Enclosure Part 3 of 4






He walked for an unknown length of time, thinking it would be futile to check the
watch since distance could not be measured in time when he only vaguely knew
where his destination was. He had to walk by sensation and intuition, not by logic or
knowledge.

The sun peered glowing and orange over the rooftops in the distance when he arrived
at the four-lane motorway that circled the perimeter of the city. Across the street,
behind a tall chainlink fence, he spotted the dome shaped buildings of the air base, as
well as the air base's main gate. He could see the gate was closed, it was still early in
the morning and began following the motorway to look for another way in. Adjacent
to the northern side of the air base and fully accessible, was a large park, he
remembered seeing it on the city maps, a dark blotch of green surrounded by the grey
and white of buildings and roads. Now he could spot the park's modest entrance, a
low gate of vertical steel bars sitting in a similar-looking fence on the other side of
the boad road. He promptly crossed the empty motorway lanes to seek shelter in
the park.

The park was empty this early in the day and he wasn't sure if there would be many
more visitors either, being situated near the edge of the city. He had a vague memory
of having been in the park as a young child, on a picnic with other children and
adults, and the park filled with people at that time. But now it was empty and quiet.
Perhaps the picnic had taken place during one of the spring festivals? He couldn't
remember.

The park had no planted flowers or trees, it was simply a large patch of freely
growing trees and bushes, a small forest in the outskirts of the city. The area closest
to the entrance was a grassy clearing with wooden benches and small depressions in
the ground, shallow pits dug for campfires and barbecue coals. In the south corner of
the clearing was a grey one-story building. If his memory was correct, the building
housed toilets and water taps and was freely accessible and unguarded. He quickly
approached the small building and entered its doorless entrance. Across the small
room, the tile-covered wall contained a row of metal sinks. To the right was a row of
toilet stalls. He walked up to one of the sinks, turned the tap and watched clear water
spatter out of the pipe in short uncertain gushes before turning into a steady and clear
stream. He eagerly bent down to slake his thirst and enjoy the sensation of cold water
on his lips.

Sated, he straightened his back, left the building and continued deeper into the park.
The clearing gave way to forest where the sun's rays filtered through the dense
bodies of broad firs. As the dawn turned to day, the color of the light grew more and
more golden. He walked until he was overcome with sleepiness. He took the chance
that the inner areas of the park saw few visitors even this time of year and lay down
on a patch of moss on the chilly ground, curled up around the pillowcase and fell
asleep, exhausted after the long walk and the nervous tension of being on the run.

He woke by the sun shining into his eyes, turning his inner world into a blazing
white. He looked around and blinked, momentarily blinded. The day was full and
golden light illuminated the forest. The world smelled of dry grass, wood, and
decaying undergrowth. The sun was warm enough to make him feel comfortable,
quickly fading the chill in his body. He could hear voices but they were distant and
faint. There must be other people visiting the park but not venturing far away from
the benches and the barbecue pits near the entrance. If he was stopped and asked, he
could always claim to be a truant taking the day off in the park, but chances were he
wouldn't be found in here, too far away from the clearing for most visitors' liking.

Calmed by the absence of people, he lay down and watched the busy life around him,
the flies and bees humming past, the movement of small brown birds in the trees
overhead. A beetle with a green iridescent carapace and waving black antennae
landed on the back of his hand and folded its wings down with a quick flicker.
Frightened by the sensation of warm skin beneath its feet, the possible sign of a
predator, the beetle hurried across his wrist and disappeared into the rotting leaves.
A tiny animal, he wasn't sure whether it was a shrew or a mouse, moved in the
undergrowth a few meters away and darted into the green shadows when he leaned
forward to peer at it. A row of ants with their backs shining like obsidian marched
past him on the ground, their number high enough to have created a tiny path in the
mat of fir needles that covered the ground. He watched the active and neverending
yet distant life of the forest, in which he was an ignored stranger, with bemused
interest and an increasing sense of freedom, before falling asleep again.

He dozed through the day, not daring to hope his escape would advance but
nevertheless expecting it, vascillating between tense doubt of completing the escape
and the deep-set need to believe that he would succeed, until the chill crept back into
the shadows beneath the firs. When the distant voices and sounds of people had
vanished into the slow dusk, he rose, brushed pine needles and yellow leaves away
from his clothes and walked back to the clearing to drink more water and use the
toilets. He took the chance of sitting down on the bench nearest to the one-story
building, broke the seal of one package of biscuits and nibbled at a couple of the hard
biscuits, keeping a steady watch for people. Then he returned to the forest, didn't
walk as far into the park as he had done earlier in the day, but turned right in the
direction at which he believed the air strip lay.

After a short walk, he spotted the air base tarmac between the trees and followed it
back towards the front gate until he reached the hangar area he had seen from the
entrance. By approaching from the forest, he was now within the chainlink fence
bounding the air base entrance. Remaining inside the forest, he inspected the hangar
lot. The cluster of domes lay scattered on an oblong of black asphalt covered with
yellow lines and direction markings and was continuous with the runway itself. A
narrow lane of short-cropped dry grass separated him from the runway and the
hangars. Beyond the hangars in the direction of the main gate lay the air base office
buildings and the departure hall for commercial flights, but they were far away and,
he assumed, would soon be closed for the night.

The hangar lot was empty and quiet and while he watched, lights went out in the
distant office buildings and floodlights lit up the domes and the runway in the purple
dusk. He focused his determination and ran across the grassy patch and onto the
black surface, heading for the nearest hangar. When he reached its metal wall, he
stopped to listen for the presence of other people. Behind him the steel surface of the
wall was covered with condensed moisture which wet his hands and the back of his
shirt. His heart beat loudly in his ears and he struggled to ignore the loud sound.
When he was certain everything was quiet, he walked around to the short side of the
hangar. A human-sized door was embedded in the enormous main doors. He tried its
handle but the door was locked. He turned and quickly scanned the lot. No one in
sight so far. He kept to the back of the hangar and approached the building further
down from the forest. There was another door in the short wall there and it opened to
let him in.

The hangar was an emptiness of still cold air forming a microclimate of its own
despite being indoors. Through the darkness he could make out the faint outlines of
the steel bodies of two planes, an unknown light source glinting off their smooth
surfaces. He closed the door behind him and kept his back to the wall, moving further
into the hangar before darting towards the nearest plane. He reached the plane and its
large front wheel and began looking for a way in. When he ducked beneath the wing
he spotted a staircase in the darkness ahead. It must have been used by technicians
working on the plane. After some groping, he found the first step and gingerly began
climbing the stairs to reach the door in the side of the fuselage. But suddenly the
noise of the front door opening rang out into the chill.

He rushed forward to the door and tried it, but it was locked. Overhead lights flashed
on one by one and caught him in their brightness. He spun around and saw one, two,
four soldiers dressed in the company uniform pile through the main door while they
shouted at him.

He jumped down on the floor, gritted his teeth against the pain that shot through his
ankle as he landed awkwardly, threw the door that had admitted him open and rushed
out into the warm darkness. Behind him sirens began to scream into the air as the
base's alarm system was activated. He squeezed his eyes shut against the loud noise
and dashed towards the next hangar, but ended up rattling desperately at the door
handle, another door that as intensely as he wanted, as strongly as he needed to have
it open so he could slip inside and get away, remained closed to him. There was no
other option but to turn and run.