The Rain Volume 1

Volume One

Prologue

Hal Farnsworth looked upon the rocky fields just outside of Simon's town. He sat in the bell tower upon the wall the only one keeping watch. Hal yawned and thought of sleeping. Placing him here was somewhat of a joke for the Town watch. It was Sunday and everyone was in church. There was no way anyone would come to Simon's town on a Sunday, everyone new that the people of Simon's town were deeply religious. Hal sat up suddenly swearing he saw something move in the shadow of one the huge boulders that lay scattered across the fields, but as he watched for any more movement he lost interest. For all he knew it could have been a rat. Hal laughed to himself, a rat he had almost sounded the alarm over a rat. Chuckling, Hal leaned back in the chair and pulled his cap over his eyes falling asleep quickly. He was only asleep for a few minutes when he heard voices. Hal stood up abruptly expecting Bernard, captain of the watch to come down on him for sleeping on duty. But when Hal rubbed the blurriness from his eyes, he saw not Bernard but a Scab Man. Hal sat frozen in terror, the Scab Men had been named accurately by the people of the Five Cities. They were men, shaved bald and covered in disfiguring sores. Some healed some not. The Scab Men had plagued supply lines for as long as anyone could remember.But only for the food and treasures that were mined, never had a Scab Man entered one of the cities. But here was one now, gazing into Hal's eyes daring him to move. Hal's eyes darted to his left, and to his horror, saw a crowd of Scab Men oozing through the main gates. They moved silently, hardly making a sound. It was no wonder that the one in front of him had sneaked up on him so easily. For the first time the Scab Man in front of Hal spoke. His voice was deep, and menacing. Making Hal wish he could just sink into the ground and cease to exist. “Move a muscle and I'll slit your throat. You hear me?” Hal nodded, but already he was weighing up his choices. He could spring from his seat and ring the bell, warning the townspeople inside the church of the Scab Men. But then he could sit in this chair and live. Hal was no hero but Bernard, his only family was in that church. The thought of him being hurt, drove him to his final decision. Hal through himself forward catching the Scab Man off guard. Hal hit him with his full weight. Sending the Scab Man over the railing and to the ground below. His head hit the ground first, sending a gruesome crack echoing through the silence. Hal watched the Scab Man in shock. He had no idea that that would have worked. Below he heard a shout and saw a Scab Man aiming a rifle at him. Hal turned and reached for the frayed rope tethered to the bell. Then he felt the pain he heard the gun shot seconds later. Hal's hand missed the rope, and then he was falling, falling to the ground. His hand went to the source of the pain his fingers moving slowly towards it when he found it; he was shocked to find a hole in his leg. Footsteps came from below and when Hal looked up he saw the sneering face of another Scab Man “Let me be.” Hal said but the Scab Man shook his head and grabbed Hal's shirt, lifting him up. Hal groaned then screamed as he put weight on his injured leg, it felt as if someone had shoved a stick in his leg. Tears streamed down Hal's face, and he babbled as the Scab Man dragged him down the stairs. Hal saw they were heading for the church. “Stop.” he said the Scab Man shook him and Hal whimpered. Ahead, Hal saw Scab Men placing something on the doors. They ran back after a moment and someone yelled clear! an explosion rocked the town. The doors blew inward, and the the shooting started. Hal watched in agony, as the Scab Men poured in through the blasted doors, and opened fire. Screams rang out but Hal couldn't see anything because of the smoke. Slowly the Scab Man dragged him towards the church. Hal now cried openly not caring who saw him. Suddenly there was another explosion, and a woman began to scream curses at the Scab Men who laughed. Finally Hal heard something he recognized. The booming voice of Bernard Felsser. “STOP WE SURRENDER!” The gun fire ceased to the occasional crack, then silence. The smoke was now clearing and Hal could see into the church. To say it was a mess was an understatement. The beautiful stain glass windows were shattered, lying on the stone floor covering a body. Hal forced himself to look away. The benches the church goers sat on were shredded. Only a few remained intact and then there was the blood. It ran like water on the floor, pooling around the bodies of people. Their eyes stared blankly into the distance. Women sobbed and children cried The Scab Men who had lead Hal to the church walked into the destroyed church hql in tow. His eyes swept across the room taking in the carnage and destruction. For a fleeting moment Hal thought he saw pity in the man's eyes. But then he took on a cold hard stare and spoke, saying. “People of Simon’s town, you have lived across the river for years without trouble. Now today you are shown your weakness. We have entered your place of worship, and killed your people and we, plan to do much more but. There is something that may help you. Tell me where is the location of Eric Hill and we will let you live. Refuse and we will burn this place to the ground.” There was silence nobody spoke a word. the Scab Man who had spoken surveyed the room with a look of disappointment on his face. Then shrugged, as if he had known the people would refuse. With a snap of his fingers Scab Men came in with torches. They threw them on the altar, and on the benches. The flames grabbed on to the wood greedily, and soon the church turned into an inferno. The people wailed in dismay as the Scab Men walked out and barred the doors. Hal stared up at the ceiling, watching as the flames crept up the wall. Bernard sat by him and sighed “So this is how it ends.” Hal looked at him. Bernard was old, he had been the captain of the watch ever since Hal could remember, and the man had taken him in when no one else had thought to employ him. “I'm glad I can die with you Bernard.” Hal said Bernard smiled and together they watched as a chunk of the ceiling fell, revealing the ceiling of the massive cavern they had called home for all there life.