Free Beneath the Veil by William McNally

children who were busy playing, then turned back to face her.
    “These people claim that no one ever leaves this town. That we’re trapped here.”
    Jackson nodded in agreement.
    “What? There has to be a road out of here,” she insisted.
    “Some of these people have been here for a long time,” Jackson added.
    “Tomorrow, we need to pack up and get the hell out of here,” she responded. You don’t know what’s out there...I want to go home.”
    Barry stood up without answering and walked out of the tent. A large pond glimmered under the light of the moon as cold mist descended into the quarry. The residents of the camp, many of which were families, hurried about their nightly rituals. They had managed to carve out an odd normalcy in this abnormal place. People cooperated to get things done without the modern conveniences they had once relied upon. He picked up a stone from the shore and skimmed it across the glassy water. Jimmy walked up carrying a lantern and a silver flask.
    “Want a sip?” he asked, holding up the flask. “Homemade.”
    “Thanks,” Barry said, accepting the flask.
    “Go easy, now. It’s close to two hundred proof. The vehicles here run just fine on it.”
    Barry took a sip and the liquid burned his throat as it went down.
    “Good,” Barry said, in a hoarse voice.
    Jimmy chuckled and sat on a stone wall built along the water’s edge. Barry joined him and handed the flask back.
    “So, what brought you folks up this way?” Jimmy took another sip.
    Barry watched the water as a fish jumped at the moonlight. “There’s fish in there?” Barry asked, surprised.
    “Sure, plenty of them. They’ve been in there for years. Some say birds dropped fish flying over and nature took care of the rest. We pump water from the pond and spray it on the crops.”
    “Family,” Barry answered, returning to Jimmy’s original question. “I came here looking for my family.”
    “Good a reason as any, I suppose.”
    He offered Barry the flask, but he waived it off.
    “Maybe we’ve got some of your people here.”
    “Maybe, my family’s name was Rhodes.”
    “Rhodes,” Jimmy repeated. “That’s not a good name around here.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “People say a man named Rhodes, Ezra Rhodes, helped put the veil over this city.” Jimmy took a long swig on the flask. “Some say he still walks this town at night with a thing he calls his sister. You oughta to keep this conversation between the two of us.”
    “What do you mean?” Barry asked, perplexed.
    “Folks here are real giving, but they’ve lived in fear for a long time. If they knew you were a Rhodes, they might not take well to it. Catch Doc and Sully in the morning. They can tell you about the Rhodes family and you can trust them to keep quiet about it. Well, I better go get some sleep.”
    “Goodnight, Jimmy...and thanks for the advice.”
    Jimmy stood up and walked off into the darkness. Barry sat for a while watching the fish jump with any thoughts of his illness far from his mind.

C H A P T E R  T H I R T Y - T H R E E
    P eople sat chatting and eating breakfast in the dining tent. A kitchen was set up in the back where a crew was busy preparing eggs and bread for the hungry camp. Barry sat with Doc and Sully who had returned safely from a night on watch. The kids happily munched their food next to Jen and Jackson at the end of the table.
    “Jen, we can’t just drive out of here,” Jackson pleaded.
    “We got in here,” she replied. “There must be a way out.”
    “Miss,” Sully said. “Some of us have been here longer than we care to remember. We all have people, friends and family on the other side. Don’t you think we’ve tried leaving?
    “Sully’s right, Doc added. “The only thing you’ll do out there is get yourself killed.”
    “So, that’s it? We spend the rest of our lives sitting here hiding from those things?” she asked.
    Doc and Sully didn’t answer.
    “What about Barry?” Jen