Sway's Demise Read Free Page B

was extremely nervous. Beacon was all she ever wanted, aside from Reese.
    “Hey, what do you say we go see our parents before heading off to bootcamp?” He tossed the knot aside, slapping the book shut.
    Their mention caused a throbbing in the pit of Sway’s stomach. It had been six years, almost seven, but the dagger in her heart twisted when she thought of her parents, dead before their time.
    “Yeah, that sounds good.”
    With their fingers laced together, they walked in silence to the west edge of town. Sway stopped every so often to pluck late season flowers. Though they were mostly weeds, they still looked nice.
    The closer they got to the graveyard, the more bile turned in her gut. Though she loved them dearly in life, Sway avoided their graves. The thoughts they brought were never of the pleasant times, the safe times. It was always destruction and suffering.
    Even the young trees cast long shadows in the low afternoon light, encompassing the private site in gloom. The forty-two graves sat apart from the others, with their own memorial plaque at the large pine tree in the center. Beloved victims and defenders of the Night Raid, October 3rd 2123. May they rest among the angels in Heaven.
    Placing the flowers at her parents’ headstone, Reese and Sway chanted together, “Gone are the lives of so many. Brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, children, and lovers. In their sacrifice, we live on. No matter the foe, we are prepared. We are the light in a great expanse of darkness. We are the first warning, the protector at the gate, the savior in the night. We are Beacon.”
    She kissed the icy memorial that mirrored her frozen heart, and pushed back tears. With a stoic face she nodded for Reese to proceed to his mother’s grave. He dug through his pocket, pulling out a handwritten card he rested against her site. Sway wondered what he could write to the dead, what was the point of it? The living could hear his words, know the feelings of love and gratitude. Why did he spend time writing to the deaf and blind, emotionless corpses, when she, Sway, or his father could be better targets for his affection?
    He pulled her from these dismal thoughts, and again, they recited the vow of Beacon, the vow their grandparents and great grandparents created. One last stop, the hardest stop, then the pain was over. Reese knelt in front of his sister’s grave, and Sway knew to stay back, give him his space. He whispered the vows again, reliving the night she died. Never had they feared an assault from other humans, until that night.
    The raiders infiltrated Kamloops, Sway’s home, under the guise of seeking sanctuary, and the community was all too willing to provide. Kamloop’s leaders had been more cautious after that night, and few outsiders without a backing community had joined since.
    Why hadn’t they just asked them to share? Why did they have to steal? Priyon never stole from one another, much less killed each other. Theft and murder were human conditions. They could have joined the community, but Beacon terrified them.
    She didn’t blame them for that, Beacon was something to be feared if they were crossed. They were well organized, well supplied, with a cooperative community, and competent leaders. Kamloops had been host to a large Canadian military force during the war. They’d brought stockpiles of weapons, erected ammunition production factories on the outskirts, built up the train transport to Vancouver, and done many other things to ensure their success.
    It hadn’t been enough, though. All the weapons in the world wouldn’t have saved them from the deception of feigned desperation. She’d wondered after that night if she could track them. They must have been part of a neighboring community. They must have come for their location, their resources, and they must have been backed by someone else. She would have given anything that night to know where they came from, even her life for a chance to avenge her