Trapped

Trapped- Chapter 6

I listened for Jed's footsteps as I sped through the spotless halls of centre, I could hear him getting closer and braced myself for whatever was about to happen.

"Jed!" I called, his body only a few metres infront.

He turned around, his eyes lighting up as he saw me.

"Amy I've been looking everywhere for you, I'm so sorry. It's jus-"

He leant in to hug me, but I stepped back, "No.. Um it's fine... really." I could tell he looked abit surprised, but shrugged and grabbed my hand.

"The centre have called us specially, we need to go to the assembly hall."

"What... Why?!" I could feel my palms getting sweaty, wondering if they'd seen me and Luke.

"It's the tour. You know? Around the city."

"The tour?"

"The couples tour, we've been picked, the government have chosen us to show others just how well the pairing system was going."

I bit my lip in attempt to stop myself from laughing, so far I'd slapped Jed and cheated on him with Luke, not to mention that I didn't actually fancy him or anything.

He squeezed my hand, "Look I know we're not perfect yet, but things will be better, better for everybody, better for the future."

I attempted a reassuring smile, but couldn't help think about how much he sounded like my father, when my mother left. I just hoped to god he didn't turn out like him.

Soon after we arrived outside the hall Jed's mother ran over, squealing and practically jumping for joy.

"You've really made it, the both of you. Fame, fortune oh what an honour!"

"Are we leaving soon?" Jed looked even more embarrassed as his mother starting fixing his hair.

"Yes darling, of course. Now thank your mother for what she has done."

"Thank you mother..." He sighed, Cynthia then glared at me, waiting.

"Oh yeah, thanks." I avoided her eyes, looking around at the crowds of people watching from the windows. I'd never seen so many people gathered around the centre at once. Mostly people stayed away. I'd occasionally watch families from my bedroom window, but I never really got to go outside, I was homeschooled so there was no need to.

"Earth to Amy! Lets go!" Blinking slightly I realised all eyes were on me, especially Jed's as he frowned, I blushed nodding.

We then were taken into groups and walked to a tour bus, a double decker with no roof so you could see the view of the city.

"Afternoon, my names James Yammouni and I will be leading you around the Correction Centre City Pairs Tours today- Holy sh- shizkebob it's Amy Saunders!"

Immediately the crowd gasped and turned towards me, I leant behind Jed's arm not too keen on all the attention. He laughed, waving at the hoards of screaming girls being taken away by security and we moved to the back of the bus, the seats a little quieter.

"Congratulations, sad to see you've been taken" winked a muscular boy to my left, "I'm Daniel, but most people call me Skip"

"Thanks.. Skip," I grinned, he seemed nice enough, "You ever been on one of these tours before?"

"Nah, don't really like this sort of thing, but there's supposed to be free food, and I wanted to visit a friends"

"Oh right," visiting other houses was strictly off limits without permission, however Daniel didn't seem like the sort of guy to care. Despite that I could see Jed did, wrapping his arm around my shoulder protectively, much to my dismay.

A couple stops later and the bus took an abrupt stop, leaning over the side I could see a riot of citizens charging towards us from the end of the road, knives, banners and baseball bats in hand.

"GET AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE, CRIMINALS WILL BE PROSECUTED" Startled orders boomed from the megaphone, but it was nothing compared to the angry mob that surrounded us. Suddenly I could feel them rocking the bus, sirens and police cars attempting to fight them back. Jed jumped up, pulling what looked like a pistol from his back pocket. I gasped as he aimed it at the people.

"Don't! Stop, they're just upset. You can't hurt them!" I tugged at his arm, but by the look on his face he wouldn't stop.

Gun shots fired ,I could hear women screaming, bodies lay mangled on the kerb, trampled by the ongoing stampede of the rioters.

"Hey, Amy! This way!" Daniel got up and beckoned me over to the side of the bus with the least people surrounding it, overhead I could see a park with trees followed by an old rundown street filled with houses.

"It's too dangerous!" I could feel myself feeling sick just thinking about it.

"If we don't jump now, the bus will topple over and we'll all be trapped. The police won't stop till everything is under control, they won't know who they shoot"

"But what about Jed..." I glanced back at the manic figure firing shots left right and centre.

"He's lost it, you're safer with me." He held out his arm and I took it, scrunching my eyes shut as we plummeted deep into the hoards of people below.