Chapter Two

It’s easy to control a city with walls and fear if you’ve lost your spirit, lost your humanity. I wish there was some way to bring back their spirit, which without, they put up little effort in a fight, I would know. I’ve battled these… things… for nearly 8 years. I was diagnosed as a “Spirit” when I was ten and they tried to end me there.
I would much rather live life as a spirit outside the walls rather than a person inside the City walls who has no freedom, no choice, and no life. No life for me to live, now what was I to do? A prisoner inside and hunted outside. Maybe I can strike a deal.
HA! Right… could you imagine; what would I say: Hey Stalker, what up, bro? Perhaps you can leave me alone… I mean I am 18 now…. So if you kill me, gosh it would hurt, so let me live and I’ll just behave besides, what do I honestly have to offer him?
Just then a memory hit me harder than a truck. I was walking down a beaten path, the sun was burning hotter than I’d have ever known. Even my mouth was dry, which was a big deal because I was always outside rather than in our hideout and I never got thirsty. I was walking while trying to kick a stone and think at the same time when I heard it.
Some one was coughing. I looked around and the second I saw him and our eyes locked I could tell he wasn’t a Spirit and he could tell I was. His scream was muffled by his dehydration and his eyes burned of such hatred and fear the practically shot out of his head and prodded accusingly through me. I knew he was judging me and as badly as I wanted to wheel around and walk away I couldn’t; My stupid humanity wouldn’t let me.
I jumped to his side and began rummaging through my backpack (which was surprisingly heavy for just a few supplies) looking for a bottled water, hoping I actually had one (always safe rather than sorry). My hand grasped around until it clasped an ice cold bottle and before my mind could even catch up to what was happening I was trying to get the man to drink it but he kept refusing.
“We crashed… I-I…control….help…she” before he had passed out from the events that had just happened and sure enough he was pinned under a bashed up Flyer; the shock of the Flyer wreck had done him out he had barely the strength to motion at a pile of rubble that I figured was just his imagination, a last minute hallucination before he passed out.
Then I saw her.
Even looking like she had been to hell and back she was beautiful. Her blond hair was a tangled mess that dropped in front of her face and at first glance one would think she was dead. Her eyes were wide open with her lips perfectly parted as if about to silently scream. She was alive and that’s a really good thing but the problem was, was she was staring at me; Horrified.
I brought the bottle down to her lips and it took a while before she finally began drinking, maybe it was because I was a Spirit, a foe or “The Enemy” they must preach about in school. I grabbed her, flung her over my shoulders as to not hurt her any more than she had been then headed for the hideout.
I knew instantly to take the girl to Doc (Evan). He would know what to do and most likely help her more than I could. I went back for the male who was a pain in the rear; every time I would finally have him secure on my back he would punch me in the back of the head. He was nearly unconscious so it didn’t hurt as bad as it would if he was in good health, but still, the ignorance of this jerk was already ticking me off. I noticed as I brought in the male they all gave him a nice gesture, a welcome, and he (in return) practically spit on them. Their faces changed from accepting new things to wanting to slit his throat.
I, as well as seven other Spirits, live there together. As a joke we all go by little nicknames that resemble the movie “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. No one minds much and the names practically perfectly fit us all. The boys all wanted to name me something to do with silence seeing how they could only call me Snow White due to my skin tone, nothing else. They thought it was funny how I never said more than I had to or never said much at all. Of course, I’m the oldest of the group so they all look at me as a leader, I’m not a leader I’m more of the kind of guy who goes off and does his own thing at his own pace. I work really well under stress and pressure which makes me okay for the job of leader. Doc is second in line, He’s only about 15 but kids look up to him because he’s the only known survivor of being injected and living.
The angry fella (Grumpy) is only about 11; he’s the youngest we house. Dopey is about 14 as well as Bashful. They are both twins so it gets a little confusing until you hear them speak; Twins by looks, opposites by heart. Sneezy makes no sense, the only reason we call him that is: the first time we took him inside the city walls to scout for food; he sneezed and alerted the guards to our presence: quite funny actually; but he has never mentioned his age.
We’ve all gotten along just fine here. Like a silent “truce” that brought us together like brothers. Even though Dopey and Bashful were brothers, we all got along better with each other than those two did. Imagine trying to put out fire with wood and paper. That’s how they are together. This makes Grumpy even meaner and often gets him to separate the two. Of course there is Happy. I call him Smiles-A-Lot like the boy from “Dances with Wolves” He’s always fun and I believe he’s 13. Sleepy, would be my other nick name if they didn’t want to call me “The Mute” as it was, he is rather hyperactive but as soon as his hyperness dwindles he’s left with the Z’s and usually sleeps all day and scouts at night. I don’t know how he does it because that’s when it becomes unsafe to be outside.
We had a dream to make the city ours, we were going to call it “The City of New” and knock down the walls. They were only there because the “king” didn’t want any “heroes” to save the wetlands outside the city. The “king” also decided to call the City “The City of Refuge” which we all despised.
We have broken into the City quite a few times, (I’ve been outside for eight years, of course I need supplies, add seven others and you have issues) we even make it up to the king’s chambers before we’d run out with the provisions. Sadly, the king has a bounty on me for about 20 rubies. This makes me a walking target so I’ve always got to move by myself before meeting up with the others. We always have contests to see who can go the furthest in. I held the record (we thought) but apparently Sleepy does.
He finds it’s much easier to move around the castle at night. No duh right? I don’t know why we never thought of it but Sleepy has been everywhere through the castle. He should come with a slogan Need to find a secret passage way? No problem, with Sleepy’s help, you can get where you want, when you want. The boy was like a walking map. These boys were my “family” and I cared for them like I was their father (kind of a silent father who don’t really give advice) but still part of their family.
Everything seemed much easier then.