As he opened the doors to the corridor, he saw someone standing by the wall. A woman in a white shirt with a lace jabot coming from the collar of the shirt. The tips of her white cloth were tucked under a green and wavy skirt falling a bit below her knees. She wore brown shoes with a cut-out hole through which were visible her white socks. The woman was young with darker skin, her hair was short but wavy, tied up into a bun with a green ribbon.
“Abigail, hope you didn’t wait for too long.” Devin’s face lit up at the sight of his assistant.
“Not at all. I came here once I knew you arrived at the city hall. How did it go?” Abigail calmly said, At her question, Devin’s face flinched, his smile wavering.
“As usual. Those bastards are only concerned about themselves… Something happens in the Red Zone; they don’t budge, but if it brings them profit, they will loudly shout to make a move. I’m going to check what happened in there myself.” Explained Devin, the anger slipping into his hands as he clenched them at the mention of the clerks' behavior.
“Do you mind if I go with you?” Abigail asked, making Devin stop midstep. He almost stumbled to the ground, barely catching his balance.
“Are you sure?” Asked Devin as he turned around to read her face. “You want to go back there after I helped you cross the wall? You escaped that place. Why do you want to go there?” He sincerely asked, concerned about his assistant.
“I don’t want to go there. I want to go with you. Where you go, I go.” She answered and came closer to his side.
As always in the cities, nations, or even families. There are differences in perspective, in opinions. Some of the people admired Devin for being thoughtful of the other side, while others hated him for even lifting a finger to help them. Their hatred grew larger once Devin brought a girl from the Red Zone and made her his assistant.
While they walked through the city hall, they were silent. Once they left the building, both of them felt the weight being pulled away from them. Devin was the first to use that freedom. “How was your day at the academy?”
“Lessons were cut short by the bells but it was fine. Two hours of Basic Bureaucracy and luckily the City History was cut short.” Abigail answered, holding a clipboard close to her with one hand. Her eyes moving around, watching the people passing by as they were on a busy street. It was her old habit, she was looking out for any pickpockets.
“You really hate City History lessons?” Devin asked, truly surprised by the audible reluctance for that class.
The question broke Abigail’s guard, she stopped looking around the people to think closely about how to correctly answer. “It was fine at first… Once we got to the separation of the zones… Everyone started looking at me. As if just now they realized I am from the Red Zone…”
Devin let out a disappointed sigh, not toward Abigail but toward the youth who took the wrong path. “People forget that history is not a lesson of who to hate and for what, but to learn from our and others' mistakes, not to repeat them. That is the true meaning of history. To learn, not hate.”
The closer they got to the wall of the other zone, the more guards moved around the city. All of them stopped to salute the president. Once dismissed, they continued their patrols. The wall separating the zones was four stories high, with many caution signs to stay away from the wall.
One guard had spotted Devin and quickly informed his superior. “President Devin Golding!” The officer shouted from the wall as he saluted. “What brings you here, sir?”
“I have an investigation on the other side.” Devin shouted loud enough for the man to hear, but not to scream on top of his lungs.
“Well… There might be a problem crossing to the other side!” Shouted an officer, a bit hesitantly, as he didn’t know how to lightly explain it.
“What’s the problem?!” Asked the president this time, shouting to add an urgency to his investigation.
“The people, sir! Many people gathered by the walls to be protected by the guards from the wall if the monster attacked. Give me a minute, sir! I’ll organize something.” The officer shouted before disappearing from their sight.
Devin and Abigail waited for the man patiently, but their anxiety grew as they heard more shouts from the wall and many people marching. The wall became rowdy, making the president concerned that something had happened on the other side.
“Officer?! Officer!” Shouted Devin, hoping to get some kind of response from the man, but no one answered his shouts. “What is going on…” He whispered worryingly.
Suddenly, the doors by the gates opened, and through them, guards with shields gathered by the entrance to the Red Zone. Lastly, behind the guards, a man in a different uniform stepped out of the door. The young man wore a dark blue tank top and baggy pants with bits of armor near his thighs and belt, rather hanging than being pressed to his body. His hair fell beneath his ears like soothing flames in bright red shades.
The man saluted with a bright smile on his face, loudly but not shouting, he announced his name, “Elite Guard Aguero Senival, at your service, Mister President! I am here to escort you into the Red Zone.”
“All of you?” Asked Devan, stunned by the guards with shields and bats ready to silence the crowd behind the gate.
“Not all. Those guards will only let us pass through the gate, and later, if necessary, help us get back without any problems!” The man answered enthusiastically, clearly glad to be of use.
“Those are people just like us… There is no need for violence.” Devan's disgust was audible once he turned toward all the guards, not showing his disappointment to the bright young man. “Let me speak with them. They will understand.”
“You heard the president. Let him speak with the crowd.” Aguero shouted to the guards with shields, who looked a bit confused, as that was the reason they came down here, to defend the president. “They will let you speak, mister president, but we’ll stay behind. If something happens, we’ll quickly step up.” The elite guard warned Devin about his intentions, and he let the president speak, but it made him worried about his safety.
“That’s understandable.” Devin nodded his head in thanks to the young man and turned to the guards, ordering them, “Open the gates!”
The steel gates began to slide to the sides, making a gap and then a whole path between the two zones. The people seemed stunned to see the gate open. Many of them witnessed it for the first time as it was unusual. The gates system sounded old, or rather, not maintained, as many citizens and guards thought of it as a wall, not a gate.
The guards lifted their shields and bats but stayed in the same position at the gate, blocking the path through. They made a small gap for the president and the elite guard who followed close behind him.
“Good day, citizens of Liberin City-” Devin tried to make a formal speech in front of the crowd when he heard a loud thud to the side of the gate. One of the guards was kneeling and with a shield, he pressed a man to the ground. “Hey! Hey! There is no need for violence.” Devin ran up to the guard and ordered him to step away. “My apologies.” He extended a helping hand to a poor man, catching him off guard as he didn’t expect a response like that from a Golden Zone citizen.
Once he helped the man stand up, he turned his face toward the crowd once again, reading their confused faces. “We’re not here to assault you or scare you. Those guards here are only to escort me because I came to this side of the wall to check on the fallen tower.” It took a moment for people to digest his speech, as many people backed away at first, fearing that they would get beaten up for staying near the wall.
“So… You won’t attack us?” An older woman standing in the middle of the crowd asked, barely keeping tears away as she feared the worst scenario.
“No. That’s not why we came here.” Devin said calmly and reassuringly not to throw the crowd into panic.
Those people only read between the lines and heard what they wanted to hear. Some of them looked around each other, silently agreeing on one action. As if on the signal, more than half of the crowd began to run toward the gate.
Agureo quickly grabbed Devin’s hand and forcefully took him behind the shields. The mass of people began to collide with the square shields, pushing and punching to get past them. Some were climbing the others and trying to jump from their backs to the other side, but in this chaos, no one was able to achieve that.