Savage Run

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Pausing outside the gates, my eyes sweep across our deep valley, the soaring mountains surrounding it, and the glistening river that I've swum in countless times. It must have been an amazing country when it was free.

After the S1-P1 virus killed ninety percent of our inhabitants, an army of Unifers arrived in their blue and green uniforms. Unifers, as everyone knew, were soldiers from the Eastern Republic, a super nation comprised of most of Asia, Russia, and Europe—a society built around goodwill, liberty, and peace. However, the Eastern Republic didn't send the soldiers; these soldiers were a rogue Unifer army led by the power-hungry General Volkov, and they were looking for a land to make their own. Finding us in a defenseless state, they immediately seized control. General Volkov Sr. was elected president, our nation was renamed "Newland," and citizens were categorized into three classes: Laborers, Advisors, and Masters. That was sixty-six years ago, and now, President Volkov Sr.'s son, President Volkov Jr., rules the nation.

I discreetly place the knife back into the basket, reenter the woods, and return to the same spot I was earlier. After I park my bike by an acorn tree, I kick the trunk a couple of times.

Plan B.

I lean my back against the rough, damp bark, and stare at the pale wall. Climbing over it and getting into Master Douglas's property won't be a problem. Not getting noticed will. Suddenly I hear Master Douglas yelling obscenities from the other side of the barrier. I grab the knife, quickly climb the tree, and carefully peek my head over the edge of the wall. My blood boils when I see Master Douglas hauling Gemma outside. By her hair.

"I've told you before, you little tramp. I don't want you talking to anyone who comes to the door! What do I have to say to make you understand?" He lets go of her hair, but grips her arms instead, shaking her so roughly that her head bobs. "I'll kill you, you little rat! And I'll get another one just like you who is smart enough to comprehend and follow my rules!"

"I'm sorry, I was just..." Gemma says.

Master Douglas's daughter comes outside wearing her swimsuit. "Dada, I want to go swimming now."

"Hi sweetheart. Go back inside while I punish Gemma," Master Douglas says, his hands still clasping Gemma's arms, his tone of voice like the purr of a cat.

She pouts. "But I want to go now!"

"Do as I say, child. Gemma needs to learn her lesson, even if I have to beat it into her."

Master Douglas's daughter stomps back inside and slams the door shut. I can't get over how indifferent she seems to how her father is treating Gemma, though I hardly should expect anything different from the offspring of such a man.

"You don't deserve to work here!" He tears Gemma's shirt open, exposing her shoulders and breasts, and then he throws her to the ground so she lands face down. When she lifts her head, blood flows from her mouth and she's crying. The white floor has spots of red. He undoes his belt buckle, draws his belt out of his pants and strikes Gemma with it. The belt makes a sharp cracking sound as it hits the skin on her upper back.

"Please, please," she pleads, lifting her arms to cover her face. But he keeps whipping her.

Something snaps inside of me. Without really thinking, I hop the fence, and charge toward Master Douglas. What I'm about to do goes completely against the laws in our society where Laborers must at all times—even in life or death situations—maintain respect and remember their inferiority to their superiors.

I don't care.

He doesn't see me coming until the knife is already raised above my head. But before I stab him, I hesitate. I don't want to kill him, just injure him enough so I have time to take Gemma with me. I jab the knife into his shoulder, and quickly pull it out. But it's not enough. He grabs me by the shoulder and slams me to the ground, my head hitting against the marble surface. I drop the knife.