Elements

22. now or never

I wake to the usual bang to find myself alone? Malek must have left after I fell asleep? But why? Is it because of Jesse and Aaron or me?

I swing my legs out of the bed and slowly put my clothes back on when Jesse appears at my door?

"Hey" she says entering

"Hey" I say still trying to wake up

"Wear as much as you can" she says looking at me and it clicks. Today we escape! It slipped my mind for a moment there.

"Right" I say gathering my thoughts before throwing on a long sleeve then a crop top and my hoodie as well as my make shift sweats shorts and my usual sweat pants and sock, my good underwear under it all of course.

We walk out to the common area to find Aaron sitting at the table in sweats and a hoodie aswell. He knows. We sit down and begin eating in silence when Malek appears in his usual sweats. Why isn't he wearing more what if it gets cold at night? Ohh, never mind.

"Morning" Aaron says as he sits and he nods to him before eating.

After the breakfast of silence was over Aaron went for testing as we all sat out on the couches waiting anxiously, I must have bit off all my nails by now. I watch as Malek eventually gets up off the other couch and walks to his room, returning with a t shirt on. It's actually a nice day this has to be suspicious to the guards.

Aaron finally re-emerges and my stomach twists into a knot as the guard follows him out and walks to the door leading to the stairwell for outside time.

"Cmon" he states opening the door. We all raise in silence and move to the stairwell walking down slowly. Jesse walks beside me and reaches out her hand and grabs mine, squeezing it. I look over at her and she nods once to me and I feel slightly better.

We walk out into the yard and the electric fence looks bigger than normal. I know it's not really but still feels bigger.

Malek places his hand on the small on my back as we walk across the field and honestly it helps.

"Get ready" he says before breaking away from us as we stand near the fence, my stomach clenching.

I watch as he nods to Aaron as they both walk towards the guard by the door. I watch as they walk closer and Malek says something and the guard nods before turning around to go towards the door when Malek lunges forward and grabs him, head locking him as Aaron lunges for his walkie and electric baton.

"IVY" Jesse yells and I break out of my stare and realize I'm supposed to be moving, I quickly shut my eyes and begin building a tunnel large enough for us to get through.

I hear a yell and it breaks my thought, I look over to find the guard on the ground beside Malek. Aaron starts running towards us with the baton and walkie, followed by Malek quickly after.

I go back to concentrating when Jesse yells "go deeper"

I looks and the bar goes under the ground and rounds out underneath us closing us in from under the ground?? They aren't electric but we still can't get through them?!

"What do we do?!" I yell over to Malek and he acts quickly and closes his eyes

I watch as the bars starts to glow red to purple as they get hotter and hotter, bending tell one of them has a gap wide enough. My heart races as Jesse now soaks them in water, trying to cool them off for us to pass through.

Malek jumps into the hole and is the first through as the bars since it won't burn him. The second he's on the other side of the fence an alarm goes off?! I watch as all the windows have shutters that come down and the building is going into lock down?

"NOW" Malek yells and Jesse jumps into the pit and easily slides through the bar followed by Aaron. I go to follow them when I hear the doors swing open to the stair well as Guards start flooding out, armed.

"IVY" Malek screams waiting on the other side as Aaron and Jesse have already made a run for it

I go to the bars and begin sliding through but it isn't that large of an opening. I squeeze through just barely as Malek has now started the grass inside the cage on fire, stopping the guards.

He grabs my wrist and rips me up to my feet as we start running. He's a lot faster than me but I manage to keep up in the group as we run through an open field to the tree line.

Suddenly I hear gun shots and my panic kicks in and I don't know if I should drop to the ground or keep running but Aaron and Jesse have already made it into the safety of the tree line.

"IVY" Malek yells from ahead of me. I need to keep up but I'm kind of disadvantaged running with Malek all he ever does is run and work out, I will always look slow beside him.

I then hear cars as big black vehicles flood the field as we make it into the tree line. We keep running straight, weeving in and out of the trees and slowly Jesse falls back with me as Aaron and Malek run ahead.

"Cmon" I yell to Jesse as she starts to fall behind. I can't feel anything but pain as my chest and legs burn but I keep running, if I slow down it's over.

I can hear them following us and flooding the dirt road for what feels like forever when I hear Malek yell to us and it throws us into our final hard sprint out to them as we come up on a road out of the tree line?!

HE WAS RIGHT