Refuge

Chapter 7

I turned around to see Katie walking around calling my name. Her hair had been dyed an ugly moderately light green color. "Katie!" I lightly yelled to her. She immediately recognized my voice and ran over in tears.

"Jessie I thought for sure you were going to be one of those who banged on the door and were killed! I thought I'd lost you!" she said, hugging me as best she could with her handcuffs; without putting them overtop of me.

"Relax, these people ain't that lucky," I dryly replied.  She didn't say anything in response so we just stood there. Eventually, it was too much and I pushed her off.

"Oh, and Jessie, guess what I swiped from the man's desk," She whispered, piquing my interest. Without a reply, she looked over her shoulder and handed me a laminated paper.

A guard yelled, "Line up!" before I could flip the page over, so I shoved it in my pocket. My jeans and tee shirt were horribly stained, but the worst part was the chemical and blood smell intertwined into the stains.

We scrambled into a single-file line and I ensured that Katie was directly behind me, and I held her hand just to ensure it. We walked behind the armed man through a yard and we passed many things that looked like clay cabins. Along the way, many other lines and soldiers joined us and merged into our line at the back.

I kept a close eye on Katie as we walked on the grassy trail, and more and more joined us in only minutes. Eventually, the man stopped and so did we. He demanded, "Yellows, Purples, and Blacks!" and people with those colored hairs began walking into the building. Then we began to walk again until we came across the next building where they called, "Reds and Oranges"

I squeezed Katie's hand tightly as it had finally dawned upon me that we could be separated. She squeezed my hand as well as if hoping that they'd see it and take compassion on us.

We continued walking and I actually felt fear. Fear that I might lose all that I had. Fear that I wouldn't be there to protect her. I can't believe I'm doing this but within my head, I thought, Hey, if there's anyone out there, could you maybe keep me and Katie together? I know it's stupid, but I'm willing to pray to someone I don't believe to exist if it increases my karma and I get to stay with her.

We once again stopped and I crossed my fingers of my free hand. Please don't take her from me, please don't take her from me I thought. Even though it was only in my head, my voice still cracked on that last line. The man then demanded, "Blues"

No! I won't be separated from her! I squeezed her hand tightly before letting go and taking an enraged step towards the man. I'm either gonna keep all I have left, or I'm gonna lose it all trying.