Rats: Shai's Story

Apple Picking

"You've ever climbed a tree before?" Samson asked Todd.

Ren rolled her eyes at him and threw her brown canvas bag over her shoulders. Picking apples wasn't her favourite job, but it was the one that bothered her the least. She liked it up in the trees. She felt so free, like no Officer could possibly hurt her.

Samson had been hanging around her and Todd since they've woken up. He still wants in on Todd's escape plan. With Samson bothering him all the time, Todd hadn't even had time to tell Ren his plan. It tormented her not to know it.

"Not really. But I use to scale buildings so how much harder can it be?" Todd said.

"Yeah," Samson said with a smile. He looked over his shoulders quickly at the Officers checking the Rats numbers and handing them a bag. They walked up the grassy hill to the orchard of trees. Samson leaned in and began whispering to Todd. "Back in Royale we use to have so many trees. They were always scared I'd get hurt, but I did it anyways. See I need to get back there. Royale is my home and those bastards have kept me away from it for too long."

Todd shot a quick look down at Ren and she shook her head. He bit down on his lip to stop himself from smirking.

"I hope ya find a way out soon then," Todd told him.

"Seriously?" Samson asked angry. "Why won't you help me? If we get out together I can make life for you after we escape amazing. You will have everything you'd ever want and you'll never have to live like a Rat again."

"Guess we'll have to risk that," he said.

Samson cursed and ran forward to the group of Rats walking in front of them. The orchard was coming up close and Ren knew this was the only time in a while that he'd be able to tell her what his plan was.

"W...w...what...t...t," Ren began to try to say. She knew she'd never get it out before they had to start climbing.

"What is it?" Todd asked her.

"T...t...th...th...the," Ren bit down on her lip and took a deep breath in. She had to get the words out and she was running out of time.

"The what?"

Todd's lips were curled into another smirk and Ren wanted to slap him. He knew exactly what she was trying to say and he wanted to watch her suffer. It was the same thing Mitch did. She scowled and turned her head.

"I'm just teasin' you," Todd said letting a slight chuckle grow behind his ear. "It's fun because you don't say anything back. Shai used to always snap so easily. That was fun too. I basically just like piss off people."

Ren shrugged her shoulders at him without looking up at him. They came to the trees and they weaved their way through to some that weren't taken yet.

She hadn't climbed a tree since last year's apple picking. She grabbed the rough bark with her callused hands and began to pull herself up. Todd was in the tree next to hers and she began pulling the apples off of the low branches. She put them into her bag and when it was full she brought them over to a large crate in front of the orchard. Other Rats carried the crates away once they were full.

The shade from the trees provided relief from the blistering sun. Ren climbed higher and higher up the trees as she picked it clean. She had to reach out carefully for certain ones and was scared that she would fall and break something. She would be killed if she could no longer work.

The bottom of her tree started to rustle as the branches moved quickly. She noticed that someone was climbing up. Her foot slipped on the branch underneath her as she panicked it may be Mitch. She had a tight grip on the branch in front of her, so it stopped her from falling to the ground. She hit the trunk of the tree with her ribs and it knocked the wind out of her. Pushing her feet up against the trunk she managed to pull herself on top of branch she was holding onto.