Page 75 of The Flame

We huddled around her and there it was, at least one batch had gone out with my words.

“Did you come through the square?” Daniel asked. “Did you see anything?”

“Oh!” She slapped her forehead. “I should have done that, shouldn’t I? The streets were busy, but I don’t know if people were going to work or the square.”

Roman waited another quarter hour, then he left to go check it out. When he returned, he’d brought his truck.

“Release the guard,” he issued to Daniel. “We’re driving. By the time he reaches town on foot, he won’t be our biggest problem anymore.”

“Driving where?” I asked for clarity. “The town square or The Smoke?”

“Is The Smoke an option?”

“No.”

“Hmm.” A suave grin snuck across his darkly beautiful features and cracked his mask. “People have started gathering. I’m comfortable with the numbers.”

Lisa pumped the air with a fist.

Jessie went quiet.

“You don’t have to join us,” I said to her. “You’ve done more than your fair part.”

“I’m not missing this,” she said. “But I must admit, I’m a little scared.”

“I’m a lot scared.” It wasn’t a joke, but it got a smile out of her.

We piled into the truck, Daniel up front with Roman and the rest of us on the rear bunk. Daniel had let the guard out through the basement door, so I hadn’t seen him, but I imagined he wasn’t hanging around.

The streets were quiet as we drove through Parklands and into town, but as we neared the square, we saw why. Everyone was here. Not hundreds. Thousands…possibly the entirepopulation of Capra. They walked the full breadth of the street ahead of us, forcing us to abandon the truck. They streamed into the alleys and arteries that fed into the square, filled the walkways and overflowed onto the plaza of the Foundation Hall.

This many people made a lot of noise, breaths and coughs and shuffled feet and indistinguishable murmurs, but there were no raised voices. We made our way behind the stragglers and onto the plaza.

Roman hooked his arm through mine to keep us from getting separated. “Your rebellion of words has no words, but you can feel how much they’re saying.”

“It’s not my rebellion anymore.” Cool tears stung my eyes. I couldn’t believe how many people had turned up. “It belongs to everyone now.”

Daniel and Jessie and Lisa stayed close, and we moved into the crowd as one unit, a fragile rowboat rocking through a sea of Capra citizens. It wasn’t long before people became aware of us, recognized me or Daniel or maybe both of us, and they started to part and spread the word. A path opened up for us through the crowd and whispers rippled into a chorus and became a chant.

The Flame.

The Flame.

The Flame.

My heart caught fire.

Our little party came to a halt.

“They’re opening a path to the bandstand,” Lisa said.

Daniel bent his head toward me. “They want to hear you speak.”

Roman turned me around to look at him. “What do you want to do?”

The Flame.

The Flame.

---