Chapter 5: Part 2

Drip. drip. drip. I open my eyes to a dark and dank room. The searing pain in my head reverberated through my skull. I shook my head and took my time gathering my bearings. I see now that my wrists and ankles are chained to the wall behind me. I try moving my wrists and feet to see if I can break free, but no luck. Just when we take one step forward, we end up taking two steps back. Ok, Jasper think, how do I get out of this? I looked around the area to see if there was any rock or tool that I could use to break myself free. After a few beats go by, I realize that there was nothing. This place was swept clean and made sure that there was nothing that could be used in order for a person to make their escape. I pull a little bit on each chain to see if they are possibly a little loose, but each chain comes back taunt and I come to realize they have been bolted in place. There is literally no way out of here.

“Ah, I see that our guest has finally woken up.” My body flinches. I know that voice its Jebidiah. I see him walking in with a torch in his hand that illuminates an eerie grin on his face. I spat on the ground near his feet as he stopped in front of me.

“Bastard, you killed innocent children!” I yelled

“Hey now, no need to get aggressive, listen, an opportunity presented itself, and when an opportunity presents itself in the desert, you've got to take it.”

“When I get out of here, I’m gonna make sure you pay, I promise that.”

“Oh, my delightful guest, what makes you think you will be able to do that? No, see, this is the part where we get to have a little fun. I’m about to ask you just a few simple questions, and then I will be on my way. Oh, and if you don’t answer them truthfully, I’ll make sure you hurt a lot.”

“How is any of that fun?” I say as Jebidiah slowly walks closer to me. I see that he has a knife in his hand. Crap, this is about to hurt a lot.

“Oh, I never said it would be any fun for you.” He crouches down so that he is at eye level with me. He is so close to me that I can smell his rancid breath as he opens his mouth. “Hm, I’m going to get straight to the point, Jasper. You have something that I need, and I’m running out of time. You’re a well-traveled man, Jasper, so I’m pretty sure you have heard of them. The so-called mythical group of people. The Light Keepers? So, tell me, where is this New Promised Land? I hear it is an untapped paradise flowing with milk and honey. Where everyone is well fed and has a roof over their heads. No fighting, no greed, just peace and prosperity.”

“I’m sorry Jeb, but I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about.” He slashes at me with his knife and slices my chest. I wince; it’s not deep, but it still stings.

“Listen, this can be slow and bloody for you, or it can be quick and painless. Your choice. I know you’re hiding something, Jasper. I see it in your eyes, you’re crafty, resourceful, and you wouldn’t be taking those children just anywhere because nowhere is safe.” Jebediah pauses for a moment as his eyes scan my face for any sign of weakness. “Now, tell me where The New Promised Land is?”

“I don’t know where the New Promised Land is; in fact, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” The vein in Jebidiah’s neck grows more pronounced as his face begins to turn red. He takes the knife and slices my arm.

“That’s a load of crap, and you know it. Everyone who comes through here is related to the Light Keepers in one way or another; it’s in the book you all love carrying around so much. That’s why my ancestors made camp here and started a settlement, because we knew this was the first stop where every Light Keeper came. So, let’s try this again, and please be truthful this time, Jasper, or I’m going to have to end your life here and now since you won’t be useful anymore.” I could tell from the look in his eyes that this man was serious. I should probably give him something just so he can leave.

“Fine, I’ll tell you what I know if you promise to let me go, that’s the least you can do, right?” His eyes began to widen with excitement.

“Yes, yes, that’s fine, we can let you go, now tell me what you know.”

“In order to get to the New Promised Land, you have to have a book that has been passed down from parent to child for generations. In the book is a map on how to get to The New Promised Land. However, no one has been able to find it for over 800 years, and now it is rendered as a myth.”

“And where can I find this book?”

“Well, to do that you would have to find a Light Keeper now, would you?” I say with a grin. He lets out a howl and rushes at me with the knife, but before he can even get a cut, I headbutt him, and he staggers back clutching his nose.

“Ohhh, you will pay for this; I cannot wait to tear you apart limb from limb!” Jebediah screams. Immediately, a loud boom reverberated through the room as it shook around us. Footsteps echoed down the hallway as a woman entered the room.

“Sir, we have a problem. Some slavers are here causing havoc within the camp. They have explosives, sir.”

“Crap, someone must have angered them. Fine, I’ll go up there and fix the situation myself.” He gets up and turns toward me. “You and I are not finished yet.” Jebediah and the woman walk out of the room as silence begins to fill the air. The sound of explosives and screams continues as a sense of dread begins to wash over me. I need to get out of here. Frantically looking around in the dark for anything that I could use to get these chains off of me, I see a large rock and pick it up, banging it on the chains as they make a loud noise. A few moments went by, and I still haven’t made any headway. In my frustration, I threw the rock across the room. This is hopeless. “Where are you now, huh? You said you would never leave, but where are you now?” I lean back against the wall and slump my head as tears slide down my face. They were just kids, and now they’re gone. What was I thinking? How could I have been so careless? The sound of faint footsteps began to echo down the hallway. Great, he’s back.

“Jasper!?” Wait, that doesn’t sound like Jeb, in fact, it almost sounds like. . .

“Jasper, where are you?” No way, those are Meesh and Noah’s voices.

“Hey, Mishael, Noah, I’m here, down here!” Two small frames enter through the doorway of the room. The light from the torches illuminates their smiles as they run towards me with an embrace.

“Jasper!”

“Mishael, Noah, I thought you guys were dead. What happened? Where have you been this whole time?”

“Well,” Noah exclaims, “We were playing with some kids around the camp earlier, but then some scary-looking men came and told us that you wanted to see us. At first, we hesitated because they seemed mean, but then they repeatedly told us that you needed us, so we followed them. All of a sudden, some other people came up, attacked the two men, and told us that the men we were following were taking us somewhere to hurt us and that we needed to find you, and so now here we are.” I bring them in closer and say,

“I’m so glad you two are ok. I was scared that I had genuinely lost you for good.” Mishael pushes back and looks at me with those big eyes of his.

“We told you we would stay with you, didn’t we?” I let out a soft chuckle.

“Yes, yes, you did.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see the silhouettes of other people coming in through the door. “Stop right there, who are you?”

“Please, we mean you no harm, we actually came here to help you, we want nothing more to do with Jeb.”

“How can I trust you?”

“Jasper, please,” Noah says as she pulls on my arm. “They were the ones who attacked those bad men and led us to you. They really do want to help.” I paused for a moment, thinking, then let out a long, heavy sigh. What have I become, putting my trust in total strangers?

“Fine then, who are you, and can you help us? Do you know of a way out?” I say as I rise slowly.

“Yes, sorry for startling you. My name is Aaro,n and we defected from Jebediah.” The chains fell from my wrists and ankles. I briefly rubbed them as they felt pretty sore. 

“Follow me down here, just this way. There are some tunnels that lead out of the compound.” The young man came over to me and used a key to unlock the chains from my hands and feet. We quickly walked through the corridor into a side entrance that led to a tunnel. The cries of people and the clash of weapons from up above were heard through the cave walls.

“What is going on up there?”

“The slavers have finally attacked us. The deal they made with Jeb must have fallen through.”

“What deal?”

“A long time ago, in order for our tribe to have peace, Jeb made a deal saying that they would be willing to give up 10 people every month in exchange they would leave us alone and have the freedom to pass through our lands whenever they want.”

“And you all just went along with it?” The young man shrugged.

“What else were we supposed to do? We were a small group with limited resources, and we couldn’t afford the devastation that would have been if we tried to fight back. We had to survive, and so that’s what we did.” After the young man spoke, there was this thick tension in the air that lingered into awkward silence. I looked around and could tell that everyone was avoiding eye contact with one another. They were ashamed of what they had done. But honestly, who could blame them? I get it, you must do what you can to survive in this sick twisted world. But this can’t just be it. I turn to look at Noah and Mish and slowly begin to realize that maybe there is more to this life.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I was judging. I get it. This world turns you into something you were never meant to be. But don’t you think that there has to be more to this life than just trying to survive?”

“What do you mean?” The young man says as we stop.

“Well, I just feel like there has to be more, there is no peace in just trying to survive, maybe we should try to live and to enjoy the time we have to spend with the ones we love?” The young man just looked at me with what seemed like a perplexed look. Finally, his face softens into a smile, and he begins to let out a soft laugh while placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Jasper, you really are something. This insane hope that you have, I’m not gonna lie its contagious.” We decided to keep walking through the tunnels, but the man’s words still lingered in my mind. The noise continued up above and began to grow louder until we exited the tunnels. Smoke and the stench greeted us as we came to the surface. The scene before us looked like a bloody massacre. The slavers had come and set fire to the tents and were rounding up Jebediah’s people. Those who were trying to run were butchered on the spot. It was pure chaos. The young man turns and says, “ We need to leave now while they are distracted.” I nodded in agreement, and our small group took off into the night.