The Leaves are Silent

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

I generally liked the season of winter. I looked forward to the snow, Christmas, the New Year and all that stuff. But I lived for the summer. I missed its warmth and the happiness it brought along with its freedom. This was all I could think of as I followed behind Ian through the dead sounds of the camp.

My breath misted into a cloud as I exhaled. I hadn't realised how cold it had gotten this month. I looked up at the sky my mind wondering if it would snow. I quickly diverted my attention back to Ian when I realised he had come to a stop.

It was then that I was able to see I had never been in this part of the camp before. I glanced around wildly to try and find any familiar landmark but I came up short. Soon enough though a hand grabbed my arm pulling me down to crouch behind a small wall.

"We need to be really quiet, okay?" Ian whispered in my ear.

I gulped visibly, not expecting his close proximity but I nodded along.

"Can you see the man over there? The one in the khaki uniform and the scar along his jaw." he spoke quietly, pointing a long finger in the direction of what looked like an army official.

"Yeah." I whispered back, my eyes scrutining the man in question.

"While you were in solitary I stumbled across this place. When I realised this place was meant to be closed off I quickly hid behind here."

"Why didn't you just leave?" I questioned, still maintaining our quiet whispering.

"You're not the only that gets curious, Lily." he said, a small smile lining his face.

"Anyway while I was hiding," he continued, "the guy over there and someone else were talking to eachother. Apparently he's in charge of shipments in and out of the camp."

My eyes widened when I catched on to what he was saying.

"Everything?" I whispered.

"Everything."

"So while I was listening to them speaking, I heard them talk about the body shipments. But do you want to know what the weird thing was?"

"What?"

"They had a fixed date."

"A fixed date on what?" I asked, frowning. I was getting more confused by the second.

"On the day they were going to bring bodies out of the camp. No one's died Lily. It doesn't make any sense. They have a date when they're going to bring the dead out of the camp. Except no one is dead."

I listened to what he was saying, and then glanced back over the wall. I studied the man with the scar as I tried to come to a conclusion.

"Why would they train us if they're just going to kill us off?" I questioned.

"That's the thing though. They weren't speaking of it in a way like they had to kill some of us off. The way they were talking, it was like before going to war. As if they know some people are going to die but not who."

Any ideas that were whirling in my head just washed out. This didn't make any sense. So if they weren't going to kill us off then what was.

"Lily, there's one more thing."

"What?"

"They almost sounded scared. Like it was something they couldn't control. Something that could get them too."

I gave a last glance to the man before I spoke, looking Ian in the eye,

"I'm sorry Ian, I have no idea."

"I know, you'd have to be freaking psychic to have any clue about what's going on here. I just thought you should know."

I nodded and stared at the ground, pondering over my thoughts for a moment.

"What date was it?" I asked, glancing back up at Ian.

"The twentieth of February."

"Do you know how far away that is?"

"Today's the twenty-fourth of December. So about two months."

I stared at him shocked for a moment.

"Today's Christmas Eve?"

He nodded solemnly, staring at his hands. We sat in silence for a moment before I broke it.

"C'mon," I whispered, "let's get out of here."

We crawled along the ground until we were out of eyesight of the men. We then stood up the long wall coming up to about our knees.

We walked together, side by side, silently for a few moments before Ian asked the question the seemed to have been lurking on his mind.

"You know the Professor was right," Ian spoke, waving the book I hadn't realised he was still holding, "I don't know anything about you other than, like, your name."

I chuckled slightly before I answered,

"I'm not a very forthcoming person. I tend to keep to myself."

"Yeah, I've noticed. But I don't even know what day is your birthday."

I pondered over this a second before I spoke,

"I find it hard to trust people. I prefer to observe and focus on them. So when people tend to ask about me, I clam up."

Ian's eyes jumped to mine, surprised I had spoken.

"Do you not trust me?" he asked, almost nervously as he fiddled with his hands.

I swallowed awkwardly as I didn't answer his question. He took my silence as a no and tore his gaze from mine.

"I do trust you, Ian" I spoke quietly.

His head shot up at that and he gave me a meaningful look that I couldn't quite decipher. We walked silently beside each other once again before I piped up,

"My birthday's February fifteenth, by the way."

He smiled at me and I felt a small bit of colour rush to my cheeks. I quickly looked away choosing to watch my feet which had seemingly become very interesting.

We eventually came to the part where we had to separate. I clutched the book I had been given to my chest before I glanced up at Ian who had been staring at me.

"Can I ask you a serious question?"

"Sure." I spoke, curious.

"What happened when you were solitary? You seem a bit, I don't know, absent since then."

I froze. My limbs stiffened as the memories came rushing at me. The first two days hadn't been that bad, as I recalled. At that time, all thoughts of the escape had occupied my mind. By then I had worked out the way in and out.

But soon I couldn't keep the monsters away. The hallucinations had begun day three. It had started with sounds. I thought I had heard footsteps, and giggling following after. The darkness that enveloped me hiding the sources of the sounds.

That continued for one whole day. Then the faces started. They were the ones that prevented me to dream at night. I felt my eyes glass over as I started to think about. But then I felt a hand on my arm, and soon I was brought back to the present and I was staring into Ian's toffee coloured eyes.

"Lily, are you okay? Forget I asked, I was just being stupid."

"N-no you weren't," I stuttered, "I just, I'm not ready to talk about it."

Ian nodded, loosening his grip on my arm and scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So how's the plan mapping out? Anything new to add?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Well we have a deadline now, we've got to leave on February twentieth."

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hey guys sorry I haven't updated in a while, been busy with exams and stuff (yes its as bas as it sounds, ughhhh) so this isn't as long as it should be but yeah anyway hope you enjoy and I'll write to ye soon :)