Broken Down

Run until you drop

After we came out of the building we ran as fast as we can towards the forest. The thundering of our feet was barely heard because of the helicopters above our heads. It looked like they were scouting for us so we became alert and our instincts kicked in.

Oscar was sweating heavily and his breathing became slower and steadier. We followed Mr. Tracker not knowing what to do. We were fairly new here; the other kids who were with us have probably already had a lifetime of training just to serve the Alliances. It was like every move they made was perfected through hours of work.

“Children please split into groups of 5 or more with your fellow students; there has been a change of plan. We would like you to test your survival skills while we take care of the problem we have with the Forces here. We will catch up with you as soon as we can. Please stay as far away from the training center as you can. Once your journey has started head south and be cautious of any one you meet. Good luck to all of you” Mr. Tracker said as we quietly sneaked pass the Forces agents.

Oscar and I found ourselves with 3 other students: Alex aka X, Ro aka Rocket and Mi aka Missile. I knew I could trust them but there was something about that look in their eyes that intimidated me. I remembered how good they were in training; they have been waiting for this all their lives. They’ve been waiting to prove that they have the skills to fight the Forces.

“We’ll head to the woods heading to the right then when we’re about a mile away from the training station we’ll go left towards the American and Canadian borders,” X said confidently. From what I’ve seen she didn’t want anything but to prove herself and protect her country.

“And why should we trust you?” Oscar said suspiciously. Sometimes I don’t get why he always seems to be suspicious of people he can trust.

“That’s a good question. It’s probably because I’m older than you, I’ve had more training than you, I’m smarter than you and I’m stronger than you,” X said. To me it seemed like she didn’t need to intimidate you because you were already intimidated. Oscar didn’t say anything about this; he knew X was right and that we should trust her. We ran through he woods making it look like we were heading for the South. We dodged many trees and plants keeping track if we were far enough to turn left. We followed X’s example and turned left our hysterical run turning into a light jog.

“I think we’re far enough.” She said, her face showing no emotion. While she it looked like she didn’t even break a sweat Oscar and I were wiped out. The last time we ran that fast and that long Oscar passed out and I fell asleep leaning on a tree when we were 3.

“Rocket, Missile can you tell where we are now? X asked. Oscar and I didn’t seem to notice that Rocket and Missile were expert navigators from the short time we spent Training Center. We thought they were just kids who were with us because their parents have died, but we were wrong. Rocket and Missile calculated that we were approximately 1.673 miles away from the training center. We didn’t make a fire before we slept because that would attract the attention of the Forces.