Another World of Dreams-The Escape

Chapter 13 - The Factory

Liv pulled aside a branch and peered at the factory across the floor of treetops. Five identical brick barracks surrounded by a barbed wire fence and an unmanned watchtower lay on a stretch of moorland, right at the treeline on the hillside of Domedus. A white flag carrying the Greene family's emblem flapped from the top of a flagpole in the center of the compound. From the mountain thundered a glittering waterfall that turned into a river and flowed between the barracks where it made a large wooden wheel rotate. It seemed a regular modern factory, and it would not exist out there in the wilderness unless it contained a black-hearted secret. Liv wondered what Leon was doing. The elf had said he intended to sneak up to the fence to scout without causing trouble.

A gust of wind passed by and pressed a leaf against her injured arm. She jerked back with a jolt of pain. The wound was becoming worse. Finn sat on a thick branch beneath her and stared anxiously into the forest. In less than a day, Leon had become as important to him as Pastor Brock had been to Moriah. From below came the voice of Lira as she interrogated Kaan and Paul about the world outside the forests of Domedus. Neither of them was keen to answer her questions, and Liv knew that if she climbed down the elf lady would attack her instead. So she stayed up in the tree and allowed her mind to wander.

When the sun reached its highest point in the sky, Leon returned, drenched in sweat and with his bow flung over his shoulder. He made an unusual amount of noise as he moved, and they could hear him from far away. As the elf came into view, they understood why. Leon dragged behind him a man dressed in a gray uniform with a rope around his neck. A black playful dog scuttered after them, its long tongue hanging out its mouth. Everyone except for Finn realized that the man was a factory guard. The young elf jumped from the tree and pointed in wonder at the prisoner.

"He's a guard, probably their first officer," Leon explained and showed them a red star on the man's chest, then toppled him over with a light kick. "Joseph Wilder's uniform has a star like that too. I caught him while he was taking a piss. Four guards are still in the factory."

The prisoner twisted and whined. His fly was open and his hands tied, and the elf had used a short rope and the guard's beret to gag him.

"Where did you find the rope?" asked Liv.

"Inside the barracks. They have their quarters in one building and keep another one as a storage. The smallest barracks contain tiny bunk beds and have black curtains in the windows, the way gnomes like it. I could not enter the other buildings without risk of being seen."

Finn put his bare heel against the guard's chest. At first he was gentle, as if he was stepping onto thin ice, then increased his pressure. The prisoner moaned and gasped for air as the young elf pinched him to the ground.

"What should we do with the prisoner?" asked Kaan.

"I have a plan," said Leon and turned his attention to Liv. "Do you think they can send for help?"

"They might have messenger pigeons."

"No birds will betray us," said the big elf and tossed the bow to his brother, who caught it midair with a reluctant expression on his smooth face.

*

They made their preparations and crossed the woods along the path that Leon had come by. Liv walked a few strides ahead of the unfortunate guard. She pitied the man, and she feared what would happen next, yet she was excited. At least she told herself so. As she dug deep inside her, she realized that she was indifferent to what would occur, and it worried her.

"I won't have much of a life if it goes on like this," she muttered to herself.

"What did you say?" Kaan walked up to her and fumbled with his fingers to find hers. She made sure Leon was not watching, then grabbed his hand.