Welfare and Warfare

Chapter 52

Day: 3491

Days Left: 1989

Lives Saved: 19

It was easy and difficult to enact a criminal act as three people had high status and power, one the mayor and the other the two highest positions in the city's militia. It was easy because they could easily schedule the guard patrols to create a blindspot and slip away unnoticed, but it was difficult because of their status that their disappearance would be noticed if gone too long. Unfortunately, they had to do it themselves and could not trust anyone else to handle it. Whilst Alfreda had been fretting about everything, the guilt, thinking that she was the only one who cared about any of this, Corinna had been concocting a plan. She had organised events within the city to gain people's attention, and Lili had planned accordingly with the guard patrols, more specifically putting those who were less perceptive near the blind spot as a precaution and above all putting Talon on break as the unofficial spymaster of the Warren would be dangerous if they were to be in their monster form, an unkindness of ravens all scattered above in the skies. It was difficult to convince Talon not to do a full shift, but Lili pressed them, using the fact that they were currently being hunted by the Grim Fairy as the reason and deserved to enjoy the festivities.

Alfreda needed barely any convincing for Calixte to host a concert, as he had in the past done music festivals and plays, though Alfreda suggested something on a larger scale and involved those in the camps to enjoy the entertainment too. The staging was set up on the exact opposite of the planned bloodspot and all refugees left their tents to witness the spectacle, no longer having to just hear from a distance like in the past, not able to see anything due to the high walls.

Corinna, Alfreda, and Lili all made their appearances before all three escaped the many eyes of the city and met up in the gloaming of the outskirts of the large clearing, armed with their weapons and masks if necessary and supplies to dig up a body.

As they walked, Lili surveyed their surroundings, ever cautious; Alfreda was skittish, unsettled by every sudden sound; and Corinna remained focused, straightforward. They reached the spot; the mark they had left nearby had been restored by the Abyss but they all remembered the tree. Corinna had ensured that this particular part of the forest remained untouched by loggers in case the bodies would get discovered.

Lili and Alfreda grabbed shovels whilst Corinna set out the tarp and rope, ready for the bodies to be wrapped and carried. Alfreda chewed on her bottom lip, hands shaking as she gripped the shovel tightly, her eyes on the ground, imagining what would be underneath.

"Let's begin," Lili said flatly, making the first move and digging out a small patch of earth.

Alfreda swallowed down her hesitation and nodded, and began digging herself.

With each part of earth unveiled, the faster her heart beat, wanting to explode out of her chest and yet her eyes could not tear away. She had to face it directly, head on. She should have done this years ago, or maybe straight away instead of being a coward, wanting to hide all of her mistakes and blame it on someone else. This wouldn't have happened if she had more control over herself. Or if they had exiled all those people creating people so desperate so... no she was blaming someone else again. She could have tried to resolve things peacefully. She could have tended and cared for the victims, allowed them to properly recover instead of... instead of this...

They finally reached it. And it had to be Alfreda, of course it was, as her shovel hit something that wasn't earth but something else. She almost screamed, she so desperately wanted to, yet her mind had practically shut off at this point, her eyes not properly registering what she was seeing, the buried arm. Her mind would come back eventually, maybe in a few minutes, or tomorrow. Alfreda took advantage of her current state, hoping that her delayed reaction to all of this was much later so she could function and get this over with instead of breaking down.