Chapter 6: Escape Strategies

I sit up and groan in agony, over the past three weeks I've been forced to work long hours and the collar on my throat is too tight. It hurts every time I breathe.

I slowly stand and lean against the wall of my bunk house…room more like, the place is cramped. There are eight of us in this small area. I lean against the wall and press my forehead to it. My new owners fight a lot, one thinks I'm worthless, another thinks that I'm worth the effort, and the third, the one who bought me thinks that I'm stupid.

My life has become a living hell. I failed my brother, my father, my whole family.

I've never felt so alone. I start choking myself by rubbing the collar against the wall. It only gets tighter every time I try.

Someone grabs me and pulls me back.

"Stop," they gasp.

I whimper and pull away, gripping my collar and trying to take it off, succeeding in only tightening it.

"You have to stop they'll-" they stop as a man comes in.

He grabs me and the hot whip comes out. I don't flinch, I only revel in the pain of the whip, I deserve it after failing my family.

My father wouldn't have gone easy on me. I very nearly beg for more when he stops and checks the collar, jerking it so tight I can hardly breathe. But all the same…I deserve it.

My stomach lurches as a wave of dizziness washes over me. I gag and gasp, struggling for air of any kind.

A kick to the stomach is all I get.

The door slams shut and I simply curl there.

"Are you insane?" the person who tried to stop me hisses.

I feel hands on my throat before I can suddenly breathe better. They are trying to be kind and all I want to do is die. The shame is too great.

"Stop," I gasp out, "I just want to…"

"Die?" the other finishes, "What's the use right? Snap out of it! They'll kill everyone in here if you kill yourself."

"I failed my family," I rasp, "I failed to get my brother out."

He's silent for a while and then I feel him sit beside me.

"Then get out and find him," he whispers.

"How?" I gasp, more confused than before.

"We've been digging for weeks, but you and your suicide attempts have slowed us down…help us escape, find your brother."

I slowly sit up, body aching, I realize that I should have been thinking about a way out, I would've if my brothers were with me.

~*~

It's been three days since I agreed to help, we dig in shifts. Those that are supposed to be sleeping, dig, while those that are forced to work do our best to steal supplies and scout out the direction that we need to go when we break surface.

I've come back into my element, planning, strategy, everything that could happen I've planned for.

It takes us eight more long weeks to dig to the marker we wanted. Then, that night we gather up the packs of supplies and break surface. The barricaded door will keep the guards out long enough for us to make a dash for the woods. We set off a chain reaction by pulling out one of the supports, the tunnel collapses. We split up and run, I double back and search the main house for my Katana, I find them and steal them back along with my mask and Raph's mask.

Then I vanish out of the main house back toward the woods, using the shadows I was trained to move in.

I make it to the woods and take to the trees. I move in the branches, fast, silent. I find a river and drop into it, letting the water hide my sent before leaving it halfway down stream and begin working my way toward the city where I was sold.

I have to find Raph.

As I look around to survey my surroundings, I flinch, realizing the collar is still on me. I try to remove it, gingerly straining to pull it off. My neck is raw, and every tug hurts, the collar tightens up more and more. I finally stop and find that breathing is painful.

I have to find Raph.

~*~

Days pass before I reach the city, I steal clothes and slip into the mainstream traffic. The jacket I'm wearing helps hide my injured neck and the collar, as well as keep me warm. I stole pants, it seems that no one goes without clothes around here. It's awkward moving in clothes but I make it work. My swords settle on my carapace, resting on leather rather than keratin.

I make it to the slave market and start looking around.

Over the next three weeks I search before I find him. He's hunkered down in a corner, arms bound heavily, a muzzle around his face.

My heart shatters at the sight of him so miserable.

He lifts his head and looks at me, amber eyes blazing.

"He's a mean one," I hear a man say, "gone through eight owners already, no one can tame him."

I shudder at the thought of Raph "tamed".

"How much?" I whisper, afraid to ask.

"Sorry kid someone already bought him, 300 credits for my troubles," he tells me.

My stomach drops and my heart shatters.

300 credits? How am I supposed to counter that?

I'll just have to steal him, bust him out. I throw a hand signal to Raph before slipping away.

Be back dark.

He grunts as I leave, I can only hope that I can get him out.

That night I creep down and find him huddled there. I manage to squeeze in and find him. I remove the muzzle first.

"You ok?" I whisper.

"Yeah…ya' got any water?" he rasps.

My heart drops.

"No, I'll get you some when we get out," I whisper.

He nods.

"Food?" he whispers.

I feel sick. They've been starving him.

"When we get out," I repeat, carefully cutting the ropes.

He nods again and I'm shocked when he leans against me.

"Tired," he whispers.

"Don't sleep yet," I beg.

He stirs and gets up, slowly, painfully slowly we move. We get out, but Raph can hardly walk, his legs are stiff and he's exhausted.

I get him somehow, to my camp and he collapses. I scramble, pulling him more into the cover of the trees and wrapping him up. I bring water to him, wake him and urge him to drink.

He sleeps after that. For days, I find the raw cuts and scrapes on his wrists and nearly weep. I cradle him as I clean the wounds.

He's so tired he lets me. He finally regains some strength and manages to eat. I start to reach forward and freeze when I hear what he says.

"What took you so long?" he hisses.

I drop my head and press my hand gingerly to my neck touching the collar and the swollen skin around it before removing my jacket.

"I-" I start.

"Shell," he gasps, dropping the bowl and reaching forward, "Leo? Oh my god…what happened?"

I shudder as he touches the welts around the collar.

He recoils in shock, amber eyes huge.

"They put a collar on you?" he growls.

"I got out," I mumble.

Then to my shock he reaches over and find the buckle and lock on the collar.

"How do you get this off?" he hisses.

I shrug, miserable.

Then I yelp as he pulls at the buckle. He stops.

"Sorry bro," he whispers.

Over the next few minutes he works the thick leather and finally manages to break it. It falls off and I gasp for breath.

He lets me lean against him as I catch my breath.

"You good?" he asks after a minute.

I manage a nod.

He moves away and goes back to eating, taking what's left of the food in the makeshift pot and eating.

My stomach growls but I let it go. He hasn't eaten much lately. I huddle in the corner, shivering as I find myself getting sick again.

My throat is raw and infected. I feel tears start as pain builds around my throat. Raph comes over and makes me drink water, before long I'm too sick to move.

"Shell," I hear him hiss.

"Hold on bro, I'm going to find some medical stuff. Hold on," that's the last time I ever heard his voice for a very long time.

They caught him when he went back, his new owner took him away and I barely fought off the infection. When I woke up and found that he was gone I struggled to my feet and went looking.

I had to find him…I have to find him.

Raph I'll find you I promise.

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