Shards

chapter 14

Chapter 14:

I couldn't wait to show Nea what I'd found. This might be our big break, the thing that got us out of here. Above me, on the wall, was something more precious than gold: a hand hold. If I could reach the piece of metal that served to hold up the massive light, then I would be able to pull myself up on top of it. A long time ago, Nea and I had realized that we were never going to escape the Compound during the day, and to get outside at night we were going to have to hide. Since then, we'd done nothing but search for hiding places. Until now, we'd found nothing even close to good enough.

Searching the courtyard with my eyes, I saw her. The brunette girl stood near the sparring mat with two dark skinned boys. Nea had been making a lot of new friends and it scared me. She was the only person I had in this hostile, new place, not that I'd be here for much longer. Despite what I told the brain doctors, I did still believe that my mother would come to save me, no matter what they said. She'd told me that bad people told lies. So, I knew that they were lying when they told me she'd stopped looking.

In here, Nea was the only friend I had. Well, not counting Denis, the strange six year old I'd talked to a few times. Something told me that I wasn't going to see him again. He'd just been shipped off to psy-ops. I shivered at the thought.

“Nea,” I whispered, as I approached her. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

She turned to face me, annoyance in her eyes. “Can it wait? Me and Rion were about to get our turn on the mat.”

Her words stung. Couldn't she see how important this was?

“You actually want to practice during break? What's the point of sparring now when they're just going to force us to do it in training?”

“Hmm... I don't know.” The boy known as Rion sneered down at me. “Maybe because we want to do well at something.”

Nea looked at me out of the corner of her ice blue eye. “Just get out of here Jaylee.”

Suddenly, I was infuriated. Was she just acting like this to impress the older kids?

“You wouldn't tell me to get out of here if you knew what I had to say.” Nea was looking down in embarrassment, but I just kept talking. “I think I found a way for us to escape!”

As soon as I'd said it, I slapped a hand over my mouth. It had come out much to loud. What if someone had heard me? The second boy let out a stifled laugh and Rion raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” he said, “not interested. Now why don't you run along and play hide and seek with yourself, like you were.”

It took me a couple of seconds to figure out what he was talking about. But when I did the reaction was immediate. How dare Nea tell them our plan? She couldn't have known if they were trustworthy, and obviously they weren't. Even so, I felt a hot blush creeping into my cheeks.

“Nea?” My question came out as more of a squeak.

She shrugged, embarrassed. “Sorry Jaylee, but you really have to grow up.”

Behind my eyes, I felt the burn of tears, making their way to the surface. Suddenly, I felt anger different than any anger I'd felt before. I'd trusted Nea! I'd trusted her! With a growl, I lunged forwards, my hands reaching for her throat. She flinched back and held up her arm in defense. I tried to reach past it, still going for her neck. Rion grabbed my arm, ripping me away from her. Then, with a shove, I was on the ground.

Their laughter burned my ears, as I dug my nails into the hard packed dirt. The hot sun beat down on my back and I felt nothing but frustration. Was it really worth it? Escaping this place? What was waiting for me out there? A mother that didn't care, a life of normality? I was kidding myself when I thought I could get out. Others must have tried. I'd just be killed. Rion was right, if I didn't want to be deemed useless and murdered, I was going to have to be better than everyone else. But what about everyone else? I didn't want to think about it.