Megalosaro
Banned
Warning: It's a first draft.
Chapter 1
The Night of the Fire
Night had long since fallen when two cloaked men approached a cliff overlooking Dinvale. The cold night air brushed briskly across their unprotected faces. In the spring, the mountains that made up the backbone of Zaria, the Silberdorn range, were particularly cold and uninviting and the two travellers were eager to find shelter.
Still, they were unimpressed by what they were looking at. Although they were still at a distance and the night sky was black as pitch, they could tell the town was typical of the coal mining villages that dotted the mountains in this part of the country. The glow of the gas lamps lining the streets promised that electricity was not a luxury the people of that small berg enjoyed. One on the north part of town, and another on the east section. It was impossible to enter the town from the south or west, as town abruptly ended upon meeting the side of the mountain, which the two travellers concluded, was were the entrance to the mine was.
“The town looks like a dump,” spoke the taller of the two travellers. “Are you sure this is our only choice?”
The shorter man stood staring at the town solemnly. “Not unless you got a better idea. We’re far off course, judging by this map. I thought we’d be further north. Still, we either find a place to sleep down there, or we make camp again tonight.”
Two weeks had passed since the two men had left the Capitol. Their errand was to deliver a message the commander of a fort near the city of Grundoval. Upon departure, they were given the option of travelling by train or by motorcycle. Since it was rare to be given an opportunity to travel outside the city, they jumped on the latter. Two nights out, they realized their mistake. North central Zaria along the Silberdorn mountains were largely uninhabited except by small towns set up to harvest the coal that fuelled the nation’s economy. The boondocks were no place for two men spoiled by the culture of their nation’s largest city, and many nights had passed since they had slept inside a house, much less upon a bed.
“Well then, you’ve sold me. I don’t believe my back could take another night of these roots.” The taller man turned his back to the cliff and made his way to his motorcycle. The bike was an Elmar model, military issue. Slender, the sort made for rough terrain. Upon the side of the bike was an emblem resembling a Black Turtle upon a green field.
Just as he was about to jump on board, an explosion erupted from down in the valley below. Seconds later there was another explosion, and then another. Soon, the entire village was covered in flame.
The two men looked at each other. Without speaking, they hopped on their motorcycles and raced towards the village.
~~~
Jacob Reinhart was laying in his bed, enduring yet a sleepless night. He had lived in this bedroom for six months, yet still was not comfortable sleeping in it. He hated the room, hated the house. Hell, he hated his parents for making him live in this house. He had enjoyed his life in Mumberg. There his father had been a respected scientist working that the Vran Institute. Why did he have to throw away his career and uproot the family to this backwards hicksville.
Not that he ever saw his father much these days anyway. Jacob’s father, Richard, often leave for work at dawn and return home after he had gone to bed. What his father could be busying himself with, Jacob hadn’t a clue. He had no idea what sort of business his father could have with these roughnecks.
Jacob gazed out the window as he had every night. The moon comforted him and often he would fall asleep gazing at it. Tonight was a new moon though, and that comfort was one he would not find that night. Instead, he passed the time by tossing a trinket upon in the air and catching it. The trinket was a locket baring a family portrait. The Reinharts had had the picture taken shortly before leaving Mumberg.
The repetitive nature of his game of catch was starting to lull him to sleep, which in the end caused him to miss catching it one time. Instead, his middle finger accidentally batted the locket across the room. Jacob climbed out of bed to retrieve the locket. Just as he crouched down to pick it up, there was a blast right outside the house.
The explosion shattered the glass that made up Jacob’s window. Had he still been in bed, he would have been covered in lacerations. Instead, he was now crouched in the corner of his room, covering his face with his hands. Other explosions could be heard, some closer than others.
Jacob’s mother came running into the room. She breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her son alive and unhurt. “Thank goodness,” she sighed. “Let’s get downstairs! Away from these windows.”
The boy did as he was told. He followed her out of his bedroom and into the hallway. As they were coming downstairs, they heard their front door slam open and hurried feet come inside. “Lily! Jake! Where are you, damn it!?” The voice belonged to Jacob’s father, Richard!”
“We’re here! Richard, what is going on? What is happening?” replied Lily, a tremble in her voice.
Richard was not a man easily cowed. He was not an overly large man, but he was not small by any means either. Not once in Jacob’s ten years of life had he seen his father scared, yet here he was shaking uncontrollably. “I don’t have time to explain. We need to get the hell out of here. Once we’re clear of the town, I’ll tell you everything.”
Richard sent Lily back upstairs to pack as much clothing as possible for the three of them. Jacob was sent to the kitchen to gather as much food as possible. Dinvale was quite isolated, even from the other mining towns. Who knew how long they would be in the wilderness. As Jacob set upon his task, he watched his father anxiously. Richard was frantically gathering as much paperwork on his desk and putting the papers in a briefcase. The last item Richard gathered as a pistol, which had belonged to his grandfather. It was of an older type then the ones used by professional soldiers. Carefully he tucked the gun inside his trowsers.
One he was sure he had everything he needed in his briefcase, Richard called out to his wife and son. “Come on! We need to move! Time is drawing short. Jacob! Don’t let go of your mother’s hand!”
The three Reinharts gathered closely together, then opened the door. The vision they saw was truly horrifying. Most of the town was already engulfed in flames. Most of the town’s population was in the streets, running this way and that in chaos. Only screams and cries could be heard above the cackle of the flames, and the smell of burning flesh hung heavily in the air. To his horror, he noticed his own house, the house he had always hated, was itself wreathed in flames.
Two main roads made up the main thoroughfare of Dinvale. One went north-south, the other east-west. Both roads met at the southwest corner of town, where the mine was built. A large wall enclosed the town, with gates posted at the end of both roads. Those two gates were the only way out of town. The Reinharts were making their way towards the Eastern gate. The going was slow, however. Too many people lined the town’s already narrow street. Several times, Jacob had almost lost his grip on his mother’s hand due to the traffic, yet he always managed to somehow keep up.
Five minutes had passed since Jacob had left his house, and yet the terror never lessened. As the family made their desperate march towards the town’s border, he watched as his neighbors trampled over each other clawing their way out of the inferno that had become their town. Buildings were beginning to collapse alongside the road, instantly killing those unfortunate enough to be close by. Still they pressed on.
Their progress was halted when Lily suddenly bumped into a man, knocking her down. The man was of a larger sort and burley. Despite the chaos flowing around them, he helped her to feet. Then he recognized her. “Where is your husband?”, he demanded. It was then that Jacob noticed the man was holding a large rifle.
Richard was not too far ahead, he had turned back to see where his family was at and made his way to them. When he noticed the man standing next to them, he greeted the man, while grabbing his wife’s hand. “Gustav, we’re making for the east gate. You and Elize should join us.”
Jacob knew of the man his father was calling Gustav. He was said to be a foreman at the mines. He looked the part for sure. Now a fire was burning in his eyes. “Elize is dead. Our house was directly hit by one of the explosions.”
Jacob’s parents were silent for a moment. Then Richard spoke again. “Come with us. We don’t have to suffer this alone!” He clasped Gustav’s shoulder as he spoke.
Gustav shook his head. “Some of the boys said they saw some of them. At the village square. Some of us are gonna head over there. You should join us.”
“I can’t do that,” Richard responded. “I’m sorry Gustav. I really am. But I need to get my family out of this town.” Richard took his wife’s hand again, and started walking away. However Gustav spun him around. Reflexively, Richard reached down to ready the pistol waiting at his hip.
“How convenient. Don’t you see how this is all of your fault?” snarled the foreman. “This wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t come to town. You have a duty to this town to defend it.”
Gustav’s words hit home. His guilt overcoming him, he turned to Lily. “Take Jacob and go. Make for Bunezville. I’ll meet you there.”
“No Richard! You can’t leave us!” plead Jacob’s mother. “I can’t do this without you!”
“Be strong, Lily. I’m counting on you to protect our son. I promise, I’ll meet up with you later. I won’t get myself into any situation I can’t handle.”
Those words were enough to steel Lily. The two embraced. Then Richard knelt down and spoke to Jacob. “Protect your mother, boy. I won’t be long, I promise.”
Jacob, fighting back his own tears, managed an awkward smile. “Okay, papa. I’ll do my best.”
Richard returned the smile. “That’s my boy. There is something else I need you to do.” He handed the briefcase he had been holding to his son. “Hold on to this until I meet up with you again. Do NOT let anyone else get their hands on it, okay? If it comes down to it, destroy the case and all of its contents.”
Jacob took the case from his father and clung to it desperately. His father gave him a quick hug then turned away. Within seconds, both Richard Reinhart and Gustav could be seen no more, obscured by the hordes of people trying to escape town.
After Richard could no longer be seen, Lily and Jacob continued making for the town’s exit. Smoke was beginning to fill Jacob’s lungs and he was having a hard time keeping pace. Eventually he had to stop entirely to catch his breath. While coughing, he noticed something peculiar.
A young girl was laying by the wayside. The top half of her body was exposed, but the bottom half was buried under rubble. A vacant expression was in her eyes. Jacob knew her, though. She was one of the children in his class. He had never spoken with her. He had never spoke to any of his classmates. She would never get the chance to get to know him now. Her raven black hair stained by freely flowing blood.
Jacob stood there, unable to move. He had already seen more than a few corpses in his exodus, but this one shook him to the core. As he stood there motionless, his mother tried to pry him onward, they heard gunshots back in the direction they had come from. Instinctively, he knew his father was where the shots were coming from. His mother seemed to know too. The fire fight did not last long, maybe a minute or two.
Jacob gazed up at his mother. “Do you think dad is okay?”, he asked, tears now freely poured down his cheeks, as much from the ash and smoke as from the emotions he was feeling.
His mother was silent. “I don’t know. We need to move on though. We have to be strong for him. She was fighting back her own tears. Despite living a pampered life as the wife of a respected scientist under the employ of the government, she was a strong person at her core. She had enjoyed a happy marriage with her husband, and while she was not thrilled with the prospect of transplanting her life to what was essentially the wilderness, she understood that whatever project her husband was working on, it had required him to do so. She stood by his decision then. Now, she knew her husband was probably dead. He was no gunfighter, and the standoff had apparently been short. She knew it was up to her to get her son to safety.
Hope began to swell in the hearts of the two surviving Reinharts as they pressed forwards. In the distance, the large stone wall encircling the town was starting to grow larger in their field of view. It couldn’t be more than one thousand meters at this point. Foot traffic was still excruciating, but it would not be much longer before they were cleared of Dimvale. Even better, the section of town closest to the wall were not affected as badly by the blasts, and the area was not wreathed in flames as the inner parts of the town had been. Houses were more spread out towards the edges of town. In fact, a large field separated the wall from the last few houses.
Unbeknownst to the flood of exiles pouring towards the exit of the city, a group of a dozen or so men dressed in rags were posted on the opposite side of the great stone wall that encircled the town. As refugees passed through the gate, they took aim. As the initial wave of fleeing townsfolk passed about 100 feet outside of the gate, they unloaded their firearms in a dark fury. Ratatatatatatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatatata.
Panic swept through the crowd as they realized they were under fire and they attempted to scatter into the nearby woods. It was useless though. The net was too well laid: Anyone who attempted to break through was mowed down. The only chance of survival was to move back into the fire. Even that was futile though. As the line of refugees collapsed back into town, the assailants followed, continuing to fire at the crowd as they went.
Jacob was less than one hundred yards away from the outer wall when the shots began to ring out. Like a school of fish fleeing a predator, the townsfolk moved as one hivemind driving back into the flaming inferno that made up Dinvale. Lily reacted quickly. She picked up her son with one arm without thinking and started carrying him back the way they had come.
No what? Lily had no idea what to do The way forward was now blocked to her. Quickly she began formulating a plan of action. She could make for the northern gate, but she suspected whoever was attacking the village probably had men posted there as well. The only safe place she could think of was the mine itself. Of course it would be dangerous to enter, especially late at night without any sort of light source, but it could make for a temporary hiding place.
The mine was the lifeblood of the town. The Silberdorn mountains were rich with coal. Many coal towns nearly identical to Dinvale had arose shortly after the Zarian civil war some thirty years prior. The coal these mining communities had been what had jump started the nation’s economy after the dust had settled. Now it would serve as a haven.
The mine was all the way on the other side of town. All the way back past their house. At this point most of the houses in town had collapsed. Still the flames roared on, reducing everything to ash. The crowd was now quite thin now. No longer making for a single point, most had scattered any way they could. Behind them, Jacob could hear ever louder the cold gunshots being fired.
Am I going to die here? Jacob thought to himself. Before this night, he had never considered his own mortality before. He was young. By all rights, he should have at least fifty more years left. With death now all around him, he realized one of life’s darkest truths. He could die at any minute.
More than once, Jacob could feel bullets whiz past him. Around him, men and women were collapsing around him, screaming in pain from the shots. Pure adrenaline had taken over his mother and she kept her pace, without winding.
Desperate to escape the hail of bullets, Lily ducked into an alley on her left side. If she was going to survive and protect her son, she would have to get off the main street. The alley she was now in was narrow, and the buildings were half collapsed. This slowed her down considerably. Jacob was now walking on his own once more, since he would often have to climb over debris that had fallen from the buildings on their side, which were still wreathed in flame.
Climbing over the debris was torture. It was still hot, and Jacob could feel his hands blister as he climbed over these garbage mounds. He dared not protest though. Fear had completely washed over him and he was terrified to go back. On his right hand side, he could hear the gunshots ringing out nonstop.
Ahead was a concrete wall. The Reinharts made their way towards it. In order to continue towards Dinvale’s mine, they would have to cross it. It was quite tall, over eight feet tall. Lily lifted Jacob up and he climbed over. After he was clear, Lily began climbing over herself. Jacob stood below waiting for her to drop down to his side. Then she she did.
Lily threw her leg over the side of the wall and prepared to let gravity handle the rest. Before she could follow through, however, a shot rang out. Her body instantly went limp and she collapsed next to Jacob. A cold, distant look was in her eyes and a pool of blood started forming, originating from the back of her head.
Jacob propped her up and started shaking her awake. “Mom, stop joking around! C’mon! We need to go!” Tears were forming in his eyes. “C’mon! Don’t leave me like this! I need you! I don’t know what to do!”. No response came from Lily. Just a cold, distant stare.
As he clung to her, blood started to cover his clothes. He tried to soak it up but couldn’t. Slowly the reality started to sink in. What am I going to do? How am I going to survive? He thought to himself. He began cursing his father for leaving them. He began cursing his father for bringing them to this town for bringing. This whole thing was his father’s fault and he intended to say so once he met up with him again
He wiped the tears away, but they kept coming. He knew he had to keep going, but he couldn’t muster the will. Instead, he wrapped himself in her arms and let fate take control. Whatever was going to happen to him would happen
~~~
Chapter 1
The Night of the Fire
Night had long since fallen when two cloaked men approached a cliff overlooking Dinvale. The cold night air brushed briskly across their unprotected faces. In the spring, the mountains that made up the backbone of Zaria, the Silberdorn range, were particularly cold and uninviting and the two travellers were eager to find shelter.
Still, they were unimpressed by what they were looking at. Although they were still at a distance and the night sky was black as pitch, they could tell the town was typical of the coal mining villages that dotted the mountains in this part of the country. The glow of the gas lamps lining the streets promised that electricity was not a luxury the people of that small berg enjoyed. One on the north part of town, and another on the east section. It was impossible to enter the town from the south or west, as town abruptly ended upon meeting the side of the mountain, which the two travellers concluded, was were the entrance to the mine was.
“The town looks like a dump,” spoke the taller of the two travellers. “Are you sure this is our only choice?”
The shorter man stood staring at the town solemnly. “Not unless you got a better idea. We’re far off course, judging by this map. I thought we’d be further north. Still, we either find a place to sleep down there, or we make camp again tonight.”
Two weeks had passed since the two men had left the Capitol. Their errand was to deliver a message the commander of a fort near the city of Grundoval. Upon departure, they were given the option of travelling by train or by motorcycle. Since it was rare to be given an opportunity to travel outside the city, they jumped on the latter. Two nights out, they realized their mistake. North central Zaria along the Silberdorn mountains were largely uninhabited except by small towns set up to harvest the coal that fuelled the nation’s economy. The boondocks were no place for two men spoiled by the culture of their nation’s largest city, and many nights had passed since they had slept inside a house, much less upon a bed.
“Well then, you’ve sold me. I don’t believe my back could take another night of these roots.” The taller man turned his back to the cliff and made his way to his motorcycle. The bike was an Elmar model, military issue. Slender, the sort made for rough terrain. Upon the side of the bike was an emblem resembling a Black Turtle upon a green field.
Just as he was about to jump on board, an explosion erupted from down in the valley below. Seconds later there was another explosion, and then another. Soon, the entire village was covered in flame.
The two men looked at each other. Without speaking, they hopped on their motorcycles and raced towards the village.
~~~
Jacob Reinhart was laying in his bed, enduring yet a sleepless night. He had lived in this bedroom for six months, yet still was not comfortable sleeping in it. He hated the room, hated the house. Hell, he hated his parents for making him live in this house. He had enjoyed his life in Mumberg. There his father had been a respected scientist working that the Vran Institute. Why did he have to throw away his career and uproot the family to this backwards hicksville.
Not that he ever saw his father much these days anyway. Jacob’s father, Richard, often leave for work at dawn and return home after he had gone to bed. What his father could be busying himself with, Jacob hadn’t a clue. He had no idea what sort of business his father could have with these roughnecks.
Jacob gazed out the window as he had every night. The moon comforted him and often he would fall asleep gazing at it. Tonight was a new moon though, and that comfort was one he would not find that night. Instead, he passed the time by tossing a trinket upon in the air and catching it. The trinket was a locket baring a family portrait. The Reinharts had had the picture taken shortly before leaving Mumberg.
The repetitive nature of his game of catch was starting to lull him to sleep, which in the end caused him to miss catching it one time. Instead, his middle finger accidentally batted the locket across the room. Jacob climbed out of bed to retrieve the locket. Just as he crouched down to pick it up, there was a blast right outside the house.
The explosion shattered the glass that made up Jacob’s window. Had he still been in bed, he would have been covered in lacerations. Instead, he was now crouched in the corner of his room, covering his face with his hands. Other explosions could be heard, some closer than others.
Jacob’s mother came running into the room. She breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her son alive and unhurt. “Thank goodness,” she sighed. “Let’s get downstairs! Away from these windows.”
The boy did as he was told. He followed her out of his bedroom and into the hallway. As they were coming downstairs, they heard their front door slam open and hurried feet come inside. “Lily! Jake! Where are you, damn it!?” The voice belonged to Jacob’s father, Richard!”
“We’re here! Richard, what is going on? What is happening?” replied Lily, a tremble in her voice.
Richard was not a man easily cowed. He was not an overly large man, but he was not small by any means either. Not once in Jacob’s ten years of life had he seen his father scared, yet here he was shaking uncontrollably. “I don’t have time to explain. We need to get the hell out of here. Once we’re clear of the town, I’ll tell you everything.”
Richard sent Lily back upstairs to pack as much clothing as possible for the three of them. Jacob was sent to the kitchen to gather as much food as possible. Dinvale was quite isolated, even from the other mining towns. Who knew how long they would be in the wilderness. As Jacob set upon his task, he watched his father anxiously. Richard was frantically gathering as much paperwork on his desk and putting the papers in a briefcase. The last item Richard gathered as a pistol, which had belonged to his grandfather. It was of an older type then the ones used by professional soldiers. Carefully he tucked the gun inside his trowsers.
One he was sure he had everything he needed in his briefcase, Richard called out to his wife and son. “Come on! We need to move! Time is drawing short. Jacob! Don’t let go of your mother’s hand!”
The three Reinharts gathered closely together, then opened the door. The vision they saw was truly horrifying. Most of the town was already engulfed in flames. Most of the town’s population was in the streets, running this way and that in chaos. Only screams and cries could be heard above the cackle of the flames, and the smell of burning flesh hung heavily in the air. To his horror, he noticed his own house, the house he had always hated, was itself wreathed in flames.
Two main roads made up the main thoroughfare of Dinvale. One went north-south, the other east-west. Both roads met at the southwest corner of town, where the mine was built. A large wall enclosed the town, with gates posted at the end of both roads. Those two gates were the only way out of town. The Reinharts were making their way towards the Eastern gate. The going was slow, however. Too many people lined the town’s already narrow street. Several times, Jacob had almost lost his grip on his mother’s hand due to the traffic, yet he always managed to somehow keep up.
Five minutes had passed since Jacob had left his house, and yet the terror never lessened. As the family made their desperate march towards the town’s border, he watched as his neighbors trampled over each other clawing their way out of the inferno that had become their town. Buildings were beginning to collapse alongside the road, instantly killing those unfortunate enough to be close by. Still they pressed on.
Their progress was halted when Lily suddenly bumped into a man, knocking her down. The man was of a larger sort and burley. Despite the chaos flowing around them, he helped her to feet. Then he recognized her. “Where is your husband?”, he demanded. It was then that Jacob noticed the man was holding a large rifle.
Richard was not too far ahead, he had turned back to see where his family was at and made his way to them. When he noticed the man standing next to them, he greeted the man, while grabbing his wife’s hand. “Gustav, we’re making for the east gate. You and Elize should join us.”
Jacob knew of the man his father was calling Gustav. He was said to be a foreman at the mines. He looked the part for sure. Now a fire was burning in his eyes. “Elize is dead. Our house was directly hit by one of the explosions.”
Jacob’s parents were silent for a moment. Then Richard spoke again. “Come with us. We don’t have to suffer this alone!” He clasped Gustav’s shoulder as he spoke.
Gustav shook his head. “Some of the boys said they saw some of them. At the village square. Some of us are gonna head over there. You should join us.”
“I can’t do that,” Richard responded. “I’m sorry Gustav. I really am. But I need to get my family out of this town.” Richard took his wife’s hand again, and started walking away. However Gustav spun him around. Reflexively, Richard reached down to ready the pistol waiting at his hip.
“How convenient. Don’t you see how this is all of your fault?” snarled the foreman. “This wouldn’t be happening if you hadn’t come to town. You have a duty to this town to defend it.”
Gustav’s words hit home. His guilt overcoming him, he turned to Lily. “Take Jacob and go. Make for Bunezville. I’ll meet you there.”
“No Richard! You can’t leave us!” plead Jacob’s mother. “I can’t do this without you!”
“Be strong, Lily. I’m counting on you to protect our son. I promise, I’ll meet up with you later. I won’t get myself into any situation I can’t handle.”
Those words were enough to steel Lily. The two embraced. Then Richard knelt down and spoke to Jacob. “Protect your mother, boy. I won’t be long, I promise.”
Jacob, fighting back his own tears, managed an awkward smile. “Okay, papa. I’ll do my best.”
Richard returned the smile. “That’s my boy. There is something else I need you to do.” He handed the briefcase he had been holding to his son. “Hold on to this until I meet up with you again. Do NOT let anyone else get their hands on it, okay? If it comes down to it, destroy the case and all of its contents.”
Jacob took the case from his father and clung to it desperately. His father gave him a quick hug then turned away. Within seconds, both Richard Reinhart and Gustav could be seen no more, obscured by the hordes of people trying to escape town.
After Richard could no longer be seen, Lily and Jacob continued making for the town’s exit. Smoke was beginning to fill Jacob’s lungs and he was having a hard time keeping pace. Eventually he had to stop entirely to catch his breath. While coughing, he noticed something peculiar.
A young girl was laying by the wayside. The top half of her body was exposed, but the bottom half was buried under rubble. A vacant expression was in her eyes. Jacob knew her, though. She was one of the children in his class. He had never spoken with her. He had never spoke to any of his classmates. She would never get the chance to get to know him now. Her raven black hair stained by freely flowing blood.
Jacob stood there, unable to move. He had already seen more than a few corpses in his exodus, but this one shook him to the core. As he stood there motionless, his mother tried to pry him onward, they heard gunshots back in the direction they had come from. Instinctively, he knew his father was where the shots were coming from. His mother seemed to know too. The fire fight did not last long, maybe a minute or two.
Jacob gazed up at his mother. “Do you think dad is okay?”, he asked, tears now freely poured down his cheeks, as much from the ash and smoke as from the emotions he was feeling.
His mother was silent. “I don’t know. We need to move on though. We have to be strong for him. She was fighting back her own tears. Despite living a pampered life as the wife of a respected scientist under the employ of the government, she was a strong person at her core. She had enjoyed a happy marriage with her husband, and while she was not thrilled with the prospect of transplanting her life to what was essentially the wilderness, she understood that whatever project her husband was working on, it had required him to do so. She stood by his decision then. Now, she knew her husband was probably dead. He was no gunfighter, and the standoff had apparently been short. She knew it was up to her to get her son to safety.
Hope began to swell in the hearts of the two surviving Reinharts as they pressed forwards. In the distance, the large stone wall encircling the town was starting to grow larger in their field of view. It couldn’t be more than one thousand meters at this point. Foot traffic was still excruciating, but it would not be much longer before they were cleared of Dimvale. Even better, the section of town closest to the wall were not affected as badly by the blasts, and the area was not wreathed in flames as the inner parts of the town had been. Houses were more spread out towards the edges of town. In fact, a large field separated the wall from the last few houses.
Unbeknownst to the flood of exiles pouring towards the exit of the city, a group of a dozen or so men dressed in rags were posted on the opposite side of the great stone wall that encircled the town. As refugees passed through the gate, they took aim. As the initial wave of fleeing townsfolk passed about 100 feet outside of the gate, they unloaded their firearms in a dark fury. Ratatatatatatatatatatata. Ratatatatatatatata.
Panic swept through the crowd as they realized they were under fire and they attempted to scatter into the nearby woods. It was useless though. The net was too well laid: Anyone who attempted to break through was mowed down. The only chance of survival was to move back into the fire. Even that was futile though. As the line of refugees collapsed back into town, the assailants followed, continuing to fire at the crowd as they went.
Jacob was less than one hundred yards away from the outer wall when the shots began to ring out. Like a school of fish fleeing a predator, the townsfolk moved as one hivemind driving back into the flaming inferno that made up Dinvale. Lily reacted quickly. She picked up her son with one arm without thinking and started carrying him back the way they had come.
No what? Lily had no idea what to do The way forward was now blocked to her. Quickly she began formulating a plan of action. She could make for the northern gate, but she suspected whoever was attacking the village probably had men posted there as well. The only safe place she could think of was the mine itself. Of course it would be dangerous to enter, especially late at night without any sort of light source, but it could make for a temporary hiding place.
The mine was the lifeblood of the town. The Silberdorn mountains were rich with coal. Many coal towns nearly identical to Dinvale had arose shortly after the Zarian civil war some thirty years prior. The coal these mining communities had been what had jump started the nation’s economy after the dust had settled. Now it would serve as a haven.
The mine was all the way on the other side of town. All the way back past their house. At this point most of the houses in town had collapsed. Still the flames roared on, reducing everything to ash. The crowd was now quite thin now. No longer making for a single point, most had scattered any way they could. Behind them, Jacob could hear ever louder the cold gunshots being fired.
Am I going to die here? Jacob thought to himself. Before this night, he had never considered his own mortality before. He was young. By all rights, he should have at least fifty more years left. With death now all around him, he realized one of life’s darkest truths. He could die at any minute.
More than once, Jacob could feel bullets whiz past him. Around him, men and women were collapsing around him, screaming in pain from the shots. Pure adrenaline had taken over his mother and she kept her pace, without winding.
Desperate to escape the hail of bullets, Lily ducked into an alley on her left side. If she was going to survive and protect her son, she would have to get off the main street. The alley she was now in was narrow, and the buildings were half collapsed. This slowed her down considerably. Jacob was now walking on his own once more, since he would often have to climb over debris that had fallen from the buildings on their side, which were still wreathed in flame.
Climbing over the debris was torture. It was still hot, and Jacob could feel his hands blister as he climbed over these garbage mounds. He dared not protest though. Fear had completely washed over him and he was terrified to go back. On his right hand side, he could hear the gunshots ringing out nonstop.
Ahead was a concrete wall. The Reinharts made their way towards it. In order to continue towards Dinvale’s mine, they would have to cross it. It was quite tall, over eight feet tall. Lily lifted Jacob up and he climbed over. After he was clear, Lily began climbing over herself. Jacob stood below waiting for her to drop down to his side. Then she she did.
Lily threw her leg over the side of the wall and prepared to let gravity handle the rest. Before she could follow through, however, a shot rang out. Her body instantly went limp and she collapsed next to Jacob. A cold, distant look was in her eyes and a pool of blood started forming, originating from the back of her head.
Jacob propped her up and started shaking her awake. “Mom, stop joking around! C’mon! We need to go!” Tears were forming in his eyes. “C’mon! Don’t leave me like this! I need you! I don’t know what to do!”. No response came from Lily. Just a cold, distant stare.
As he clung to her, blood started to cover his clothes. He tried to soak it up but couldn’t. Slowly the reality started to sink in. What am I going to do? How am I going to survive? He thought to himself. He began cursing his father for leaving them. He began cursing his father for bringing them to this town for bringing. This whole thing was his father’s fault and he intended to say so once he met up with him again
He wiped the tears away, but they kept coming. He knew he had to keep going, but he couldn’t muster the will. Instead, he wrapped himself in her arms and let fate take control. Whatever was going to happen to him would happen
~~~
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