The next morning, I went over to the makeshift clinic in the center of town that I had dropped Marley off. He was a little delirious due to being on so many painkillers. I can’t believe they had sacrificed so heavily to medicate him. I was sure they hadn’t that much medicine left. I was thankful, though. They were willing to save a person they didn’t even know.
The doctor explained to me everything he had done to Marley in mostly words I was unable to understand. Finally, he attempted to tell me something but fell short in actually saying it. He seemed extremely hesitant. I asked what he was trying to get at and he finally showed me; he lifted up the cloth covering Marley’s lower half to reveal that he had to amputate his leg to save him. I acknowledged that I understood why he had to do it. He asked if I was upset and I explained that I was sure Marley would be more upset than I was. Regardless, I expressed thanks for everything the doctor had done. He assured me there was no need to repay him in any way because we would be doing that the following night. He said we’d be entertaining the whole town with our presence and laughed. I laughed back uneasily and explained that I wasn’t much of a public speaker. He laughed even harder this time, which made me even more uncomfortable. I expressed my uneasiness and told him I’d be outside if I was needed. He was still laughing as I turned my back and walked outside. I thought to myself, these people have a weird sense of humor.
Upon walking outside of the clinic, I was greeted by the man that had saved us the night before. He told me that I shouldn’t be walking around town unescorted. That statement made me feel even more apprehensive than what the doctor was saying. I asked him the reason for my needed companionship around their town. He told me there was a wolf problem in the area; he explained they kept prodding at a weak spot at the northeast corner of town and would occasionally break in and kill a townsperson or two. He said that they had lost fifteen people in the last month due to wolf attacks. The wolves would continuously find different weak spots in the walls surrounding the city and come in through those. The northeast corner was just the most recent spot the people had forgotten to reinforce. The town was large, so to cover the entire area in gates and fences was nearly impossible. On top of that, nature took its toll on the fence and would wear it down to the point wild animals could push down what remained and come through.
The man then looked to me and told me the troubles his group had been through. Despite being a small town- larger than most groups that remained- he still referred to the people there as a “group.” They had seen their fair share of tyrants like Joe that had bulldozed through and looked to pillage and steal rather than work the land. At least that’s how the man put it.
I began wondering if the majority of people really were working the land. How was everyone getting supplies and food? The country had been drained. That’s how I saw it, anyway. This area was so much different than anything else I’d seen. This area was so pure, so untouched by war. The north was decimated but this land was safe and secure. Why? How did they avoid it? Why a, I at the center of it? How did I even make it this far? The man was still talking to me, telling me about the miracles he’d seen, but I could only focus on the thoughts of my own miracles. The fact that I was still alive was a miracle in its own.
“Are you listening to me?” he asked suddenly. “It’s rude to ignore somebody.”
“Yeah, sorry,” I replied. “I was just thinking.”
“About?” he inquired with curiosity.
“How sheltered you people are,” I replied with no particular tone, “No offense, of course. It’s just I’ve been through so much on the road. I’ve survived so much more than your stories could hope to witness.”
He looked to me with a shocked expression due to my blatant rudeness and replied: “Well, boy. it’s not the living we honor. It’s the dead that weren’t so fortunate. You should remember that.”
“I get that,” I said back. “I’ve lost my fair share. Notice I came into your town with only one person as my companion and not a legion of people. I had an entire group too at one point. Guess where they are. They’re dead. They’re all dead. You still have people left alive. Remember that.”
His face showed his inability to respond. I didn’t care if I was being rude. I had been through more than he had and he had the audacity to tell me his troubles as if they could compare. I was losing my empathy. I used to almost care about other people’s troubles, but now I only counted the days I managed to survive. That was the only feat I could boast about and I did it silently because everyone else had that same struggle. But I’d made it after being hunted down by the most powerful army in the world. That was my feat. That was what I was proud of. I survived. I missed everyone, but I survived.
The man disregarded what I’d told him and asked me to follow him. I obliged him and let the man lead as I followed behind him. He led me through the town and allowed me to witness the people going through their daily lives. A husband and wife were washing their clothes, a man and his son were chopping wood, and a group of people gathered around a fire, singing songs and telling jokes. It was a utopia compared to any other place I’d visited.
Suddenly, a man ran out of a building with a woman holding a shotgun in pursuit. The woman was screaming wildly for the man to come back and return what he’d stolen. I couldn’t see what the man had in his hand. It was covered in a sack. The whole scene caught me off guard. I felt the adrenaline course through my body rapidly, but I froze up in anticipation. He made it about a hundred yards before the woman was able to take aim and fire the shotgun. The man I walked with began laughing casually after the man who was shot hit the ground. Why is he laughing? Maybe there’s something about this place I don’t know yet. These people… this whole place… feels different.
It wasn’t until after the showdown that I realized the woman called him by name. They knew each other and he still tried to steal from her.
“Not the utopia you’d hoped for, is it?” the man asked jokingly.
Feeling a sense of shock, I said back: “That was funny to you?!”
“Look, it gets boring around here. We just try to enjoy the little things. If Henderson thinks it’s wise to steal from Patty, who should stop her from shooting him? Isn’t that the right thing to do?” he said back casually. “Keep following me. I have something to show you still.”
“I don’t know if I want to,” I said uneasily. Nothing good can be waiting for wherever he’s taking me. I can feel it.
My eyes wandered and came to rest on the sight of the woman going back into her building casually with shotgun in hand still. Two men walked by and lifted the dead man’s body up and brought it to the fence to be thrown to the wolves.
“Don’t make your final judgement until after I show you this,” the man said persuasively.
I reluctantly agreed to follow to the sight of a small arena with bleachers on both sides. The arena was caged off so no one could get in or out unless through two small doors on either side.
“What is this place?” I was hoping he would say it was for sports.
“We let newcomers fight in the arena for a chance to stay with us. Whenever a group comes into the area, we put them in there and let them fight it out. The winner gets to stay. Note that I said 'winner.' Only one person gets to stay out of every group. You following me? You and Marley are gonna be put in there tomorrow night. The winner gets to live with us and the other… well, the other is dinner for the night,” he explained dispassionately. The man’s mouth suddenly formed a sinister smile. His eyes narrowed to stare deep into mine.
“You’re joking,” I replied, diverting my gaze from his. I stared into the arena, noting the marks of dried blood lining the sides of it and the sand throughout it.
His expression refused to change and he replied: “We just want to know who wants to stay and who deserves to stay. We need a hard worker to help work the land. This isn’t a place for leeches.”
??
?Look, I didn’t want to have to do this, but do you know who I am?” I asked cockily.
He raised an amused eyebrow.
“My name is Marley,” I said softly, waiting for him to show that his interest is peaked. It doesn’t happen.
“So?”
“What do you mean ‘so?’”
“Is that suppose to mean something to me?” he inquired.
“I’m the leader of the Hyenas! They’ll come looking for me!” I said angrily with a bit of desperation in my voice. “Let me go now and I will spare you!”
“Not gonna work way out here. The government and the revolution has left us alone. No one’s ever gonna find you out here,” he said back in a certain tone. “You got fire in you, though. I will definitely be looking forward to watching you fight.”
“There’s gotta be another way,” I pleaded. “You saved us and for what? To have us kill each other?!”
“Town’s gotta eat,” he said unmoved.
“Wait…"
“What?” he asked concernedly.
I felt a sudden realization come over me and said: “The meat we had this morning. Was that his… leg?”
He cocked a smile.
I stepped back in horror. What have I done? He has to be lying. My stomach suddenly pained and I felt the urge to puke. My knees grew weak and I took another step back.
“No!” I screamed in terror. “You tricked me!”
The man looked back to me over his shoulder, broadened his smile and lowered his eyes and walked away slowly, leaving me to myself.