1 The Blue Kingdom

The Blue Kingdom was but one of many settlements scattered across the forgotten land, where those who wanted nothing to do with the Messiah had made their homes. The forgotten land once had a name and so did its people, but like all else they had been forgotten amidst the chaos brought about by the outbreak. Things such as ethnicity or cultural differences were of no consequence because only one distinction was relevant, that between the dead and the living. Because of these circumstances, the Blue Kingdom was made up of a variety of cultures and ethnic backgrounds that had somehow melded into one over the many years of the settlement's existence. One thing however did distinguish the people of the forgotten land from others, and that was their dark skin tone which gracefully soaked in the warm rays of the sun as they went about their daily lives. The Blue Kingdom's name came as a result of its altitude.

The village was built atop a mountain range overlooking a vast landscape filled with forests and large open spaces on the southern side where they would occasionally take their livestock to graze. However, something else could be found on the Northern side of the mountain range. The menacing Wanderers roamed the mountain side. Unable to scale its steep cliffs, they spent their days clawing at the rocks in an attempt to scale them but all they did was scrape their rotting fingers against them, painting them red with their own blood in the process.

It was for this very reason that the founders of the Blue Kingdom had chosen that specific location. The mountain made it difficult for hordes of the undead to storm the village all at once and the village defenses only needed to be fortified in certain areas where the undead or any other enemy could climb to the top and attack the village.

The mountains were so high that those who lived in the village felt as though all they needed to do was jump and the sky would be within their grasp, hence it was called the Blue Kingdom. All was relatively peaceful in the village and so far they had been able to successfully ward off any attacks of the Wanderers without suffering a single casualty. Of course, like all other settlements they had enlisted the aid of a military guild - the Kuena Regiment. From time to time, members of the guild would come to the village to collect their payment in the form of crops or livestock and leave behind a handful of guards to protect the village. Although there was relative peace in the village, every now and then there would be a ruckus and at the centre of it would always be two individuals, Edith and Ethan, who were ten year old twins.

There weren't many others who were around their age as many had grown fearful of raising children. The twins had no parents but they lived with an old man named Mkhize. The villagers did not know much about him and the twins or where they had come from. He arrived in the Blue Kingdom with the two infants in hand seeking refuge. After having a talk with the village elders he was granted a patch of land on which he could build a home for himself and the twins. Over the ten years that followed, he exhibited superior knowledge in science and agriculture and helped with everything from making the land more fertile to forging weapons to defend the village and even developed a bio gas system so the villagers could cook in the comfort of their own homesteads and keep warm during the harsh winters atop the mountains. He became a highly revered individual in the village because of all his work. The twins also looked up to him and hoped to someday match or even surpass his achievements. They had always been curious about his life before coming to the village but he was never forthcoming on that particular subject.

He had taken it upon himself to teach the twins how to read and write from the moment they uttered their very first words. They showed a lot of aptitude and before long he was teaching them about physics, chemistry and biology. They also made time to read books on history and various other subject matters. Most of these books were about the world before the dead began to hunt down the living and it was because of them that they dreamed of returning the world to what it once was or at least something similar. This was a goal they were prepared to sacrifice everything for.

*

One chilly winter night, an explosion rocked the centre of the village and all the villagers awoke from their slumber fearing the worst. They all stepped out of their houses with utmost haste. Each one of them came out wielding a weapon, everything from machetes to axes and even spears. One or two of them also wielded a crossbow. As they looked around to see where the explosion had originated, members of the Kuena regiment who stood guard over the seven mountain passes that led to the top joined the rest of the villagers in investigating what had caused the explosion. After confirming that all seven passes had not been breached, tensions rose among the villagers as they all began to fear that their stronghold had been breached from an access point they had not been aware of all along.

"Over here!" shouted one of the villagers amidst all the commotion.

The rest of the villagers followed the sound of his voice until one by one they began to converge on the spot where he had been waiting. He stood inside a small crater presumably caused by the explosion and in each of his hands he held Ethan and Edith by their collars.

"These are our little culprits!" he said.

The rest of the villagers felt a great sense of relief but at the same time were livid because of how much they had been worried unnecessarily. Fearing what they might do to the twins out of anger, one of the village elders quickly stepped in front of the angry mob.

"Everyone, please calm yourselves. I understand what they've done is wrong but they're still just kids after all, mischief is part of their nature. I will take them with me and make sure they are properly reprimanded." said the old lady in an attempt to dispel the tension in the air.

"Lady Susan!" shouted old man Mkhize as he pushed and shoved his way through the crowd until he made it to the front.

"I apologise for all the trouble that the little ones have caused everyone, please let me talk to them. I assure you this will never happen again." He pleaded.

"This is a village level matter now, I'm afraid it's out of your hands Mr Mkhize. You're more than welcome to talk to them when I'm done though I doubt it will be necessary."

"But what in the world possessed you to do such thing you two?" asked the old man as he turned his attention towards the twins.

"It was my idea old man, I dragged Edith into it because I needed her help. She's always been better at this chemistry stuff than me." said Ethan hastily before Edith could respond.

She made several attempts to speak for herself and kept getting cut off by Ethan's loud outbursts to the point where she had given up and decided to just let him keep talking.

"But why did you do this? I thought I told you that you're not allowed to be making things like explosives at your age, you could've hurt yourselves or someone else."

Both of them tilted their faces towards the ground in shame because they could not stand the look of disappointment in Mkhize's eyes for a second longer. For a short while neither of them uttered a single word and everyone else fell silent as well. Out of nowhere, Edith spoke softly under her breath.

"We're not sorry!"

Ethan quickly covered her mouth with his hand but unfortunately the damage had already been done. Shocked by what she had said, the villagers began to chatter amongst themselves and Mkhize was at a loss for words.

"What did you say young lady?" asked Lady Susan, who was as shocked as everyone else.

"What we're doing here is not living. We just cower up here on our little mountain top and hope the monsters don't come to get us. I don't wanna live this way and neither does my brother. We wanna take back this world for the living and that means we can't just sit back and do nothing, or worse, sit back and hope someone will do it on our behalf. We're sorry for the inconvenience that we may have caused everyone but we are not sorry for being the only ones who are tired of living this way. I know deep down all of you…"

Before she could go any further with her speech, Susan grabbed both her and her brother by their ears and dragged them to her hut kicking and screaming. The shocked villagers were all instructed to return to their respective homesteads by the guards as they stayed behind to inspect the crater on their own. After about an hour of inspection, the guard in charge whispered something to one of his men and he immediately began to make his way off the mountain. The rest of the men returned to their respective posts and resumed their usual tasks. Meanwhile in Susan's hut, the twins sat down on her hand woven rug as she pulled up a chair and sat in front of them. At first she looked extremely cross and rather intimidating. The wrinkles on her forehead grew deeper and the gap between her eye browse shrunk as she gazed down at them, but after a few minutes she began to laugh hysterically - much to their collective surprise. Not knowing what to make of this sudden change in her mood, the two exchanged puzzled looks and occasionally glanced at her, terrified of what she might do next. Once her laughter had subsided, she addressed the two confused youngsters seated before her.

"Of all your shenanigans, this one takes the cake. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

Neither one of them could respond, so they both just turned their faces to the floor. After a momentary silence, Edith raised her head and looked at Susan, who had been staring at them the whole time as she waited for an answer.

"We always remember those stories you tell us about what life was like before the outbreak, they're the reason we keep doing everything we do. It's one thing to read about it in the old man's books but when you talk about it, it's almost like we're there, even just for a second. We want that feeling to last, we want to live like that again." said Edith.

"I understand young one, more than you'll ever know. I felt the exact same way that you do right now when i first heard those stories. Unfortunately if you go out there, all you'll find is death and desolation. Trust me; I've seen it all with my very own eyes. Sometimes I curse the day my grandmother told them to me"

"We know all that, but we can't just give up. I'd rather die out there fighting than live up here like some cow." said Ethan.

Susan couldn't help but smile as she listened to them talk, it took her back to the days when she too would have such dreams, dreams of breaking free from the fear of the wanderers and fighting on the side of the living. That of course was before she had seen the horrors of the world and realised that it's better to protect those closest to her instead of jumping right into the heat of battle. In those few seconds however, her will to fight slowly returned to her, even if it was only for a brief moment. Once she was done indulging all the dreams she had long thought to be behind her for good, she took a deep breath and stared silently at the twins.

"You're both free to go. However, this time your offense is far too great for me to just let you off with a stern talking to like I usually do. I'll have to convene with the other village elders and tomorrow we'll have a punishment that fits your crime. Now get out of here before I get even more cross with you than I already am."

The two scampered out as quickly as they could, leaving Susan alone in her hut. A short while after they left, she began to laugh until tears started rolling down her eyes. She then wiped those tears away and looked towards the sky,

"I hope you're watching up there, I hope you see the kind of troublemakers you've brought into this world. All your dreams live on in their hearts." she said