34 Chapter 34

I looked behind me but there was no one.

Looking back down at my reflection I realized that I was now younger. Probably around ten or eleven.

I looked around the barn I was in and realized that it looked much newer than the one I originally lived in.

Walking back to the sheep, I decided that I should sleep until tomorrow. I can figure out what to do by then.

<A Few Days Later>

"Hey dad?"

He didn't say anything.

"Hey, why are we here?" I asked him

Dad looked down at me before he shook his head and walked forward. He walked up a stage and kneeled down in the center.

I wanted to run up the stage with dad but I remembered him telling me to stay here.

A man in black and silver robes walked up towards dad.

"On the ground." He told dad

Dad slowly lowered himself towards the ground.

The man in robes lifted his foot above dad's head and pushed him to the ground.

"I said, on the ground!" He yelled

A woman also in robes walked towards the front of the stage and spoke to the crowd.

"About one thousand years ago, our ancestors who had nothing, built this town that we now live in one thousand years later. We have always been brave and powerful people thanks to the guards and the guidance of the leaders. Guns, however, have always been a nuisance. They came from who knows where and created the end of the world one thousand years ago. This town has kept the Gun as the weapons way of apologizing for all that we have lost and to make amends. We have always had complete control over the Guns until about eleven years ago, when this Gun had gotten close to one of our guards and had a child in secret. We have dealt with the guard and will now deal with this Gun here in public."

The woman grabbed an axe and walked over to dad. I completely forgot about dad's last wish and I ran towards dad. I threw myself over dad and cried out. I closed my eyes and waited for the axe to fall through my back. But the axe never came and the sounds of the crowd rang out.

"Don't kill them both!" "What if the disease might manifest into our children?" "Stop! I don't want my child to be next!"

I didn't know what they were talking about but if it was the only thing stopping them from killing my father, I'll stay for as long as I need to. Unfortunately, someone was yanking on my shirt, trying to pull me away from dad.

"No! No! If you kill him, I'll kill my self!" I yelled

"No you won't! You don't know how!" The man yelled

"I do! I'll drown myself or or… something! I will!"

We kept yelling and he kept pulling my shirt. This went on for a while and the crowd kept getting louder until the woman yelled "Let him go!"

The man looked back at the woman "What the hell? We agreed on this!"

The woman grabbed his hair and pulled him towards her. I was close enough so that I could hear everything she said.

"We don't know if the Gun will be in any of these people. It could manifest into another town. I would rather keep him alive until he grows old than to have a missing Gun" "

"Wouldn't that be better?" The man whispered

"No! How would the guards react when they find out the gun has gone missing? We need the Gun!"

The man nodded and released me.

The woman walked back to the front of the stage and said "We have decided to take on the responsibility of the first Gun. The guards will train the younger Gun until it is old enough to take over the first Gun"

The crowd cheered as the leaders took us back to the underground jail.

Dad pulled me close to him once we were in our cell.

"You stupid child!" He cried "Couldn't you just let me die?"

I shook my head. I knew how much he wanted to join mom. But if he left, I would be all alone.

"I'm selfish and greedy. I know. I'm sorry" I said

He sighed. "No. You're just a kid" he said

The cell doors opened up and the woman leader came into the cell. She looked down at us in disgust.

"I'm going to tell you what's going to happen and you will follow my instructions without any more complications. Got it?" She asked

She turned back before we could answer. She took some keys from the guard and unlocked my dad's cuffs.

"And my kid?" He asked

"Silence." She said

She walked towards me, picked me up by the cuffs, and threw me at a nearby guard.

"Take the boy. You know what to do" she said

I tried to run back to dad but the guard held a tight grip and pulled me away.

This was twelve years ago, when my father became the first ever third leader and my short journey as the Gun began.