Greenhaus Part 1: A Storm Brews (7 page)

Ella Stone ran. And ran and ran and ran, never once glancing back. Only a brief stop at the bunker to retrieve her items stalled her bee line to
the fortress. Her cheeks were wet with tears as the rest of her head glistened with sweat, the origin of the tears unknown. Were they tears of sadness, from leaving her temporary safe place under the enchanting eyes of her Stranger Friend, or tears of anger at herself for entertaining those feelings in the first place? Now was not the time for her newly complicated emotions to be internally examined, it was time to escape. “
Run Ella, your instincts will keep you alive,”
the last words her father said to her before a Ranger raid took him forever, played over and over in her head.

Ella ran through the hills and all of the way to the fortified base camp. Though she was not due to report for days, she wanted to tell the Elders she had been sighted by the Oppres
sors as a protective measure for the rest of the camp. Even so, she knew disclosing her unauthorized trip to the glass would bring her trouble. She blew through the fortress gates and headed straight to the Elder tent, never once glancing to see if the spotters were waving her through. Risky, especially given that her arrival was unexpected, but worth the gamble in her estimation.

After removing her mask, but before she could speak, she was addressed by Elder Ashe, who was alone. “
Ella, what’s wrong? You look pale, like you have seen a ghost.”

In between large draws from a salvaged oxygen tank, she managed to get out. “
I’ve….been….spotted. We must….abandon this fortress...at once. Or prepare its defense.”

“
By who, were you followed?”

“
No….I don’t think I was followed. But…I….didn’t stop to look either,” Ella said as she huffed and puffed for air.

“
We must sound the alarm then, to put everyone on high alert, and prepare to defend our fortress,” the tall man said as he approached Ella, hovering over her by a good foot and a half. “How could you be so careless to lead them here? More importantly, how were you even spotted in the first place?” Elder Ashe scolded her, his voice rising.

“
I went to the glass,” she responded, wiping sweat from her face. “And….”

“
You did what?” shouted Elder Ashe as he interrupted her explanation.

Ella
’s statement would have to go unfinished. Hearing the commotion, Elder May Stone burst into the tent and said, “Elder Ashe, what is the meaning of this tone with my camper?”

“
Ella went to the glass,” he replied, flashing a smirk that quietly asked ‘Can you believe this shit?’ “And who knows what else. The best part… she led them here, May,” his gruff voice informed her. He crossed his arms, confident he was in the clear with Elder Stone. “Never mind that Elders Cloud, Sky, and Fire are making treaties with other mini camps north of the city. We don’t have enough firepower to hold off even twenty Rangers until they return, nor the manpower to move the camp,” he finished, shaking his head in disgust.

“
Ella is this true?” asked Elder Stone, in the husky tone of those Masked lucky enough to live this long.

“
Yes, it is, but…”

The tone Elder Ashe used was nothing compared to the tongue lashing Elder Stone was about to deliver. “
Why on earth would you do such a thing?” her voice just beginning to rise. “Of all the stupid things you have done, this is almost enough to make me want to put you out of our camp.” Elder Stone paused to contemplate an appropriate punishment rubbing the loose skin on her chin with her hand. “But I won’t, and only because I need bodies. But you can hand over your binoculars and the rest of your spotting equipment too. You will be replaced in the bunker.”

Ella
’s heart crumbled and the scolding would have likely continued had it not been for several loud, unmistakable pops.
Gunshots.
The blasts were followed by the banging of metal on metal, then by a few sharp bursts from an air horn and finally the wailing of a hand cranked alarm.

“
Rangers,” exclaimed Elder Ashe, pulling a hand back to slap Ella that was quickly blocked by Elder Stone. “Damned Rangers! Ella, see what you have done? Are you happy?” he screamed.

“
There will be time to discipline her later, we have a fortress to defend,” Elder Stone said as she waddled to the exit. “Quick, everyone into positions,” she shouted through the flaps of the tent. “Arm yourselves with whatever scrap you can find and remember aim for the starrrrr!”

Ella had her rifle, which did no good without bullets, so
she placed it at the base of the tent and removed the knife taped to the end, before rushing to take a position atop the exterior wall of the fortress. There was plenty of rusty, pointy scrap, things that would have given her more reach, but for now her best weapon was her wit. She removed her binoculars and scanned the area. She saw no Rangers, so she moved further down the wall as the siren continued its song.

Ella stayed low, to avoid being seen and navigated the maze to reach to front of the fortress. S
he checked again for incoming Rangers and a third time, panning the horizon, but saw nothing through the sparse, patchy grass, dirt, and debris. Suddenly she spotted movement, and gave it a good, long look, while remaining hidden. She focused the view on the group, expecting to see the blue, white, and red uniforms of the Rangers. She saw none. Instead Ella saw a group led by Elders Sky and Cloud.
A false alarm, whew
.

Ella had enough excitement for the day, but she knew the scolding would continue and the
binoculars that felt so right in her hands would have to be turned over and given to a new spotter. She dreaded returning to the Elder tent but was about to jump down from the wall to face her fate when another shot was fired
. What the… That has to be a mistake
, she thought, but several more rounds followed, one lodging in the metal near her.
Maybe the Rangers followed me after all.
An arrow whizzed by her position coming from the general direction of Elders Sky and Cloud, so she ducked and stayed low, while several more arrows flew by.
Those are intended for me, I’ve been spotted, but who is shooting at me?

Next, a hail of bullets were exchanged, Ella watched several snipers tumble off the wall. She positioned herself to see through the twisted metal and o
ther assorted trash. What she saw was bewildering. Elders Cloud and Sky were leading an attack against their sworn allies in the fortress. Some had already breached their gates.
We’ve been double crossed.

It made no sense to Ella, but she had zero time to
work out the details. Unarmed, except for her knife, which was no match for the heavily armored assailants, she turned to her instincts once again.
Why would they do this? What could they hope to accomplish by weakening our camp?
These questions came to her fast, but remained unanswered as two more arrows and several rounds of bullets passed overhead.

Elder Stone!
Ella jumped down from her position, tucked her knife in the cloth tied around her waist. After dropping her binoculars and backpack, Ella burned a path back to the tent through the maze, grabbing the first piece of scrap she could, a pole about three feet in length. A pointed, rusty end led the way as she burst into the tent.

She was too late. Elder Stone lay slumped over, near death, blood squir
ting from the deep slit in her throat; gurgles coming from her mouth as the blood slowly choked her. Elder Ashe was in another corner, struggling with Elder Fire. Distracted by the commotion and with his back turned to Ella, Elder Fire let out a hideous groan when she thrust the spear-like scrap into his back. It poked through the front of his chest, causing his body to collapse on top of a badly wounded Elder Ashe.

Ella rol
led Elder Fire off of Elder Ashe, who was nearing his end. Without speaking, Elder Ashe pulled a handgun from his waste and fired a round at Ella, just missing her head. Elder Sky, who followed her into the tent and had been lurking behind Ella, collapsed in a heap, the hole between his eyes leaking a warm crimson. After squeezing the trigger, Elder Ashe fell lifeless to the floor. Elder Fire was struggling to stay alive, so Ella gave the rod she inserted into his back a quick twist before thrusting it deeper and pushing him to the ground. 

She quickly grabbed the gun from the dead hand of Elder Ashe and went in search of Elder Cloud, but al
l that was found was his body and the bodies of all the other invaders, over a quarter of the allied camp dead in all. They had successfully defended the fortress, but defense came at a great cost. Dead were the Elders that united them all and there was no telling if more attacks were forthcoming.

“
Snipers, spotters, into position,” Ella shouted. “Everyone else, to the gates, more may be coming.” Her voice carried and her rallying cry was answered. The Masked were confused, stepping over some of their own as they made their way to the gate. “Close the gates,” yelled Ella.

A large bus was pushed and pulled, covering the ope
ning in the fortress wall. As Masked campers rendezvoused near the closed gates, Ella climbed atop the wall. After a roll call was taken, Ella addressed the crowd, “Everyone, gather round,” she said, loud enough for all to hear, but her statement fell mostly on deaf ears.

The crowd was divided into cliques, grouped by their minicamps, talking amongst themselves, pointing fingers and assigning blame. The allied camp was falling apart, the work of many undone by the treachery of a few. A loud, piercing whistl
e got everyone’s attention, silencing the bickering. Ella saw the camp splintering into factions and gave it her best attempt at keeping it glued together, “Gather round and listen.” Heads began to turn, and while not all were giving her their full attention, enough were that she continued. “Pay no mind to the camp from which you came, because those Elders are all gone. Fire, Ashe, Cloud, Sky, and even my own Elder Stone are dead,” she explained. “What’s left can be the start of a new camp, one undivided camp or we can all go our separate ways.”

The group had no one to lead them and no one else stepped forward to address them, so naturally bodies gravitated toward her while their minds processed the events of the day. Ella continued her speech, “
What happened today, serves us no purpose. I personally have had enough. These attacks have got to stop,” she insisted. “Constant betrayal, one minicamp to the next and for what?” she asked as she stomped her feet in anger. She only made slight pauses and in these lulls she noticed heads begin to bob in agreement. “We have to stop attacking each other, for there is nothing to gain. Instead, we must focus on our mutual enemy, those behind the glass.” The muffling of her voice by her mask added a sinister element to the malicious intent in her words.

The crowd was not waiting for any pauses. They began to interject, “
That’s right”, “yeahs”, and other assorted shouts of affirmation, but she paid these potential disruptions no mind. A pause in her speech could have left the door open for someone else, someone older, to take the floor and she wanted her message heard, so she continued. “It’s time to make them pay. The Oppressors. Those who control all the resources. Those who hoard supplies that could help us, forcing us to attack each other for what’s left. But I say no more. No more attacks on each other. No more Masked on Masked violence. Instead, I say we put the events of today behind us and unite. One camp, stronger and better than all the minicamps. A camp whose strength is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Her soaring rhetoric had the crowd hanging on her every word. The camps were now mingling, where just minutes before they were separated, the invisible barriers they created were gone. It was one giant group, all e
yes upon Ella Stone as she finished addressing them, “We need to put all of our capabilities together under one leader. In one camp. To finally bring the Oppressors to their knees. To break the glass and make Glass City’s inhabitants feel the pain that we feel every day. The dirty air. The metallic water. The lack of food. The Sickness.”

Ella was giving this potential new camp a strong mission, even if it was one she didn
’t entirely believe in any longer. Her primary goal right now was to unite the camp. Internally, her thoughts were at war, wondering if all on the Inside were indeed Oppressors. Stranger Friend didn’t appear to be, but she put aside her warring emotions for the good of the camp. It was a sacrifice she willingly made because if the camp dissolved or stayed in turmoil, there is no telling what the future held.

“
In the temporary absence of an Elder, I am taking control of the rest of the Stone camp. To remove hostilities toward the old camps, we should remove all the old names and choose something new, more in line with our purpose.” Ella paused while a thought came to her. “I propose the name, Storm. Any who care to join this Storm camp, return to your minicamps and close them down for good. The day after next, return with whatever supplies you can salvage and we will choose our next Elder.” The crowd was worked into a frenzy now, fully behind Ella. “Come back with any and all who would like to join. Bring anything that can be used as weapon or fuel and
everything
that can be eaten. But most of all… just come back,” she pleaded before adding, “And in peace so that we can finally bring the fight to the people inside the glass. And we will take Glass City by storm!”