//------------------------------// // 10. Trapped // Story: A Wilting Flower // by Terran34 //------------------------------// Amaryllis dashed through the small copse of trees, the leaves crunching loudly beneath her feet. There was no time to watch her step; she could feel her Oppressed dying in her mind, each pinprick of light extinguishing one by one. The rest of the group was ahead of her, moving just as fast. As exhausted as everyone was, they were running on adrenaline now that they were this close to the Oppressed horde with the possibility of a gruesome death hovering over their heads. The trees soon broke, and the group found themselves in a small, mostly empty parking lot at the base of the church Mary mentioned previously; the church that promised temporary safe refuge. Now that Amaryllis could get a good look at the area, she felt confident that she’d made the right decision. There was only one vehicle parked in the parking lot: a large white RV that looked as though it had been abandoned by its previous occupants. To the right, there was a small street with a line of tiny two story houses crammed together to save space on the other side. To the left, Amaryllis could see something similar. As for the church itself, it appeared to be made entirely out of stone bricks, much to Amaryllis’ delight. The place looked to be Victorian Gothic in style and resembled a fortress in the way it was laid out, with battlements lining the roof. There were two main buildings. The first was clearly where the primary congregation would gather to worship. This building was built in the shape of a cross, with the top, shorter end facing towards the blacktop upon which Amaryllis stood. In the center of the cross, the building rose up into a second and third story, complete with a pointed roof upon which a holy symbol was placed. The roofs were slanted in a triangular fashion and fashioned of archaic black slate that fit in well with the old fashioned theme of the rest of the church. The second main building was connected to the first by an enclosed cloister. This building was rectangular and rose three stories, although its overall height was lower than the first building due to the worship hall rising so high. It was likely a parish hall, if Amaryllis were to guess. From here, Amaryllis could see two entrances; one on each of the buildings. The doors appeared to be made of reinforced wood, and were, in her opinion, the weakest portion of the whole place. She figured she could deal with that once they were inside. Lastly, there was a nearby sign that labeled the church as the New Brighton Christ Episcopal Church. Beneath it was a blurb from the church staff that stated “Even in the depths of darkness, there is always hope.” Amaryllis found it highly ironic that the cheerful sign was spattered and stained with blood, likely from one of the Oppressed’s many victims. However, there was no sign of bodies. She winced, knowing that the victims were likely being dragged away and converted into more Oppressed. At least, that’s the conclusion she drew from what she heard from Seth. “Everybody follow me!” Amaryllis whispered. She grasped her head, her brain aching as more of her Oppressed perished following her command. Pushing through the pain, she took the lead and dashed across the blacktop to the door of the main worship hall. She wanted to head to the highest place. The door to the hall opened readily, creaking loudly in the process. Amaryllis ducked inside swiftly and ushered the others in. “Mary, I thought you said this place was two stories.” Amaryllis questioned as she shut the door behind them. She made sure to slide the deadbolt into place. “I thought it was. I’m sorry, I’ve never been to this church before. I only knew that it was here,” Mary confessed. “No big deal. Three floors is better anyway. Then we have two floors between us and those bastards,” Amaryllis returned with a shrug. She turned around to view the inside of the worship hall. It looked much like what she’d expect from a church. She wasn’t religious in the slightest, but even she’d visited a few churches for events. There were twenty five rows of polished wood pews, consisting of four per row. There was a large aisle down the center that led all the way to a raised altar, where a shining golden cross stood beside a silver bowl. There was a gorgeous pipe organ to the left of the altar, the instrument towering high above the rest of the room. Amaryllis couldn’t help but think about how Seth would be all over that thing if he were here. “Now, I believe you have some explaining to do,” Samuel reminded her pointedly now that they were all situated in the hall. “How did you get the...Oppressed to attack one another?” “Not right now. We have more important things to take care of,” Amaryllis responded. A quick glance to the back of the room revealed the stairs to the upper levels, much to her satisfaction. “You promised that you’d…” Samuel started up again, getting on her nerves. “I know what I promised, goddammit!” Amaryllis cursed, cutting him off. Her indelicacy in a house of God earned winces from some of the more religious members of the group. “You’re the one who put me in charge of everything; how about you stop second guessing me and let me do my job? Unless you like the idea of Oppressed barging in on us and slaughtering us while I’m busy telling you about the apocalypse?” Samuel was silent, though he was glaring at her. After a pause, he asked, “You will tell us, right?” “I said that I would, moron,” Amaryllis returned. At the very least, Amaryllis was a woman of her word. That was why she so rarely gave it. She then looked around at the rest of the group. Ideas came to her quickly, and she immediately started snapping out orders. “Avil, Rachel, Kent, and Mary. Come here.” The three women and the former conductor obediently walked up to her, standing in a line so they all could look at her. Amaryllis glanced at them and nodded. None of them looked like they could handle that much heavy lifting. “The four of you split up. Search the entire church for entrances; that includes the second building and the upper floors. There may be roof accesses we don’t know about. Whenever you find one, come back and tell me where it is,” she directed. “Excellent idea. I’ll search the secondary building with Mary,” Kent decided, nodding approvingly of the plan. Amaryllis noted that he appeared to have some latent leadership skills of his own, judging from that exchange. “I can do that. Let’s go, Rachel. And quit whining, we can rest in a moment,” Avil said next, giving the housewife an impatient stare as she started to protest. “Go ahead and go. Mary, I’ll look after Emma,” Amaryllis promised. Mary nodded, and then the four of them scampered off. Amaryllis turned to the rest of them. “The rest of you, I hope you like heavy lifting.” “You have to be kidding!” Sawnee complained, a wet film of sweat covering his face. Amaryllis looked at him and rolled her eyes. He looked to be about her age, back when she was in college. “Not you. If you’re going to be a little bitch about it, you can go with Jakob and search the church for anything useful we can use,” Amaryllis retorted. “Like what?” Jakob asked, stepping forward as his name was called. “Food, water, supplies, I don’t care. If it looks useful, take it and bring it here. Now quit wasting time and go,” Amaryllis answered. Jakob hesitated a bit, and then he acquiesced, taking the heavily panting Sawnee with him. “By heavy lifting, do you mean…” Samuel spoke up, his eyes trailing to the pews. “Exactly. Use these pews and barricade the entrance here, and any other doors that the others find.. It won’t keep them out, but it’ll buy us some time,” Amaryllis directed them. “Stay away from the windows and for the love of god, don’t drop the pews. If you attract the Oppressed, they’ll kill us all.” “What’s an Oppressed?” Grant questioned, scratching his head in confusion. “She’ll tell us later,” Samuel answered him, giving Amaryllis a meaningful glance. “Now let’s get these pews moving.” Amaryllis sighed and sat down on one of the pews, now that all of her orders were being carried out. She felt exhaustion starting to take over her body, her eyelids drooping. Even so, she couldn’t let herself sleep just yet. “Can I help too, miss Amaryllis?” Emma sat down on the pew next to her, looking up at her hopefully. “Yeah, leave out the miss part, I’m not some delicate maiden, and I don’t give two shits about politeness,” Amaryllis retorted, not bothering to censor herself. “Okay, can I just call you Amaryllis then? Or maybe Amy for short?” Emma replied innocently, her hands clasped together in her lap. Amaryllis shrugged. “Whatever. And no, there’s nothing you can do right now. Just sit here and keep quiet. I’m looking after you until your mother gets back.” “Aww, okay,” Emma looked disappointed at that, but she did as she was told, giving Amaryllis no arguments. Once again, she couldn’t help but be surprised at how well behaved she was. As Amaryllis gazed at the girl, she started to feel something akin to sympathy for her. The poor girl was smack in the middle of the end of days, and not even Amaryllis was jaded enough to say that she deserved this. No one deserved this. Emma had been understandably crying before, and it showed in her eyes, though she was relatively calm now. Amaryllis couldn’t help herself. “Hey, kid… how are you holding up?” she asked before she could convince herself otherwise. “Hm? Oh...I’m...I’m really scared,” Emma admitted readily. Amaryllis nodded, having expected as much. “Mommy always told me that monsters weren’t real, but now...they’re everywhere. And now she’s scared too. I’ve never seen her scared like this.” “Right, but shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself?” Amaryllis questioned, finding it odd that Emma focused on her mother despite the fact that her question had been directed at her alone. “I know we’re in trouble...and we might get eaten by the monsters...but I just want my mommy to be okay,” Emma revealed, surprising Amaryllis. “I would rather be eaten before she gets eaten.” “That’s stupid. You’re telling me that if you had the opportunity to leave her behind and save yourself, you wouldn’t take it?” Amaryllis demanded, marveling at this girl. When Emma nodded in confirmation, Amaryllis let out a disbelieving scoff. “That’s stupid. That’s really stupid.” “I don’t think it’s stupid,” Emma stated firmly. There was a silence between them, broken only by the sounds of the others carrying the pews. Emma eventually peered at Amaryllis again. “What about you?” “What about me?” “Are you doing okay?” She asked with concern. Amaryllis raised an eyebrow at the question. “We’re trapped in a city filled with the walking dead, and I’m shepherding a bunch of people around trying to figure out why the hell this is even happening. You tell me, kid,” she grunted, leaning back on the pew. This shouldn’t be happening. Even with all that she knew, she didn’t understand how the Oppressed were here so soon. Amaryllis sighed and leaned her head back, her hair falling around her eyes. “Don’t give up.” Amaryllis glanced up at Emma’s response. She hadn’t been prepared to hear something like that from Emma, who by all rights should be traumatized by all of this death. She looked over to see the young girl gazing back at her with determination stamped on her face. “What?” Amaryllis asked, in case she had misheard. “I said don’t give up. You’re the reason we’re okay, right? Mommy always said I should help nice people like you,” Emma explained. Her reasons were simplistic and innocent, something to be expected from a mere child. Yet nevertheless, Amaryllis found something oddly assuring about them. “So hang in there. I know you can do it.” “Stupid kid...you don’t even know what you’re saying,” Amaryllis blew her off, her jaded nature reasserting itself over her previous emotions. “Second of all, I’m not nice at all. I’m doing this because I need to get out of here too, and nobody else is good enough to do it. Secondly, I’m a stranger that you’ve just met today, one whom you have no reason to trust. You’re really okay putting your life in my hands?” “Yes!” Emma answered without missing a beat, confounding Amaryllis even further. Even as she sputtered with disbelief, Emma continued. “I think you are nice. You shouldn’t say mean things about yourself.” “What the hell is wrong with you?” Amaryllis demanded. No matter how young she was, Emma should have some idea of how the world worked. Despite that, she was steadfastly declaring her faith in Amaryllis. Faith; a concept that she’d never understood. Yet here it was, being given to her by an innocent girl in the middle of the end of days. Before Emma could answer, Mary soon returned. “Excuse me! I found an entrance not far from here. I came back to let you know.” Amaryllis was glad for the interruption. Now she could focus on something that made sense to her. “Good. Come with me, and we’ll let the lifters know where to find it,” Amaryllis directed Mary. From there, Amaryllis continued to direct the defense of the church. Using the people she sent to find entrances, she quickly mapped out the interior of the church in her head. The entrances were the weakest points and needed to be reinforced, so each time the lifters finished barricading a door, Amaryllis would direct them to another entrance. Eventually, the lifters ran out of pews, and had to resort to using anything and everything they could find; armchairs, stands, tables, couches; anything and everything that could be moved was put to use. Around this time, Amaryllis felt the last pinprick of light die in her head, indicating that the battle with the Oppressed was over. Thinking quickly, she pulled Jennifer away from lifting duty and sent her to the roof access hatch. She would serve as her lookout for now, and alert her if any Oppressed made any indications of attacking the church. Out of curiosity, Amaryllis glanced down at the magical pendant she wore. The ethereal light that had once danced in its crystalline depths had faded to nothing, leaving the once bright gem inert. She took it off, understanding that it was useless now. She tucked it in a pocket instead. Some time later, Avil returned to the main room, carrying a small box. When she neared Amaryllis, the engineer put on a grin. “Check this out. I found this on one of the upper floors,” she declared, passing the box to her. Amaryllis held the box and noted how heavy it was. She didn’t waste any time in opening it, curious as to what made the engineer excited. To her surprise, the box contained a bright orange Orion flare gun, complete with three rounds. She glanced up at the grinning Avil. “Why the hell would a church have one of these?” Amaryllis questioned. Avil shrugged. “Not a clue. Still, I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. This could be useful, right?” “Sure, if we want to bring the monsters right to us,” Amaryllis retorted sarcastically. Nevertheless, she took the flare gun and tucked it into the right pocket of her pants, fitting the rounds in her back pocket. “Whatever. Nice find, even if it’s pretty useless.” Avil nodded appreciatively and ran back to continue her search. Before long, the church had been fully searched. Jakob and Sawnee luckily came across a stash of crackers and juice in an upstairs cupboard. Amaryllis assumed they had been meant for the congregation as refreshments, but they weren’t going to be needing them anymore. Therefore, the crackers were distributed equally among the group members so that everyone had a few packets. It wasn’t a gourmet meal by any means, but it was the best they were going to get. Then, Amaryllis directed the group to the top floor of the main building. She figured that the more distance between them and the doors, the better chance they could hide from snooping Oppressed. It was here that she intended to set up “camp,” for lack of a better word. The upper floor of the church was small, and consisted of only a few rooms. The rooms were sparsely decorated and contained boxes scattered about the place, suggesting that it was used for storage. “Where are we going to sleep?” Rachel complains, looking around at the hard wooden floor. The area was unfinished and possessed nothing in the way of comforts. “The floor, obviously,” Amaryllis responded to her. She was already getting down on the floor herself. She didn’t relish the aches she’d have in the morning, but she wasn’t going to complain about it. A quick glance at her phone told her it was nearly three in the morning. “There’s a few rooms here. Women can take this room, men can take the one next door.” “Amaryllis…” Samuel warned. The soldier didn’t look pleased to see that people were beginning to head to different rooms to get ready to rest. “Get some sleep, because I’m waking you all up early. I’ve got something to tell you all about what’s going on,” Amaryllis added, rolling her eyes at Samuel’s insistence. “But we’ll do that in the morning. It’s three in the morning and I’m exhausted.” Amaryllis shot Samuel a pointed stare. This was all he was going to get from her at the moment. Whether he liked it or not, she was going to do this on her terms. Samuel seemed to get the point; the soldier gave a dissatisfied grunt and retreated with the rest of the men, heading to their room to sleep. She stopped Aven with her hand before he could go into the other room. “You get to stand lookout on the roof,” Amaryllis directed him. When his face started to contort with dismay, she sighed. “Oh, don’t look like that. You only have to do it for an hour or so, then you can pass it off to one of us.” “I guess that makes sense. How will I see the monsters in the dark though?” Aven inquired, wringing his hands together nervously. “You won’t be able to. But they won’t be able to see you either,” Amaryllis revealed to him. “When I was scouting ahead, one of them walked right by me. They’re as blind as we are in the dark.” “Wait, really?” Aven gasped, his eyes lighting up. “So they’re not perfect after all.” “It doesn’t mean they can’t attack us. It does mean that we’ll have some warning first. One of those ponies with the torches will approach us first. Or one of those ponies with horns will make light,” Amaryllis finished. “Just keep your eyes out for something like that.” “Okay, I understand.” Aven gave a nod of affirmation and moved to do as he was told. However, he paused and glanced back at her, a brow raised. “Hey...are those really ponies?” “Yeah, believe it or not. What else would you call them?” Amaryllis answered, shaking her head. “I have no clue. It’s just...they look nothing like ponies. They had expressive faces...and their eyes were so large…” Aven described. “Buddy, you are preaching to the choir. They’re as weird to me as they are to you,” Amaryllis interrupted him with a wry expression. “But they’re ponies regardless. I know that for sure.” “For sure?” Aven repeated in confusion. Realization soon dawned on his face. “You mean, when you said you had something to tell us…?” “That’s part of it. Now go do your job so I can get some sleep.” Amaryllis dismissed him with a wave of her hand, and then she turned back to the women remaining in the room. Amaryllis sat down on the hard floor beside Jennifer. Now that there was no men in the room, she stripped off her shirt unceremoniously, revealing the sports bra she wore underneath. She became aware of Jennifer looking at her, but ignored her. She balled up her shirt and laid down, using the bunched up fabric as a makeshift pillow. Amaryllis chuckled darkly to herself. This was the worst. Stuck inside of a church, surrounded by the Oppressed; the enemies of mankind. She was saddled with these people who annoyed her to no end, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave them. The worst part was that it was getting cold, and she had no blanket. Despite her discomfort, Amaryllis’ exhaustion finally took its toll on her mind, and she at last succumbed to sleep. It felt as though only minutes had passed before she was shaken awake. Her eyes snapped open to see Avil. “Hey, Amaryllis. You might want to take a look at this,” the engineer expressed grimly. Without a word, Amaryllis quickly put her shirt back on and followed Avil towards the back room, where there was a hatch that granted access to the roof. When Avil opened the hatch, the light of the dawn spilled through the opening, causing Amaryllis to squint. Avil climbed up the ladder. When she reached the top, she gestured for Amaryllis to follow her, holding a finger to her lips. Amaryllis ascended the ladder swiftly and climbed out on the roof. There was barely any room to walk around; the flat space on the roof was only a few inches wide. Behind her was the spire of the church, and in front of her were the battlements. The city stretched out before her. What she saw caused her eyes to widen. Staten Island was no more. What had once been one of the five boroughs of New York City and a tourist attraction for people from all over the United States…was now a burning wasteland. Vast swaths of the city still burned even now, plumes of thick black smoke rising into the air. Yet the sounds of battle still continued. In the distance, still so tantalizingly far away, Amaryllis could see explosions and flashes of gunfire, indicating the military presence. She wondered if they’d been fighting all night. She looked to the horizon, and saw with shock that most of New York City was in the same situation. She could see the buildings burning even from here, causing her to grit her teeth. Nobody could have expected this. Out of all the places in America to attack, the Oppressed hit one of the most iconic cities in the country with overwhelming force. It was one thing to hear about humanity being destroyed…it was another to see their demise unfolding out before her. A growl from below brought her back to reality. She pressed herself against the battlements and glanced over the edge. To her horror, the Oppressed filled the streets around the church. They were so many of them, she could hardly see the pavement beneath their scraping claws. A quick survey of the surrounding area told her that the Oppressed surrounded the church on all sides. Judging from their slow, aimless pace, Amaryllis gathered that the monsters didn’t realize they were inside. “...not what I expected, Shade.” Amaryllis heard a voice filtering up through the ranks of the undead. She spotted two armored ponies trotting confidently through the streets, the undead parting to give them room. One of them was a pegasus, and the other was a unicorn. “What wasn’t?” the unicorn, whom Amaryllis assumed was Shade, replied to the first. This pony seemed to be female, or a mare, judging from her voice. “Humanity. They’re supposed to be the great precursor race, the super advanced mages who ruled the world, right?” the pegasi continued. Shade nodded in confirmation. “They’re just...not what I expected. They’re pathetic.” “You’re telling me. Barely any of them even put up a fight. They just fall like useless livestock,” Shade responded sadistically, licking her lips. She turned her head, giving Amaryllis a look at her neck. Unlike the pegasus, she wasn’t wearing an amulet like the one Amaryllis had. “This is the easiest job I’ve ever had.” “I’m not complaining. I’m just disappointed. I expected a real fight against beings of legend,” the pegasus returned with a malevolent grin. He turned and kicked one of the Oppressed over ruthlessly. “Not so special after all, are you?” Amaryllis clenched her fingers into her fist, anger welling up within her. As the two ponies continued talking, her desire to slaughter the both of them grew. They were both mass murderers, responsible for thousands of deaths. And there they were, laughing and celebrating their success. “Did you hear that one guy who tried to give me his daughter? Actually, come to think of it, how come we speak the same language?” the pegasus commented, bemused. His question earned a slap over the head from Shade. “Shut it and help me look for more survivors. It would be terrible if Frozen Soul got here and found that we haven’t cleared our sector yet,” Shade reprimanded him. The pegasus blanched. “Oh yeah...let’s get going. Don’t want to be on the receiving end of that guy’s temper. No sir.” Amaryllis turned away from the edge, meeting Avil’s gaze with her own. She gave a jerk of her head, and the two of them retreated back down the hatch and into the church. “What do we do now?” Avil questioned in a low whisper as she leapt down from the ladder. “They’re all over the place...and what did those creatures mean when they called us precursors?” “Yeah, they’re from the future,” Amaryllis answered in a matter of fact tone, knowing how ridiculous that was going to sound to the engineer. “It makes sense when you think about it like that.” “Wait, what? Be serious!” Avil of course didn’t believe her. Amaryllis couldn’t blame her; she’d been just as skeptical when Seth had told her everything. “Avil, when was the last time I’ve told a joke, in the entire time you’ve known me?” Amaryllis pointed out. She led Avil through the doorway back into the room where all the women were still sleeping. “...Never,” Avil answered, perplexed. Understanding then hit her. “You’re not kidding. How the hell...you expect me to believe we’re under attack by mutant pony things from the future?” “I don’t expect you to believe anything. I wouldn’t even be telling you this if Samuel wasn’t being such a bitch about it,” Amaryllis grumbled. She looked around at all the sleeping women. “I’ll tell you the full story in a minute.” Amaryllis walked around the room, giving all of the women a gentle, yet firm kick in the side. “Hey, wake the hell up. I’ve got some good news and bad news,” she announced emphatically. As for Emma, Amaryllis just placed her foot on her shoulder and rocked her awake. “Good news?” Jennifer repeated tiredly, giving a yawn. Her stomach growled a moment later, causing her to wince. “Ooh...I’m so hungry.” “That sucks, because there’s no more food. There’s some water left; you’ll have to survive on that,” Amaryllis retorted. Jennifer’s response was to moan piteously. “Oh, I’m sorry, let me get the five course meal ready. Idiot! Everyone’s hungry, now quit your whining and get up!” “You said you had good news?” Rachel pressed, now awake as well. “Yeah, but I’m not saying a word until the men are awake. Stay here and drink some water if you want. Don’t go anywhere,” Amaryllis directed them, and then she left the room, on her way to where the men slept. Only a few minutes had passed before the upper floor of the church was alive with activity. As Amaryllis has said, there was no food remaining from the pile of crackers that they’d found last night. Therefore, everyone was hungry. Amaryllis had ordered everyone to the women’s room once they were ready, as she was now forced to fill them all in on the current situation. To be honest, Amaryllis wasn’t sure what to do next. The Oppressed were surrounding them on all sides, and even the exit onto the roof promised no escape from the horde. They were trapped in the church without any food and dwindling water reserves. All in all, the future looked quite bleak. She had only told them to gather in this room. However, the group formed a circle on their own, such that everyone could see everyone. Amaryllis took her place in the circle as well, noticing how everyone shifted themselves to face her. “Now then, I believe I have some questions…” Samuel begin, just as Amaryllis had expected. Her patience for his insistence was getting on her last nerve. “I know! Jesus Christ, I’m not three years old; you don’t have to remind me literally every time you see me,” Amaryllis cut him off, her exasperation clearly evident in her tone of voice. Samuel gave her a glare, but otherwise said nothing. “You...do realize we’re in a house of God, right?” Rachel timidly pointed out, no doubt as an attempt to scold Amaryllis for her word choice. Amaryllis rolled her eyes. “Oh please, did I offend you? Why don’t you go outside and complain to the Oppressed? I’m sure they care so much about your hurt feelings,” she retorted, effectively shutting the woman up. “Now, if you can all keep quiet, I can tell you what’s currently going on. “Yes, I remember you said you had good news,” Jennifer said. “Yeah, but I’m starting with the bad news. We’re trapped in this church,” Amaryllis bluntly revealed to them all. “If you look out the windows, we’re surrounded by the Oppressed everywhere you turn. I hate to say it, but we might be the only civilians still alive in the entirety of Staten Island.” “What!?” “But there’s hundreds of thousands of people here!” “Oh no...we’re all done for!” “God save us…” Amaryllis waited patiently for them all to express their shock and horror. She felt sick to her stomach as well, knowing that a staggering amount of people had died in just a single night. They never found any bodies either...just lots of blood. That meant that they’d likely all become Oppressed. “Why do you keep calling them Oppressed?” Kent asks, astutely noticing how she’d changed in the way she addressed the monsters outside. “That’s the good news. I am probably one of the only people in existence that actually knows what’s going on,” Amaryllis admitted, inwardly cursing that she had to do this. “Why did you never say anything before?” Jakob speaks up, eyeing her suspiciously. “Did you have something to do with all of this?” His words caused a murmur of suspicion and anxiety to run through the other members of the group. “Good job, Jakob, start pointing fingers even though you know that’s not true. First of all, I’m human, not a pony like the rest of them,” Amaryllis berated him. She lifted the hem of her shirt, showing them all the shallow injury she’d taken from the Oppressed at the ruins of the Goethals Bridge. “Second of all, those things tried to kill me. Third of all, why the hell would I bother leading you this far and trying to keep you stupid shits alive if I was in league with them? Wouldn’t I just abandon you and join up with the rest of them?” “She...has a point…” Aven admitted, glancing over at Jakob. The latter was sputtering at the reasoning coming from Amaryllis. “Amy isn’t a bad person. She talks like a bully but she’s been helping us this whole time!” Emma spoke up, her voice loud enough to be heard over the adults. Amaryllis raised a brow, flushing a bit as the girl continued to praise her. She wasn’t used to someone liking her to this extent. “We shouldn’t say nasty things about her. Being a leader is really hard; we should instead think of ways that we can help her in return!” “Look, kid, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but this is really a conversation for adults,” Grant responded, talking down to her condescendingly. “This affects her as much as the rest of us. The monsters aren’t going to care if she’s a kid or not,” Avil snapped at Grant confrontationally. Her brother, Aven, nodded in agreement. “Besides, she’s right. If Amaryllis was with them, we’d have been dead already.” “Nevertheless, I believe we should hear what she has been hiding,” Samuel made his opinion known once more. Amaryllis suppressed the angry retort that came to mind, instead heaving a sigh. “Now then, if you’re all quite finished arguing about the obvious, maybe I can start telling you more about our enemy.” Amaryllis brought all of the attention back to her with that one statement. “The truth is, we’re at war.” “Who is? America?” Samuel inquired. Amaryllis gave a harsh chuckle. “Hah! I wish. No, buddy, it’s humanity that’s at war. These things have been attacking cities all over the world,” she revealed to them all. Utter silence was the response to her revelation. “How...How do you know that?” William asked hesitantly, his face as white as snow. Amaryllis shrugged. “My late boyfriend had a family with ties to the military, and I hear things,” she responded. She didn’t realize she’d referred to Seth as her boyfriend until after it had already left her mouth. Then again, it wasn’t altogether untrue. It wouldn’t be right to refer to Seth as just her friend; he was far more important to her than that. “Apparently the Oppressed hit Russia first.” “What exactly are the Oppressed?” Samuel pressed. “Why are they called that?” “Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. That’s what I was told they were called. However, I can tell you that they’re humans...or they used to be. Now they’re basically the living dead, to put it in terms you can understand,” Amaryllis explained further. “How is that possible? Nothing can bring back the dead!” Rachel exclaimed out of shock. Amaryllis sighed, knowing this was going to be hard. “I’m going to tell you straight up. Your perceptions of reality are all wrong. Things that you never thought were real...are real...and things that you thought were facts...aren’t facts.” “What are you talking about?” Jakob demanded impatiently. "Stop being so damn cryptic and give us some answers!" Amaryllis cast her gaze around at the group, noting how they were all looking to her for answers. What she was about to tell them would completely change the way they viewed the world, if they even believed her. “Alright, listen closely, and if any of you calls me crazy because of this, I’m throwing you to the Oppressed,” Amaryllis remarked, and then she began to tell her story.