The Company

Chapter Twenty-Four: I Guess A Blue Star Isn't Enough for the Washington?

When we grew too tired to keep going, we took a nap on the floor. I woke up and saw that he had his notebook out on the floor, sprawled open like he'd dropped it.

I peeked over to look at it. He'd drawn the roof of the bell tower: the cracks, old boards, plant growths, and sun beams that came through and just enveloped everything that was there.

I leaned against the wall of the bell tower in a quiet suppression as I looked over the half-wall.

I'd forgotten how pretty the woods looked when you weren't practically dying and having way too much alone time crawling around in your own head. The way the sun hit whatever leaves were left on the trees and hit the grass as it blew, the way the wind blew in my face to calm me down, the way I could feel the calmness in the air around me.

I didn't like the silence, so I put some music on. My Chemical Romance this time. I needed some Revenge to help me breathe.

I closed my eyes and listened to the mix of  I'm nature and music put together. It was like...no. I won't- I'll tell you.

It was happiness. It was peace at last. It was like living in a world where a war that had raged on too long was finally over. It was like civilians could finally walk outside again without fear of being shot down or bombed with some kind of nuclear warhead. We could just look out at the horizon and breathe.

I decided to go down to the main part of the Homestead to check it out. It was a lot more organized than before I left. There was something like designated zones for each thing now. There was more people out and about now, which was good.

Reality hit me like a brick. There were so many people now, so many free people that were away from Their grasp. It was because of me. If I didn't work quickly to mark the first spot, almost all of Us would've been killed.

I sat down and leaned against the trunk of the emo tree as I watched everyone walk along, do their business. All I could physically and mentally do was watch it go. I felt like a proud father watching his kids go into their first concert or marching event or anything like that...a soccer game? I don't know how that is. I wasn't in soccer for too long. I never played a game of soccer in my life.

Nevertheless, I watched them.

Wow. That sounds creepy as heck. I'm so sorry it sounded like that, but it's the truth. What else could I do, really? I saved lives, and a lot of them. That was a change of what had been happening for way too long. It was a good change, a great change. I was so thankful and happy that it had all turned out right at this point.

I didn't think that it would turn south as quickly as it did.  

I was listening to some music when the Washington stood in front of me. He started speaking for a minute when I saw everyone around me start clapping. I was terrified when I saw what he had in had in his hand.

It was a rifle. A big rifle and an amazingly-decorated longsword. Oh my God, was that sword beautiful. The blade was a deep black that looked like it would suck you in if you looked at it for too long. It was covered in so many cracks that it looked like it was going to fall apart, but it stayed together somehow. In fact, it looked like it was strongest thing I'd ever seen. The hilt had a familiar orange symbol on it with an orange button on the handle, so I knew what it was from. It almost deflated my excitement.

It was the orange symbol of the Austin Research Company. When I looked, it was on the rifle, too.

I took out my headphones and tapped on the Washington's shoulder. "Hey pal, what's happening here?"