The Hiders

"What is it that you know about Genesis Asterio?" I asked him.

"I know that he has several aliases, he's a master at deception, but there's always a pattern he follows. When I said that, they didn't even trick me into following them. They knocked me unconscious and brought me to this forest directly," Clyde told me.

"How long ago?" I asked him again, slightly moving my body's position.

"About three weeks ago. Why? What about you two?" Clyde asked us.

"You don't seem too upset by that injury Charlie gave you, you don't care?" Orion interrupted.

"Of course, I'm worried about it. But, what will that do? I'll have to go to the Grass People and ask for help, that's all," Clyde said before I explained our story.

I explained it in-depth and Clyde nodded.

"You lost your leg? I'm sorry to hear that... I've heard much worse stories in this Tower, but it doesn't seem that anybody gets out with all of their limbs. It's weird like they almost want to make you dependent on the prosthetic given to you. I'm sorry that stuff happened to you, but maybe since we're all here, we can fight The Grass People together," Clyde suggested, holding his arm with more emphasis now.

"We just want to escape. The Grass People can live here all they want, but we don't want to stay," I told Clyde. Orion audibly agreed with me and we continued forth, making note of the surroundings on the way.

Through a thick set of trees and obviously placed bear traps, Clyde entered an open field with large wooden logs arranged in a wall formation with spikes on top, and a catwalk for three soldiers to stand on.

This reminded me of my home on the beach. That's all this was.

"Hey! Grass People! I need your help! I'm injured!" Clyde shouted out.

I was beginning to notice the inconsistencies in Clyde's story so far. He claimed to be shot at by these people he was so calmly talking to, and very confident that they would help him. This sounds like an elaborate plan to betray Orion and me, but fighting our way out of this base would be easier than fighting our way in, so I decided to go along with his idea.

Orion, on the other hand, I couldn't predict. He was just following me, and he was intelligent enough to catch onto ideas I started explaining, so I was hoping that we were on the same page.

"Come in then! You know the drill though, you need to offer us something for our help," One of them said.

I nodded, unsheathing my axe behind my back, and waited for Clyde to say something.

"I offer you two new members! Charlie and Orion!" Clyde shouted out.

I was scaring myself, awakening anxiety within my chest when I sincerely thought about placing the sharp edge of my axe straight into his throat.

I never thought about murder that quickly before. It was almost a reflex, rather than a thought.

"Two new members? That will do. Come on in," The man on top of the gate shouted down.

I didn't take note of any appearances. It was worthless if they would be dead soon anyway.

Walking into the base in the middle of the opening, I kept a frown locked onto my face and looked around slowly. There were huts made of wood, stripped wooden logs, and tons of stone and mud holding everything together. It was pitiful like they lived in the stone age still.

They all were dressed in suits that looked just like the grass outside. To stay hidden from everything, they would hide in the Grass. As I read signs all around the huts, written in the most broken, sloppy letters, I could make out one simple word.

"Hiders."

They hid, that's what they did. Although they were primitive, their methods followed some spiral of intelligence. I saw small farms of crops outside each of the huts enclosed in a wooden fence. I figured that the crops were out in the open and absorbed the highest amount of sunlight possible since the time never changed, and grew very fast. Everybody grew their own food, simple stuff like cucumbers and apples, but nonetheless, their own food.

"What else do you know about Genesis, Clyde?" Orion asked him next. I figured that Orion had more questions about that Genesis guy than me, considering I haven't had any run-ins with him.

"He openly talks about his stories, I know that. He's pretty smart as well," Clyde told him. I nodded, still watching my surroundings.

Nobody in this small little base was doing something productive. They were standing on their doorsteps and watching Orion and I like hawks. So far, I counted thirty-one of them.

"That gives me nothing to go off of. You said you knew Genesis, but if that's what you were talking about, then even I know more about Genesis than you do. I've had run-ins with him that you would've killed to have," Orion told Clyde in an irritated tone.

"Sorry, I just told you everything I know," Clyde said, keeping his eyes forward.

Did Orion not find it odd that Clyde was just walking toward the back of the village, asking no questions, and not even suggesting with his body language that he had no idea where he was going?

This is exceptionally stupid of him... yet, Orion still believed him. It almost caused me to question my own thoughts, but I knew deep down that this wasn't normal. I did not trust Clyde at all.

"The Grass People's infirmary is right over there. They'll fix me up, do you guys want to come with me?" Clyde asked.

Orion nodded, and I simply followed because I couldn't think of anything better to do.

"Great!" Clyde shouted out with a smile, going inside the small building at the back of the base.

Once we approached the doorstep, Orion looked at me and whispered something into my ear.

"Thirty-three people are slowly following our position. We'll likely be cornered in this building, so be prepared to fight your way out," He said, smiling right beside me and walking inside.