Escape Route

Two

The sun shone through the window, dancing off my eyelids. I groaned and pried my eyes open to see Ty-nine rolling around my room in a panic.

"I'm awake," I said, sitting up.

Normally, that would calm him down, but it didn't seem to affect him.

"Let me get dressed and we can leave,"  I told him.

I changed into a pair of tight, maroon pants, a loose grey long sleeve shirt, and a black jacket, along with my scruffy brown boots.

It was my job to hunt. Since I was heading out into woods to hunt, so I emptied out my bag and refilled it with a water canteen, a couple of daggers, a few coloured stones, and a few changes of clothes, just in case. Whenever I had the potential to get away from the farm, I would pack extra clothes, water, and weapons.

I also pulled out the box that contained my life's earning out from underneath my bed. Ty-nine was the only other creature in the entire galaxy who knows about my secret stash.

Breakfast was already on the table by the time I bounded down the stairs behind an eager Ty-nine.

I barely had time to grab breakfast before Ty-nine was out the door and speeding off down the dirt streets.

"Ty-nine, get back here!" I yelled, running off after him.

The other workers split apart, so they wouldn't be run over by my droid. I had never seen Ty-nine so anxious to leave the limits of the farm.

Beyond the gates of Maddox's farm were several boys around my age with different weapons in their hands. The most common were blasters, used to take out the large game. A few of them waved to me as I ran past them.

"Where are you going, Autumn?" one of them asked.

"Don't know, Ty is going after something! If you see my mother, tell her that I'll be home for dinner," I replied.

I didn't stop running until Ty-nine did. I came to a halt in front of what looked like a fighter plane.

There was nobody in the cockpit, and the engine was still on and there was enough room for a passenger and a droid.

I could already feel myself calculating if I had the time to stow myself away on this ship. How far I'd get before Maddox and the others would notice and what may happen to my mother as a consequence of my actions. Would she be punished? Would I just be presumed dead, killed by an animal out here in these woods? It had happened before.  

"Hey!" a voice yelled from behind me.

I turned to see a man towering over me. He had dark brown hair that fell in waves over his forehead and piercing blue eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this your plane?" I asked, my voice slightly shaky as the man had a blaster pointed right at my heart.

"Yes, it is, "he replied proudly.

"Does it run well?"

 Ty-nine had hidden behind my legs, only his head peering out at the pilot.

"Of course it does. It's part of the best rebel fleet in the galaxy," he boasted. "

"I need a pilot to get myself and my droid out of here. Any chance you'd be able to help me out?" I asked. 

This is it. My only chance. 

"Well, I'm not doing it for free," he said, finally lowering the blaster.

"I have money," I said, desperately shoving my box of money into his hands.

"Why –there has to be at least $20 000 in here," he said, looking at my money.

"Of course, it's my entire life's savings,"  I told him.