Behind the Walls

Part Seven- Jasper

027.4 Hours Since Quartz's Disappearance

"Come on. We usually work alone, but you'll be with me for the first two days", Mico says. He grabs me by the elbow and pulls me along. I don't resist. More armed guards with the reflective masks are waiting by one of the tankers. The tanker is a large metal tube loaded onto the back of a flatbed trailer. It's pulled by a massive armored truck. The waiting guards move to get into the tanker and an armored Jeep. I take a step to follow them, but Mico shakes his head and leads me over to the back of the tanker.

"Are we....... leaving the city in the trucks?". The sudden realization makes me dizzy. I'm sure that I've never outside before. The darkness still sends a shiver down my spine. Something is out there, but I can't remember what. The wall is here for a good reason.

"Yes. We do our job outside. Do exactly what I do, alright? We don't ride inside the trucks. You could fall off and get hurt if you don't position yourself correctly". Mico steps up onto the tanker's bumper. It's unusually wide. He then grabs a handle above him and steps up with his other foot. I copy him, finding a second handle in the dark. Mico then pulls a belt out from a retractable pocket in the tanker. He pulls it around his lower back and clicks it into place on his other side. He can lean back on it so his weight isn't all on his arm. It takes me a minute to find the belt. It still doesn't feel safe when I lock it into place around me.

"What n-", I cut myself off with a small yelp when the tanker's engine roars to life. Mico flashes me a smile. It's impossible to talk over the rumble of the engine. I tense up and my grip turns to iron on the handle. The tanker jolts backwards and starts to roll out of its parking space. I can only cling to the back. The entire chain link fence shivers when a section unlatches and swings out. I hadn't even realized there was a gate. Armored jeeps drive in front of and behind the tanker, acting as escorts. They both have strange plows on the front. They're too high to be meant for snow.

When we're outside the fence, I naturally look up and around to access the environment. I jerk my chin back down to my chest almost immediately. I remember why we need the walls now. It protects us from them. They have no name but 'Monsters'. The monsters are entirely black, almost looking like silhouettes. It's hard to see them at night unless their bright white eyes are turned to look at you, and it's too late by then. Their bodies resemble humans with lanky limbs and misshapen oval heads. Hands end in slim claws. Their voices are horrible; they make wailing moans and cries that last all night. The wall keeps them and their voices out. The loud noise of the trucks is attracting them. They all turn to look and start shambling after us. I don't understand what the occasional plunking sound is until I realize the front Jeep's plow is bashing them away.

Why are we outside at night? The monsters are sensitive to sunlight. Most disappear into the forest that's five miles out from the city walls. In the darkness, they've all come out to play. I keep my eyes firmly locked on to the back of the tanker. I'm waiting for a pair of claws to dig into my back and rip out my spine. These things kill people. That's why we have to stay behind the wall.

The trucks have driven about two miles from the wall when the convoy starts to slow. Primal fear surges up and makes my legs weak. Why in God's name are we stopping!? The driver might be safe, but those things will rip Mico and I apart. I'm still frozen stiff on the tanker when it slows into idle. My stomach balks when Mico unbuckles himself and drops calmly down to the ground.

"Wh-What!? What are you-", my voice comes out as a low squeak from my fear, but Mico shushes me. He walks around and unlocks my seatbelt. I nearly fall back, but instead pull myself back to hug the tanker. He's crazy if he thinks I'm going down there. Mico rolls his eyes. A shadow falls over him, and I look up to be met with the slack face of a monster.

My breathing simply stops. My blood runs cold, and my gut clenches while I wait for the thing to tear Mico apart. It doesn't. The monster stares down at him for a moment, but then it walks around and starts to drag it's clawed fingers on the armored tanker. It's attracted to sound. Mico turns back to me once it's moved on. He grabs my arm and yanks me down off the tanker. I'm too stiff to fight back before I'm on the ground. Mico keeps a tight grip on me. He drags me over to another monster that's standing and crying softly a few feet away. I dig my heals into ground and force him to stop before we can get within its arms' reach. Mico huffs at me. The sound makes the monster turn to look at him. Mico then points to his eyes, my eyes, and then at the monster. It takes most of my willpower to turn and meet that thing's eyes. It's eyes aren't completely blindingly white like they look from afar. The pupils are darker, and shaped like small diamonds. Like Mico's. Like mine.

I can't understand what it all means. Everything is too much to process right now. All I want is to crawl back into my cell and think. Shaking my head, I look at Mico, waiting for him to tell me what to do. He nods his head once he's seen me calm slightly. The monsters would have killed us already if they were going to. The scratch the truck to try and get to the guards inside, but they ignore us.

I watch Mico carefully as he opens up a hatch on the back of the tanker. The smell hits me first. I gag and my eyes water. Mico seems used to it. He pulls a wide hose out of the compartment and starts to drag it to the other side of the tanker. It's wide enough that he can barely wrap one arm around it. I grab onto the stinking hose and just behind him and help drag it.

I don't know what we're doing with it until we get around to the tanker's other side. A deep, concrete pit has been dug into the ground. Its sides are sloped and give it a wide cone shape. It's empty right now, but the inside is stained with a dark color. We drag the hose until it's draped over the edge of the pit. Mico steps away and turns back to the truck, so I follow. There's a pair of levers on the side of the tanker. Mico has to pull both for the tanker's contents to start emptying into the pit.

The awful smell finally clicks when I see the hose start to spew out a mixture of blood and gust. Any part of a farm animal that the city typically doesn't use, like organs, hooves, blood, and chopped up heads, is being poured into the pit. The monsters immediately turn from the truck and start to lumber over, their moans getting louder with excitement.

Fuck. We're feeding them. We're fucking feeding them.