Hostage

Midnight City

It had been a month since my conversation with Tyler, and we still hadn't moved to the city. However, Fox and I had been making frequent trips there and back, trying to find the best route.

This was a worrisome process; we had no idea if the Organization was still after us or not.

However, we were determined to find a safer place for the group; what was the point in breaking them out if they were just going to get caught again? That was the question that kept me going. Keeping the group, and its new, unborn member, safe were of my utmost priorities.

Speaking of moving to the city, I was on a trip there now, along with Fox of course.

We didn't know at first whether or not it would be safe to both go at once, but we definitely weren't going to the city one by one, not when we had no idea of the dangers that might await us. But, after making a few trips there (leaving Tyler in charge), we realized there was no harm in just the two of us leaving.

So now, here we were, halfway to the city.

There was a certain thing about traveling, a certain freedom and excitement mixed with the curiosity of finding new things, discovering new paths, meeting new people. Back when my wing wasn't injured and I wasn't, you know, busy being a hostage, I quite enjoyed traveling. Even the smallest of trips, back when it was just Scar, Fox, and myself, gave me a certain thrill. I loved going new places, feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement; that's why I went to the city on expeditions every chance I got. There was always something new there, some new adventure simply awaiting my arrival. The thrill of finding that new thing was my favorite. As an added bonus, the city was quite large; lots of "new" to look for.

We entered the city around two hours before daybreak, and decided to stop to identify which part of the city we were in.

Fox, being as clever and brilliant as she was, knew it was smart to get a map of the city on our first journey here. But, as my luck would have if, we had lost the map on our second journey here.

Zeta, the city had been called all those years ago. But after the Organization took over, cities ran together, food ran scarce, people ran for safety, and hope ran dry. A beautiful city, nonetheless; statue ruins, marble bits, crumbling museums, and marvelous towers were visible even now, in the pre-dawn, moon-lit night. There was one part of the city that Fox and I had yet to get to, which we never could find on the small, tattered map. My goal was to get there, but we had no idea how, and we were always afraid to spend the extra time away from camp and the group to take the risk of finding it. It seemed to be a beautiful tower, pointed at the top, around maybe 1,000 feet high. My plan was to fly there as soon as my wing was healed, and I had made much progress in the last month.

"Hey, I figured out where we are." Fox interrupted my thinking, but I didn't mind.

"Yeah? Where?" I was interested immediately.

"Remember when we came here last, and we found that old woman that could freeze whatever she walked on?"

"Yeah, of course," I nodded, thinking back to that chilling day (pun intended.)

"We seem to be around three blocks away from there, around the... What was that called?"

"The Palace," I said, nodding my head.

The Palace was not only one of the most expensive, gold-strewn places in what was left of the world, but also the only place in the city kept looking nice (thanks to the Organization's "charitable" donations.) They had originally planned to use that as a prisoner base and headquarters, taking into consideration its massive gardens and expansive insides, but had decided instead to house the upperclassmen there, and build a better headquarters outside the city where they could do more inhumane things without people noticing. The Organization was always excellent at avoiding a riot.