He decided to knock, as his desperation to see his mother consumed him. It was a short, quiet knock, so small in sound that only a person who was awake could hear it. No doubt most of the people inside were asleep, it was curfew for the Farm, and nobody dared to contest this. But he knew of one person who would stay up past curfew to see her son. His mother. Immediately the door opened and his mother's weary face smiled at him and smothered him in hugs.

"Oh my sweet son! You came! I know how scary this must be for you, to be back in this dump, so I am even more thankful that you came tonight! But come, come, get out of the night, son. The guards could come back any minute." His mother said, ushering him into one of the barn's many stalls that she and four other people shared. He wrinkled his nose at the stench. He had been away from this place so long, he forgot what horrible smells came from a barn that 500 people shared, without indoor plumbing and no showers.

"Momma, I missed you so much!" He said, nuzzling his face into her grimy gown.

"I missed you too, dear. Did you bring the food?" He produced a satchel of bread, smoked fish, and assorted edible nuts. His mother hungrily took the bag and began shoving food into her mouth, reminding him that even the most compassionate people are turned into beasts here.

"Where is he, Momma?" The boy asked. He was the only reason the boy would EVER return to a dump like this, and he wasn't going to leave without him.

"Oh, of course. " His mother said, putting the now empty bag down and going to a small stack of hay in a corner, returning with a bundle containing a small child.

"Here he is, his name is Vak." His mother said, handing him the sleeping toddler in a dingy, lice infested blanket.

"Take him and leave, son. I can't bear to see another child stuck here." She began, blinking her eyes quickly and turning around , and he knew she was she was hiding her tears from him, just like she used to do when he was little, and would show her the cuts and bruises from the guards beating him. He shuddered at the memory, and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around.

"Momma, I'll take care of him. He will have a good life with me." His mother smiled, and hugged him.

"I know you will. You're the sweetest, most kind-hearted boy I've ever known. Hopefully it will rub off on your brother." She said, lovingly stroking the baby's jet black curls that mirrored the boy's own hair. She began to tear up, and hugged him hard.

"Go now, son. The guards could be coming any minute, and I don't want you to lose any time." She said, handing him the satchel. But he was too late. One man that shared his mother's cramped office sized cubicle of a stall awoke, and his eyes widened at the sight of him.

"You're back." The man whispered, staggering up on his two feet.

The boy cringed. He remembered this man, he had bandaged his cuts and played with him while his mother worked unbearable hours in the space below the barn, a network of tunnels and caves that harvested nothing but rock for the training grounds not far off of the barn. He was beginning to began to back away when the man reached the cuff of his shirt. "Please don't go!" The man whispered, desperation in his eyes. "If you have survived this long without The Farm, then you must help me!" The man said, pointing to a stall all the way across the first floor of the barn's vast maze of stalls and sleeping people.

"Don't do this to him, Jaurl! He's just a boy!" His mother pleaded.

"And yet you asked him to come here and get him." Jaurl whispered fiercely, nodding to the baby in his arms. The boy's grip tightened around Vak. He could just leave, and return to the forest where he had made his home, but, there was Jaurl. His eyes were screaming for help, and the boy couldn't turn down the man who was so kind to him as a younger child. The boy took a deep breath.

"What do I have to do?" He asked. Jaurl smiled at him, showing his slimy, yellow teeth. He brought the boy close to him, so his rank breath smothering the boy.

"You must take my own children with you on your escape."