Chapter 25: Escape

They were young and a part of the female persuasion wearing similar clothing as myself but theirs looked a lot more ragged and worn. This meant they had probably been here for awhile.

There were several differences between the two girls. One was older—maybe a year or two older than me—with darker features reminding—painfully—of Bex and the other girl was in her early teens with ghostly pale skin most likely due to not being under the sun in awhile. The youngest, wide-eyed girl saw me first and immediately drew the attention of the older one who seemed to be the leader at the moment.

Looking over at me with a cautious gaze she took in my look her eyes traveling up and down slowly, sizing me up while I stood perfectly still. The corner of her lip curled upward as she commented, "I haven't seen you before. You must be the new toy all the guards were talking about."

At the word 'toy' the younger girl flinched and her sleeve came up just enough to see a slight scar on the upper part of her left arm.

"I guess so," I replied watching the youngest while the oldest girl kept her gaze fixed on me. "I'm Cam—"

The girl held out her hand interrupting me, "Names aren't important here." She looked me over one final time. "Right now we have to concentrate on escaping." She looked away from me and over at a corner five feet away where a few military type cars were parked. "Perfect," she said under her breath.

"We can't drive those," I said almost immediately after seeing where her gaze went off to.

Did she not see the danger?

Apparently not by the annoyed look she was now giving me.

"Well maybe you can't but I can."

She stood and I grabbed her arm. She yanked it away and looked at me viciously, her lips almost curling upward as an animalistic snarling type of sound came out of her. The other, younger girl was backing away from the scene clearly terrified of confrontation.

"Look," I said trying to reason with her, "we can't take those cars because none of the other guards are driving them." I paused hoping my words were sinking into her letting her see the light of her bad judgment, but she just gave me a blank look. "There's a reason for that!"

"Like what?" she snapped. I mentally cringed from the volume but it seemed unnoticed by the guards around us, at least no one was suddenly coming around the corner. The girl, however, didn't even seem worried about being heard. She clearly wasn't fit for the spy life.

Lowering my voice I said, "Because they're waiting for some idiot prisoner to go for a joy ride thinking they have the perfect escape. But they'll either being stopped or shot down within seconds. That is why no other cars are going because it's a trap for us. They don't need them because they have the remotes and guns. They have the control and we don't. We need to find another way in getting out of here without being noticed. It's the only way we'll make it."

Clearly, I thought, she must see the logic.

But the girl just shook her head and with a grin said, "You don't know the way I drive. Plus there are machine guns planted on top of some of the trucks. I'll shoot them all down before they have a chance to stop me." A scary, murderous look glazed over her eyes as her grin grew wider—suddenly I was a little fearful of and for her. She looked over at the other girl who was sitting on the ground watching the both of us with worried eyes. "Are you coming, Hannah?"

Hannah looked from me to the other girl unsure of whom to follow.

Before she had a chance to speak—that is if she ever would—I said, "Did you not hear what I said? They have the controllers. Once they see you or hear you they can stop you. No matter how fast you are, you won't be fast enough."

That statement seemed to hit a certain emotional string and her fists clenched at her side. The last thing I needed was to get into a fight with this girl. Otherwise I would be going down with her.

I stepped back slightly with raised hands in defeat. "Do what you want," I told her in complete surrender mode.

A smile came back as she looked happy with the shift in power. "As it should be," she said and looked back down at the shaking girl. "Hannah?"

"N-o," the girl said quivering with fright. "I'm goi-ng wi-th h-e-r." She pointed at me.

The older, questionably sane girl shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself, but don't come crying to me when you can't escape. Because…well, for one you'll be trapped her and I'll be free." Then shifting things to her side she added, "It's not like I need extra weight. See you Hannah and don't follow me." She left with a sense that she was abandoning Hannah instead of the other way around.

It seemed Hannah fell for it to as she looked completely lost with the girl gone and then her gaze shifted to me needing someone to follow.

"Come on," I said with a motion of my hand. We needed to get away from here and fast. "Do you happen to know where we could find the guards uniforms?"

Relief swelled over the girl's face as she nodded and pointed. In minutes we were gone from the spot just as there was a sound of cheering followed by a shout, "We have one!" No car engine ever even sounded.

It took five minutes and twelve seconds to find a uniform that wasn't so outrageously large on me. Still, I looked scrawny. Hopefully it wouldn't be too noticeable that this uniform wasn't really designed for me or that my hat was just a little too high on my head.

Turning I looked over to see how Hannah was doing, which wasn't good as she let out a frustrated sigh.

None of the uniforms were fitting her much smaller frame. The latest one she was wearing covered her hands completely and left four inches of fabric hanging lifelessly. Her pants were staying on but only if she stood perfectly still otherwise with one step they suddenly fell to the floor on top of her boots which was the only part of the outfit that fit her. Luckily she had large feet which she unfortunately hadn't grown into yet.

She looked over at me and I could see the fear in her eyes, which was understandable in the situation we were in that she obviously wasn't prepared for.

I thought I knew why she was afraid but when she spoke I realized I wasn't even close.

"You're leaving me." It was a statement not a question. It was something she expected when she realized none of the uniforms were going to fit her right. It was something a rational, uncaring person would do. Right now I wasn't much of both.

She didn't wait for my response though. She just sat down on the ground defeated, facing the wall so I could only see her back. But I could see the light tremors going up her back from the tears she tried to hold onto.

It broke me as I realized how little hope and fight this girl had in her.

With a quick scan outside the room to make sure no one was onto us yet I turned back to the girl. "No," I said, "I'm not leaving you behind."

The girl looked back at me with unshed tears in her eyes as she asked, "Why?" Then as a tear slid down her cheek she added in a softer voice, "Everyone else did. Even Celeste, the girl you saw earlier."

For a moment I took this information in. "You were with other girls?" I asked.

She nodded. "One of the first groups to have escaped, but I was too slow and clumsy that they left me behind. They didn't want to get dragged by extra weight."

"Where…Was there a boy with you?" I asked. "Someone injured."

This time she shook her head. I wasn't sure whether or not this was good news, but Hannah continued. "I heard from the other girls that there was a guy greatly injured that two other girls from another smaller group took. I don't know if he was taken with them all the way or if they eventually dumped him as well. He was in pretty bad shape from what the girls were saying although it could be an exaggeration."

Or not.

Shaking my head I cleared my thoughts. I couldn't let this get to me. Zach escaped, that's all I could allow myself to assume right now no matter how unlikely. I had to concentrate on getting myself and this girl out of here and fast. The sound of alert had ceased a minute ago and this I was taking as not a good sign.

I held out my hand to Hannah who hesitantly accepted and I hoisted her up. Then I looked her over as I said, "I think I can fix this."

For once I was glad that my school had invested my seventh grade time in a four day lesson on how to alternate outfits with very little material. Who knew it would actually come in handy.

Looking out the door again I saw the coast was clear and stepped out while Hannah followed close behind. Her pants no longer had trouble staying in place.

When we came to the corner of the hall, looking past it, I could see guards formed in a loose circle as there was a discussion over what the plan of action was going to be.

Knowing it could be a mistake that would coast dearly but having no other choice I turned to Hannah and whispered, "Act like you belong." Her eyes widened when she became aware of what I was intending. "Whatever you do act confident and secure and they will never have a chance to second guess."

Without waiting for her reply I stepped away from the small comfort and protection I received from the hallway and into the crowd of awaiting guards.

I might as well have stepped into a lion's den.

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in over a month, but you know with school it's not easy. Okay, so I hoped you liked the chapter and if you haven't noticed already there is a poll on my profile asking if you want a sequel for this story. The choices are: a) Yes!, c) Uh…duh, e) Depends on the ending, b) No, d) Are you crazy!

There are two possible endings for this story, my original and one I wrote sometime during the summer. The second ending pretty much guarantees a sequel. So vote and state your opinions.