Chapter Four: Unexpected Help
" WAAAAAAHHH!" exclaimed Jack, as he noticed the stranger standing right behind him, barely an inch away, and inadvertently woke Sarah up. Everybody stared at their welcoming ragamuffin, who seemed quite pleased with himself, heaven knew why. He was about 14, the age when the Myrmidons would take him to the Meat Factory. Obviously, he had lived outside of the Dorms all of his life, or he wouldn't have the confidence to speak so freely.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's just me! A human, not some freakish creature," replied the stranger. A closer look revealed he had a very freckly face, with dark hair but a beaming smile, and green eyes. However, his hair was matted with dirt and he looked as if he hadn't seen a bar of soap since the Change.
"Where… are we? asked Sarah weakly.
" At the Front Gate, where you have the luxury of it being open, and for the first time in your lives you have the chance of freedom!" answered the stranger.
" Who are you?" asked Hannah.
" How rude of me! I'm Nathaniel, Nathan for short," replied Nathaniel. " It's a terrible name, I know, but I hope you'll like me for my personality, not my name." At least Nathan seemed friendly.
" So you opened the Front Gate for us?" asked George.
"Mmm? Oh, yes, the Front Gate. That was me." said Nathan, who had been absent-mindedly looking at the sky.
" Beautiful night, innit? 'Course, what with the Overlords keep changing the weather all of the time, you don't get too many nights like this." commented Nathaniel, who was staring at the bright stars and the wonderful crescent moon
The four stared at him incredulously.
" Right! I say that we get the hell out of here!" said Jack.
" Excellent idea! I have the perfect place for you to stay. I only hope we don't meet any Ferrets or, God forbid, Overlords, along the way," said Nathan.
" Which way?" asked Hannah urgently.
" Erm…Err…" said Nathan thinking aloud, looking at the roads beyond the Front Gate. " Aha! Thatta way!" exclaimed Nathaniel, pointing to the road that lay straight ahead.
So Jack and his friends, accompanied by Nathaniel the helpful stranger, headed towards their freedom, outside of the Dorms and the Meat Factory, to where a true life awaited them.
They found Rick's corpse slowly being devoured only a few miles from the safe place. Evidently, he had managed to climb over the fence, and run away far from the Dorms, only to meet his doom, which was a passing Ferret that easily overpowered him. The group stumbled upon this horrific discovery unexpectedly, and had to quickly move out of sight before the feasting Ferret added more humans to its menu. Each of them were sickened and silently mourned the loss of their friend. However, Nathaniel muttered quietly under his breath, " We will remember him."
Eventually, the Ferret drained Rick of all of his blood, and left the carcass in search of more fresh victims. Jack, with tears pouring down his face, ran over to Rick's body, and hugged it tightly. Rick, his best friend, dead. What hurt Jack more was that Rick had only been a few miles away from safety, after climbing over the fence, avoiding most creatures, only to die at the last hurdle.
" Come on," whispered Nathan.
" I don't want to leave my friend!" shouted Jack in reply.
" Bring his body if you need to, but I think that your other friends would very much like to get away from the creatures. We have to go now."