Over the Wall

By Terry Wayne Martin

The three boys had lived within the safety of their enclosed village all their lives. When the food rationing becomes severe, they realize their only chance for survival might be seeking a life in the desolate wastelands beyond their home. They go over the wall to find not a wasteland but a green and peaceful world beyond any of the legends they had ever heard. When had all this changed? And why?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Martian Publishing
• Release date: Apr 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301290123

Terry Wayne Martin

Born in Texas many, many moons ago, I had a very diverse upbringing. Dad was an agnostic metaphysicist that worked for NASA during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs and Mom was a Baptist preacher's kid.No wonder I was raised so crazy/diverse (choose whichever answer fits best).Raised on the science fiction of Heinlein and that generation, that is the sort of thing I generally gravitate toward in my own sci-fi writing. For my other stuff, I cannot place the blame anywhere, yet.I do not have a blog at present but projects I am working on can be found at verbotham.com.

Book preview

OVER THE WALL

By Terry Wayne Martin

MARTIAN PUBLISHING

Copyright © 2013 by Martian Publishing Company

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

No portion of this volume may

be reproduced in any format

without the express written

permission of the copyright holder.

This is a work of fiction.

Any resemblance to persons or

organizations, living or extinct,

is entirely coincidental.

CHAPTER ONE

The aspect was the same from this direction as well. Jakka shook his head and looked down at his friend. Nothing different. He looked again at the broad expanse of flattened earth. After closer examination, he could see that it was not completely flat but the small irregularities were few and far between. He shrugged. Essentially, one could simply call it flat and it stretched to the horizon, meeting the lower edge of the blue sky in the distance.

Looking again to each side, he could see nothing different but the wall curving around the community. The same as it appeared from the other direction they had investigated.

Zusa was chuckling. Are you finished yet?

Yeah. He sighed and turned back while his friend squatted a bit to allow Jakka to hop off his shoulders.

Zusa stood again, grinning. Did you really expect anything different?

A shrug preceded another sigh. Well, I had to see it for myself. Sure the stories tell us it should be the same in every direction, but I wondered if there might be another reason why there are no taller structures on this side of the community. I mean for some specific reason.

Zusa shook his head. You're crazy. You know that, don't you?

A grin was the only response.

Maybe they just never built anything higher over here, his friend reasoned, because they didn't need to. And there are very few taller buildings to begin with.

Yeah, I suppose. But, you know, he shrugged, it just seemed rather strange to me that all the buildings on this side were shorter. I thought there must be some reason.

Zusa kicked a stone across the narrow dirt lane. Ready to head back?

After another look at the wall, Jakka nodded. He sighed again as they headed along the wider lane separating the blocks of buildings, all of just one floor in height.

While next to the wall, the Sun had shone brutally overhead. Now that they were passing into the shadow between the mud-brick structures, Jakka began to cool though it would be a while before the sweat ceased running down from his dark scalp.

Their journey twisted and turned, passing into the sunlight and then back into shadow as the alley turned this way and that. Small arched doorways, each with a curtain drawn across it, lined the route.

The small alley exited onto a larger cross-path, but the boys plunged back into the shadows of the alley continuing ahead of them. This happened a couple of times along their way.

As they neared Jakka's home block, Zusa put an arm out to stop his friend. I hope that satisfied you.

What? You think I'm gonna do something else? You think I'm crazy?

I know it!

Anyway, my curiosity was satisfied, so you can quit your worrying.

The long stare spoke otherwise. All right, he said at last, so stopping thinking about it, okay?

You got it. His grin came with a gleam in his eye. He turned left down the alleyway to his home.

Behind him came See you later.

The alley jogged to the right twice and then turned hard to the left before Jakka was back at his own doorway. A stranger to this block would not have known which door was his as they all looked alike. He pushed the curtain aside and ducked his head to enter.

Where have you been?!

Sorry, mother, Zusa and I were just walking and the time got away with us.

She motioned toward the kitchen. You've already missed the noon meal – and upset your father – so if you want anything to eat, get in the kitchen.

That's all right, mother, I'm not really hungry.

She slapped her cheek. You not hungry? Well, there's a first. Jakka turned to go down the corridor. So where are you in such a hurry to get to?

He grinned back at her. My room. I have to get my schoolwork done.

She grunted as he disappeared. Turning back toward the kitchen, she muttered, At least it's not like it was the last minute. He usually waits for sundown to even think of doing his schoolwork.

Jakka did not hear the remark. Did not need to as it had become a recent litany of hers. He took a small scroll from the table by the doorway and sat down on his straw mat. The Master Teacher had assigned the reading for the past several weekends, and he had almost finished it.

History, far from an interesting subject, had awakened an itch for which he was unable to find a proper scratch. Sure, he had been trained in living the Way as every other child had, but the reasoning behind it felt a little off. It was something he had found indefinable. It was as if he felt there was some part of the rationale that was missing. What, exactly, he was still uncertain. And he was not even sure the answer was to be found in the history scrolls, except that it felt like it.

Master Teacher had said it was nothing more than an incomplete understanding of the scriptures and assigned him the task of re-reading them all. It was slow going – as well as deadly dull – but he was working his way through it slowly.

Now the history scroll had reawakened the questions.

After dinner, Jakka went outside and looked upward.

The stars had been placed in the night sky in order for them to keep track of the time. Just as the Sun moved from east to west in the daytime sky, the stars mimicked that journey at night.

Some thought there was more of a message than that in the stars. They claimed the Creator had encoded all His messages in the positioning of the lights and the angles between. Jakka had been to one of the prohibited meetings and heard some of the talk. It did not seem to make much sense to him even as radical as his thinking was. Why the Creator of the Universe would leave a trail of clues tucked away in the starry abyss for them to try and decipher without any guidance seemed an explanation born of confusion.

Now, lying on the roof, watching the stars in their eternal walkaway, he could sense that there was something more in the majesty of the display. If there was a message herein, it was one of more subtlety and more importance than what lay in the future. It seemed to speak to him of the present.

One fellow had claimed they were separate worlds locked in an eternal dance. We saw them while the people inhabiting them saw us. It was supposedly how the Creator afforded us a glimpse of the Master Plan.

Jakka sighed. That answer may be correct but he was not able to determine any deeper meaning in the fact that there were others out there. Even, perhaps, a young man out there looking up into the darkness above his own world and seeing the light that was Jakka's world.

The stories had not satisfied his curiosity. The studies had not alleviated his nagging doubts. The histories did not enlighten him. He sighed and shook his head at the tiny lights twinkling down on him. There was only one answer, after all.

There was only one area to which he had not applied his research skills. And it was beckoning to him even now.

He sat up and stared outward, across the wall. Dimly lit by the faint crescent moon, the flattened land surrounding the village seemed to call his name. What was really out there, he wondered? And could it provide any of the answers he yearned for revelation?

The answer was as clear as it was frightening.

He was going to have to go over the wall.

~~~~

CHAPTER TWO

In the twilight of morning Jakka woke in a panic.

There was shouting! Very near. And the sounds of a scuffle.

He sat upright and shook his head to re-orient his senses from the dream world back to reality. He tilted his head and listened again. Yes, there was still a scuffle going on and it seemed to be on the other side of his wall. Yes, in the alleyway just outside his bedroom wall.

Slowly, it seemed to move a bit to the left and then came the sound of running steps, slowly fading back to the right. Remaining was a very strange sound, vaguely human.

Jakka rose and rushed out of the house. Ahead he glimpsed his father and older brother already reaching the first turn. It must have woken them as well.

He increased his speed to catch up before they reached the next turn into the side alley which passed his bedroom wall.

He arrived in the alley a single step behind his brother. Turning left, he could see just past his father that there was a bundle in the alleyway. As they drew nearer, Father put out both his arms to prevent his sons from advancing further.

With all forward momentum ceased, Jakka pressed his head hard against the mudbricks lining the small space to try and get a better view of the bundle past the obstruction of his father's back.

Stay back, boys! Father shifted his frame further to the left, effectively cutting off his youngest son's view. Jakka! Go get a constable! He paused a moment to look over his shoulder at the squirming boy. Now! Run along!

Disappointed that he had not gotten a better view, Jakka ran back along the narrow way, turning left after his own house and back to the larger alleyway for this block. A couple of turns further along, taking the alley through the next block, brought him onto a much wider avenue. Here the shop awnings protruded to shade pedestrians and shoppers in the places where the avenue was too wide for the buildings to do the job.

He glanced one way and then the other along the avenue. Yes, there were a few early-risers preparing their shops for the day's customers but there was also one sporting the unique green cap.

Constable! Jakka yelled. The fellow was looking at some produce in front of a food stand some distance away. His head jerked up at the call and he started toward him. Hurry, please!

When the Constable was close, Jakka turned and ran back through the darkened alleyways, the Constable on his heels, to where his father still stood, his arms blocking the view. He caught a glimpse just past and saw another man was blocking the alley from the opposite direction.

Move aside! Let me pass! The Constable shoved the familial trio to one side and squeezed past. He stepped to the bundle and moved it a bit.

Jakka gasped. Though his view was minimal, he was sure he saw a puddle of blood in the alleyway. And the bundle was a person. He strained forward, scraping the side of his face against the brick wall, to try and get a better look. He was able to glimpse a bit of a face before his father grabbed him and turned him away.

Enough gawking. Jakka, Dinores, get back to the house! He put his hands on his hips in what would have been a commanding pose if the narrowness of the alley had not prevented his elbows from extending completely.

The pair of youngsters moved along the alley slowly, glancing back frequently. After they had turned a corner, Dinores stopped.

That looked like a man!

Jakka nodded and began to shake. He wanted to say that it looked a little like Grentils' father but his viewing of the face had not been long enough in the dim light to make a definite identification. He managed to ask, What do you think happened?

I have no idea. I didn't hear anything but Father went rushing from the kitchen and I simply followed him. You shoulda seen the look on his face! He shuddered.

Well, I heard it! With his bedroom adjacent to the kitchen, the external noises were heard as well in both rooms. It woke me up!

Dinores' eyes widened. You tell me what happened.

I'm not sure. Jakka shrugged and shook his head. There was some sort of argument, I thought, and the sounds of a fight. He screwed up his face. Then there was a really weird noise and one of the guys ran off.

The older brother stared back at the alley, as if willing himself to see around the corner. I wonder if Father heard any more. At least he was fully awake.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, they turned and ran quietly back to their own doorway. There they waited anxiously, anticipating the body to be carried in front of them for review.

The footsteps came around the corner. Dinores tried to hide his disappointment. Father, what happened?

He waved for them to get back in the house. The boys ducked under the hanging but held it up at each side to watch their father pass with another man.

Who's that? Jakka meant the man following Father.

Dinores thumped his brother's head. How am I supposed to know? I just know it's not another Constable.

But if he's a neighbor, it's no one I've ever seen.

The elder boy bit his lip. I'm hoping Father will tell us more about it but I don't see that happening.

Jakka nodded. Yes, there was something strange going on.

The pair dropped the curtain back to its place and went in to prepare for breakfast.

~~~~

CHAPTER THREE

By mid-afternoon, Jakka had expected the entire colony to be abuzz. There was tension, thick on every street and alley, but there was significantly less talk than usual.

It frightened him more than if there had been an angry mob roaming the streets.

After walking around awhile with Dinores, Jakka returned home. He crossed the parlor and entered the kitchen. Mother and aunt Hiliti were starting preparation for the evening meal.

What are you skulking around for, young man?

He shrugged. Don't know, Mother. I guess I'm just a little worried about what happened this morning. Did you hear anything?

She glared at him, as she mixed the ingredients for bread. You know I am not fond of idle gossip, young man, and I do not allow my sons to lean that direction either.

He nodded and sighed. Yeah, I know.

Hiliti laughed. Cheer up, Jakka. How was school today?

Fine.

Was the Teacher impressed that you finished your schoolwork? You seemed to be studying all weekend

He shrugged. Yeah, I guess.

His mother shooed him. Run along now, or no one will get dinner this evening!

He left and stopped in the middle of the parlor wondering where he could go for any information. On a hunch, he turned to the right and entered the portion of the dwelling allocated to his grandfather's use.

It was dimmer in this area and cooler as well. He paused a moment for his