03-escape(part one)

It was a crisp night as the regiments started to turn out the lights one by one behind all of us prisoners. I walked into the long, gloomy and cold dorms with all the others. They were not very wide, only enough room to have two bunks on either side of the walls and still have room for someone to walk in the middle the walls were a grey stone and really cold, a breeze blew in from the one window at the end of the dorm chilling everything down another few degree’s. Tonight was the night I knew it there was a sort of electricity in the air or maybe that was just between Hammond and I. We were going to escape. I looked over to Hammond his green eyes sparkled with excitement as he brushed his messy jet black hair away from his eyes with a scarred hand that had been doing work all his life. Muscles rippled under his ripped grey child issue shirt. The shirt he wore was the same as everyone else but help for visibility we had bright reflective orange sleeveless vest with black rugged pants a pendant hung around his neck from a small silver chain. Somebody had given him the necklace when he was a baby nobody was sure who. The pendant was an oval sapphire and it shimmered no matter what the weather. He smiled at me and nodded his way of saying, “Let’s do it!” I gave him the same nod, walked slowly to my bunk and got in not only bothering to take off my vest so they wouldn’t see me when we left, and then  waited for all the moving to stop. It seemed to take forever but it was probably only five minutes altogether. I felt excitement rise in me, as well as a little fear. Finally everyone’s breathing turned rhythmic and calm…it was time. Silent as a whisper I got up and reached under the mattress to find the night-vision goggles and sweatshirt I’d stolen from the Regiments store room when I was made to clean it for punishment. I put the goggles on the mattress and slipped into the sweatshirt a smile broke out on my face as I realised the sweatshirt was blocking the breeze. Hammond I guessed was putting on another sweatshirt exactly the same as the one I had on only bigger. I stole both of them from the Regiments store room on punishment. I picked up the goggles and slid them over my eyes. Everything went green; everybody was asleep in their beds, all but one. Hammond was doing exactly what I was once he finished I waved him over and whispered,

“Let’s go get the weapons you stashed. You lead ‘cause I don’t know where they are.” He nodded and tiptoed quietly out of the dorms with me right behind him. As we left the dorms we kept to the shadows watching for the Regiments on night shift. My heart banged against my chest every second and I was afraid that it might give me away more than my breathing. Finally we reached the place in the camp that we were wanting, the pits.

02-Leadership

Where are we?

I thought again and looked around figuring things out. What I saw sent a small shiver of fear in my mind. We were in a dark forest and it was by the look of the moon about midnight. The tree trunks were hiding everything apart from the sky so for all I knew that one bunch of them could be hiding a whole bunch of Regiments. I shivered again as my mind started to turn to thinking about the supernatural. My imagination was running wild so to stop it I walked closer to Aldis.
"Let’s get Guido to lead us to the old camp," I said trying to lead everyone again, "I'll take the front and you take the back okay? Use the walkie-talkies if anyone starts to lag behind so we can slow down." She nodded with that out of the way I walked up to Guido and whispered to him softly,
"Can you get us back?"
"I...I think so" He said unsure I nodded,
"Do your best," He nodded at me. Aldis called out a loudish voice that made me wince,
"Everyone follow Guido I'll take the back, Akantha you are staying with me. And don't think that just because I like your hair that I wont hit you if you annoy me again. Nobody do anything stupid. Use the walkie-talkies only if you have to we need to save the batteries." Guido started to look up at the trees and the sky, and then at the ground find who knows what to lead us back to our camp. I had no idea how he did it, but he did.
"Make a line, single file." Aldis called out.  Guido then found what he was looking for and walked off in a certain direction. We all followed. I found myself thinking about when I escaped from the regiments.

01-Guido + Arash

Through the forest we ran deeper and deeper into the murky darkness tripping on roots and getting attacked by brambles.

“Stop!” I called after what seemed like a long time, I looked over at Alessandro and the others all panting from the run when Aldis called out to everyone,

“Put mud on your face and all bare skin so that you won’t stand out from the forest around you it will make you are harder to spot. If the ground is not wet use your water. I’m sure Guido can find us a stream to refill our water.” Amid the mutterings of annoyance at having to cake themselves in mud again there was a voice that called out in merriment,

“I feel you may put to much stock in my abilities Aldis,” Guido always trying to be modest and putting his on laughing spin on things. He was a forest ranger for the regiment soldiers before he met Arash in the same regiment as him. Arash then was full of ideals apparently about the outside world and all the non-existing settlements. By then he was already working on an escape plan. But he needed one more man to carry it out. So he became friendly to Guido because he knew the terrain and he seemed like he wasn’t content with the propaganda and listened to the rumours that were floating around about child camps where they were all made to work until they dropped and then they lopped off your head. They got together and stole a car, which was loaded with weapons and had a big metal box with lots of petrol cans and decided to ditch in the truck. Unfortunately it turned into a bit of a fight at the guard post. The car was destroyed and Arash got wounded. We found them about a week later off an abandoned road and managed to save Arash.  Thus our group of rebels was formed, back then there were ten of us. But since then we have got more people but some of us from the original ten died. Taban was one, he died from a spider bite, but as he passed from this world into the next he was still happy. A tear rolled down my cheek as I thought about everyone we had lost, the wetness bringing me out of my memories. Realising that I was the only one besides Aldis not putting mud on my face I started to trying to make use of the situation, my first thought was,

Where are we?

00 prologue

I saw it as we ran out the door. The truck’s headlights lit the way in front of it as it bumped down the hill to the clearing where we were, where there was also nowhere to hide.

“Get into the forest!” I shouted over the shouting and the truck. They’d seen where we were and started heading towards us as fast as they could. The baleful light of the moon reflected off the truck and a spotlight swept across the clearing, good I thought they don’t know where we are. But if we don’t move it soon will! I realised with a start.

“Move!” I yelled and following the others I ran counting them all, 12 good we haven’t left anyone behind. Pumping my legs I soon caught up with the others, I was defiantly one of the main athletes of the group. I noticed Accalia running just in front of me her long black hair trailing behind her like it couldn’t keep up, torn ragged clothes showing bare skin underneath. I ran up beside Aldis the only one that was alive before the new version of the ‘old world’ and the oldest of all of us at 23 she was our technical warfare adviser,

“Can we make it?” I asked her as we sprinted to the tree line her dark skin was the only thing that managed to get her out of the camps and when we found her she was half dead. Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight and she smiled showing white teeth, I swear she almost looked like she was enjoying herself,

“Not really. But there’s always a chance. Now pull your hood up and tell the others to do the same so they don’t see your skin.” I did as I was told and relayed the message onto Alessandro to pass it on and do the same so we all ran full pelt into the dark forest evading the machine intent on capturing us. Luckily we all made it.

Just.