Chapter seven: The Meeting of the Five Orders - A Clash of Power and Quest for Supremacy**
Location: Zulum City
The Meeting Camp
Time :12:00noon
Atmosphere: Heavy with Tension
The delegates of the five order gather together for their annual meeting. All except Wayde have arrived at the camp .The air is tense as they eagerly await the arrival of the last member before commencing the meeting. Few minutes later, Wayde arrives at the camp, he takes his seat without bothering to say a word to anyone.
"We've been waiting for you for a while now and yet you walk in here without apologizing for wasting our precious time and you sit as if you own the place so tell me, is this how the leader of the outlanders should behave". Karzan the leader of the Reegans asked but Wayde remained silent.
"That's enough Karzan, we didn't come here to hear you argue with Wayde nor did we come to separate any fights between you two. If you have any score to settle then you have to wait till the meeting ends and after that you will be more than welcome to kill each other". Dayne the leader of the Volgarians warned with a stern voice.
"Arrogant bastards". Karzan cursed under his breathe as the meeting commenced.
" We are gathered here today in order to discuss various issues concerning the present situations and the future of Zulum city. The five orders have been in existence as far back as the very same time Zulum came to existence and have each inherited our present tittles as the guardians of this city and have done our various duties without any form of hitches or problems.
"We've been in this city for so many years now and have managed to keep the order and peace but, we cannot deny the fact that the fear of the Tower still lingers in each of our hearts. The Tower also fears our existence and that is why they send those monsters the ghouls to wipe out the remaining survivors from that tragic day.
We've tried our best to ignore the existence of the tower but i guess that they wouldn't rest either until they've gotten rid of each and every single last one of us so, i stand before you all today to ask this questions, should we continue to live in fear and ignore the fact that those bastards who has done us so much evil are still out there enjoying their lives as they cause us endless torture and sleepless night or do we fight back and free ourselves from this heavy burden slowly killing us for so many years now and be finally free to once again roam the lands and rebuild our lost cities". Jarden leader of the the grim gave the first speech before returning back to his seat. Axtin leader of the merchants stood up to deliver the second speech.
"I agree with what Jarden has said, the tower has really tormented us for so many years but i believe that fighting back wouldn't be a good option for now. We've all seen with our own eyes how mighty and the powerful the tower is. We have limited resources in the city and the weapons we have are bearly enough to defend us against the ghouls then what about the tower. They posses countless numbers of advanced machine and weapons, the minute we leave this city, we are as good as dead so, what's the point of wasting our time on something we already know how the outcome is gonna be". Axtin asked before taking his seat as Karzan stood up to speak.
"You've all made good points but i must admit I'd rather not have anything to do with the tower cause its only going to cause us more harm than good, i believe what we should be focused on now is how to improve Zulum and create a more tolerable living environment. The five orders has done alot of work to keep this city standing but i think what we need now is a supreme leader one who will be in charge of controlling and over seeing all the affairs of the city . Let's all look at it from this perspective, instead of having five orders controlling this city , we can have one supreme leader who will be responsible for the entire Zulum city and the way i see it, since the Reegans control the food and water supply, its only natural that we oversee the entire Zulum ....
"What gives you the right to proclaim yourself the leader of this city, we Volgarians have worked really hard to ensure the steady flow of fiscal policies in this city and so we also deserve to be the supreme rulers of Zulum". Dayne leader of the Volgarians interrupted.
"Maybe you all might be forgetting something very important so i guess i need to jog your memories, the air in Zulum is toxic, filled with poison released from the tower and so, apart from being in charge of treatments we also provide the pills that keeps you all from dying and so out of everyone here we deserve to be supreme rulers". Jardin stated firmly.
"Just because you produce the drugs , doesn't mean that you would be qualified to become supreme leader as you said, you're providing the drugs that sustain our lives so why don't you focus on that instead and leave the real work to real people to handle it". Dayne contended.
The argument for the leadership positioned became more tense as each men was on their toe each arguing at the top of their voices on how they deserved the position. Wayde remained seated watching the men as they continued arguing after a while, he burst into a sudden sarcastic laughter as the men stopped arguing, turning their attention to Wayde who was laughing in a situation that was so serious.
"What's Funny Wayde". Axtin asked.
"You know when i first came in, i was wondering what was making Karzan so upset that he wanted to fight with me the minute i entered the building well i guess i understand now, he was feeling tense about introducing this grand plan of his and so, he wanted to pick on me a way of making me upset too.
"Alright, listen up, everyone! We Outlanders have been defending this city with everything we've got for years. And let me tell you, none of you have experienced the physical and mental hardships we face every single day in the name of protecting Zulum. You don't know what it's like to stare death in the face, to make sacrifices for your people, or to live with the consequences of tough decisions.
Now, let me ask you something. What good is food and water when we're all lying dead on the floor? What good is taxation when our blood stains the walls of Zulum? What good is buying and selling when there's no one left to trade with? And what good is medicine when there's nobody left to save?
You all seem to forget that survival is the top priority in any society. Without life, what's the point of sitting here and talking about anything? So, don't you dare lecture me about superiority. I know firsthand what it means to be a true leader. And if you're not satisfied with your positions, feel free to quit. I couldn't care less." With those words, Wayde turned to leave the camp, but after a moment, he paused and turned back to the men.
"You know, I've generally considered what was going on in the brain of those scientist when they chose to deliver a project that was intended to obliterate the world knowing completely well the results, they actually didn't withdraw. Well i guess what you've all shown here today isn't so different from what they did many years ago". Wayde concluded before exiting the building.