Flashf0rward

Chapter 26: Meeting the Enemy

Ivy

It had been two days since Matthias and his men had become our new next-door neighbours, and the village had been slightly uneasy because of it. People had been talking, some because they thought they knew what was going on, but most because they were scared. Wren still was wanting to keep things a secret for a while. At least, that was the plan.

All that changed as soon as Giles rode up to the front entrance. It was a normal morning, and I was walking back to my cabin after grabbing some food for me and Julie to have lunch later. Then, I heard shouting near the front gates, and my eyes widened. Knowing that could never be a good sign, I dropped my groceries and ran towards the entrance.

Walking up to the top of the wall, I looked down, seeing the guards pointing their rifles at a person who was standing in front of the gates. Sparrow was also aiming at him, keeping a close eye. It was the man who had tried to kill us and had chased us through all of Seattle. Giles, Matthias's right hand man.

The messy-haired man stepped off of his horse, raising both hands in the air. "I don't come to cause any trouble. I am simply a messenger." I spoke down to him. "Yeah? And what kinda message are you bringing, exactly?" I said, keeping my guard up. Giles turned up to me with the same blank expression he always seemed to have, one that made me uneasy. "Matthias requests to meet your brother in our camp."

Telling Giles to wait, I rushed through the village, heading to the town hall, bursting into the meeting room where Wren and Jude were discussing hunting patterns. Wren looked up in surprise, seeing the look on my face. "Ivy? What's wrong?" I quickly relayed what Giles had said, and a serious look went over Wren's face.

The three of us stood there in silence for a moment, then Wren sighed. "I thought this would happen eventually. At least he isn't being too forceful about it." Jude looked at Wren sideways. "You actually considering it?" Wren shrugged. "I guess. If I can talk to him, I can maybe figure out what he wants." I frowned. "I'm coming with you."

Wren looked at me and shook his head. "Not happening." I crossed my arms and stared him down. "You've had me cooped up in my room for the past two days. I've seen what Matthias is capable of, and I'm sure as hell not letting you go into his camp alone." Jude spoke up. "She does have a point. Going in without someone there would be a bad idea."

Seeing he was outnumbered, Wren put his hand up. "Alright, alright. But you let me do the talking, got it?" I nodded, knowing that this could mean the difference between life and death, depending on Matthias's mood. Heading back out to the armoury to pick up some weapons just in case, we got out on our horses and headed to the front gates.

As we cantered out of the gates, we saw Giles waiting for us. "You're bringing her?" He asked Wren, and Wren nodded. "I'd prefer to have someone watching my back." Giles nodded. "Fair enough." Getting on his horse, he looked back at the two of us. "Follow me." With that, he took off, the two of us on his tail.

Heading over the hill, we could see the camp up close this time, and it was a lot bigger than I thought it was. It was almost twice the size of Sanctuary, and had twice as many people. Not just men, but women as well. No children, however. Absolutely none that I could see. Maybe they were all inside, but still, something about that observation rubbed me the wrong way.

We trotted over to their "gate" of sorts, which consisted of two of the large wooden Xs that were in the ground, and two men wielding assault rifles. "Where'd you get the weapons?" Wren asked, and Giles responded. "We raided a military base a while back. Since then, we've gotten everything we needed to defend ourselves." I couldn't tell if he meant defending against the morphs, or other humans.

Inside the camp, we saw several people milling around tents, chopping wood, building walls with bricks and stone, and cooking raw meat over fire. They were like us in many ways, but not as developed and slightly less organized. But they kept in line, and did as they were told, working efficiently. They were like bees in a hive.

Heading to the supposed centre of the camp, I saw the two Hummers that I'd seen before. "Where'd you get those?" I asked, knowing it was a question that was both on my and Wren's minds. "We found those in the military base as well. We figured since there was plenty of excess gasoline still left over, we would use them as a last resort." Giles answered. They clearly weren't messing around.

Finally, as we reached the centre, I saw a small wooden table set in the middle of the grassy field, Matthias sitting on the other side, eating an apple. There weren't any chairs for us, and I had a feeling that was on purpose. Getting off of our horses, we walked over to Matthias, standing on the other side of the desk.

Finishing his apple and then placing the core on the table, Matthias smiled. "Thank you, Giles." Giles nodded and left, presumably to attend to other matters. Matthias motioned to two men behind him, who placed two chairs behind us. "Have a seat. I didn't realize you were bringing your sister along with you, or I would have had the chairs ready."

Wren sat down, and I did the same. "Well, I always like having someone with me when meeting new people." He said, and stared at Matthias seriously. Matthias smiled. "Of course." Lacing his fingers together, he placed them on the table. "So, let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? I suppose you have a pretty good idea why I asked for you to meet."

Nodding, Wren answered. "You wanted to talk about why you're here." Matthias raised his index finger and pointed it at Wren. "Correct. Thanks to your sister, we managed to find this place, and now we've decided to move in so we can keep an eye on you." Wren sighed. "I can assure you, Matthias, we don't intend to fight you or be hostile in any way."

Matthias shook his head. "Regardless of that, you have to realize I must do what's best for my men. You have a lot of experience with that, Wren. So, I decided that we needed to make sure you won't try anything." Leaning forwards, Wren spoke deliberately. "You're not listening. We're not the bad guys here. And so far, all you've done is kidnap my sister and attack one of my metahumans."

Letting out an amused scoff, Matthias sat back. "As far as I recall, this whole thing got started when your sister and your friend attacked both of my men when they were out simply patrolling the area." Frowning, Wren cocked his head. "That excuses torture and kidnapping in your eyes?" Matthias grew serious for a moment. "I simply do what the situation deserves. I never intended to kill your sister or your friend. If I did, they would be dead already."

A chill ran up my spine as I remembered what he did to Connor. "Is that a threat?" Wren asked, his tone growing more and more angry. Matthias shook his head condescendingly. "No. Just an observation. Obviously you and I handle things very differently, Wren. I more subscribe to the "eye for an eye" approach. Violence begets violence. That's the way of this new world. I simply move with it."

I could see Wren grit his teeth. He was getting irritated, and to be honest, I was too. "You killed your own man because he failed you. How is that fair?" Matthias looked at the people walking around him in the camp. "My men and I have a code. A code of silence. No putting another person at risk to save your own life. Robert broke that rule, and he payed the consequence."

Wren stood up and placed both his hands on the table. "You may work like that, but I don't. We don't kill. Ever. Not even for people like you." Matthias smirked slightly. "Now who's being the threatening one?" Crossing his arms, Matthias looked up at Wren. "You don't intimidate me, I can assure you. So you can stop trying. Sit."

He spoke in a commanding and final tone, and suddenly Wren sat down so hard that even he looked surprised. "I apologize. I don't normally use my powers to control others, but you clearly needed to know who you were dealing with." He said casually as he adjusted his coat. "Yes, I am a metahuman, like you. I can control the bodies of others, including myself. You may be wondering, if I am a metahuman, then why do I wish to fight my own kind?"

Matthias smiled at us with a sly grin that made me almost recoil with how dark it seemed. "The answer is simple. There are none like me. What I do is not of my own volition. I do the work of someone else. Someone larger than all of you, than the world." He smiled contently. "I have been chosen to do His work. And I shall not fail my mission."

We sat there in silence for a moment, then Wren looked at me. "We're leaving. Let's go." Not having to be asked twice, I stood up and walked away, Wren and I heading back to our horses. As we began to ride away, I heard Matthias call out to us. "Thanks for the talk! Be seeing you soon!"