The Scourge

The door opened to a small dock on the Scuttle Sea, an unimpressive saltwater inlet that lacked the beauty of our freshwater rivers. Several more wardens here watched over ten other people, who were probably also Scourge victims. Pinchworms, all of them. Della was standing near the group, but had set herself at enough distance to make it clear that she considered herself as different, their superior.

It struck me as odd. I had always viewed the pinchworms as one useless clump. It had never occurred to me that perhaps some pinchworms might look down on others of their own people too. Come to think of it, that sort of division sometimes happened amongst the River People. Maybe that was human nature, to divide groups into better and worse. I turned away from the people and looked out across the water, hoping to turn my thoughts away as well.

Attic Island loomed on the horizon, a place I had never expected to go. Like the neglected room of a home, Attic Island was the overlooked part of Keldan. It was isolated, surrounded by choppy seas, and prone to terrible storms. Nobody had ever escaped from the prison there. Even when Dulan was shouting about a coming war, they had never asked for the island. They didn't want it. It was the natural place to build the Colony. Away from the healthy population. Forgotten.

"Is there anything to drink?" I asked Warden Brogg. "Please, I'm so thirsty."

"You'll get more than enough water soon," he said without looking at me.

"What about food? I haven't eaten since yesterday."

"I haven't got any food here," he said. "Besides, what do the dead need with food?"

My temper rose, but I kept my voice calm. "Nothing," I said innocently. "Except a ghost with a full stomach is less likely to haunt your nightmares. You haven't seen the last of me."

"Yes, I have." He pushed me forward and walked along behind me. The flask from the physician bounced against my chest while the liquid sloshed inside. Beneath it, I felt the rhythm of my heart, beating far too fast. I had to keep talking, to keep myself from thinking too heavily about my situation.

"Where's your medicine?" I asked Brogg. "You don't seem nervous about catching this disease. Is it the same medicine as I have, or was Sir Willoughby serious before; are there different medicines that can prevent people from getting the Scourge? Why don't you give that to everyone in Keldan?"

"You heard the governor. It's only a rumor." He nodded to the flask I wore. "You're lucky to get any medicine at all, grub."

"You know my name. Why don't you use it?" I asked.

"I don't have to care about the things I don't name," he responded.

Which, in a strange way, made sense. We didn't want to know their names any more than they wanted to know ours. The wardens were nameless men who harassed my people for crimes we had not committed, and corralled us into smaller territories to make room for growing numbers of pinchworms. Not knowing them made it easier to resent them. And pinchworms ... I supposed most of them were people too.

Once we reached the shoreline, I saw a long rope stretching out over the water and extending for as far as I could see. Attic Island was in the distance, and if I looked carefully, I could barely see the top of the old prison. I guessed the rope went all the way to the island. Attached to the rope but near the shore were three rowboats.

The method for delivering us to the Colony was clear. We would row ourselves in the boats to the island, and then these wardens could pull the boats back to the mainland. Nobody but Scourge victims had to touch the boats. Everyone would stay on course through the rough waters because there was no other choice. The only thing I didn't understand was how we were expected to get out to the boats. Some of the victims around me looked in far worse shape than I felt, which was no small thing considering that I felt like I had been trampled over.

"Wait!" a familiar voice called. "Don't leave without me!"

I swung around to see Weevil running down the hill toward us. It was all at once the best possible sight and the worst. I didn't want him to be here, doomed to my fate. And yet it meant he was still safe, for now.

I started forward, but Brogg put a hand on my shoulder to hold me back. "Only you and I know the governor's orders," he whispered. "If you make him leave now, I'll have to go after him." I glanced back at the warden's expression of warning. Brogg wasn't on my side, but maybe he wasn't a murderer either.

By then, Weevil had spotted me. Normally, he'd have greeted me with a friendly wave, but these were far from normal times. Instead, he only nodded. He knew something was wrong.

"He'll have to come to the Colony now," Brogg said, more loudly. "It would've been better if he'd stayed out of sight. Your friend is insane to show up here."

"He probably is," I said, brushing Brogg's hand away. "But that's better than dead." In a strange way, Weevil might have just saved his own life.

I began walking toward Weevil, but other wardens had surrounded him, twisting his arms behind his back as if he had come here threatening them. If I were not so unsteady on my feet, I would have challenged them.

"I'm sick!" Weevil said, far too cheerfully. "I'm really, truly sick, just like the others. I need to go to the Colony."

"Have you been tested?" a warden asked.

"Ow!" Weevil said as his arm was pulled again. "Really, is all of this necessary? I'm asking to go to the Colony. I don't see what the problem is."

"What are your symptoms?" the warden asked.

They had him on his knees by then, and someone was holding his arms behind his back. Weevil only looked past the men at me and tried to frown.

He cleared his throat. "Well, I've had all the symptoms. You know, pain, fevers, rash. You name it, I've had it."

"He doesn't look sick," a warden said. "Take him to the doctor for testing."