||  Saturday, afternoon ||

The two-hour-drive to Chester had been uneventful. While Callum had focused on his driving, Freddy had helped him pay attention to his surroundings. Thought, there wasn’t much traffic to and from town, nor any other signs of regular life. A gas station about half an hour out of town had been closed, and the restaurant that went with it had only three cars in the parking lot.

Ayla had fallen asleep shortly after they left town, and they needed to wake her up when they stopped on a dirt road that led into the woods of Chester.

Callum stepped out of the car as Freddy turned around to wake her gently. He took in the forest that had been visible from miles away. It was one of the bigger forests in North Eurica and Callum remembered being in the forest before when he was a kid. Their aunt had lived in Devan, a city on the other side of the forest, until she completely disappeared from the radar about 10 years ago.

If Callum recalled correctly, neither of their parents had been worried about her leaving her home, her work, her entire life behind in the blink of an eye. Callum had only been 7 when it happened, and he hadn’t really thought about it as weird back then. But nowadays, nothing about his parents made sense anymore, so he wasn’t all that surprised that some memories he had simply didn’t add up to the image they had worked on for all those years.

“So, now what? We just drive through the woods hoping to find a cabin in which she lives?” Callum wondered out loud once his siblings stepped beside him. “You do know this forest is huge, right?”

“Maybe someone in Chester can tell us more?” Ayla tried, looking over her shoulder towards the town that was visible in the distance.

“I reckon the situation in Chester isn’t much better than it is back home.” Freddy shook his head, regarding the idea of asking people in town. “They mentioned a community, as you said. If that’s right, we should be able to find traces and tracks that will lead us to them.”

“Just follow this road,” a strange voice spoke up behind them, causing the three of them to swirl around, only to find an old man walking up to them with a dog. “The community you spoke of lives about 5 miles into the woods. It’s not a secret community, just not very welcoming to outsiders.”

“Oh…” Callum shared a look with Freddy. “We eh, didn’t want to…”

“Get in? Maybe you should. Things are getting nasty,” the man shook his head. “My grandson is unfortunate when it comes to EQ, and they want to take his rights away. But my grandson is special, they shouldn’t try to mess with him.”

“That’s… cruel indeed,” Freddy replied, biting hi slips. “Our sister is—”

“Oh, I know who you three are,” the man said, laughing wholeheartedly. “Him of all.” The man gestured towards Callum. “You’re the whole reason this started. You, and Elliot.” The man was still smiling, not at all sounding angry. If any, his smile seems to hold pride in it.

“You know about that?”

“Oh, son, aside from the fact Elliot told me all about you, the whole world knows about it too. You two are the faces of revolution now. Everybody who is against government admires the two of you. I couldn’t be more proud.”

“Elliot told—”

“He’s your grandson, isn’t he?” Ayla interrupted.

“Yes, he is indeed. And Elliot and his sister are the only reason I myself don’t live in that community. I want to be able to see my grandchildren grow up, get happy, have kids of their own.” The man turned to look at the forest for a few silent seconds. “But they need to know what is going on. They have no contact with the outside world and someone needs to tell them. I was heading there now.”

“By foot?”

“I don’t own a car, but there’s a lot of beauty to see on the way there.”

“Ride with us,” Freddy said, though he sounded as if he didn’t fully trust the man yet. “I’m Freddy, that’s Ayla.”

“I’m Gerald, Gerald Ainsley.” 

They shook hands before they piled into the car again. Callum took a seat on the backseat with Ayla, letting the old man sitting in the comfortable passenger seat, while Freddy drove the last few miles with directions coming from Gerald.

Once they reached the community, they had to stop the car in front of a large wooden gate. It was pretty impressive to look, but it also gave Callum the creeps. It seemed medieval, simple; unlike anything he was familiar with in their society.

Basic, was what it was.

Right beside the gate, on both sides, ran an entire wall of wood. On the right side was a regular door, that opened as soon as the last of them had closed their car door.

“Gerald?” A teenaged male asked, surprised by their presence. “Why are you here right now? And who are these people?”

“I’m the bearer of some pretty bad news.” Gerald said with a serious tone, before he cracked a smile and added; “or good, depending on how you look at it.”

“There’s nothing good about it, Gerald,” Freddy said, rolling his eyes. “I’m Freddy, and these are Ayla and Callum. We’re looking for our aunt, Martha Vaughn,” he continued, as he turned to face the boy.

“Callum?” the boy asked, raising an eyebrow. “The  Callum Marlowe? My uncle was here a few days ago and he told us about the picture,” he explained with a wide smile. “Your aunt was glad to hear that some people in her family are still blind to the differences in classes and—”

“Zachery, why don’t we go inside?” Gerald suggested, cutting the boy short. “There’re urgent matters that need to be discussed. Can we round the council at the table?”

“Oh, right, sure!” Zachery gestured towards the door and they all followed him through it. Ayla skipped up to Callum, nudging him in his side. “See? People still admire you for what you did, even in a remote community like this.”

“Shut it, it’s making me very uncomfortable and I feel way too pressured right now,” Callum grumbled. “I just kissed my crush, is all.”

“I think it’s cool.” She shrugged carelessly. “You’re changing the world. An you’re rebelling against Mom and Dad. Finally, I’m not the biggest pain in their ass anymore.”

“Yeah, that statement is wrong in so many ways.” Callum chuckled. “This isn’t an act of rebellion.”

“Whatever you say.”

They stopped in front of a nice-looking wooden home, of which the door opened a few minutes after Gerald knocked. For the entire time that they waited, Zachery had excitedly been staring at Callum, causing him to fiddle with his hoodie nervously.

“Martha?” Gerald greeted her with a smile, followed by a quick hug. “I’ve got visitors for you. But you can have a reunion after a council meeting. There’s been some developments following Callum’s actions.”

“Oh what a pleasant surprise!” aunt Martha pushed Gerald gently to the side, pulling Ayla and Callum in a hug, before she quickly turned to hug Freddy too. “You three are so big already! We will catch up after the meeting, stay in my home for the time being. I’m sure Zach is willing to show you around.”

Martha ushered them inside, followed by Zach, who was still eyeing Callum with a wide smile. Right before the door closed behind him, Callum could make out a few words that aunt Martha said to Gerald.

“We’re aware of the situation, Gerald. This might be the perfect time to fire up our own plans and let the world know what is going on behind their backs.”