Ch 2: Plans
The group stared at Terra. "What? It's not that impossible," she said with a shrug.
"But how could we even leave?" asked Amy, "The guards change patrol along the Wall, like, every two hours." Terra nodded. "That's true," Terra continued, "But we all have a general idea on the patrol shifts so we'll just have to time it right to leave." Terra seemed set on her idea; the others were still unsure.
"I-it's not that easy," countered Amy, "Those stupid raiders have been taking pot-shots at the guards and have tried to get in at Haven for the past week! The guard's doubled up along the Wall. The patrols have changed, I'm certain of it." As if to add emphasis to her point, several incoherent yells and gunshots could be hear outside the hall near the town's perimeter. The soldiers there returned fire and the squabble was instantly quelled; the raiders were no match compared to the guards' armor and years of training.
Silence resumed. "We could leave during the noon bell or maybe the late night shift when there's more people out and about changing stations. That could cover our tracks as we make our escape," whispered Lloyd who was pondering their predicament. "If we're all in agreement," he added. Lloyd looked at each person and studied their reactions.
Caedus crossed his arms. "Won't the Overseer notice four empty spaces during the work hours? He'd starting wondering where we are," he put in.
"Probably," Lloyd responded in an offhanded manner, "But it'll be too late for him to do anything about it. We'll already be well outside city boundaries once he realizes we're gone." Caedus was about to snap back at Lloyd but all four faces instantly turn from their food to two soldiers watching them. The group finally noticed that they were the last in the dinner hall.
"You know, curfew bell's gonna be tolling soon," one of the soldiers announced. From close proximity to them, the group could see the signs of fatigue and stress wearing on the soldiers. Dark circles colored the area under their eyes and their faces looked gaunt. Their clothing looked worse for wear but it concealed the tough armor hidden within. They adjusted their gun straps while waiting for the group to answer.
"Yeah," spoke up Terra, "Thanks for the reminder." The guards bid them good night and carried on with their own business, probably trying track down the cook and asking for a late night dinner. Once the two were out of earshot, the group carefully let out their held breath. "That was just a little intense," muttered Amy. "We better get going before start attracting unwanted attention," Lloyd said.
The four got up from the weathered tables, scooped up what was left of their meals into small containers to eat later, and threw their plates and silverware into a box where they'd be cleaned for the morning meal the next day.
Dusk had descended upon the sleepy town while the teens were eating inside. Temperatures began to slowly rise as spring managed shake off winter's icy grip. It wasn't much though; they could see their breath come out in small clouds of white as they walked to the town center. "Strange," Amy muttered. Terra turned around to face her friend.
"What is?"
"Curfew's getting shorter and shorter. I wondered if that means we're going to working longer shifts."
"God, I hope not," grumbled Caedus as he stretched his arms up over his head; joints popped back into place as he cracked his neck. "Y'know, there's still the problem of the guards spotting us when we try to leave," Caedus said. That earned a sharp glare from Lloyd.
"What?" asked Caedus.
"You mind keeping your voice down? Or better yet, shut the hell up," snapped Lloyd. Caedus shrugged Lloyd off. "I'm being serious, though," Caedus continued with his voice lowered, "Everyone who's tried to escape has failed miserably." Just then, two people shot off from one alleyway, past the group, and off towards the Wall.
"Wait," Terra began to say, "What're they-?"
"They're leaving!" hissed Amy. Sure enough, the two people had traveling bags with them as they ran. They reached a chain link fence that covered parts of the town's perimeter that the Wall didn't quite reach. One part of the fence was completely torn away, hidden only by sparse brush. The two people climbed under it and raced out under the guards that patrolled twenty feet above them.
"We're almost there," whispered one escapee, "Just a few more feet and we'll be out of this hellhole of a city."
"Keep your voice down!" hissed the other, "They'll hear you!" They crept quietly under the guards, pausing when the spotlights up above on the Wall illuminating every little crevice that the shadows hid in.
The two were nearly home free, when Escapee One's foot slipped on a few loose rocks, setting off a small avalanche. The spotlights instantly zeroed in on the location of the noise. The two people stood rooted to the spot. The commander stood on top of the Wall and addressed the runaways. "Where do you think you're heading off to in such a late hour?" he asked them. The two, whether struck by fear or defiance, said nothing.
"Not a talkative bunch, are they?" the commander asked one of his men before turning his attention back to the frightened pair. "I'm gonna give you one chance to head back through the gate and we'll pretend like this never happened. Go back to having a peaceful life full of meaning and purpose," he said. This was all a lie, of course, bent on sowing its way into the minds of escapees such as these two to stay in Haven and remain productive members of society. They hesitated for a second. The commander smugly leaned back, thinking his job of rounding strays was through when a shot rang out.
The bullet missed the man's head by mere centimeters. "Screw you and screw the Overseer!" yelled one of the escapees as he aimed for another shot.
But the commander was quicker.
Two more shots shattered the weakly held peace. The group knew what happened. A kind of thing that always happened every once in a while. People would slowly get fed up with the way things were run in Haven and plan on ways to either leave and change things more to their liking.
Three years ago, there had been an attempt on the Overseer's life. A crazed woman who's child and husband both died in one of Haven's many mines threw a sharpened knife at him when the Overseer was making his annual speech on how the city was fortunate to survive another year in the harsh wasteland.
One of the Overseer's bodyguards had been eyeing the woman and reacted swiftly just as she let go of the knife. He jumped in front of the Overseer and the knife arced through the air at them. It bounced harmlessly off the guard's armor and clanged to the ground. The woman's face fell sharply as she watched the events unfold and took off. She was apprehended and thrown in jail. No one knew what happened to her after that. It served as a warning to those who had such fantastical ideas in their heads.
And now, two more people died for having such incredible ideas. It was quiet for a moment as the group slowly unfroze. "See?" hissed Caedus, "That could've been us had we left tonight!"
"Fine," snapped Lloyd, "We'll stay here for a couple of days, wait for a lull, and make a break for it at noon bell or late shift. Just be ready to go on a moment's notice." With that said, the group dispersed; Caedus and Terra heading off together while Amy and Lloyd parted ways.
Once home, Terra started packing immediately. "Don't tell me you're really planning on going?" Caedus asked her. Terra threw a glance over her shoulder and resumed stuffing clothes and socks into her bag. "Yeah, I am," she replied simply.
"You realize how dangerous it is, right? Trying to sneak out of here alone is a damned death trap. You saw what happened to those people out there!" Caedus's voice rose up. "Quiet!" his sister whispered, "You want the whole town to hear you?" Caedus rolled his and gave up trying to persuade his sibling. He then dug a medium sized bag out from under his bed and reluctantly began to pack.
"I can't believe you- you of all people!—would be complaining about this," said Terra, "I figured you'd jump at the first opportunity to leave here."
Caedus shrugged. "I don't know," he replied, "I just keep thinking about the dangers we would be in. Not just trying to leave here, but out in the Wasteland. I really would not want to die out there."
"I'm right there with you, but we know what we're doing. We're planning ahead, packing enough supplies. If worse comes to worse, we can go hunting. Just have to keep in mind what's edible and what'll kill you."
They didn't need to keep their voices down all the way as they discussed their plans once outside the city; their father worked for the Overseer so he would be gone for nearly the entire day and spent most nights out in Hedz or Tales, a nearby bar where the majority of people spent their days nursing drinks and sore hearts.
Their father would return about an hour after midnight smelling like stale beer, trudge upstairs, and sleep the rest of the night only to rise and do it all over again. Terra and Caedus grew up without him, they were used to it. Terra hated the fact that their father wasn't around much and Caedus hated his father for it. But neither sibling ever approached the subject with him for their father would get violent with them. It would not be a pretty sight when he'd come home one night only to find his two children gone, if he even noticed their disappearance.
The next day, the morning bell sounded out all over the sleepy town. People dragged themselves reluctantly out of their warm beds and into the cold dawn air. The workers trudged over to the food station and waited for the cooks to whip up whatever was left in the pots. This time, it was a meager helping of diluted oatmeal and lukewarm water.
Amy yawned widely and fell into step with Terra who already received her food and the two headed over to a table away from the others. Lloyd and Caedus soon joined them. The four ate in silence; no one dared to talk about the events that occurred overnight. People around yawned and conversed quietly about their plans for the day.
Once breakfast was over and plates and silverware discarded for later use, everyone lined up to receive their work tickets for that day's work. Terra received the trading stall, Amy clean up duty, Lloyd the collector's ticket, and Caedus trash duty. The person behind Caedus noticed the ticket the other young man had in his hand and started snickering. Trash duty was the least desired job next to mining. Caedus spun around and glared at the man behind him until the other looked away.
Once the tickets were squared away, everyone went off to their respectable stalls and opened shop. It was going to be a long day. Temperatures slowly rose as people went about their business. Terra opened one of the nearby trading stalls and took stock of the items that remained. There wasn't much: just pieces of silver and jewelry, scraps of clothing, a few ruined books, and other worthless supplies that Haven had to offer. She sighed. We need to get out of here, she thought tiredly. Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, she set to work.
On the other side of town, Amy grabbed the cleaning supplies and took note of the long list of buildings on it. There were about twelve in total. Folding the piece of paper and placing it in her pocket, Amy headed off in the direction of the nearest house.
Most of the houses in Haven remained unlocked, open to anyone. Not due to trusty neighbors but to the fact that security cameras were set up in certain homes, a deterrent to any who had thought of stealing. Hoisting her cleaning supplies, Amy approached the door of a grandiose mansion and stepped inside.
Lloyd went from house to house pulling a cart behind him. As a collector he was supposed to ask the people if they had any useless items lying around their homes to give to the traders to gain food, extra clothing, and other essentials. Sometimes there was a big haul with items that could, with the right trading techniques, give a family enough food and essentials to last three weeks without them having to sell some of their more precious items.
Lloyd hated this job even though he already knew about the living conditions in this city, he hated seeing it. It made him want to leave all the more. He thanked the family and moved onto the next.
Caedus was having a hell of a time with his task. Most people had already dumped out their week's worth of trash. If he didn't come back with his job completed… He didn't want to think of the consequences. As he made his way towards the Wall, he paused to hear a couple of the guards talking about the raiders backing off.
"Guess we can go tonight," he muttered and hurried to finish his job to tell the others the news.
The sun slowly rose high in the sky when Caedus told them what he had heard. "So, the raiders have stopped attacking Haven," stated Lloyd.
"Yeah, apparently," Caedus replied.
"And you want to go tonight?" Caedus nodded.
"We shouldn't risk it," Terra said. Her brother gave her a questioning glance and she began to explain.
"The raiders probably just want the guards to think they've backed off, have them lower guard, and then a then at the most opportune moment… BAM! The raiders hit the Wall. They do that, we're stuck right in the middle, out there with no cover."
"When you put it that way…," muttered Lloyd.
"What about tomorrow at the night shift?" asked Amy, "We could still do it then."
"May as well try and hope for the best," replied Terra. It was settled: Night shift it was.
Night passed quickly into the following morning. The group was anxious to leave but remained quiet. Noon came and none of them felt particularly hungry. Once evening fell, dinner came and went. Once they finished eating, the four quickly headed into their home and prepared to leave. Caedus rummaged around through their house until he found their dad's old pistol.
The thing was old but was still in good condition. He checked it out and found two extra magazines with which he loaded the gun. The siblings grabbed their bags and slipped out the back of their house to the prescribed meeting place. Amy and Lloyd were already there waiting for them. Caedus was grinning from ear to ear. Lloyd raised an eyebrow at him.
"You guys bring any weapons?" he asked them. Amy showed him a small pocket knife that she kept concealed, Lloyd brought out a wooden bat, and Terra procured a foot long steel rod.
"You obviously have something worthwhile," Amy pointed out and Caedus brought out the gun. "That's Dad's gun," Terra whispered.
"And? He never uses it." Terra rolled her eyes and the group set out carefully and quietly towards the Wall, their packs bouncing while they ran.
It came up quickly and they bunkered down as the guards walked idly by, none of them taking note of the oddly shaped shadow near them. As they made their way under the patrols, Caedus screwed a cylinder shaped object onto the muzzle of the gun. Amy turned around and watched him. "What's that?" she asked. She was abruptly shushed by Lloyd who had taken point. He seemed to be very familiar with this path.
Amy turned back around to Caedus. Silencer he mouthed at her. She nodded once. Suddenly, there was a small crack of a brittle branch underfoot. The group froze. The guards nearby stopped and focused on the source of the noise. Lloyd adjusted his grip on the bat as the guards approached their hiding place.
Caedus shifted his stance and took careful aim at the guards and fired. Two muffled shots sounded and the guards dropped like rocks. That gained the unwanted attention of the other guards and they came running to the aid of their fallen comrades. Lloyd instantly got the attention of his group and they ran crouched away from the guards.
The dead as a distraction the front of the Wall was deprived of most of the guards. The four teens broke out into a sprint as soon as their feet reached the top of the Wall. There were shouts and poorly aimed shots as the guards saw the escapees but the group already had a good lead on their pursuers. They rounded another corner and their feet slipped on the rocks and sand of the Wasteland.
They were home free.