The Peacekeepers

Part One; Chapter Seventeen

The Longest Month

This sucks. This really fucking sucks. I have to see Gideon every single day and clean a dozen massive shitters.

It was explained to me that the plumbing works only in the apartments but not in the base and there was no other way outside other than the ouhouses. This is literally the worst job imaginable.

The guy overseeing us was a Peacekeeper named David. He's a tall red headed guy that doesn't really talk much. (Great. Another god forsaken ginger.) He just laughed at us the second we arrived. He was holding two long, metal fence posts and had two gallons of gasoline beside him.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me right?" I said.

"Nope! Have fun boys! Especially you Gideon. Ya'll play nice now." He laughed at us as he walked away.

"Where in the hell are you going David?" Gideon asked him.

He looked back and smiled. "I'm gonna go relax and maybe work out a bit later today. Have fun new guy!"

I really hate this job. The first time I lit the... contents of the outhouse and started stirring I lasted about thirty seconds before I puked into it which just added to the horrific stench. Every time I come home I'm hungry as hell from the half rations I got. I see Alice holding her nose and laughing at me every single time I come home.

"Pee yew! You stink Drake!"

All I can do is give in to a smile, playfully punch her in the arm and allow her sweet laughter to fill my ears like the symphony of hope and happiness that it is. In this dark and uncertain world people have lost hope. Lost the will to live even. But at the end of the day, my little sister's laughter fills my heart with the greatest of joys.

She's so happy here. She never has to worry about a thing or live every waking moment looking over her shoulder in fear of what may be behind her. I don't care how much shit I have to stir and burn, as long as I get to see her sweet smile and hear her laughter, anything is worth that.

That month was hard, smelly and long. Gideon and I actually have more in common together than I thought. At first we had started joking around on the job after about two weeks. Jokes turned into telling stories which later turned into emotionally deep conversations. We had grown a certain trust for one another but with a sense of caution as well. Before long I could call him my friend. This may have been Sheamas' plan all along. Plus, stirring excrement is a really good workout.

The days came and went and before I knew it, the worst month of my entire life was over. I was back to being a Peacekeeper again... Which was quiet boring. When we didn't get raided by Fallen Kings we were basically the police officers and security guards. The most that happened was I stood between a few potential fist fights and broke up two kids beating the daylights out of each other. It was boring but it was better than more Fallen King encounters.

Eventually the hot part of summer came and things would begin to heat up in more ways than one...