Alice

While in the moment of that kiss, Ellie barged into the room. Our reaction was to immediately break apart; force of habit since I was so used to hearing people saying not to get involved with an Outcast. I knew it was kind of late for that, and most of the rules had gone out of the window at this point. But when she told us that the Officials were making their way here, it was like everything slowed down.

Ellie ran out of the room to tell the others about the news. In the slow down of the world, I didn't register the fact that Shun was shaking my shoulder and talking to me. "Alice! Snap out of it! We need to get out of here!" I mentally shook myself awake, then jumped off the bed.

I ran over to the oil lamp and cut the fuel to the flame. The little fire flickered out in a matter of seconds. The last thing we needed was to show that somebody had been inhabiting this room. Shun was trying to stand from the bed, and I remembered that he was still much too weak to get around on his own. I ran over to him and helped steady him.

Thankfully, he could walk on his own. It was just the issue that he couldn't find the strength to stand. We hurried to the living room as quickly as we could. The others were already out of their rooms and were standing around, panic and confused looks on their faces.

Howe placed two fingers in his mouth, and let out an earsplitting whistle. The sound put an end to the chattering, and gathered everyone's attention. He made sure his voice carried across the room when he said, "The Officials will be here in a few minutes. You all need to get to the underground tunnel as quickly as you can. Ellie and I will stay behind to make it look like nobody else was here, and to also give you all time to gain some distance from this place."

I walked Shun over to one of the chairs and made him sit down so I could rest my arm that had started to tire. "You and Ellie aren't coming with us?" I asked Howe. He shook his head. Why wasn't he going with us? He and his wife had a chance to get away from the wrath of the Officials, yet they were staying behind. Were they trying to be heroic for us?

There was no point in doing that. All of us could leave. But then the Officials would wonder why nobody was home, and they might start searching the house and find the tunnel. Then, we would be trapped until we got to the end. I found myself looking at Howe's eyes.

They may have looked old, but there was still some fire and fight behind them. He knew what he was getting into, and he wasn't going to go easily. Neither was Ellie. They clearly saw no reason to go with us because of their age, and this was their home.

They had been waiting years for this day. Planning and preparing. Their years were numbered, and they were well aware of it. Instead of living out the remainder of their lives on the run, they were going to spin them together. And while they did that, they were giving us a chance to have the rest of our lives.

I felt a tear forming in my eyes when I realized that my grandfather would have probably done the same thing if he were around to help us escape. The stolen map then crossed my mind. I said, "We don't have the map anymore. How are we going to know where to go when we make it to the end of the tunnel?" Howe smiled and said, "You really think ole Michael only made one map?"

He stepped into the kitchen and all of us proceeded to follow behind him. Howe opened the secret door of the tunnel and stepped down the stairs into the dark. He returned, holding a metal box similar to the one I found in my home. He opened it, revealing the same kind of map.

I reached in the box and took it out; the paper on this map was much less brittle than the other. Howe grinned at me and said, "Your grandfather thinks things through a lot more than you give him credit for." I smiled, tucking the map away in my dress pocket like I had done before.

Ellie came to us with one of the oil lamps. It was lit and burning bright. She handed it over to Runo and said, "You'll all need this to see down in the tunnel. So don't break it." Runo smiled and said, "I'll make sure it lasts till we get to the end." Before our departure, we exchanged hugs to the elderly couple, thanking them for all they had done for us.

Dan was the only one who had hesitated for a moment, but he soon gave in and hugged them as well. Since Runo had the oil lamp, she was the first to go down the tunnel's stairs. Then Murucho, Julie, and Dan followed behind her.

I turned to Ellie and Howe and told them, "Thank you so much for helping us. Stay safe." They nodded their heads, and Shun and I descended down the stairs. Above us, the hidden door slammed shut, locking us in the tunnel.

No One

Ellie and Howe just closed the door to the tunnel. She had made sure to lock it back and hide the key away, just in case the Officials did figure it out. They stayed behind in order to give those kids a running start, and they had no regrets in their decision.

If they had the choice, they would have rather the kids survive than themselves. A knock on the door alerted them of the arrival of the Officials. Howe placed a hand on his wife's shoulder and said, "I'll let them in." She clamped her hands together to keep nerves from making her frail bones from shaking. The old man turned the knob of the door, and revealed six Officials standing straight and in uniform line.

He smiled at them and said, "Oh, hello. Is there something wrong, sirs?" To play the confused old couple that knew nothing about what was going on, was a smart tactic that could through the Officials off course. But that would be on an normal day, not one where the Officials were picking out people to kill.

The Officials didn't respond to Howe's question. Instead, they pushed by him and walked into the couple's home. Already they were searching the rooms for the Outcast, the girl, and her friends. Ellie walked up to them and asked, "What's the special occasion? Another home check?"

One of the Officials turned and narrowed his eyes at her. He was obviously annoyed with the two. He straightened up and said, "We're looking for a group of dangerous individuals. One of which is an Outcast." Ellie covered her mouth with her hand in order to act shocked.

"An Outcast? Here in the City? Well, I can promise you that there is none of them here. If I ever saw one, I would surely turn him in to the Officials like anybody would." The Official looked in another room and said, "Well, sadly there are people who think it is right to speak with those creatures."

Ellie shook her head in pretend shame. She walked off and said, "What is this world coming to?" One of the Officials stepped into a room, and saw an oil lamp hanging by the ceiling. He touched the metal fuel compartment. It was still warm. When he turned around, his eyes fell upon the pile of bloodied cloth in the corner.

He strolled over to it and picked one of them up. The blood was dried, a couple days old at the most. The sight of the red stains reminded him of the bloodied mess that had once been the Outcast they beat several nights ago. The Official clenched the cloth in his hand and stormed out of the room.

He found Ellie and held up the cloth. "What is this?" She stared at the cloth, trying to think of a lie on the spot. "Uh, that's Howe's. He works up at the metal factory and got a cut at work. The poor thing was bleeding all night long." The Official glanced over to Howe, who was watching the others investigate the house. He said, "The old man looks fine to me. Not a scratch on him."

A bead of sweat dripped from Ellie's forehead. "My Howe is a quick healer." Just like a scavenger to a dead carcass, the Official could smell the lie and anxiety in the old woman. He then knew that he had found the house where the Outcast had hidden at one point.

And they were trying to cover up any of their tracks. Ellie watched the Official walk over to his partners, and she quickly ran over to her husband. Discreetly, she whispered to him, "Howe, I know they're on to us. We can't keep this up much longer."

Her husband nodded and whispered back, "I know, Ellie. We have to hang on a few more minutes. Just to give Alice and her friends a little bit more distance. Then, we can give up this charade." Ellie smiled at her husband, seeing the young man that she fell in love with so many years ago.

What a wonderful way to go, she thought. The Officials broke their group, then made their way over to Ellie and Howe. All of them, fully aware of the treason the elderly couple had committed.

Alice

The tunnel seemed never-ending. The dank and musty smell of the dust and mold filled the air, making it difficult for most of us to catch our breaths. Shun had stopped using me as a means of balance, and was able to walk on his own without much help. But we had to keep a slow pace so we wouldn't leave him behind in the tunnel.

Runo had handed the oil lamp to Murucho so he could hold it for a while. The flame in the glass canister seemed to be getting low. I hoped that we wouldn't run out of fuel this far in the tunnel. There had been enough of the fuel in the metal compartment, that it should have gotten us through the tunnel with light to spare.

But because of Shun's slow pace, we might have been on the verge of running out sooner than planned. I whispered to Shun, "Do you think there's anyway you could pick up the pace? I just don't want us getting stuck in the tunnel without any light." He looked at the oil lamp in Murucho's hands and said, "I can try."

I thanked him and turned my head to face to direction we were walking. He was doing better now. We were actually going a normal walking pace, but it didn't seem easy for Shun. I admired the fact that he was gritting through his injuries for us. Julie groaned and said, "Does this tunnel ever end?"

I wished I had answer for her, but I was wondering the same thing. There didn't seem to be an end in sight. Ahead of us, mice scampered to cracks in the tunnel wall when they saw our light. Murucho followed them with the light of the oil lamp and said, "They had to have gotten down here somehow."

Julie clapped her hands together, causing an echo in the tunnel. "Does that mean we're almost out of this place?" she asked in her perky voice. I knew Shun had to be wondering how Julie could be so uppity all the time. I wanted to tell him I had no clue either.

None of us really understood Julie, and I doubted we ever would. The oil lamp's light finally revealed to us another set of stair like we went down when we first embarked the tunnel. We all ran up the stairs and started to push up on the wood door that was blocking us from the outside world.

Dan growled and said, "Why won't this stupid thing budge!" He hit the door with the side of his hand, and ask fell between one of the wood boards. I then remembered how Ellie and Howe said that the tunnel went out into the Wastelands. Then I pictured how well hidden the door in their home was, and figured out our dilemma. "It's hidden under the ash."

Everyone looked at me. Murucho was the first one to understand. "I get what Alice is saying. The door is hidden under ash from the Wastelands. There's no telling how much is piled on top of it from all these years." The little blonde set the oil lamp down on one of the steps, and he began to inspect the door.

Runo asked, "If we can't open it, then how are we going to get out?" Julie started to have an episode. She started to freak out and kept on saying, "We're trapped in here! We're going to die in this hole! I would have rather been shot by the Officials! At least then somebody would know that I was dead!"

Dan growled and snapped, "Julie! We aren't going to die down here! So shut up!" Julie stopped talking, but it was clear that she didn't believe Dan's words. She still thought we were going to die in this tunnel. Murucho scratched the back of his hair and said, "If pushing up doesn't work, then maybe pulling down will.

Everyone, hook your fingers under a board if you can." We all did as Murucho said, and started to pull down. The door groaned as weight was added onto it. It then released a loud crack. One that almost sounded light lightning. Murucho shouted, "Get back!"

We all jumped off of the stairs in time to watch the wood door collapse in on itself. Piles of ash cascaded down like a waterfall. When it stopped, we were left with an opening that showed us the night sky and all of its stars. We were another step closer.

-pops out of a multi color egg- HAPPY EASTER! I hope everyone has fun finding eggs and all of that good stuff, And remember, always find the real eggs, or else you'll be in for a smelly surprise the next day. :p read, review, and other things! ~Copperpelt~