The Soldier

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

 I am running out of the library before I can even catch myself. I'm too dazed. Too angry. I knew this was going to happen, yet I ignored and told myself that just because Leslie "passed" the Test things would be okay again. We were both wrong.

Jacob is right behind me, trying to keep me from getting too close, but I don't care. That's my friend the soldiers have. I'm tired of losing my friends to either death or politics. Leslie will be my last.

"No, June. Not now. We can't get her now." Jacob has caught up to me, his hand on his shoulder, the both of us hidden in the cedar trees in the dark of the night.

It takes an owl's hoot one time before I phase back into reality. He's right. I can't save Leslie if the soldiers carrying her will outnumber the both of us. I clench my fists in bite the insides of my cheek in frustration. "When, Jacob? What if it's too late?" I sigh.

I feel him slip something cold and slender into my hand. A gun. "Those soldier are going to take Leslie to the Lab Divisions' base on Camp One. I don't know what they're going to do to her, but I do know we must get her away before it is too late. The three of us." Jacob whispers in my ear.

"But, Jacob, that's high treason. Getting Leslie away from here is fine. But all three of us, that's suicide. We can't. You know what the North does to soldiers if they try to escape the camp fields and military bases." I protest.

"June, I know. They will hang us by our necks in on live broadcasting if they catch us. That's why we have to escape. They could also execute us for knowing too much. There is a chance that we can get away before that. I have been planning this escape since I first came to Camp One." Jacob holds me by my shoulders, forcing me to look right at him. "Will you come with me?"

Since I left Len Learning Center, I have noticed many crimes and injustices the North commits. I thought of running away, but I never really dwelled on it. Now that the question has come up from someone other than me, I hold back. If I go, I may not ever see my family again, I may not ever... Before I can even take another breath, I go ahead and spit it out. "Yes, Jacob, I will run away with you." The words feel natural and genuine, I can only hope we can escape with Leslie safely.

"Since I'm only an officer, they won't allow me into the Lab Divisions' Home Center, so we won't have any advantage from that. We'll have to steal Leslie before they bring the other Lab Division authorities. No matter what, stay by me."

Yet again, hesitation blocks me. "But what about food, shelter, clothes? None of us have ever set foot into the South. It's forbidden and punished by fire squad if we do. Jacob, we wouldn't even make it twenty miles without food or water. How will we even know if we are going the right way without a map?" The questions come spewing out.

"June, stop. Just trust me. I know how to get to the South." Just like that he tries to change the subject. "Quick, I want you to walk out before me and head back to House Five, pack some clothes, everything you need, and then I want you to sneak back here in the next twelve minutes. I'll be there five minutes after you. That's enough time for us to save Leslie... don't forget to get her a pack too." Jacob demands.

He's turning around to head off to his destination, but I grab the back of Jacob's jacket by the fistful forcefully, forcing him to turn around. "No. You still haven't told me how you know to get to the South, especially since you know it's forbidden." My tone is cold and demanding. I'm not taking any half-explanations; half-truths. I'm tired of those.

"Your father." Is all that he says.

"What?" I falter.

"I'll explain later, June. Let's go. We're wasting time. Leslie's life is on the line."

+ + +

The room looks just the same as I left it. The television still on, the bed sheets on our bunk beds that Leslie and I were lying on while watching movies, unmade and the white sheets tangled. The both of us will never sleep here again.

I hurry to our closet, careful not to alarm any other soldiers nearby with their door room doors open. I wouldn't put it past them if they knew how they had seen Leslie being taken away or not.

Two backpacks that hang on a hangar are just waiting for me. I snatch them and begin to stuff clothes from both of our luggage. I remember this backpack. The smaller one is the one I used to school with me, and the other is when my father and I would hike a trail as a part of a hunting.

With one swift twist, I grab both of the backpacks and head for the window. I begin searching for a hatch-lock so that it can come undone, but I can't seem to find any. I curse under my breath, then head into the bathroom. Here, no one should hear the breaking of glass. I turn on the sink to the highest it will go, including the shower. In the medicine cabinet is a long silver pole that contains injection shots that will help cure colds and flus. On it, it has a caution symbol, and in bold letters: DO NOT PLACE ON WET SURFACES. FIRE HAZARD. I use to another advantage.

Wrapping my fingers around it, biting my lip, I begin to bang it against the bathroom window. Over and over again, until my fists are sore, and the needle has broken off. The glass window doesn't even have a crack in it. I throw the pole needle into the shower. - If I can't get away unnoticed, then I have got to get away with a distraction.

It's only seconds before the showers starts to ignite in flames. I put on my best frightened look, then run out of the room. In the lobby, I make sure no one is looking before I place both Leslie and my backpacks under the couch in the center. For the next part, I begin to scream at the top of my lungs.

"Fire! There's a fire in my dorm room. Somebody help!" I yell.

Doors begin to twist; soldiers coming out of their dorms.

Not wasting another second, I dodge for the backpacks, then run out the door, sprinting through the House Area. I can't see anything. Everything is just a colorful blur. My legs are pumping, pulsating beneath my jeans. I bring the knife from my shirt then pull the coat Jacob earlier had placed around my shoulders, and move like the wind. It's impossible to believe that just twenty minutes ago, everything was fine. Now everything has erupted.

"June?" I hear a voice in the dark.

That voice stops me in my tracks.

It's so familiar. The light wisp of breath. The sweet tone.

No. I can't believe it. That's not her. She's not supposed to be here. She's not even eighteen.

"June. It's me. Remember me? Your brother's girlfriend. We're both..."

I see her in the darkness, hiding in the shadows. - Jenny Deets. It looks all so real, but I refuse to believe it.

One day, I know, this is going to come back and haunt me, but I don't have enough time. I turn around and continue to run. Even though I hear her screaming my name.

Back at the tree, Jacob is already there. I run into him, resting my head on his chest for a split second to catch my breath before I pass out. "Let's go, Jacob."