Take over the Palace? Who would do such a thing? It was like trying to fly, it just couldn't be done.
"We have connections to get inside, all we need is you to smuggle us in. You look to be about 18 at first glance, you should be able to pass through without any trouble," Damian said.
"Smuggle you in? As much as I love a good adventure, I'm not sure if I can do this," she said.
"Think about it Elena, do you really want to go back there? I mean, they're going to find out you're not there and send you to an even lower Camp. I know how this system works."
He had really thought this through, if she did go back, there would be nothing waiting for her. Nothing to look forwards to. Her only option would be to come with him.
"Fine, I'll go," she sighed in defeat.
He smiled, "Great, let me introduce you to the rest of the guys."
He took her by the hand and pulled her down the hallway to the front entrance of the house. They slipped on their shoes and walked outside into the cold night air.
They walked down a narrow dirt path to a row of slightly smaller houses. Damian let himself into the first one, painted a pale olive colour.
"Ty? You home?" he called inside. A tall muscular boy appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, smiling.
"Hey Damian," he said, "Come on in."
He opened the door wider, letting them both inside.
"Tyson, this is Elena, she's going to get us into the Palace."
He stuck out his hand and Elena shook it.
"You guys are just in time, Gabriel found another baby stranded. He just got here today," Tyson said.
They followed him down a short corridor and into a bedroom. The walls were painted in a pale gray, and in the centre sat a beat up playpen, evident patches covering the fabric of the walls. Beside it was a couple of containers of formula, alongside a bag of diapers. Elena peered inside, to see a small baby wrapped in blankets. He looked to be about three months old, a small wisp of blonde hair on top of his head. The baby opened his eyes, which were a startling blue.
"His name is Zachariah," Tyson said, reaching down to pick him up. He lifted the baby, cradling him in his arms.
"Do they really just throw them out into the wilderness to die like that?" she asked.
"Usually they'll do something so that the babies will die faster and don't have a chance of survival. I've seen babies dropped in rivers, some off cliffs. Gabriel told me he found Zachariah in the middle of a forest fire. If he would have found him any later, Zachariah would have died."
Tyson gently moved he blankets off of Zachariah's small arms. Burns covered his skin, and he whimpered at the light touch.
"Were going to have to keep a couple of the younger boys behind to look after Zachariah and the twins while we're gone. They wouldn't be much help on our mission," Damian said.
"I could go see if Sean would do it, he isn't going on the mission. He's the only one over thirteen not going," Tyson suggested.
He walked out of the room and returned with a smiling young boy, one that looked exactly like him, just three years younger.
"I'd be happy to look after Zach," he said, "Even the diaper changing."
That wasn't something you would expect to hear from a thirteen-year-old, but from the way he looked at Zach, Elena could tell Sean really loved him. Elena yawned and glanced out the window. The sun was already beginning to rise, indicating it was some time past two.
"We should probably get back to the house to get some sleep, then we'll leave tomorrow afternoon," Damian said.
They walked back to Damian and Kaiden's house, chatting as they went. Damian let them in, kicking off his shoes on his way inside. The smell of beef and barley soup drafted out the door, something she hadn't eaten in years. At the stove, Kaiden stood on a small wooden stool stirring a pot.
He turned around and handed them each a bowl, "You should eat as much as you can before you go, since the rations will only get smaller."
They nodded and each took their bowls greedily, slurping them down in minutes and going back for seconds. After The War, food had become scarce, as anything anyone cooked was for the war effort. The government was slowly coming back to having enough food, but the lowest Camps got barely enough food to go around.
Elena wondered where they had found this meat, any meat in the country was at the Palace, only to be served to Government officials.
Damian noticed her confused expression, "We hunt deer in the wilderness."
She scrunched up her nose in confusion, "Deer?"
"It's an animal," he replied. She nodded, remembering the countless times her teachers tried to explain such things, without knowing anything about animals themselves.
Damian placed his bowl on the counter, "We should probably get to bed, you can sleep in my room." (A/N: Not that way you dirty minded people, keep in mind nobody knew boys existed for 950 years)
She followed him down a hallway that branched off the living room, and into a fairly large bedroom with a queen-sized bed in the centre. Damian opened one of the drawers and threw Elena a pair of baggy plaid pyjama pants and a grey t-shirt.
She stripped off her jeans and top, slipping on his clothes. As she did so, she felt a pair of eyes burning holes in her back. She turned around and Damian looked away blushing. She folded her clothes and put them in a pile, climbing into bed and slowly drifting off to sleep.
Hey guys, hope you like it so far, word count is 3043 out of 10000!
-Kat
