The Eyes Behind the Walls

Chapter One - Jarren

He sucked in a shallow shaky breath, the stuffy air failing to fill his lungs. He scanned his surroundings as he had done countless times before, breathing slowly in and out, trying to calm his racing heart. He crouched among the profusely overgrown shrubbery, melding into the surrounding thickets. The trees here grew too closely together, obscuring the sun above the thick foliage canopy, twisting and turning to fight their way to the top. The light that managed to sneak through cracks and crevices between the branches cast obscure shadows down upon the road. Tangling vines cascaded down from the overflowing ceiling, fighting to push through the endless wooden walls, collapsing inward together more and more each day.
Clip-clop-clip-clop. He closed his eyes, jerking his head to the side, straining his ears to fixate on the sounds of the nearing horse's hooves pounding against the densely packed forest dirt. Gradually, the sound began to rise above the rhythmic cacophony engulfing him. It cut through the shrill chorus of singing birds and the drumming of bustling leaves clashing together, edged on by whispers of wind over and over again. Inhale. Exhale. He caught the strong scent of rotting leaves littering the damp forest floor. Pools of muddy water swirled ever so slightly, tugging along small leaves floating gently on the surface.
He glanced up and saw a streak of black sweeping through the trees, nearing the bend in the road. He tightened his grip around his dagger, his scarce moment of peace fleeting away with the wind. Two charcoal black horses emerged from around the bend and trotted into view, he squinted at the men riding them, scanning slowly up and down; knew what they were as soon as he saw them. Their full black attire made them unmistakable; only Hunters were allowed to cover their faces. He ducked back further into the shrubbery, listening to the sound of their chattering voices. He tentatively began to creep back from the road, slowly disappearing behind the wooden walls.
When he was sure he could no longer hear the pounding of hooves, he began running back to the compound as he had done every day for the past week. The tree branches grew further apart and the sun beamed harsh rays down on his face. The green blockade of leaves morphed into loose flossy clouds and the harsh spears of mountains rolled into gentler hills.
He scanned his surroundings constantly for Raiders. They had been spotted a few miles from here a week prior, and they were the only thing worse than the Hunters. They survived by searching for compounds and robbing them, then burning them to the ground. He struggled to keep quiet, his lungs begging him for relief, his feet tumbling over scattered tree roots and fallen branches. He knew he couldn't keep running for much longer, but he had no choice. Nowhere beyond the compound's walls were safe.
He finally slowed when he reached sight of the dark red brick wall. He placed his hands on his knees and gasped for air, his lungs ablaze and his legs aching and numb. Gradually, his breath began to slow as he trudged along the edge of the wall. He ran his hand gently across the cracked and broken brick surface as he neared the only entrance into the compound, feeling the rough worn down texture scrape against the pads of his fingers.
He knocked on the door and waited until it was unlocked and opened, then made his way towards the middle of the compound to give his report. He pushed his way past people bickering over land, food, water, anything people could fight over. He slipped through gaps between tents and ducked under makeshift clotheslines, trying to get through without bothering anyone. Sheets of green and black tents packed the compound and the walkways between them grew smaller each year. He felt as though he was suffocating in a sea of people surrounding him, pushed this way and that by an undertow of strangers. Soon he reached the only walled building in the compound, what was known as The Center.
"I'm back father."
He knocked on the doorway as he entered the dark brown building. This was the same way he had entered each day prior, and he was met with the exact same response, the tedious familiarity of the situation irritating him more and more each day.
As he turned the corner his father's sighing face came into view. He was sitting at his desk, surrounded by chairs and shelves overflowing with odds and ends. His bright blond hair stuck out against the background of maps and papers haphazardly arranged upon the grim dark walls behind him, lit only by a few candles.
"Did you see them again today?" Rowan asked.
He glanced up at him expectantly, his cold deep blue eyes showing nothing other than annoyance, his hand still writing on a sheet of paper.
"Yes, around the same time, too," Jarren replied hesitantly.
He knew this would upset his father, and that frequent trips by the Hunters could only mean one thing.
Rowan sighed, shaking his head, and went back to his papers. He shuffled them around his desk, pushing stacks around the already cluttered surface, somehow managing to avoid the inevitable occurrence of the papers crashing to the ground they desperately edged towards.
"I'll call a meeting tonight and we'll discuss the matter," he huffed.
Jarren left with that, knowing there was nothing he could do to help put his father's mind at ease. Anything he elaborated on would only cause him further annoyance. He wandered back through the crowded streets and over toward the Western corner of the wall. Gradually the noise of the compound grew softer, the paths spread wider, and the air smelled more of dirt and saltwater.
"Hey there, what took you so long?" Ezra asked.
Startled, he looked up and saw her fiery auburn hair peeking through the light green leaves around her. "I was tired, couldn't run as fast," he mumbled.
"Maybe you should ease up on the carbs," she teased.
"Maybe you should stop spying on people from up in the branches," he said as he carefully placed his foot on a low hanging branch, slowly making his way up the tree across from her.
She gasped dramatically and smiled, placing her hand on her chest.
"How dare you! I am not spying on people, I am simply watching people who aren't aware of it," she corrected.
"You can call it whatever you want, but I know spying when I see it. Anything good today?"
He laid down across the branch, his back resting against the top of the tree, and watched the sun set behind the wall. This was his favorite time of day, when the blues of the sky swirled playfully with a golden orange, streaked through with hints of lavender and soft rose pink. Moments like these, he thought, made all of his efforts worth it.
"Well let's see... Mr. Armitage and the farmers delivered another load of cucumbers and squash to storage and one of the Darby's boys fell and broke his wrist," she said triumphantly.
"Wow," he chuckled. "It's been a rather busy day."
"Yeah, it has been. What about you?"
His smile faded and he stared down at the brick wall.
"They came again today."
His voice was quiet and hesitant, he knew Ezra worried more than most that the Hunters would someday find the compound.
"My father's calling a meeting tonight to talk about what we should do."
"Oh," she said after a short silence.
She refused to look at him, instead her eyes darted everywhere else. She couldn't bring herself to think of leaving the compound, the only home she'd ever known.
"Ezra..."
"No, no, I'm fine. I just don't see why we need to do anything about it. We are perfectly fine right here where we are," she replied, fidgeting with a leaf next to her.
Jarren sighed and turned to face her. "I know you're afraid of leaving, and I understand why, but they're coming closer and soon it won't be safe here anymore."
Ezra glared at him and tossed the leaf down to the ground. Her fair skin was now flushed red and her amber brown eyes welled with tears.
"No, you don't understand. You don't understand what it's like to lose both your parents and not be able to do anything about it. You don't know what it's like to grow up alone in a world like this. Raiders are looting and burning nearby compounds more and more. I'm afraid of getting attacked and getting the same unlucky fate they did. I'll never be safe, none of us will. But I sure as hell won't be any safer than I am within these walls."
"You're right. I don't know what it was like for you, and I'm sorry for what happened to you. But I do know this. Every day The Elite grow stronger and the Hunters search more and more land. Soon they'll find us or another compound, and when they do I won't be here waiting for them. We can't just do nothing, you know that, I know it, and so did your parents. They died trying to protect you, don't let that go to waste by throwing your life away sitting up in this tree, afraid to do anything. We'll all die at some point, so we might as well live a little while we still can."
She sniffled and fidgeted with her hands, focusing on them instead of him. Her mouth felt dry and the air felt thicker than it had been a minute ago.
"I know. I guess it's just easy to get caught up in the grim of it all. We grew up hearing tales of what it was like before us, how perfect it seems compared to this, and I know we'll never have that. But the comfort of these walls, no matter how fleeting, is as close to perfect as it will ever be," she contended.
"I'm sorry, we don't even know if we'll be moving or not. We don't have to worry about it right now. All that matters is that in this moment we're safe inside these walls," he said, trying to cheer her up.
He had never meant to upset her, and he had never seen her this disquieted before.
"Yeah, we are, I guess that's better than most," she said as she smiled at him.
"You deserve better than most," he replied earnestly.
"Oh shut up. Let's go before it gets too late."
She began climbing down the tree, grinning from ear to ear.
"I'll race you home," he challenged.
"You don't have a chance," she warned, taking off back towards The Center.
#
Jarren opened the door to The Center and tiptoed up the stairs. He crept to his room, trying not to make any noise. A stair beneath his feet creaked and caused him to grimace.
"Where were you off to this time?" Rowan questioned.
He paused and turned to face his father, dreading the conversation he knew was coming.
"I was just talking to Ezra, that's all," he replied coolly.
"You know how I feel about you wasting time with her. Now that you're older you should have more responsibilities instead of running off with her every night."
"I know," Jarren said defeatedly.
There was no use arguing with him. Whatever his father said was the law of the land for as long as Jarren could remember.
"The meeting starts in a few minutes, change out of those dirty clothes and set up the chairs," he dismissed.
Jarren trudged up to his room and closed the door, wanting to slam it but knowing better. He didn't consider his room to be homey, but he liked it enough. It was big enough for a small blue bed and a bookshelf filled with trinkets and books he had collected over the years. He enjoyed being caught up in the fantasy and delusion of getting swept up into a book, rather than accepting the reality of the grim hopelessness that he lived in and was constantly being reminded of. He preferred to imagine that he was slaying dragons and saving the day, not doing chores all day long, stuck in a place that no one wanted to be in, least of all him.
He changed into a more appropriate outfit and begrudgingly began lining the chairs up in rows. He had been tasked with this mundane job weekly ever since he was a child, because he was the son of the compounds leader. As he monotonously completed the chore, his thoughts drifted back to his childhood. Always studying maps and strategies, never being allowed to play or cause trouble. "You can't be seen frolicking about and flying off the handle, how can people expect your father to lead everyone if he can't even control you?" His mother had said to him. The only reprieve he had was the time he spent with Ezra. Talking to her had always come naturally to him, although she wasn't quite the same after her parents had died a few years ago. She was free spirited, kind, and much smarter than he was, which he knew, although he would never admit to. He looked over at her and smiled as she walked with her older brother and sat down towards the front of the room.
He hurried to finish setting up the chairs as people began making their way into the room. They chattered amongst themselves impatiently as they waited to hear the news. People lined up around the walls of the room, packed together into corners and squashed into the aisle to accommodate everyone.
"Thank you for coming."
Rowan stepped to the front of the room and the chattering died down.
"As you know, my son has been traveling out to the road each day to keep track of the Hunters location. This past week they have passed by every afternoon. As far as we know they haven't gotten any closer, and they have no reason to suspect a compound in this area. As you know, the Elite have sent the Hunters scouring the area more frequently than we've previously seen. Yet we remain hopeful that they will soon move on to searching another section, and we will have nothing to worry about. A group of Raiders was spotted a few miles from here on the last trip to the river compound, but haven't been seen since. For now we will not interfere and instead wait until we know anything further. That will be all."
Rowan stepped back and began walking towards the door. People shouted questions over each other and forced their way towards the door, nudging and elbowing others out of the way, trying to catch up to him. Ezra and her brother, Oliver, waved as they headed out behind the others.
"Hi honey," Evelyn said.
"Hello mother," he replied.
"I think your father handled that well considering the circumstances, don't you?"
"Yes, I guess." Jarren shrugged.
Everyone had filed out of the room by now, leaving them in an uncomfortably long silence. The enveloping sound of harsh rain thrumming against the tent's canvas grumbled in the background.
"Speaking of your father, he has organized a supply run to the river compound later this week."
She brushed her curly light brown hair out of her face as she watched his reaction.
"Again? We just did a trip a few weeks ago," Jarren asked incredulously.
"Well...the farm hasn't been able to keep up as well over the past few months trying to feed all of us. Unfortunately we were expecting a much bigger harvest today than we received," she replied.
"Shouldn't we have been prepared for this, we knew the farm wasn't keeping up, we should've dealt with this beforehand."
"Honey, your father is doing his best, we just need a little extra food to get us through until the next trip."
"Which unlucky man was coerced into going this time?" He asked.
"We were planning on sending the Darcy boys, however, Jonah just broke his wrist and isn't able to go. I remembered that I haven't gone for some time now, so I volunteered."
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? Why would you volunteer? It's too dangerous! And how did you get Dad to agree to this?" He asked with disbelief.
"I won't be going alone, Merric will be accompanying me, that's the only reason he's letting me go. I'll be in good hands, so there's no need to worry about me. Your father would never allow me to go if he thought I would be in danger," she insisted.
"Evelyn!" Rowan interrupted.
"I'm sorry honey, we'll finish this discussion later," she mumbled apologetically as she hurried outside.
As much as Jarren wanted to be upset by his mother's abrupt ending to the conversation, he knew it was rather typical of her to do so. Confrontation wasn't something this family deemed a worthwhile activity. It was apparently decided years ago that unpleasantness had no place in a family surrounded by a rather unpleasant world. Jarren had never understood this logic, but he never really understood any decisions his parents made, so who was to say that this decision was any more illogical than the rest.
He walked over to the doorway and peered into a blanket of darkness surrounding him. Rain cut through the sky and clattered onto the ground, diving down and breaking free from the thick gray ceiling. Screams erupted from the compound and his annoyance was immediately washed away, as he ran outside helplessly, not knowing what to do. The air buzzed frantically around him and the hair on his arms stood up in anticipation. He watched fearfully as people shouted at one another, grabbing their loved ones and fleeting into their tents. Men climbed on top of the walls and began peeking over the edges, watching fearfully and swiftly ducking down every now and then. He scoured the area, running to the densely crowded spot along the wall. He glanced up and saw his father's panicked expression, his head turned back and looking toward the compound. Jarren followed his eyes and traced them back to his mother's pale, wide eyed face. 
"Raiders," she trembled.