wondered if the man had made his peace. Had he given himself over to the Great Spirit so that he could find rest and respite when freed from this mortal world?
Again, Lila felt the warmth of embarrassment and she averted her eyes so that her son would not witness the dishonor on his mother’s face. Let this clear skin walk eternity with feet pricked by thorns and with maggots writhing in his hair; let him know what it meant to feel his body decay, to know the ravages of Time and never be free from the torment it wrought. He would wander the caves and mountains, shunned by all things, never to see the faces of his ancestors again. It was what he deserved, what he’d brought upon himself by leading a life of disgrace and infamy. It was just.
By the time Lila raised her eyes again, the boy had neared the clear skin. It would be soon. The time of reckoning was close at hand. Within moments, the drums would cease as the Elders took the Blade from her son; they would then walk to the murderous stranger and, with a final blessing, slit open his throat
Seconds before it happened, Lila tensed. It was almost as though she sensed the man’s intent, as if the universe had presented her with a split-second glimpse of things to come.
As Asham passed the prisoner’s side, the Clear skin sprang into a blur of movement. Within the span of a second, the man had snatched the dagger from her son’s palms and spun around. The little boy cried out and writhed like a snared animal, but the Sweeper’s strong arm pinned the child against his chest. With the Blade of Judgment pressed against Asham’s throat, the wild-eyed clear skin whirled in quick circles.
Lila roared and rushed forward with her spear at the ready as murmurs of panic spread through the congregation like a forest fire. Her advance, however, quickly ended when the stranger bellowed.
“Back! Stay back or I swear to God, I’ll kill him!”
As if to demonstrate his seriousness, the man pressed the blade even more tightly against Asham’s throat.
The child’s eyes pleaded silently to his mother and Lila pictured herself hurling her spear, the shaft sinking into this man’s throat so deeply that it pierced the back of his neck. But what if she missed? Rage trembled her hands and tainted her vision and judgment.
“Let him go!” she commanded. “He is a child. Have you no honor at all?”
“I said back the fuck off!”
Lila could see it in the clear skin’s eyes. The glaze of madness and desperation. Pupils wide and dark, like two black holes leading directly into the void where a soul should have existed.
He would really do it.
Even if it meant his own death, he would kill her child where they stood.
A long time ago, we were safe from the evil Spewers. Children like you played in the forests and swam in the streams without worry or fear. Even way back then, there were still Sweepers, but their job was to journey into the cities to search for food, weapons, and supplies. Everyone was happy and all of the Settlers lived in one, big kingdom called Hope.
Just outside of Hope was another, smaller, kingdom that had no name and this is where the Spewers lived. The Spewers, however, were not as happy as everyone else. Like piggies, they lived in mud and filth and spent their days yelling bad words at the happy settlers nearby. In the beginning, the people of Hope tried to be nice to them. They brought them bits of food that were left over from feasts and gave them old blankets and clothes. But when these nice people threw the supplies over the fence surrounding the nameless kingdom, the Spewers rushed to get them. Like wolves fighting over a scrap of meat, they turned on each other and, in their frenzy, the blisters covering their bodies burst so violently that it sprayed right through the fence and all over the people who had so thoughtfully brought them these gifts.
As we all know, this meant that the magic liquid the evil wizard created was now in the bodies of those who’d tried to help the ungrateful Spewers. Not knowing what to do, these people decided to keep it a secret, hoping that maybe things would be different in Hope and they would be spared the agonizing death contained in the Spewers bodies. But this, dear children, was the wrong thing to do.
The nice people got very, very sick but they still tried to hide what had happened to them. They shared food and water with others, they coughed and sneezed, and made babies with their wives and husbands. But, within days, they could conceal their secret no more: it was obvious to everyone that they were turning into Spewers themselves.
The king of Hope met with his most trusted advisors and talked long into the night. They still remembered how the evil wizard’s magic had spread through the Old World and were afraid for the people of their kingdom. Though it was not an easy decision to make, the King and his advisors called all of the Sweepers to them and gave them their instructions.
That night, the Sweepers went to the homes of those who’d been tainted by the Spewers’ evil poison. With heavy hearts, they ended the suffering of the sick, ensuring that no one else would be blighted by the evil curse that fallen upon their people. That, however, was just the first part of their plan, for the king and his advisors realized that in order for their people to always be safe, there could be no Spewers.
Before this could happen, however, there was a great crash and the entire kingdom of Hope rushed to their windows to see what had made such a horrible sound. Looking out over the fields, they saw in the moonlight that the walls of the kingdom with no name had fallen. Armed with sticks and stones, the hateful Spewers ran across the field of grass with murderous cries rumbling in their throats, intent on taking everything that the citizens of Hope had worked so hard to achieve.
The King of Hope was a wise man and he knew that the Spewers would pollute the pure blood of his subjects if they were allowed to breach the kingdom. His people would become sick and die and it would be just like The End all over again. He loved his people so much that he simply couldn’t allow this to happen, so the citizens of Hope took their scavenged weapons and opened fire on the Spewer army.
Even though many dark hearted Spewers fell to the ground, some actually made it inside the kingdom, where they bashed open the heads of innocents with their rocks and stole everything they could get their greedy hands on. The brave Sweepers scoured Hope, hoping to stop them before their toxins could claim the lives of other innocent settlers. But it wasn’t to be.
Even though the Spewers eventually realized they were fighting a battle they couldn’t win and retreated into the darkness of the forest, the ones who’d made it inside the walls of Hope had already spread their sickness to those they met. Once again, in the days to come, the infected had to be cut from the flock so that others might live.
By this time, the king realized that his people could not live safely as one large community. With so many people all in one place, the sickness easily spread among them and it would only be a matter of time before his subjects would all be impure. If allowed to continue, mankind would disappear from the face of the earth, never to be seen again.
This was something he couldn’t allow to happen. Calling his advisors again, he instructed them to go out into the world and build their own communities. Each would take a Sweeper to help protect them and the cities they made would be large enough to support themselves, but still small enough that contagion could be quickly stopped if it reared its ugly head. Also realizing that remnants of the Spewers still crawled through the forests, the king charged the Sweepers with the task of rooting them out. Once the last Spewer no longer threatens mankind, then all of the communities will rejoin into a single kingdom again and Hope will rule the earth.
And that, dear children, is why we live in scattered settlements to this very day.
