard would probably be worse. Well, let's go say hello." He left the safety of the tower. Then he approached the travelers.
"It's good to meet." Samuel used the traditional informal greeting for strange travelers. "What brings you to the wall this day." He addressed all three women.
The shorter of the adult women spoke, "It's good to meet this day. We seek clean water and blue skies. Have you seen such things?"
Samuel stepped forward to place a water bag down. She doesn't appear to have been turned. Unity does not speak of water or the sky. "Yes, I have seen both."
The shorter adult woman said as she pulled a long knife from her clothes, "Step no closer."
Samuel laid the bag down and stepped back four paces. "Water for those who travel." His hands were in the air by his head. The semi-automatic weapon hung from a strap around his neck.
The woman gestured with the knife. "Acacia, get the bag. Bring it to me." She grabbed the bag and tested it. She gave it to the girl, "Drink, clean water."
"Here Marigold, drink. I'll watch them." The girl offered the bag back to the woman.
"Here, watch him, but I think he is less dangerous than we are." She handed Acacia the knife.
"Those two? Are they with Unity?" Samuel asked the young girl.
Marigold replied, "We will be soon." She retrieved the knife from the girl. She slipped the knife in her belt.
"You do not act as Unity? How is this so?" He asked.
She let the second woman lose and uncovered her head. She had been wearing a hood. She pulled down the lower lid of the second woman's eye. "She has the green that hides behind the eye. Valerian root tonic. It keeps her calm and compliant. At least, until the desire grows too strong, or the madness comes. Tell me traveler, have you succumbed in the last moon?"
"I do not know the meaning of the thing you ask. Your words aren't used as I use them." Samuel replied.
"You do not speak god's language? I should have known. It may be that you cannot help." Marigold replied. She gripped the knife.
The second woman mumbled, "It is our pleasure to succumb with our..."
"Quiet, Sister. You cannot have this pleasure again." Marigold said calmly to the one who spoke.
The second woman spoke, "We only wish to please... Oh, we will lose ourselves... We only desire your touch... To feel you inside..."
Acacia spoke softly to her in a reassuring whisper. It calmed her. Some human must still linger.
Marigold turned to Samuel. "I am sorry. I ask if you have laid with man or woman in the last twenty-seven days. For pleasure."
Samuel replied, "No. But I am starting to believe you might have?"
"Not by choice." Marigold replied. "I seek the defenders of the gate. I believe you are one."
"Why?" Samuel asked.
"You have a weapon; I have not seen before. And you watch the old wall." She spoke.
Samuel clarified his question, "No. Why do you seek a defender?"
"Acacia. She will need a place to be... I cannot protect her. I'm going to turn soon. Two days, at the most. And. Well, when I go. Well, I won't be able to... Are you a defender?"
"Who can carry such a name anymore? The true defenders are old men or dead. But you are right in a way. I am a traveler. And a hunter of creatures. I cannot keep her safe. That is not my path. But I know an old man who can. He was a defender, and the one you should seek. I am sorry, but only the one called Acacia can go."
Marigold spoke, "This is only right. You will save the girl, and we will end here. Come, sister. We will pray before our time ends."
"Your sisters?"
Acacia said, "Yeah, they are really sisters and my cousins."
Marigold looked at Samuel. "I don't know who you are. Tell me, you'll protect Acacia and end us quickly. I know it is wrong to ask such a thing of a stranger, but you are the only person we have seen east of this place. Before I become a monster... She is the last of us. I must know she can be safe?"
"Acacia, do you know what she asks?" Samuel inquired.
The young girl faced the ground, "She wants to die with her sister, before there is no soul left to her or to them. They want this before they turn, kill, or abandon me."
With sadness and pride for the three women, he spoke, "I am called Samuel. Welcome travelers. I am pleased to find you in this place today. Your pains trouble me greatly. Because of this, I am willing to go with Acacia to a defender. Come, rest, and wait. We have a few days before anything has to be done. We will eat and speak of happy things. And know, I stood at the gate with the defender you seek."
Marigold offered. "Clean water and blue skies. May your journey be blessed under a true god. Samuel, have you truly seen the old gate, and the path to the Black Mountains?"
"Yes, but I can't speak of these things to you." He paused. "I am sorry."
Acacia pulled the bottom lid down on her eye. She spoke, "You cannot chance the creatures knowing. May no green hide."
Samuel pulled the bottom lid down on his eye. "May no green hide behind your eyes."
Acacia said, "Now, we are friends. How did you come to stand by a defender?"
"Have you heard of the Order of Travelers?" He asked.
Marigold replied, "I have met one. He traveled with a woman. They are the learners and teachers of the old ways. Acacia, do you remember the man who came to learn of God and the devil Unity?"
Acacia nodded. "Are you a Traveler?"
"I was once; then I became ill. I was in the hospital, in a bad sleep. Like that one." Samuel stated as he pointed to the drowsy taller woman.
"What is hospital?" Marigold asked.
"A place for healing. And a place for learning." He replied.
"And they had Valerian tonic to bring the bad sleep for healing?" Marigold questioned him.
"It was stronger, more powerful, and darker. But it was almost the same." Samuel paused. "I do not remember leaving the city or going to the gate. Three days after I woke up the first smoke rose into the sky. A hoard had reached the city. Well, people were fleeing, and they needed time."
Marigold spoke. "Samuel, you are looking very handsome to me right now." She shivered, and she rubbed her inner thighs. She began to rock back and forth on her heels. "I hope you have some rope. I am losing trust in myself." She handed Acacia the knife.
"Yes, we can go and sit. We will make it so we can all be safe and comfortable." He inhaled deeply. "But first, I will answer your question. I stood by the defenders because I had no more to lose. Now, let us talk about happy things." They walked to the tower.
Two days later, Samuel asked, "Acacia, will you please go into the tower; meanwhile, I will end things here."
She replied, "They have the sleep of the Valerian root, and I am strong. You need not worry for me, Samuel. You need not spare me any pain."
"Acacia, it is not your strength or conviction I question. I fear that I cannot do this with you here. I seem to lack your strength and faith." Samuel confessed.
"Alright, I will go." She stepped away sadly.
When the girl was gone Samuel said, "Good-bye, my friend. Thank you for the time we shared. Know that I will help the girl." Pow. Pow. Pow.
Later. After he had placed them in the graves, the girl returned. "You covered their wounds like a healer?"
"Yes, I had to. I couldn't bury them without doing so." He answered.
"Thank you. We will cover them. Then we will speak of leaving..."
"Yes, we'll speak of leaving. But first, we will speak the words of your God over them." He spoke solemnly. "Do not forget, they may have been some human left in them."