Hidden ( being rewritten)

Chapter Four

[Autumn]

Fray Sector was certainly nothing luxurious, but it wasn't the ramshackle dump the Specials said it was either. The Frays had done well with the resources they had, building orderly rows of four-room log cabins, each of which Jayden said housed two Fray families.

"So...you're saying the Specials don't know that any of this exists?" I asked Jayden for the millionth time.

"Again, they know it exists," she rolled her eyes. "They just don't know that we have actual buildings, and a secret exit to the Outside."

"But why would you want to go Outside? It's so comfortable and safe in the Aggregate. The Aggregate is where people belong," Layla asked.

"Don't you Blenders have any sense of excitement or adventure?" Jayden sighed in exasperation. "Or are you too busy licking the Specials' feet to do anything fun?"

"We're not all like that!" I laughed.

"This is it," Jayden stopped walking and gestured to the opening we had reached. This seemed like a town square of sorts, with a circle of shops and cafes surrounding a tall building in the center.

"This is what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"We call it Counciltown: Fray Edition, or the CFE. It's where our leaders govern Fray Sector from."

"Leaders?" I gasped, my eyes widening with fear.

"Oh, they're nothing like the Hutchinsons," Jay laughed. "They're actually really nice.

"Ok..." I nodded, still skeptical of the whole situation as I followed Jay inside the CFE.

The whole place smelled like fresh pine cones, and had an earthy feel to it. It was, just like the rest of Fray Sector, made of whole logs strapped together with twine. To someone used to Community Orange's narrow, metal skyscrapers, the inside of a Fray building almost felt like a magical realm.

Suddenly, we heard raucous laughter echoing from an adjacent room.

"No! Vera! You cheated! There's no way you beat me twice!"

"How do you cheat at knife throwing? You're just making excuses for your bad aim!"

"Looks like the leaders are in," Jayden grinned. "Come on!"

We followed her through a narrow tunnel which soon opened up into a fairly spacious room. I heard a clang and barely jumped out of the way as a knife whizzed past my ear, embedding itself in a target behind me.

"Oh sorry, didn't see ya there," I turned around to see a middle aged man with straight brown hair and a lopsided smile. "Who are ya? Never seen ya 'round here."

"They're Blenders, Chris," Jayden explained. "Autumn and Layla."

"You know better than to bring Blenders into the sector, Jay." a younger looking blonde woman frowned.

Jayden frowned. "They're not like all the other Blenders."

The woman with blonde hair rolled her eyes. "Like we've never heard that before."

Jayden sighed. "That was years ago, and it wasn't even my fault. These Blenders are thieves, most known for stealing from Specials. And, they were attacked by the Aggregate. Trust me, they're different. And the Specials are probably looking for them."

Chris and the woman looked at each other.

"I think we should give 'em a shot!" Chris grinned.

"Sure, whatever you say," the woman shrugged.

"Hey, I'm Christopher Blackridge. But you can call me Chris," Chris reached out with his large, tan hand to shake mine and then Layla's. "Welcome to Fray Sector."

"So, you're gonna forget about us, Chris?!" A female voice shouted. I turned around and saw two more people, a tall woman with a smile on her face, and a man trailing behind her.

Chris' face turned red. " Sorry about that. Come meet our new ones." Chris pointed to us.

The woman came over and looked at me with a welcoming smile.

" You two must be new," she smiled.

"Yeah, they're Blenders." Chris told her. The woman backed away.

"Blenders?!?" She shrieked.

Chris chuckled. "They're not like all the others, they hate the Specials, probably more than we do. Apparently they were attacked by the Aggregate."

The woman relaxed a little. "Okay, my name is Natalia Cole..but you can call me Nat." Natalia held out her hand, and Layla and I shook it.

"Honored." Layla said. Natalia smiled.

"Autumn and Layla." Jay introduced. Natalia nodded.

"And the man behind you two is Matthew Turner...but some people call him Matt."

We nodded again.

"Um..." Chris nudged the blonde haired woman, who still stood quietly by a basket of gleaming knives.

"Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Vera," she shook my hand.

"Just...Vera?" I asked, trying not to sound rude.

"Yes!" She snapped, her friendly demeanor slipping away instantly. "Just Vera!" She scowled.

"Okay," I backed up defensively.

"Good," Vera smiled. "You can live on Block 4 with Jay. I think there's a spare room on the end of that street."

"Cool! Thank you so much," I beamed.

"Jay, why don't you show them their new home. They're welcome to stay here until the Specials accept that they're gone and it's safe for them to go back to the Community."

We nodded and followed Jay out of the CFE, through the picturesque cobblestone streets, and to the last cabin of the last block in Fray Sector.

"Why would you want to live here?" I frowned at the lonely cabin, secluded from the rest by a strip of trees.

"What's wrong with it? It's the same standard cabin as all the other ones."

"It's so far away from the rest of the sector, and surrounded with trees. I'd be a bit creeped out."

"But it's the closest one to the exit," Jay grinned, gesturing to a gap in the leaves that was so well hidden I didn't notice it until she pointed it out.

"Does that lead...Outside?" I gasped. "But what about the Wall?" I asked when Jay nodded.

"The Wall is a bunch of baloney!" Jay snorted. "Do you really think the Specials would use money they could spend on themselves to build a huge wall around the entire Aggregate? The only thing keeping us in is our own fear of the Outside. And this super thick forest, of course."

"But what if someone got out? What would they do then?"

"Well, they'd sit back in their comfy armchairs and laugh at that person's stupidity!"

"What?" I gave Jay a confused look.

"Listen, the longest I've ever been Outside is an hour," Jay said, her voice growing serious. "But I know that there's one thing the Specials aren't lying about, and it's that the Outside is dangerous. We've been holed up in the Aggregate so long that the creatures of Outside no longer recognize humans as part of their ecosystem, and they don't take too kindly to outsiders. Everything, even the insects, has evolved to kill us. If you're not properly trained, you won't last a minute."

"Well...I'm not so keen on escaping anymore," Layla laughed.

"Yeah," Jay nodded. "Don't worry, they won't expect you to go Outside until they know you're totally ready. Now, why don't you guys go rest in the cabin? You've had a long day."

We nodded and followed her inside. I snuck a glance at the exit, thinking of what may lay beyond it...