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Here it is...the final chapter
Chapter 22: The Proper Farewell
Mount Hood, Massachusetts
October 27th, 2006
1:24 PM
The sky was brighter than the weather forecast had said. And warmer, much warmer than forecast as well. The once blood and body covered hill of Mount Hood had been cleared and cleaned by army officials. All the Judges had been confiscated and removed to be inspected and all Melrose citizens were brought for questioning about what had transpired over the last two days. News centers all over the world reported on what had happened in the tiny city of Melrose, all praising the citizens for standing up and defending possible world domination. A memorial was to be erected in the place of the burned down resort building, praising all those who fell in the name of Earth. It was a joyous time.
The eleven teenagers stood at the top of the hill, where the resort building has been. They looked over the land below, the forested area. They stood in silence, their minds racing. Finally, Tony turned to look at the rest of the group.
“It’s amazing…only two days ago…this place was a blood-covered battle ground. Now it’s back to the way it was, minus the resort building.” He said softly.
“All of Melrose is trying to get back to the way things were before the Empire crashed into our lives. But it’s so hard to move past such a traumatizing experience.” Haley said.
The rest of the teenagers nodded softly in agreement. There was silence for a few minutes as they all went back to staring.
“Hey!” They all heard from down the hill. They all turned around to look at who was calling. Two boys were making their way up the hill towards them; David and Garret. David was helping Garret along as he was still hurt from his wound. Liza and Jeff quickly moved down the hill and helped David with Garret. They got him up the hill and the rest of the group gathered around him.
“How are you doing?” Sam asked, bent down next to him.
“I’m doing alright. Just very sore.” Garret said, chuckling a little. “How’s everyone else?”
They all mumbled their answers.
“That good, huh?” Garret asked. His smile weakened a little. Then he sighed. “This is my entire fault…”
“No, don’t blame yourself. It took a lot to give up all you’ve ever known and save Ian and Sam. We all respect you for that, really.” Paula said softly.
“If it’s anyone’s fault…it’s mine.” David said. “I could have stayed; I could have helped him and then he’d be here with us. Now…we don’t even know if he’s alive.”
“It’s no one’s fault, guys.” Natalie said. “It’s not even Ian’s fault. He did what he believed was right and in the end, it seems like he was. We’re all here, safe from the Empire’s world. He sacrificed himself to save us all.”
“It’s just not fair. He deserved this just as much as we do.” Jen said sadly.
“Yeah, he did. But now, all we can do is hope that he succeeded in doing what he set out to do and is in a better place now.” CJ said.
“I don’t want to believe that he could be dead…I just can’t.” Samfa said.
“We don’t know what happened to him, we can’t assume anything.” Cameron said.
“Yeah, but we will never see him again; he sealed the gateway both here and there. And all the research about the portals was in that world.” Liza said.
“But you know what? He wouldn’t want us to sit here and mope about his death. He wants us to take advantage of the world we’ve been given.” Jeff said.
They all looked among each other then nodded in agreement. They al turned back towards the hillside, watching.
“Goodbye Ian.” Cameron said.
“You’ve done more for us than we ever asked.” Samfa said.
“More than you should have been allowed to do.” CJ said.
“And now we can never say our real thanks for it.” Liza said.
“But we all know how much you loved us.” Garret said, holding the family heirlooms.
“We pray for you every moment of every day.” David said.
“And our hearts are with you.” Jen said.
“And with each other, just like you would want.” Jeff said, taking Jen’s hand.
“We’ll always stay together.” Haley said.
“Because that’s how it’s meant to be.” Tony said.
“We’ll always remember that it was you who gave us this chance to live.” Paula said.
“And we’ll live it, in memory of you.” Natalie said.
Sam stepped forward and dropped the backpack he had on his back. He unzipped it and opened it up. He reached his hands in and pulled out a giant round rock. Each one of them had carved their names and prayers into the rock and in the middle of it, they had written ‘In Memory of Ian Allan; An Unsung Hero.’ Sam pushed the rock down into the ground, ten feet away from the predetermined spot for the actual monument. He stood up as they all looked down on it.
“And we’ll never…ever forget you.” Sam said finally. The sun broke through the clouds and covered the hill in light. The thirteen teenagers stood there, staring at their dedication. And they all smiled.
The End