Trapped

Part 1.

Annelise

I ran and ran. My heart pounded, threatening to pull itself out of my chest, but I just couldn't stop. The rust-red dirt swirled around my feet, coating my white shoes in what looked like bloodstains. It was hard to continue, but with one thought I easily set my mind back on track. I knew the consequence of being caught.

The patrol rovers had seemed to increase in number lately. They combed through the land methodically, like they were looking for something.

I was reaching the outskirts of Captis, and the lights of the houses behind me started to fade away. This might be the time. I thought to myself, but of course, it wasn't.

Out of nowhere a surface as hard as a brick wall popped up. The only thing I could see was an endless expanse of barren, desolate, red landscape, with mountains popping up in the distance, stretching out in front of me.

I tried to move forward once again, but it was like trying to move a mountainside. I collapsed to the ground. My mouth felt dry, almost like it was about to bleed. I must have been dehydrated because my vision started to swim. I could barely make out my own hand in front of me between my tired eyes and the tears forming within them. I had come all this way, trying to find a way to save my family, to get away from the ubiquitous eyes and ears of the Captis government, but I couldn't. I felt helpless. I looked up once again, about to turn around, hoping to see a door or something to let me escape, but before I could move I saw the one thing I had been praying not to see.

A white vehicle with gold stripes. I tried to turn, to curl into a ball. I wished for this to just be a dream that I could wake up from unharmed when everything went black.