Bruno, Valinoti, and the City of Espington

PROLOGUE: THE ADLINGTON SPY

Sunday, 1 March 2099, 6:05 AM

The pine trees blocked the sun; it was hard for Tyler to run when there was no light. He tripped over a root, got back up; stumbled over a rock, regained his balance; bumped into a branch, brushed it off.

But the Viking was gaining on him; Tyler was tiring out. His amber hair was darkening from perspiration. His tall body was weak against the low-strung branches.

"Get back here, Anzalone!" a low voice echoed through the Pines.

"No, no, no!" Tyler shrieked, hopping over roots and small craters.

He did not see the small creek in front of him. Tyler's entire leg plunged into the water. His ankle shoveled the pebbled floor and twisted.

"Ow!" Tyler yelled as he crumbled to the floor.

He tried to get back up but the pain in his ankle was excruciating. It did not matter; the Viking had already caught up.

The stranger was young, with a lumberjack beard and messy, brown hair. His skin and fabrics were covered in a thick layer of soot. The man wore armor over his shoulders and around his waist; his boots were covered in mud. He was gripping a silver sword in his left hand.

"Rise!" the man said, pointing his sword.

"I can't, my leg!" Tyler yelled.

"Fine." the man went to swing his sword.

"STOP!" someone shouted.

The man turned around and immediately bowed his head. "Sir Adlington, I━"

"Enough, Ake," Sir Adlington said. "Go back to the City at once."

"But━"

"At once!"

"Yessir," Ake said, running off.

Tyler grunted as he stood. He rested on a nearby tree trunk. That was his first, silly, mistake.

Sir Adlington pinned Tyler by his neck to the tree trunk. Tyler gasped for air, choked by the elder's forearm.

"I ought to kill you! Fleeing Adlington for your own safety!" Sir Adlington shouted.

"I━I...s-sorry..." Tyler gasped.

Sir Adlington released his grip. Tyler fell to the ground, coughing and heaving. His neck was a bright red.

"I'll spare you your life," Sir Adlington started, "if you do me one favor."

Tyler looked up at the elder. The man had soot all over his face, beard, and fabrics. The fabrics were silver in color and ragged, like an old bathrobe. Sir Adlington's beard was black with many white strands. A metal helmet rested on his balding head.

"What...favor?" Tyler coughed.

"You're going to Espington and killing my brother."

And the sound of hoofbeats and wooden wheels echoed in the Pines.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sunday, 1 March 2099, 8:00 AM

Rich was on the carriage to Espington. There were dozens of other boys and girls in the cart, all looking down at their shoes. Many of them were dirty, covered in soot or dust. Rich was one of the many that couldn't take a shower before the move.

He did not want to move to Espington; Rich liked Adlington. The Mining job was rough but he loved working with his friends, Amaury and Mickey. They were not on the carriage to Espington. Rich recognized just a few Miners in the cart.

"It'll be better in Espington," the driver of the carriage said, slapping the horses with the whip.

"You okay?" a boy nudged Rich.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he mumbled.

"Name's Tim," the dirty guy said. "Espington is gonna be a new life for us."

"Guess so," Rich said. "Unless we mine here, too."

Tim laughed, something that seemed bizarre in a quiet place like the carriage. The teenage Miners looked up with blank expressions on their faces.

"Adlington is known for Mining," Tim reassured. "Espington is known for Marketing."

"So we're gonna be marketers?" Rich asked.

"Possibly."

The carriage continued to shudder on the bumpy road; it was a dirt trail in the middle of the forest. The cabin was silent, so was the forest.

"We'll be there in five minutes," the driver said.

"It's better in Espington," the Viking next to the driver said. "Less crowded than Adlington, too. I love━"

There was a loud bang and the carriage shot in the air. The Miners shouted, flew out of the cabin. Rich grabbed onto the seating as did Tim. The carriage hit the ground with a prominent crunch. Dirt and gravel landed on the fallen Miners soon after the carriage crashed. Rich got up, his ears ringing from the unknown blast. Some Miners had already gotten up, bloody and even dirtier than before. The two horses bolted through the Pines, out of sight. Tim struggled to rise; the whole left side of his face was covered in dark, maroon blood.

Rich's eyes adjusted; he saw two figures sprinting away in the distance. They wore hi-tech uniforms with crimson helmets.

Islington, Rich thought.

Tim walked over to Rich. "You okay, dude?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Better than you."

Tim turned and pointed to the driver. He was lying motionless near the front of the carriage. His head was twisted at an unbelievable angle and his right arm was bent backwards. The Adlington Viking was trying to wake his friend but to no avail.

Rich turned his head. The air was still filled with thick dust and smoke. Small wisps of fire had sprinkled the crater, carriage, and trees. Luckily, more Miners were alive than dead. Rich noticed one boy who was lying on the ground. He looked completely fine, just dirty. The boy was tall and pale-skinned. Rich did not remember him being on the carriage.

"You!" someone shouted.

Rich turned around to see the hysterical Viking pointing right at him. "Me?"

"Yes!" he yelled. "Gather the survivors. We're walking from here!"

"What happened?" Tim asked.

"We were attacked by━"

"Islington," Rich interrupted. "Right?"

"Yes," the Viking said. "Islington, the Business City, hates Espington and Adlington, and Belington."

"What's Belington?" a Miner asked.

"One of the other Four Cities; the Farming City," the Viking said frustratingly. "Not important! We need to get to Espington now!"

Rich, along with Tim, gathered all the Miners that were fit to walk the last few miles. The first driver and two male Miners did not survive.

The Viking, whose name was Espen, led the group of injured and dirty Miners. The forest seemed scarier now and Rich felt as if he was being watched by the Islington Officers.

"Yo, maybe we can dorm together at Espington," Tim said.

"Why are you thinking about that?" Rich wondered. "We were just attacked! You have a cut on your head that definitely needs stitches and my wrist hurts a lot."

"Sorry," he said. "Just trying to lighten the mood."

Rich just kept staring at the strange, amber-haired boy in the front of the group. His outfit was the same as Rich's so he definitely was a Miner.

"Tim, was that guy in the carriage?" Rich pointed.

"Uh, I don't remember," he answered. "Think so."

Rich brushed the stranger off for now, but he was going to keep his eye out on him for sure. Rich definitely knew he was not in the carriage from Adlington to Espington.

Everyone walked over a hill and Rich could see the buildings now. Every single structure was rectangular and made of some sort of grey stone. The edifices were built in one gigantic square. The corners were four black watchtowers. Rich could see small figures at the tops of them: the Espington Guard.

The city looked modern, cleaner and wealthier than Adlington. Since Espington was just buildings built in a square, the entire center was open to the residents. Rich and Tim's hometown, Adlington, had structures built pretty much anywhere. They had dirt trails so the Builders just knew not to build a store or diner on or near them. Adlington was the second poorest of the Four Cities (first Belington, then Adlington, Espington, then Islington).

Espen the Viking led everyone right up to the Gate, which wrapped around Espington's square perimeter. The buildings were much larger up close. Rich noticed how two buildings towards the southern end of Espington were much taller than the other structures and that they were identical.

There were two, buff-looking, Espington Guard at the gate holding long, obsidian sticks. Rich thought they were just batons, but the one Guard clicked the side of his stick and the tip let out a string of blue electricity: a taser-baton, and Rich hated those stupid things.

"What seems to be the problem?" the one Guard asked. "You were supposed to come by carriage."

"Yes, I know," Espen said. "We believe the Islington Guard ambushed us in the Pines. We lost our driver and two Miners."

"I'll call in some men and you'll go back to the Pines with them," the other Guard said directly to Espen. "We are not, er, the friendliest with Adlington."

"Yes, yes, I'll go back," Espen said. "This is all Islington's fault!"

Four more Espington Guard appeared holding slender, black handguns, not the taser-batons. They ran with Espen back over the hill and into the Pines.

"All of you Miners, come with me," the Guard who had pressed his taser-baton said.

Rich and Tim walked with the group into Espington. All of them were still dirty and bruised and cut from the Islington attack.

"Um, can I get a doctor?" Tim asked the Guard. "My head hurts."

The blood had dried on Tim's face, but his head gash still looked wet and severe. Luckily, the pain in Rich's wrist subsided and all that was left was a quarter-sized bruise.

"Nurses will treat you in Espington Square," the Guard said.

The Miners walked past the Gate and through an alleyway. They emerged in the center of Espington and there were dozens of people walking all around, in and out of what appeared to be little markets. The residents wore beautiful fabrics, nicely ironed and tailored. Most of the men wore khakis and button-down shirts, some with bow-ties. The women wore nice dresses or outfits that included jeans and a blouse.

Rich noticed this one girl sitting on a bench with a little boy. She wore a turquoise sundress, with a cyan ribbon in her bright, blonde hair. Her blue eyes matched remarkably with her outfit. The girl was eating an ice cream cone with the little boy. Rich stopped to get a look of the gorgeous stranger, but then a Miner bumped into him.

"Yo, keep movin'!" he yelled.

"Sorry," Rich mumbled and walked alongside Tim again.

The Miners finally stopped at what one of the Guard said was "the Heart of Espington." It was a grassy area with small oaklings, benches, and people sitting on blankets probably having a picnic.

An older man stood in the middle of the grassy area. He wore a steel-grey suit with a bright blue tie. His black hair was slicked back and tied in a small bun. There was one strand of hair, however, that was a snow white. The man's skin was tanned, his eyes an olive green. Rich could not tell his age: the man looked old but he had a healthy, slender body type.

"Thank you, Jago and Sayer," the older man said. "You may go back to the Gate."

The two Espington Guard stared at the Miners one last time before jogging back through the alleyway and to the Gate. Rich watched them go. As they left, two women jogged out of a grey and blue building with little lunchboxes. It took Rich a second to realize that the two women were Nurses and that they were carrying first aid kits.

"Me, please!" Tim raised his hand.

A blonde-haired girl walked over to Tim. She had light skin and a wide smile. She looked about Rich and Tim's age, probably a volunteer Nurse.

"You'll need stitches," she said. "Come with me."

"But the man is about to speak," Tim said.

And the old man did. He coughed first and spoke out of a microphone that was attached to his necktie.

"Attention, Adlington Miners," he said. "My name is Sir Espington and I am the President of Espington, one of the Four Cities of Togluagoa! I am so glad that you are joining us in the Marketing City. We specialize in Marketing, selling fabrics, jewels, furniture, and food. We are known to trade with the other three Cities. Togluagoa would not survive without the Four Cities working as one..."

Rich did not understand what the President was talking about. The country, Togluagoa, obviously needed to survive. But it was definitely not surviving from the teamwork of the Four Cities. Islington just attacked Adlington and the Guard, Jago and Sayer, had said that Espington wasn't necessarily close with Adlington. Rich knew that what Sir Espington was saying was scripted and inaccurate; there was surely tension between the Four Cities and soon Togluagoa would come to know that.

"...Adlington is too crowded, which is why you all are here with me today. I am sorry about the losses you had to witness in the Pines. We are figuring out the cause of such a tragedy━"

"It was Islington!" Rich shouted. "I saw two of the Officers fleeing the scene after the explosion!"

Sir Espington walked through the crowd of Miners and right up to Rich. Tim was being treated by the blonde Nurse; she stitched him right in the Heart of Espington. Rich could see more of the President's features up close. His eyes were more seaweed green than olive and he had a scar on his bottom lip that travelled down his neck. There were miniature crystals on his cyan necktie.

"What's your name?" Sir Espington asked.

"Rich Bruno."

"In Espington the male residents are known by their last name," the President said. "Your name is Bruno."

"Okay?"

"So, Bruno," he started. "How do you know it was Islington that attacked?"

"The two Officers wore a future-y uniform, you know, like a thick, black material with red helmets. Only Espington and Islington can afford that," Rich explained.

"I see," the President said. "Well, that is for me and the Espington Guard to worry about. All of you Miners━er, I mean━residents, will be given a new Occupation and a room in one of our Inns."

"A what?" Tim asked, the Nurse finishing up on his stitches. "Ow!"

"An Inn," Sir Espington repeated. "That is where all of our residents live. Women live in Inns One and men live in Inns Two."

"What if you're married or have a family," a Miner asked.

"Families and couple live on the first two floors of either buildings and a Room Change Form must be filled out, but are any of you married or have a family here?" Sir Espington asked.

The crowd was silent, Rich and Tim included.

"Very well," he grinned. "Let me give you a quick view of Espington. You all entered through the Western Gate and Alley. There we have our Fabrics and Inns Markets as well as our Armory and Espington Eatery. The Northern entrance has our Espington Factory and Guard House. The Eastern entrance has our Jewels and Food Markets as well as the Clinic and Espington Schoolhouse. Finally, the southern part of Espington has our Inns. Simple, right?"

Immediately, the Miners called out questions━most of which were on their new Occupation or who they wanted to live with."

"Yo, let's ask to room together!" Tim shouted to Rich, the Nurse bandaging his head.

Rich did not even listen to Tim. He was too busy looking around the crowd of dirty, desperate-for-answers Miners. The amber-haired boy was missing, nowhere to be found.

"Tim, that dude, he's━he's gone," Rich said.

"The one with the reddish hair?" the blonde Nurse asked.

"Yeah," both Tim and Rich said in unison.

"Oh, my partner Caroline brought him into the Clinic," the Nurse said. "Turned out he broke his pinky in the carriage accident."

"What's your name?" Tim asked.

"Madigan," she said as she stood up. "Your head is stitched and bandaged. Come to the Clinic in a week and I'll take them out for you."

"Wait, a week?" Tim repeated. "What about showering?"

"Oh, yeah, well, you cannot have warm water or soap in your hair until the stitches are out." Madigan said. "Don't worry: the bandages will hide your hair when it gets greasy."

"Great," Tim mumbled. Madigan packed her stuff and walked back to the Clinic.

The Miners stopped asking questions; Sir Espington must have answered them all. Rich looked to the front and noticed how the blonde girl in the cyan dress was standing next to Sir Espington and the little boy.

"Everyone," the President said. "These are my kids, Rina and Colton. Rina is eighteen and Colton, here, just turned ten. Rina will be giving out your OA's, your Occupation Assignments as well as your Room Numbers"

The crowd of Ex-Miners lined up in front of Rina. She handed them a slip of paper and an ID Card. Rich and Tim were towards the front of the line.

"Can't believe we left Adlington in a day and almost died," Tim said.

"Yeah."

"Miss my family already," he added.

"Yeah."

Rich was too busy waiting to see Rina's face again. She was gorgeous and now Rich knew that she was his age. There was only one more Miner in front of Rich. He finally took his papers and turned away. Rich took a step forward.

"Good afternoon," Rina said. "Your OA is in the Factory and you are in Inns Two, Floor Four, Room Nine. Here is your Information Slip and ID Card to enter your dormitory."

"Thanks," Rich said. "By the way, there's a sprinkle on your lip."

Quickly, Rina wiped the sprinkle off her face and grinned. Her cheeks immediately contrasted her dress. All Rich did was smile and turn from the line. He waited for Tim.

"Yo, what room and job did ya get?" Tim finally asked, walking over to Rich.

"Floor Four, Room Nine and Factory Worker."

"Holy shit, me too!" Tim cheered. "Probably because we stood next to each other on line."

"Probably, Tim," Rich chuckled.

"Nuh-uh-uh," Tim said in Sir Espington's formal accent. "Here at Espington, you will call me by my last name: Valinoti."

Rich laughed and so did Tim, breaking character. They started walking to Inns Two but not before Rich looked back at Rina one last time.