Greenhaus Part 1: A Storm Brews (9 page)

Ella Storm
, the voice repeated over and over in her head, a smile spread across her face as it did. Ella preferred this name to her previous ones; it fit her personality so well. Her camp plodded through the wasteland, two campers flanked Ella as they led the procession. The old Stone camp trudged along slowly pulling heavy sleds, which were nothing more than wooden pallets coupled together with wire and rope. The heavy skids gouged the wasteland, carving a path from their old camp to their new, permanent dwelling.

Ammunition boxes held down clothes that would have otherwise blown away in the heavy winds that whipped toxic dust a
ll around. An assortment of knives and other hand held weapons, stayed wrapped in cloth. Large boxes held tools, food, coal and anything else they could pack in them.

The journey had been rough and the recent days long. The dismantling and packing of the c
amp was hard enough, but the hauling of it all, even worse. The slightest hill made for tough sledding, the lack of water and clogging air filters only added to the toll.

Ella wasn
’t sure how many other camps would join, but her one wish was to unite the entire camp. She was risking her camp and all their provisions on this bet. She knew they made an easy target for an ambush out in the open, but felt the risk was worth the reward.

The remnants of the old Stone camp approached the fortress apprehensively.
The slow pace was partly because of the heavy weights they dragged and partly because Ella wasn’t sure her if her rousing speech had a lasting effect. She wanted to be sure those occupying the fortress were indeed friendly to her cause.

Two days prior, eve
ryone else seemed ready to unite, to join as one and assume a single purpose. Time gives an idle mind a chance to rethink things. Time to plan a new strategy, to acquire new allies or targets, especially against someone who admitted killing their Elder, as Ella had done to so many of her fellow Masked. Power was something that had driven men insane for millennia. Those who shared what was left of Earth with her were no different.

Snipers and spotters were posted along the walls as they normally would be, so Ella knew they were not the first to return. She felt a big
bull’s-eye across her chest, maybe just her overactive imagination, but enough to stop her in her tracks and proceed with caution. She received a wave of the white flag from those on duty and she dropped her rope. Exhausted legs carried her body, covered in a layer of dust, toward the gate.

“
Elder Storm,” a meek but muffled voice was overheard from above.

Ella raised he
r hand to stop those behind her as her camp approached the gate. She turned an ear to the fortress, to eavesdrop. The rage resurfaced, Ella was ready to break her own peace treaty, to riot with those she sought to unite.
They have already named an Elder, without our input. Who are they to…?

Her angry thoughts were halted, when the soft and muffled voiced repeated, “
Elder Storm, welcome home.” This time she followed the voice to the wall walk atop the gate. A short, red haired spotter emerged from the cluster of guardian snipers. She descended a ladder and walked toward the Storm camp.

“
Elder Storm, welcome home,” before she added, “Follow me, we’ve been waiting.”

Ella remembered hearing this voice before, but couldn
’t recall exactly when. Soft, but eerie when the effects of the masks were added, it was very distinct. Ella liked the sound of what she heard from the spooky voiced fire-haired girl, both the ‘Elder Storm’ part and the part about this being home.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw an army of w
orkers separate her goods. Ella grasped the hand of her escort, and followed her lead, motioning the ex-Stone camp to join them. As they entered the fortress, Ella’s anger regressed and the bull’s-eye she imagined across herself vanished. Calming more with every step, she knew a hair trigger temper like hers meant the simmering rage stayed just beneath the surface, it could never be buried for good.

As they spanned the length of the courtyard, Ella noticed the insignias painted on the masks of those they p
assed. Members of Cloud, Fire, Sky, and Ashe camps had already arrived. In addition to her former allies, Ella spied symbols she did not recognize.

Supplies were being sorted into like goods, piles accumulated in each corner and along the walls. The red ha
ired spotter from the old Fire camp led Ella’s camp into a corridor. More of her allies lined each side, but she continued to notice masks she did not recognize. Ella was showered with welcoming and congratulatory responses, ‘Welcome home’ and ‘Congrats Elder Storm’ being the most common phrases heard in muffled tones as she passed.

They
had
chosen an Elder, but it no longer angered her. Her hazel eyes scanned the courtyard on final time before exiting, focusing on the piles of scrap, weapons, ammunition caches, and fuel that continued to grow. Those she passed in the corridor all held something they had brought with them. As she passed they raised their offerings to her, a symbolic pledge of support.

“
Elder Storm,” the small spotter said.

The sound of that
will never get old.

“
This way, quickly,” the soft voice of the diminutive escort instructed, pulling Ella past the procession of supplies being offered to the new Elder.

Though she was not of traditional age to be Elder, someone, or more specifically a g
roup of someones, picked Ella to lead them. Even though the decision seemed to be unanimous, she would always be cautious of those that may seek her title, using any means necessary to get it. 

The inoperable automobiles and other assorted scrap carried t
he stench of old metal and grease, a smell she remembered well. Caught up in the excitement of being named Elder and distracted by the gifts being presented, it only now dawned on her that she did not recognize her surroundings, odd since the fortress was so small and she had explored its entirety many times over. Her escort made a ninety degree turn, into another corridor even narrower than the previous. An internal panic grew when the old Stone camp was cut off from her as those lining the sides of the halls blocked the way.

After Ella turned another corner, she noticed the path was a dead end. The procession of Masked she was led through now closed off the corridor, preventing her escape. The panic set in deeper, her realization came a few seconds too la
te. She and her camp were trapped.

Ella stared intently at the mask of the spotter that had led her into this dead end. She ignored the ice and water symbols on the sides of her mask, instead focusing on the red and orange squiggly lines dancing down the
center of her mask. The flames jumped out at her, triggering a thought that came ten minutes too late.

Fire camp
.
How did I overlook that?!? How could I be so careless? It’s a trap and I’ve fallen right in.
As
Ella began to plan her escape, her escort clutched a pry bar. Without a word, the ex-Fire camper pulled it back and gave it a mighty swing. Ella froze, braced for its impact, closing her eyes and accepting her inevitable fate. A loud crash, the sound of metal on metal caused her to jump. A second crash, this time something heavy hitting the ground, made her eyes pop open. A large cloud of dust rose from the impact, partially blocking her vision. An opening in the previously closed segment of the wall invited her through.

“
Careful, sharp metal,” said a guard on the other side, extending a hand as Ella stepped over the threshold. Everyone else followed into the small courtyard, and then several guards took the piece of fallen metal, which had a rod running through its base and pushed in back into place.

Very clever.
Gouges in the dirt meant heavy things had been moved, a thought her escort validated, “Elder Storm, we changed the layout here a bit. It’ll be easier to keep you safe, so we took some liberties and created a more easily defensible headquarters.”

Keep me safe or keep me trapped, it serves both purposes.

“It’s a hidden, less accessible area to those who wish you harm,” added a voice from behind a two-chambered mask painted gray to resemble the clouds that swirled above them. Ella recognized his deep voice from their conversation days earlier when he presented her with the letter, but even more than that she could not forget the greasy film that covered him and his abnormally muscular forearms exposed by his cutoff sleeves.

Ella hoped them all to b
e allies, but couldn’t be for sure. Snipers patrolled the walls around the courtyard, but in greater numbers than normal, something to add to the growing list of oddities. The top of Elder tent towered over the ten foot high walls at the far end of the courtyard.

“
Those of us left from the Fire camp would like to officially welcome you as our leader,” said Ella’s escort. “We had no idea what the Elders planned; we never would have supported attacks on our safe haven or our allies.”

Easy to say that now,
Ella thought, but truthfully the matter was dismissed before it was even brought up. Ella may have killed Elder Fire, but given the circumstances, she had little choice, just part of life in her world. She moved on as soon as the last breath left Elder Fire, holding no grudges against the rest of his camp. She was glad the remnants of the Fire camp appeared to do the same and could only hope member of the other allied camps followed suit.

Boots to dust, the group migrated to the oth
er side of the courtyard, where the passage revealed a short, narrow hall. A large number of guards stood watch on the walls above them, and Ella noted they were much more heavily armed than usual.

At the end, right was the only way they could turn which
led them to yet another corridor. It was shorter and allowed just a left turn, opening to another smaller courtyard which revealed the old Elder tent in its new location. Ella liked the seclusion and protection it provided. Surrounded on all sides by scrap and junk, they approached the opening of the tent. As some of her old Stone camp walked in, the escort stopped Ella.

“
Just a sec before you go in,” said the petite spotter, who then motioned to one of the guards stationed at the entrance.

The guard bent down and picked up a metal box. After removing the latch and opening the box, he presented it to Ella and said, “
Elder Storm, we made this for you, please, put it on.”

Inside was a new mask, painted a dark deep purple color which contained m
etallic flakes. Menacing clouds surrounded the reflective eye holes and covered the top of the mask. Down the middle was a bright yellow zigzagging thunderbolt. Her eyes widened, and she removed the mask from its box and placed it on her head, discarding her old mask. The Fire camp spotter assisted her in adjusting and tightening it before saying, “Inside, the others have been waiting.”

Ella halted in her tracks and replied, “
The others?”

The following explanation was given, “
Yes, the others. Visitors. Said they were just passing through. You wanted new allies, now it’s up to you to seal the deal. We found them at our old camp,” the eerie voice of her escort explained. “But that is not the best part.”

“
Do continue.” The anticipation was killing her. Good news was something that occurred rarely for Ella, her days were plagued with tragic events more closely resembling those that transpired a few days prior, events that more commonly brought sadness and grew her hatred than the happiness that fueled her heart right now. Good news was preferred to events that caused her rage to swell, events that cost her both of her parents and every Elder she had ever known.

“
We…err…they have this thing and it’s big,” explained the spotter. “I’m not sure what it does, but they talk like it could put a proper hole in the walls of Glass City. They claim it has already done to a different Glass City down south.”

“
That certainly does sound like good news; I can’t wait to see it!” Ella responded.

“
In due time. For now, we need you to meet our new allies and bring them to our cause. They call themselves the Blood Camp. Their Elder is a large and prickly man named Jeremiah,” she briefed Ella. “They claim to come in peace and they better stay true to their word or they will leave in pieces,” she added. “We have guards everywhere, as I’m sure you have noticed. This won’t end well if they are in the least bit hostile or aggressive.”

As Ella walked toward the tent, she carried the burden of an entire camp, but she also carried an even heavie
r freight. She had no idea what waited for her inside the tent, once she walked in, she may never walk out. That was her own cross to bear. “Truthfully,” began Ella’s response, “I don’t see it how ends well for any of us, no matter what we do. I’m starting to believe that we need to make the best of the time we have while we are here.”

Chem, one of Elder May Stone
’s personal guards bent down to open the tent’s flap. Ella took one last gulp and the first good, deep breath out of her new mask before venturing into the unknown.