Chapter 3: The Veil

The first few hours after the veil appeared were strange. No one was reacting too extreme yet, mainly because nobody even knew what was happening. Many hoped it was part of the Saviours announcement since it had happened moments after they were said to make it. Several more hours passed and people began to get uneasy making their way towards the edges of the veil to see what it was or try to leave. This was to no avail as all those who tried to leave stepped through the veil only to end up entering back in from another point. They would simply enter from another random position of the veil as if they had teleported, some people even ended up on the other side of the Boundary altogether. After realising this people began returning to their homes, becoming more and more anxious as the ominous timer in the sky counted down. After about 10 hours panic had started to set in causing some to pray that the Saviours would come and explain everything, others were looting houses and getting into fights as if to distract themselves from the situation. 

Most people however chose to stay in their homes and wait for the timer to reach zero. This was what Asher and his mother were doing also and as far as he was concerned it made the most sense. Asher didn't see the point in panicking yet since they didn't even know what exactly had happened so staying at home and waiting seemed like the sensible option to him, at least until the timer ran out. He and Sarah had simply brought chairs from the kitchen and sat outside watching as the time ran down. He couldn't sleep at all anyway with all the commotion so he decided to just keep his mother company. She was holding up better than he expected but he was not sure why he was surprised, his mother had always been a tough woman for as long as he could remember. If she had ever felt slighted by Asher's father not helping to raise him she never showed it. Asher could count on one hand the number of times the two had ever even spoken of him and even then Asher had no real idea who the man was and to be honest he didn't care to know. His mother was more than enough in his eyes. Asher looked at her again and in truth he thought she was probably less nervous about the whole ordeal than most others were, including himself. Asher did not know why but looking up at those giant numbers in the sky made him feel uneasy. 

"What do you think the numbers mean, Ash?" Sarah asked curiously. 

Thinking for a moment Ash stayed silent until he eventually answered her. "If I had to guess I'd say that is the population of the Boundary." 

Sarah gave him a nervous look. "What makes you say that?" 

Asher looked her in the eyes for a moment before turning back to the giant red numbers in the sky gesturing for Sarah to do the same. "Well the number itself seems to be about what I would have estimated the population here to be, but the main reason is because the number on the left has decreased by a few hundred people from the start." 

Sarah looked at him, her expression becoming grim. "You don't think that those are people that died do you?" 

Asher nodded. "It makes sense when you think about it, people die often enough out here at the best of times but now with all this panic added on top people are doing all kinds of dumb stuff." Sighing he looked at the timer again. It was close now, only two more minutes until the timer reaches zero. 

As the seconds passed by Asher's heart began beating faster and faster, time seemed to slow down almost to a stop entirely. Asher never knew that two minutes could feel so long, but they did. He felt a hand hold his, it was Sarah's. She must have noticed how nervous he had become, while it did not stop him from feeling nervous it helped him to relax a little bit even if only for a moment. He was sweating now even though it was completely freezing outside. While the veil stopped them from exiting the Boundary snow still managed to make its way through. This only made Asher more curious about the suspicious veil surrounding them but he would not have time to think about it because the timer had reached zero. As it did his heart sank, not sure what to expect. 

For a while nothing happened, but Asher did not dare to speak or move. More and more seconds passed by without either of them saying a word to each other. 

Were we worried over nothing? Is it just a big spectacle the saviours are putting on?

After about a minute had passed Asher finally allowed himself to breathe again, but just as he did he heard something. At first he could not make it out but then the sounds became louder and louder, echoing across the Boundary. Asher's face paled as he realised what they were… screams, they were screams.