Elude

C and E

We wander for hours without seeing any signs of life. "What was Ashendale like?" I ask him.

"I lived near mountains," he replies. "You know how Ashendale is divided into sectors? I'm from Imperium, they're in charge of training soldiers. Back then I was the highest ranking general..."

His eyes gleam as he talks about his position. I'm only half listening when he finished the story.

"I have a question," I say. "Back in the office... You mentioned someone who's name started with a C."

"Doesn't matter. He's dead and better off that way. So, we can find dinner outside and sleep here for the night."

"How will we find anything to eat?" I ask.

"You're forgetting that I learned survival skills," he says. "And lived on the run for quite some time. We'll be fine."

He leads me to the exit and we both step outside. I'm blown away by what I'm seeing.

There's grass-- actual grass!-- covering the ground with sparse patches of dirt showing through. Trees litter the landscape and they're huge, even bigger than I imagined. Leafy bushes sprout upwards and I can hear birds singing.

I've seen pictures of all this stuff but to have it here in front of me is breathtaking.

"It's a bit more overgrown than I remembered," Matthew says from next to me. I shrug and my backpack falls off. He looks over at me.

"I'm going to go find a rabbit or squirrel. Stay here and don't move." He hands me a knife. "If anyone or anything tries to attack you, shout my name."

He jogs off into the woods and I sit down, the grass feeling soft against my bare legs. I smell smoke and Matthew returns shortly after, carrying two cooke squirrels.

I bite into one of them and wrinkle my nose. "This tastes weird," I say and swallow, but I take another bite.

"It's not the worst thing," Matthew replies. Once we've finished, we go back inside the base.

"I wonder where everyone went," I remark as we go to the general's rooms.

"We can find that out tomorrow," Matthew says. "It's safe to stay the night, but we have to leave in the morning once they find out we're gone."

"We won't get caught, right?" I ask and we stop in front of a room. The name plate on the door reads Matthew W. Emerson.

The room looks neat, except for a small picture frame on the floor and shattered glass. I can't tell who the person in the picture is.

The room is simple, with a bed, a desk, and a dresser. Sitting on the desk is a piece of paper, and Matthew picks it up. I read over his shoulder.

Emerson's execution is on the 21st. Wish it were sooner.
-E

"They think... I'm dead." he murmurs, then frowns. "No. She wouldn't say that, not the girl I know."

"I'll go find a room," I say as I leave. He doesn't look up from the note. "Wake me up tomorrow morning."

• • •

In the morning, I don't mention the note and neither does he. Still half-asleep, I don't talk until we're back outside.

"Where to now?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes.

"Imperium," he says. "I want to check on some things." He pulls his hood up, casting a shadow on his face.

Imperium isn't far, and it's not long before we leave the cover of the trees. There are two huge doors on the mountains, and in front of them is a huge, open field.

I see people lined up in rows carrying some sort of weapons. Together, Matthew and I walk down the hill into the grassy area. Someone off to the side is shouting commands.

"Excuse me," Matthew says gruffly. "Where are we? I've been in the woods for a while."

The man stops shouting. "Imperium, Ashendale," he says. "You from around here?" Matthew shakes his head.

"Last I heard, Matthew Emerson was in charge. That still true?" he asks.

"Where have you been for the past six years?" the man says and laughs. "He was killed by the government. Now Reilly Whittaker is leading."

Matthew thanks him and we move on. "Reilly is awful," he tells me. "She betrayed me and left me to die so she could gain power. My guess is she hasn't changed since then."

"How long ago was that?" I inquire.

"Um, ten years," he says. "So, I have a few more people I want to find out about. The one who wrote the letter and Jace's friend. Not friend. Ally is the word."

"Are you sure nobody will recognize you?" I ask. He shrugs and someone taps him on the shoulder.

"What are you doing in Imperium?" a female voice says.

"Passing through," he says, keeping his voice low. "We mean no harm." He turns around to look at her and stiffens.

"Run," he mouths to me. I sprint towards the forest, not even checking to see if he's behind me. I dodge trees and leap over bushes, branches whipping my face.

I come to a stop, panting. Thirty seconds later, Matthew comes crashing through. "That was her," he gets out. "I don't think she followed us. It would be bad if she did, since there's a small army there."

"What took you so long?" I ask.

He points to his leg. "Limp," he says.

"Let me guess," I say. "C? E?"

He sighs. "I should tell you... Quick history lesson. You have America. There are eight territories. One of them is Enderlin. C, whose name is Caelan, was the leader of Enderlin."

I nod. "It was him that did it?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, and there's a territory called Cyress. There's a girl named Eve who helped Enderlin in the war against Ashendale."

"Got it," I say.

"Jace's ally is Winter. She's also from Cyress. The two of them led Ashendale in the war. And that's all you need to know for now."

I can't help but wonder how Caelan died, but the last time I brought that up, it didn't go so well. I'll just have to wait.

**Author's Note**

I'm back and will be updating more often! Please vote or comment if you like it ;)

So this is using characters from a story I wrote a few years ago. I think unedited it's around 35,000 words. I'm thinking about putting it on Wattpad if anyone wants to read it.

It had Caelan, Jace, Matthew, and Reilly in it plus eventually Winter. Also there are some stupidly named characters that kinda just disappear after 120 or so pages. Yeah.

I hope nothing is confusing. I'm trying to explain stuff.