Shun

Feliciana wasn't lying when she said we had a long walk ahead of us. It felt like the mountain wouldn't end anytime soon, but I knew better. I knew we'd make it up there eventually. Below us, the City had exploded into gunfire not long after we reached the mountain and started up.

Dan said, "It's probably just more Officials firing at each other. Let's keep moving." We ignored the gunshots and kept on our way. The trees thinned out the higher we got, and were replaced by rocks and old goat paths. Murucho said, "Looks like our only choice is to follow one of the paths to reach the summit."

The other option was climbing over a stretch of mountain that was nothing but jagged rock and fissures. Odds were that the other survivors went along this path as well, so it was our safest bet. The path was narrow, and the only way to walk on it was in a single file line.

Even then, one had to watch their footing, or else they would find themselves tumbling down the mountain. And it was a decent drop to the ground. Feliciana was at the front of the line, then Dan, me, Alice, Murucho, Runo, and Julie.

In the front, Feliciana said, "We should reach the summit when we round that corner." She and Marquis had left while the rest of us stayed behind in the City to fight. This was even before Brunswick was shot and we escaped the umpteenth time. During that time, she was scaling the mountain with our old friend in order to return to the few people she had left from her homeland.

The only reason Marquis went with her, was because Brunswick demanded it due to the state of his mind. So, Feliciana had gotten higher up this mountain that any of us, giving us a human map to follow. She told us, "This was where I turned around." I looked back down at the Wastelands.

When she showed up during our fight with Nero, she had explained that she saw the events unfolding from the mountain. Sure enough, there was a clear view of where our group was. "Marquis was the one who said he saw the summit around this corner. So, I'm just taking his word. Oh, and watch your step. The path gets narrower."

All of our backs were pressed against the rock wall behind us as we shuffled along the path. I couldn't imagine the time and chaos that had to of occurred as the survivors made their way through here. There weren't that many, but there were still more of them than us.

I glanced down at the ground that kept getting further away from us. There was freshly broken off rock down there. I looked at the path we were walking on, and saw that the edges of it looked as if they had been chipped away at. It then occurred to me that this path wasn't naturally narrow, but falling apart.

I could see the people we brought from all over the Wastelands walking along here, then part of the ground breaking off and taking several people with it. I stretched my neck out some and saw completely over the ledge. I could just make out the shapes of a couple of bodies way down below.

My theory had been right about the ground falling away. The survivors who weren't fortunate enough to make it through this last stretch of their journey, ended up right there. I felt sorry for them, but it had to be a much less painful death than what they would have received at the hands of the Officials.

The wind picked up as we neared the corner. Step by step, we got closer. I took another step, then felt a piece of the ground vanish from underneath. I started to fall from the narrow ledge and screamed. I then felt something grab onto my hand. The momentum from my almost fall caused me to slam into the side of the ledge below, but I was no longer falling.

My heart was racing with adrenaline from almost joining the poor souls below me. I looked up and saw Dan had been the one who caught me. He was struggling to hold my weight, so the others joined in and helped the pull me up. Back on the ledge, I latched onto the rock wall, afraid that I'd fall again if I stood up. Runo asked, "Are you okay?" Alice was holding onto my hand.

It must have given her some comfort in knowing that if she held on, I wouldn't fall off again. I looked up at the others. They all had wide eyes filled with shock and a fading fear. I nodded and said, "I'm fine." I turned my attention to Dan, who was rubbing his wrist.

"Thanks," I told him. He could have let me fall, but instead he caught me. "Just think of it as me repaying you for all the times you've saved me." I remembered how not too long ago, he would have loved to see me dead. But now that had changed. He didn't see the Outcasts as vermin that needed to be eradicated from this world. I might even have thought he saw us eye to eye. As equals.

Or even friends. Him and Alice helped me stand up so I wouldn't fall off again. Julie said, "Okay, let's hurry and get to the other side before somebody else falls off." We hurried around the corner and up a slight hill. Finally getting off of that goat path, filled me with relief. We stopped at the top of the hill.

It was the summit of the mountain, and below us was the place that was so highly sought after by us. Fog blocked our image of the world in front of us, so we walked down the new side of the mountain until we could see. The fog was cleared away, but thick trees and underbrush blocked everything now.

The only place that was free of the thick foliage, was a path where it had been trampled flat by the footsteps of people. We were on the right path. Not too far ahead of us, there was an opening in the trees and brush. It curved like an archway, and light filtered in from the other side of it.

It took a moment for our eyes to adjust to the new light, but when it did, we were surprised. Or more like awestruck would have been closer to what we were feeling. Bright grass made a sea of green, trees dotted the flat stretch of land.

Mountains formed a shield around the place from all sides, as if to protect this peaceful place. Coming from one of the mountains, was a waterfall that dropped off into a massive lake. It wasn't like the one that Brunswick and his friends fished in, but it was close. "You guys made it!"

We jerked our attention from our new surroundings, to Marquis. He left a group of people he was speaking with and ran towards us. His eyes scanned over our group. He then asked, "Brunswick…..Is he?" Dan nodded and told him, "He died by saving me from a bullet."

I could see the loss in Marquis's eyes. He had already lost people that he knew, the one person who he considered his brother, and now one of his closest friends. How much more could one man lose, and not go mad? He hung his head low, then brought it back up with a smile.

"That sounds like something he'd do." Was he being honest about this, or was it just the effects of the shock? Only time would tell us the answer to that. I looked around. The survivors had already started to cut down trees and build themselves new homes and lives.

It would take some time, but I had seen firsthand the determination these people had. It had made sure they lived to see this place. I noticed Feliciana was staring wide-eyed at something. She even dropped the rope weapon that hadn't left her hand since she came back to help us. I asked, "Feliciana? What's wrong?" A tear came out of the corner of her eye, and she took off and shouted, "Christina!"

I watched as a familiar face turned around to see who was shouting her name. I whispered to myself, "She's alive. Christina's alive." Christina saw her sister running towards her. Feliciana slammed herself into her, and wrapped her tightly in her arms. I ran towards them now. I stopped in front of the reunited sisters and said, "I thought you were dead."

Last I had seen her, I was leaving her and the others in the hands of the Officials. I asked, "How'd you get away?" Feliciana was still holding her when she said, "I was forced to by some of the elders. After you left, they demanded I go and take the kids with me, and I did."

I looked around and finally saw the orphaned kids that I had helped Christina take care of back in the Wastelands. They noticed me and ran at me. Alice and the others walked up behind me. One of the kids shouted, "It's Shun!" I was tackled by them. But I wasn't the only one. Alice was also attacked by the squealing kids. They remembered her from the few times she had been out in the Wastelands.

I was sitting on the ground and laughing. I was sure they had been killed, that they were dead because of the Officials. But they had been safe all this time. Although, that still didn't change the fact that the other Outcasts had been killed. Feliciana still had Christina wrapped in her arms.

The two hadn't seen each other in years, and Feliciana thought her sister was dead as well. "I'm so sorry," said Christina. Feliciana looked at her and said, "Don't be. What happened back then doesn't matter now. What does is that you're safe and alive." They finally broke their hug.

Neither one of them had dry eyes. Alice and I finally pulled the joyful kids off of us and stood up. We were still laughing, while Dan and the others stared at us with confusion. Alice shook her head and said through a laugh, "I'll explain later." Marquis came running back to us and said, "Miss Alice, somebody wants to speak with you." Our laughter stopped, and we exchanged a look. She asked, "Who?"

Marquis stepped to the side and revealed an old man that had been standing behind him. Alice's eyes grew wide and she said, "Gr-Grandfather?" Surprise showed on all of our faces. We all thought he had been taken away and killed by the Officials before they had even started to come after us.

Alice ran to him like Feliciana did Christina and hugged him, burying her face into his chest and crying. Between him, Christina, and the kids, I felt like I was surrounded by ghosts. "Grandfather, I thought the Officials killed you. I thought they killed you," she said through sobs.

He told her with a smile, "Your old man has more tricks up his sleeves than you think." Alice smiled through her tears and laughed. She asked, "But how?" She broke the hug with him and wiped a stray tear away. He told her, "You have to remember that me and Howe were the ones who made the map for when this would happen. The two of us had escape routes planned out through the entire City in case something were to become of us."

Howe and his wife were the reason we were alive right now. If it hadn't been for them, we would have been killed long ago. Alice's grandfather waved to us. Julie threw her arms up and said, "I'm so happy you're alright, Grandpa!" The silver-haired girl ran and hugged him.

The old man tried to pull her off and said, "I'm happy to see you too, Julie. Now, if you don't mind, I can't breathe." Julie let go of him and apologized, then ran back over to Dan and the rest of us. The old man turned and looked at me.

"You must be the Outcast that there's been so much talk about," he said. I looked around to see if he really was talking to me. "Yes, you," he said. I was surprised that anyone would be talking about me. Positively, at least. I told him, "I guess so. I don't know."

He laughed and said, "Quit being so modest. These people haven't stopped talking about the bravery you and your friends have showed during all of this. At the lake, up North, and even in the desert. You all are heroes in their eyes." I looked behind him and met the eyes of the survivors.

They sparkled with gratitude and admiration. I told the man, "Well, I don't think any of us intended to become heroes." The man raised an eyebrow, but still smiled. He asked, "Then what did you intend to happen?" I thought for a moment, then looked at Alice. I smiled and said, "To stay alive."

Her grandfather nodded and said, "Sounds good enough to me. I'll leave you all be and let you explore this place so you'll get adjusted to it." The man turned around and walked off with Marquis. That night, we were out in the massive field and laying around a fire.

Our group had become very close with the end of this war. They were all asleep, and only Alice and I were awake. We were looking up at the stars, pointing out things that we thought they made. She had talked and talked for hours about how happy she was that her grandfather was alive.

I didn't have to say anything to let her know how happy I was that part of my old life had also made it. She already knew. I looked at her and smiled. Next to me, was a life that I could actually enjoy having now. A life that would bring happiness to both of us. She looked at me and smiled.

I leaned over and kissed her on the lips, feeling a jump in my chest when I did so. I looked down at her and said, "Goodnight." She said it back to me and laid her head against my chest. Both of us quickly drifted off. Days and nights of fearing for our lives were gone, and now replaced with new times of safety and comfort in each other's company.

chapter title based off the song Sounds Of Freedom by Within Temptation. sorry for not uploading the past two days. we've been cleaning out a room and painting it, and it's been an all day long process. but the room looks awesome :D next up is mine. o.o wish us luck. and i do hope you all enjoyed the ending. it's been another great pleasure to write this story. :) read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~