The Medical School

Chapter Twenty-One

I wake up on Day Ten from the last Tube that is the last Tube, and consult the trusty Indie.

"This is it," I say to myself as I squirm out from under the car. "Today is the day that I get answers to 'Who are you?' and 'What the hell is the Medical School?'"

I finish off my last turnips, stretch out my legs, and then I'm off. There is no hint of exhaustion as I dash effortlessly through the coastal country town. There are no trees, just coastal shrubs and bushes here and there.

The houses aren't grouped together, just peacefully scattered around with lazy roads connecting them. A few people are out and about, and I wave and holler at them as I run past, knowing that they're used to random children running through here.

If only they knew where these random children were coming from.

The houses and roads stop, and now there's a long, grassy hill in my path.

Nothing to stop me now.

I have never been to the ocean before, but somehow I know that it's just over this long, sloping hill. I can't see past the top, but I can sense the blue expanse beyond it.

Five hundred feet.

What will I see? Some sort of house that a bunch of children are living in?

Four hundred feet.

I can't wait to meet the people who have escaped!

Three hundred feet.

Can I sprint any faster?

Two hundred feet.

Any moment now!

One hundred feet.

Come on! Come on! Come on!

OCEAN!!!

And there it is.

The most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life, right here, right in front of me, and real. Not a dream, not a hallucination, but real. One hundred percent real. I've made it. I have actually made it.

I scream with joy and drop to my knees. "Yes!!! Yes!!! I'm here! I'm finally here!" And it's true. I just can't quite get over the fact yet.

-

I get up and look around. I'm standing on the edge of a rocky cliff, a rocky stretch of beach leading down to the water far below. I scan up and down the shore for any sign of the letter writers, but I don't see anything of the sort.

Think. What did the letter say? 'We will find you when you have to swim.' Well, I definitely have to swim now. Why isn't anyone coming?

For a split second, I'm devastated, thinking that this was all a cruel trick, and that this whole journey has been for nothing.

That's only for a split second though, because as I look out at the sea, the rising sun reveals a shape on the horizon. A lump where there should be a gentle curve. And on that lump I can just make out the tall, pointy structure of a lighthouse.

I know in my heart that this is where I'm supposed to go. Where the other escapers have gone. Where east has led me. I quickly scan the cliff for what I'm looking for and find it: a path leading down to the beach.

It's steep, and I half slide, half fall to the sand but I don't give a crap.

I don't give a crap about the fact that my elbows are skinned any more than I give a crap about hardly being able to swim. All I see is the beautiful island with the lighthouse, and I want to get to it. Pronto.