Wishes you Regret

Now...

The girl twisted and turned, running, making no sound. I tried to copy her technique, but couldn't. The next time she looked back at me I hissed: 'How do you run so silently?'

Her brown eyes smiled. 'Practise; many hours of exploring at night... Look.'

She positioned my feet so the weight of my body was placed on the outside edges then the heel, and then straight to the toe. She pushed my legs down and my back up, showing me how this allowed you to stay low, but not ache, and let you hold easy movement to go lower and hide. We set off again, and after a minute, I could run almost as quietly as her. We sped through hallways and sprinted up stairs, until finally, we came to a large steel door... That was locked. And bolted.

The girl looked at me, and spoke.

'My name, I won't tell you until we are safe, in case they try to get it out of you. As soon as we get out of this door, security will hear a tiny beep and know to be on high alert. If we get picked up by the swing torch, we will be shot, and we must avoid the lasers at all costs. The outside before the Fence is full of them. Right!' and she jumped at the door, feet scrambling for support and finding it on the lock. Somehow she had reached the top bolt and was moving it across, grimacing. She swung and dropped down to work on the lock, pulling out several clips, pins and thin twists of metal. I scurried over to the bottom bolt and yanked that open too. Eerily noiseless, the door slid open. We crept out, slowly pushing the door closed. Red lights criss-crossed the lawn, with small gaps between them. A bright light patrolled the sky, highlighting certain spots where there was movement, picking out details in the night. Amy suddenly sprinted, kicking her heels up to her bum and leaping through the first lasers. She didn't stop, flipping over and twisting through, slipping under lasers until she was at the Fence. She mouthed something at me-- 'Now...' I took in a breath, and ran.