Freedom Bound

Chapter 1

The wind blew fiercely outside my little temporary shelter. I tightened my jacket around me and pulled up my hood. Snow covered the ground in a white blanket. That wasn't good. I'd have to cover my tracks.

Tightening the straps on my bag, I starting trying to figure out how I was going to do this. I stepped out into the wind and examined the area. Trees stood as high as buildings, blocking out the sky. The shelter would be a dead give away that I was here.

As I started to take it down I heard something. The crunch of snow beneath the foot of something walking. The patrol. I pulled my knife from its place on my belt and stood ready as the noise grew louder. The bushes about ten feet away shook. Holding my breath, I stepped forward silently.

Out from the bush came a small deer. Why it was so close to me, I don't know. I lowered my knife and returned it to its spot on my belt. I knelt down towards the deer and whispered "What are you doing here, little guy?"

Suddenly I heard the sound of heavy boots running. Immediately I dove to hide behind a tree. The footsteps stormed towards my position. I could hear the clatter of guns hitting against their gear as they advanced.

There was no where to run. I was trapped. A single droplet of water dripped onto my nose. It made me look up to see the many branches going up the tree. It was now or never.

As quietly and quickly as I could, I pulled myself up onto a branch. Branch by branch I scaled the tree. My breathing increased the higher I climbed.

I stopped about halfway up the tree. I could see the group of patrols. They surveyed the area I just was. Looking at the shelter I had built but hadn't been able to take down. In Korean, one spoke into an ear piece. Directly below me, one patrol noticed my footprints.

There wasn't anywhere I could go. The branches higher up weren't big enough to hold me. It was a matter of time before the realized I climbed up.

The tree neighboring the one I was on had a branch sticking out. There was about a seven or eight foot gap. I glanced down. The patrols were now all looking at my footprints. It wouldn't be long before I was spotted. Here goes nothing. Holding my breath, I leaped.

Somehow my hands were able to reach the branch and hold on. Snow from the branch fell. I scrambled onto the branch and pressed myself against the trunk of the tree. I shimmied around the trunk and jumped to the branch of the next tree.

I thought I was in the clear but then I heard someone shout up in a different language. A glance down revealed that I had been spotted.

In a rush, I tried to leap from tree to tree. I could hear the noise of them trying to follow me on foot. I jumped to branch, but as soon as I grabbed onto it I heard the sound of it starting to snap. No, no, no. I tried to pull myself up but I couldn't.

The branch suddenly snapped and I started tumbling towards the ground. For a few seconds I felt weightless, but once I hit the ground everything went black.