Роберт Уилсон - Days Since... - Xavier - Day 853

“How can you say that? We don’t even know where she is.”

“I know where to start, and from there… I’ll find her and bring her back.”

“You know that sounds crazy.”

“Xavier, stop. I need you to keep a watch over River’s Edge for me. With you around, people will remember me and what I made this place to be. It won’t escape them. It’s your duty to keep people to their promises. Remind people that we built this place to be greater than what exists outside of it. You understand?”

“Dad. I need to—”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Then make sure it’s done. Don’t let anyone forget their promise.”

“Okay.”

“Mind Grant too. He’ll teach you a lot. Maybe you’ll be able to teach me a thing or two when I get back.”

“You won’t be gone long enough, right?”

“Yeah. Right.”

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you.”

Xavier woke in a daze, his head throbbing—the blurred lines of his surroundings began to sharpen. As he came to, one of the Guards noticed and shifted his attention back to him.

All he could do was watch as the Guard crept forward. He pulled weakly at the cuff. Damn! Still stunned while lying against the broken cot, he could do nothing but submit. He could offer no defense. Xavier looked on as David was carried out, a hood wrapped around his face. “David! No! Please, no!” Xavier tried to stand but couldn’t. His head wobbled, but a firm hand steadied it. He felt the cloth in between his teeth, and the light became dull, filtered by a black hood. The shrieks of both prisoners vanished, replaced by muted cries.

Despite the noose closed around his neck, the young man fought, twisting his legs, begging for freedom through muffled cries—excited words from beneath the black hood.

“We’ll let you go soon enough.” The Guard smiled. “No need to hurry, kid.”

He continued to struggle, causing the scaffolding to jolt forward beneath their feet. One of the Guards stumbled, his elbow dropped, allowing the prisoner to take this moment to wiggle an arm free. He fell to the decking—the rope snatched his head backward. His body convulsed through a coughing fit, only relieved by the Guard scooping him back up and into position.

“Can’t wait, huh?”

They tightened their grip as dulled screams escaped from inside the hood.

“Xavier Finch!” The crowd turned toward a man that appeared behind them. “You have been sentenced to death for the crime of treason. The evidence presented was noted during a private trial. The witness statements presented alongside the physical evidence were overwhelmingly substantiated in your guilty finding. May your death prove as a warning to others who may stray from the cause. Our mission is strong and righteous, and those who wish it harm will perish as well.” The man nodded as he finished.

“So long, kid.” The Guards swung the boy forward.

A collective gasp let out from the deflated crowd as he swung forward. The length of the rope jerked him just above the ground. The taut recoil brought him back and forth as he flailed about trying to catch upon anything. He struggled, fought what little more that he could.

A few pushed through the crowd. Several pled to have him cut down, but it was too late. The air had escaped him, and his body came to rest, swaying slightly beneath the tiers of the scaffolding.

The crowd’s cries for true justice were silenced by the firing of a rifle. That single shot—the hushing of anger, hostility, and dissent. They lowered their eyes. For everyone that stood in the courtyard now knew that the agreement was broken. That their world was something different. Peace had come at a cost.

“Haverty, sir, we searched the entire school and the grounds.”

“And?”

“Nothing. We did another head count just to be sure.”

“And?”

“They’re all still missing—a Matthew Swanson, Jenny Fischer, and Marshall Grant. They were last seen at dinner, but nothing since dusk.”

“How’d they get out?”

“It appears they snuck out through the back. Guards found some footprints leading through the mud toward the river. We think they snuck under the wall.”

“How’d y’all let them get away with that?”

“It looks like they were digging for quite some time.”

“And nobody saw them?”

“I’ll figure out what went wrong.”

“At least tell me Thomas went after them.”

“His crew is on it.”

“I want them found. Don’t care if it’s alive or not!”

“Yes, sir.”

Thank you for reading Days Since… Xavier: Day 853 . I sincerely hope that you enjoyed the story and will keep an eye out for Days Since… Jenny: Day 986

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Copyright © 2018 by Power Shift Publishing, LLC.

ISBN-13: 978-1987527056

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews—without written permission from the author.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

I have used the city of Cincinnati as the location for this series. Please understand that this book is fiction, and I have bent the settings of certain areas to fit in with what the story needs. The Cincinnati in this book is not completely accurate.

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