Chapter 179: The end of Damien.
Hadrian called for cars to be rolled out immediately and the women were pushed inside. Avenn was comforting Ambrosia. Brigitte was comforting Nora.
What they failed to understand was why the children were not being given back to them if they were being moved to another base.
Ambrosia asked her husband this much.
Avenn replied, "Hades does not trust us anymore. Maybe he is worried that we will plot against him from over there so the children are hostages.
Or maybe he is punishing us.
We don’t know the conditions of the place where we are being sent to. We don’t know if we will be able to eat well. I think we should let the children stay here for now. Anyway, they are with their grandparents.
I don’t believe that they will be treated cruelly. And sooner or later, we will re-unite with them."
The apocalypse only lasted five years, according to what Moon Raine said. After five years, as long they survived, they would get their children back.
In fact, if they got their lives together, they could come and request for the children in a year or two. After what Damien experienced, Avenn was not scheming anymore. He just wanted to keep his head down, become useful and find a way to survive.
Meanwhile, Hades and Sunshine had noted the watchers coming down from the bubble. They had already started observing the activities outside the gate.
Or maybe they were finally preparing to use the opportunity to enter the gate.
People were getting nervous.
The couple was uncomfortable with all possibilities.
Hades turned to Morris and said, "We don’t like standing outside for long hours. Why don’t you come in and we can discuss the supplies."
Morris did not trust outsiders, but the strange birds made him more wary. He nodded and so, the Stone villagers stepped into Fortress Four and discovered a world different from the one outside.
It was vast, as expected. The setting was far more interesting than what Morris had imagined. Towers and small houses layered behind the walls, quadrangles bustling with patrols.
The stone roads were dry. There was a difference between the cold air outside and the one inside the wall. The fortress was a miracle against the harsh bite of winter.
A group of four young children riding bicycles passed by them, laughing and shouting about being the first to the market.
Morris’ eyes widened, wonder slipping through his hardened mask. They had no food and there was a market in this place!!!
"Compared to this place...." he muttered half to himself. "we won’t last through the freeze. Some of our houses are old with cracks. When the severe winter comes, they will crumble. I doubt my people will survive it."
Hades stood still, his gaze drifting across the buzzing activity in the third wall. He wondered what Morris would say if he saw the first wall.
His thoughts of the late chief who had asked him to help his people if the apocalypse truly came. Instead of helping, he turned Damien on them and the chief died. A gnawing guilt tore at him.
If he had sent Damien to Sheldon’s base, maybe the tragedy could have been prevented.
Morris turned to him, his eyes softer now. "We need your help if we are to survive. My father said you had knowledge on how to survive these doomed days and if we could not cope, we could come to you."
"I am surprised that you have come." Hades said. "Everyone knows you hate outsiders."
Morris clenched his jaw. "When my father was chief, he put the needs of the people first. I am now chief and I must do the same. It does not mean that I trust you. I don’t think I will ever fully trust anyone with the name Quinn."
Hades’ gaze wavered, cracks forming in the ice. "We are not all bad."
Damien raised his eyes, exhaling deeply.
Hades looked at Sunshine and she shrugged. There was nothing to say in defense of the bad Quinns. Instead, a solution was already lingering in her mind. The Stone villagers were strong fighters and hunters.
They were not troublesome and had a spirit of community. They also knew the mountain better than anyone in the base.
So, she raised her voice and said, "We have enough space to accommodate your people here. We can take your people in. You can continue to be their leader and we can put you all in the same place. In houses that are next to each other.
In return, we will need you all to work along side us. We will need you to use your giant abilities every once in a while."
Morris’ brows furrowed in suspicion. "You would offer that to us? Why? And how do you know about my abilities?"
"We have cameras in the forest, we saw the mist attack you and your awakening." Hades told him.
Sunshine folded her arms. "We are offering this to you because you will be useful in case of an attack. The world is about to become more dangerous. We will be stronger together. What do you say?"
He said nothing.
The silence stretched, heavy with choice. It was a good offer but he did not know how his people would react. Some would think him to be weak for going to outsiders and others would be glad to live somewhere safe.
What would his father decide if he was here?
That question answered the rest of Morris’s questions and quelled his doubts
He nodded, though hesitation clouded his features. "I’ll need to speak to my people first. They must choose to come."
Sunshine and Hades did not want to push and seem too eager. The supplies were counted, parked and handed to the stone villagers.
Hades even provided willing soldiers and trucks to send them back which they turned down. Morris departed with Damien and a few supplies. His men tugged the cart back along the frozen path
As they walked, he told them about his conversation with Hades and Sunshine.
Damien’s laughter interrupted their conversation. "You are a fool to trust Hades, I know him well and he will choke you with his mercy and use you until you are dust. When he is done he will toss you away like he did to me."
The words lit fire in Morris’ chest, but he remained silent.
His men exchanged uneasy glances.
"Take the eastern route." Morris ordered.
The Caravan veered off the main trail, climbing the jagged cliffs that overlooked the dark forest below. The wind howled, carrying with it the scent of pine and death.
Morris halted, his eyes narrowing at the endless drop. He motioned for the cart to stop.
Damien laughed again, but it faltered when he was carried forward to the edge of the cliff suddenly and turned to face down. "Wait. What are you doing?" His voice pitched higher, panic fraying the edges. "Listen, don’t do this. I__I will help you take over that fortress, you can have it all with my help." He wanted to die but he also wanted to choose his death.
Plunging down into what seemed like a dark abyss crawling with monsters was not thrilling.
Morris’ face was stone, his grief boiling beneath the surface. "That is the difference between me and you Damien, I do not betray those that help me, and I am not greedy for what is not mine." He let out a sarcastic laugh. "My father’s blood cries from the earth, and it demands for yours."
"No! You need me__!" Damien’s words ended with a scream as he was tossed over the cliff. His body tumbled into the abyss, swallowed by shadows of broken branches. The forest below gave no sound of welcome, only silence.