Disclaimer: If you recognize it, that means it doesn't belong to me.
(:Present day and time, 5:26 am. Early Monday morning December 28th, 2009. Ypsilanti, Michigan. The woods.:)
High in the sky, a full moon sits staring down at a snow-covered meadow, the night tranquil and dark, illuminated dimly by the chalky white moon. Suddenly the serene atmosphere is shattered by a young girl around eleven years of age darting in-between trees and running from a spotlight that threatens her with the promise of capture.
Her hair is buzzed cut in perfect military fashion and she wears what looks to be a standard cream colored hospital nightgown with no shoes to protect her feet. The sounds of a helicopter float overhead, their pounding blades matching the thump of the girls heartbeat, her breath steady with each quick step. The child whose name is unknown runs like a machine, no stumbling and no wasted motion.
'The escape was not my idea. I mean, escape to what? We don't know anything about the world that exists outside of Manticore. To say I'm scared is an understatement but I trust Zack way more than I am afraid of what's out there and the repercussions if we fail.'
A pack of snowmobiles are fast approaching from behind, ridden by black-clad soldiers wearing night vision goggles and carrying sniper rifles. She stays steady, not even blinking as she reaches the tree-line in search of safety.
She soon finds herself in a clearing. Behind large logs and tree trunks are several of her fellow escapees. She joins them quickly, quietly.
The other children sport identical haircuts, outfits and… barcodes on the back of their necks. Swiftly she exchanges sign language with the tallest boy, hands working in well-practiced code while they try to come up with the next stage of their plan.
They hear a branch break in the darkness close by, all freeze until another girl steps out of the shadows. She comes stumbling into the clearing and attaches herself to the mystery girl.
They stare together across the meadow waiting, their faces show disappointment as none of the others appear and gunfire pops in the distance.
The roar of snowmobiles grows louder, closer. The tallest boy then points to his wrist, an imaginary watch, and begins to sign.: OUT OF TIME.
With fast slashing hand motions, he separates the others into escape-and-evade teams, two per group. The children's mannerism is clipped, it screams military and the looks on their faces are telltale signs of being much wiser than just their ages might suggest. The other kids nod back to the boy in charge before heading off through the trees in two's but the girl hesitates, not wanting to be separated once again. The older boy just repeats his motions though, and she's tugged away by her teammate.
'It was Zack who said we had to leave, that if we stayed our little family was sure not to survive. So I guess he's saving our lives… my life by leading us into the unknown, the outside.'
(:Manticore Compound:)
Black-clad guards drag a struggling child who's been recaptured towards a building, somewhere in the close distance an alarm wails loudly.
A figure, silhouetted by the lights of an approaching Humvee raises a walkie with his right hand while pulling a cigarette away from his mouth with the other. A cloud of smoke surrounds the man who's in his late 30s, making the moment ominous before he speaks.
"This is Lydecker. I want you to capture if you can but if any of them make it to the perimeter, you are to terminate. Is that understood?"
"Confirming, Sir, is that an order? Ten-oh-Six." A voice on the radio replies with slight hesitation.
"I'll take responsibility. If they reach the outer fence… shoot to kill." His voice venomous as he speaks and his face shows no emotion.
Lydecker takes one more puff before stomping out the white nicotine stick and jumping into a Humvee as it pulls up next to him, they tear off on pre-paved paths further into the dark dense? forest.
(:Woods:)
The two young girls sprint through the forest until they reach a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. Our girl hurriedly climbs a nearby tree, runs out along a thick branch with ease and leaps into space. She plants her hands on the top row of wire and does a gymnast's vault over it, into a perfect dismount in the snow.
Before the other girl can follow, a shot rings out. It hits her in the right shoulder as a warning to cease and desist. The girl clutches her wound for a moment but hastily grabs at the branch of the tree to climb up.
'POP.'
A second shot sounds and this time the wounded girl falls lifelessly to the ground.
"No…NO! JONDY!" She howls out in anger, sadness and fear. Suddenly distant headlights cross over her and the girls pupils flash with a green cat like glow, she stills and stares.
"Max, RUN…" Zack yells at her from twenty feet away, arms waving frantically in the air.
His voice snaps her back to the moment at hand. Max doesn't move though, instead she stands there taking it all in. Zack motioning for her to move away, Jondy's lifeless body that lies in a pool of red snow only a few feet away and all of it now separated from her by a tall fence. Her eyes are glued to the horrid scene.
'I have to see Zack make it, I have to see my unit leader and older brother make it over the fence.' Her body feels heavy and her breathing erratic as she watches closely with wide, unwavering amber eyes.
Neither see the five troopers step out of the shadows until it's too late and they've fired their tasers, making sure he goes down enough for capture. It happens in slow motion, soundlessly, for Max who stands there and watches with an aching heart as Zack falls to his knees shaking.
Her feet obey his command unexpectedly and her body flashes forward, further away from the scene that she's just witnessed. Max dodges the spotlight with agility, knowing well enough that they're the only things this far from base. As she moves on autopilot her mind stays at the fence, on constant repeat.
Max runs and runs, her legs moving in quick succession until she's met with road, though she sighs out in relief she doesn't completely step into the open space instead choosing to follow along the shoulder.