《Gamble》Chapter 9 - Bell Tower

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I knocked a stick against the bell.

A resounding thrum shattered the muffled ambiance of an abandoned city block covered in snow. How could you describe the excitement? The bubbling feeling you were going to get caught, only to remember there was no way you could. Buildings like these were never open to the public.

"Fun right?" John smiled.

He had thrown his feet over the edge of the bell tower. The tower was partially ruined so the gazebo-esque covering that the bell hung from was slightly destroyed. The safe railings that might've normally been present were ripped from the stone.

I joined him. I tentatively threw my legs over. Propping myself up by the arms, I let out a small sigh. The view was amazing.

It was just snow. Snow as far as the eye could see. You could barely make out any trees because they were so laden with the powder it seemed as if the tops of them were the floor itself. But, while beautiful, what really caught my eye was the sky. It glittered with the snowfall, catching bright patches of sun and throwing the sunlight in every direction like a flower girl at a wedding.

I smiled, a real one.

"It's beautiful." I said in awe.

"Everything interesting's below the treeline. There are a few things you might've missed though." John said pointing. "Over there, if you can make out their outline, buildings. That one's a casino."

I paused at the mention. Now that he pointed it out, I could just barely see it. It wasn't particularly far, relative to this vantage, just that it was so subtle in the surroundings. My eyes took it in fully and found it to be quite large, but despite that, the building was mostly obscured by trees.

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"Are we stopping there?" Not that I thought it was the same one I'd been in, but, I had only ever been to one once before.

"I was planning on it. " John said idly. "The casino of all things caught your interest, huh? Any reason why?"

"It was the last place I was. Before I got here, I mean." I said. I didn't understand the reason I wanted to visit. It was a strong desire and I didn't quite understand it, but it was... melancholy. In the past, it might've been a dream to gamble, to win it all or throw it all away, but now? I had no idea.

"An echo of the moment right before you arrived." He nodded solemnly. His voice was one that shared the feeling I felt. "I can understand that, I think. Closure, maybe. Or goodbye."

The last words drifted into the snowfall, too final. For a moment, my ears were ringing in the way only absolute silence could bring. It had only been a day, but my thoughts and the snow weighed down on any positive thoughts. It felt like I was drifting at sea, icebergs all around me.

It became clear John was done speaking and I noticed some shapes he didn't mention.

We became like gargoyles, sitting there on the bell tower, snow piled on our shoulders. Such was our company. Just each other and our thoughts. Two strangers, drawn together by circumstance. John adjusted himself once; shaking snow from his shoulders. He became still again.

My eyes slowly traced outlines beside the casino, the snow and perspective making things odd for my eyes.

At this distance, the outlines I traced were anyone's guess. There was only so much to extrapolate from a building's shape.

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"What else is there?" I asked, sudden even to me.

"Aside from the casino? Specialty stores, grocery store, theatre." He listed them off like he had been there a million times and as if he was waiting for me to speak. "Empty food places though. I got some of my furniture from there."

My eyes followed a trail of smoke, far into the distance. That strange voice that told me about them. Who had that been?

John noticed me. "Something wrong?"

I stared at him, and around. "A voice. " I said unsure. "A person. There was someone in the woods asking who I was. He pointed me to the group heading north before I found you. Actually, they're who I was tracking before Gibber found me. But... I wouldn't have known without that person."

John was unfazed. "There's a few people going around, helping. Could've been them." He said, not unsettled. "Those people heading north, they call themselves Northbounders. I know, I know, but might as well call them by what they call themselves. I ran into one of their patrols, they tried convincing us to join, but we were scared, and cozy in our ice cream shop. We denied them, but not before they told us about a small rumor. Helpers in the forest."

"First off, Northbounders?" I scoffed. "How big is that group? There wasn't anyone smarter for the naming scheme?"

"Thirty or so people, back when I ran into their patrol." John noticed me raising my eyebrows. I sobered up at his look. "It's not that large when you've seen the bodies lying frozen in the snow. Thirty is nothing. You're lucky you arrived late, seeing all that... it would've broke me if I didn't have anyone." John voice was flavored with sadness, but his words came strong. "Come on, we're burning daylight up here."

We stepped down the bell tower. The staircase was perfectly intact surprisingly. Although it was slick with ice. "Why aren't you with them?"

John paused. "I guess... it wouldn't be fair to Laury and Halt." He said finally.

With that, I followed him outside. He was staring at the trail of smoke the Northbounders were leaving. The snow seemed slower as it fell around him.

"You could still catch up, you know." He said, eyeing me. "They haven't gotten far. Moving that many people ill-prepared for the weather might do that. No matter what [Powers] they have."

He was right, they hadn't gotten too far, actually. I supposed that's what happened when traveling in large groups. I could only imagine the logistics of moving that many people.

I weighed my chances. "You can't get rid of me that easily, John. If I change my mind, I'll be out of your hair. You can only fit so much snow in it."

John chuckled, shaking the snow off his shoulders and beard. "Fine by me. A squirrel's sad company."

Out of nowhere, a snowball struck John right in the mouth. He choked, coughing up snow. Sputtering, he looked around, wiping snow off his face. But I had spotted Gibber first, and the squirrel was already gone before John could spot him up in the buildings.

My gaze slid back down to John, wiping snow off his face.

I laughed. He turned, looked at me for a moment and laughed harder.

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