Pound, breath, pound, breath. The sound of my running feet, my heavy breath and the distant shouting reached my sensitive ears. In the distance I could see my destination. The blinking light that is barely visible in the pitch blackness. The sound of waves crashing into the hollow hull of a huge multimillion dollar yacht.
Hoot hoooot hoot. Three calls of an owl. I answer back. Hoot hoooot. Hoot. The last hoot was not mine,which is good. 3-2-1. Luke, me and Adrian. So far so good. Our escape plan was a go. I am so glad to be chosen by the rest of the camp to escape that horrible camp -cough- prison -cough- that THEY call Old Dominion. An island known only to the inhabitants and the Dominion president who's yacht I just happen to be standing on right now.
Another hoot. All clear time to run. Luke starts the engine and we pull out of the dock. I want to scream with joy but we are not to make a sound until we have been on the boat for an hour and Luke has found all the bus hidden in the yacht. There are 172 bugs hidden in various places on the presidents boat. I know this because one of the other campers crept into the monitor room and looked up the yacht. He got us blue prints, manuals, safety gear spots, and the number of bugs on the boat. We know everything there is to know about this boat.
Everyone at camp has one ability that exceeds the average human's capabilities. The boy was excellent at being stealthy. Luke is good with any kind of technology. Adrian is good with animals and I, well, I don't really know what I'm good at. Anyway, the other campers chose the three people that would make the most compatible team to succeed at escaping and getting the rest of them out of there.
The Old Dominion is a "camp" for people the abnormal capabilities. All of the prisoners were pulled from functional society when they were freshmen in high school. The camp takes the "specials" and uses them to their own ends. There are some specials in normal society. Ones that blossomed late, ones that have been reintegrated, and ones that had useless talents. At the prison we are withheld all rights people should have. We have no contact with our family or friends. We get meager meals of bread and soup twice a day. We go through rigorous training 18 hours a day. And above all if you break a rule you get beat within an inch of your life.
Twelve bugs left to find, we can almost talk and take off our crudely made potato sack masks. By this time I've explored the whole yacht. It has 7 bed rooms, 4 full baths, 2 half baths, a kitchen, 2 living rooms, one game room, a media room, a theater, and a hot tub on the deck. Damn this place is freaking huge.
When I walk up to the steering wheel and see Luke is towering above the control panel trying to disable the last couple bugs. His tall lean frame is bent over a huge wired box. Got me if I know what its called. His brown hair falling into his eyes; his brow creased with concentration. Adrian is slumped in the corner, his dirty blond hair tumbling every which way. It was surprising 'cause he always kept his hair styled no matter what. His expression told me he had a lot on his mind. Eyes staring blankly at the mask in his hands, mouth turned down at the corners. He looked out of place on this yacht. Suddenly he looked up making me lose my train of thought when his emerald eyes caught mine. For a fraction of a second I saw the eye's of a torched soul. Pain beyond imagining. I want to comfort him, let him know he doesn't have to carry the burden of his pain alone. I start to open my mouth and then the burning man is gone. Poof. Like it never existed. Instead he breaks out a fully fledged smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. I hope that-
"Oh my God! I can't believe we're finally out of that place," Luke is beaming at us from behind the steering wheel. "All bugs are gone. We can take off out mas- Hey! Why is yours off? Oh shit this isn't good. What if one of those last bugs was a camera? What if THEY saw you? They could send search parties a whole lot earlier now. Oh fuck."