The next morning came sooner than Merlin expected.
Merlin stood outside Flock Thirty-Five's station, looking at the equipment stacked against the wall. Sera checked the documents one last time.
"Tony, did you get everything?" she asked.
"Yeah," Tony replied.
The six members of Flock Thirty-Five stood together: Sera, Tony, Nathan, Edith, Duke, and Merlin.
It felt strange. They had barely become a flock, and already they were leaving the safety of the division.
Merlin carried a bag over his shoulder, with his scythe in his hand.
Sera looked at everyone.
"Are you ready?"
"Not really," Tony said.
"I'm ready," Edith replied.
Nathan adjusted his glasses.
Duke simply nodded.
"I'm ready," Merlin said.
Sera nodded.
"Before we leave, there's one more thing."
She took a small book from a shelf and placed it on a nearby table.
"Put your hand on it."
Everyone did as she instructed.
Sera looked at them.
"Repeat after me."
She paused for a moment.
"I shall not put to rest the wandering spirit of the stray, or disrupt it in any way. This I swear, by my soul's weight, lest I befall the same fate."
Merlin paused, what was that supposed to mean? He asked himself.
Everyone else repeated after her.
"I shall not put to rest the wandering spirit of the stray, or disrupt it in any way. This I swear, by my soul's weight, lest I befall the same fate."
Sera looked at Merlin. He sighed, though the wording of the oath made him a bit hesitant he still said it.
Sera closed the book.
"Good."
She picked up the documents.
"Then let's go."
They stepped outside.
The streets were busy, but people made way for the crew as they walked through. For some reason, it made Merlin feel important.
Nothing else looked different, yet he felt like everything had changed.
This time, he was leaving.
Not running.
They walked through the division for nearly an hour.
The buildings became less crowded as they moved toward the east. The roads widened, and the number of people slowly decreased.
Then Merlin saw it.
The wall.
He was stunned by its enormity.
The grey structure stretched beyond his sight, with towers and watchposts spread across it. Large weapons were positioned along its surface, and enormous metal gates stood ahead of them.
Uniformed people watched the area outside the walls.
Merlin stared at it.
So this was what separated them from the outside.
They approached the gate.
The area around it was quieter than the rest of the division. After a moment, the gate began to open.
The sound of metal screeching against metal filled the air.
A man standing in one of the watchtowers waved at them.
Edith waved back.
Merlin shook his head.
She gets way too excited.
The crew crossed through the gate.
The enormous doors slowly closed behind them.
For some reason, Merlin had been expecting something dramatic.
But it felt like they hadn't even left.
"We're going to follow the eastern wall till we get to the center, then we set up camp," Sera said.
"How would we know?" Tony asked.
"Don't worry. It's hard to miss," Sera assured him.
The crew started walking. They followed the wall for a long time. Merlin couldn't tell if it actually went all the way around or if it was simply so massive that he couldn't notice the curve.
Every pillar looked identical.
They had been walking for a long time, yet it felt like they hadn't advanced much at all.
Merlin looked ahead.
How long are we going to keep walking?
He was already worried about walking for too long. His legs would eventually start to ache, and with his ability, that was more of a problem than it sounded.
Merlin walked behind everyone. The cold forest wind blew past the walls as he kept glancing back at the road they'd come from.
No one else was supposed to be out here, but it still felt too quiet.
Everyone suddenly stopped.
Merlin bumped into Nathan. He'd been glancing backwards when they stopped.
"Oof! Uh, sorry," Merlin said.
Nathan looked back at him.
"It's not a problem."
"I'm sorry about that," Sera said. "I thought I saw something up ahead."
She said it in a lower voice.
"Wait!" Nathan said.
Everyone stopped mid-motion.
Nathan suddenly grabbed Merlin and pushed him backward.
A dart flew through the space where Merlin had just been standing.
"A sniper!" Tony yelled.
Everyone dropped.
Merlin hit the ground, his heart pounding.
Sera quickly pulled out a flare gun.
"Where?" Tony asked.
Nathan looked toward the trees.
"There."
He pointed.
Sera looked in the direction Nathan had pointed.
She raised the flare gun.
"What are you doing?" Merlin asked.
"Letting them know we're here."
She fired.
The flare shot into the sky and burst above the trees, filling the forest with a bright red light.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then another flare appeared in the distance.
Merlin stared at it.
Another one.
Then another.
His eyes widened.
"They're not alone."
Sera lowered the flare gun.
Tony looked toward the distant flares.
"How many people are out here?"
"Depends on how many flocks," Sera said.
Merlin looked around.
He tried counting the flares, but they faded faster than he could count them.
There were more than ten.
He looked at Sera.
"You didn't tell us there'd be others out here," he said.
That detail is unimportant because at the end every flock would still have to work alone, she sighed. There at an orange flare, she pointed, we'll follow that one.
They followed Sera through the trees.
As they approached, they saw a man with an axe close to a tree stump. Pieces of wood were stacked next to it.
He'd recently been cutting wood, Merlin thought.
The man was tall, with broad shoulders and a striking jawline. As for his hair, it was a blonde low cut.
The man hung the axe over his shoulder.
He stood about sixty steps away from them.
"What flock are you of?" he shouted.
"We're Flock Thirty-Five," Sera's voice echoed through the pathway.
"What I would like to know is which one of your people shot a sniper at us?" Sera said as they approached the man.
He kept quiet for a second, staring at the flock approaching him.
Sera now stood directly in front of him.
She looked up at him.
The air was tense.
Merlin couldn't tell if the two had a beef, but he didn't want to be part of it.
"Well, it's your fault for wandering too far into our territory without an invite," the man finally answered.
Sera shook her head.
"I asked who it was."
The man stared at Sera his expression changed, he had a smouldering look on his face.
Who's asking? He asked.
"I'm asking. I'm sure you can see me—the captain of Squad Thirty-Five."
"Jimmy!" the man finally called.
A guy in a green camo hoodie stepped out from between two trees. His clothes were shredded around the edges, and most of all, he was carrying a sniper.
The man with the axe sighed. It was probably him.
"Say hi," he said, as he lifted some chopped wood, and was already walking back into the woods.
"Let me take you to our camp," Jimmy offered.