Shadow's Within

26 : Fugitive is no glory

Both the interior and the exterior of the base is remarkably vast. The garage is just a tip of the iceberg, a ten percent of the whole area. The outdoor field of the base is a colossal ground containing army marching and patrolling or participating in a drill exercise. Last night, Armore had introduce us into the rest of the fugitive he's harboring inside the base. The amount of people he kept conceal within is numerous.

We were given a hall to be shared with the rest of the fugitives. A simple hall, coincided with beds lining up in each parameters filing up the whole area. Most of the fugitives here are either Hispanic, Latin and African. I guess most of them came into this country illegally. They flee their country in order to start over here. There are other whom I recognized to be criminals running from law and prosecution. Their face made front page in newspaper and primetime news. The Major's intention is truly to help people disappear with no concern of their previous lives and that include criminals.

There I get to be introduced to all sorts of individuals. For instance, Marco, an immigrant hailing from Brazil. He's really young around 19. Orphaned and was raised in a slum and forced to work as a free labor in a factory. Managed to escape and decided to came here to bring a better prospect into his life. Another is Suzy, another slum raised girl but she's from Ohio. Her mother died was she was young and her father sold her to a prostitute ring and she was forced to satisfy men sexually for a life.

I pity them. Compared to me, they never stood a chance in defending themselves. While I was raised in a hostile environment, I learned and adapted myself to survive in world where the strong lives and the weak gets thrown away.

After a nourishment sleep I had last night, I woke with a tremendous energy. I left Chase in his everlasting slumber and decided to explore the base.

As I trudge outwards, I sense a pair of eyes ogling me as I walk. This feeling is not a friendly instinct. I arc my head left and stumble into the peeking eyes. The man is a criminal I remember seeing in a local news. Raven eyes, square shape face and a long nose. I ignore him and continue on my exploration.

The outer hall spits into a T junction. I took a chance and turn right, stepping my feet steadily. The hall stretches further than my eyes can reach. The farther I walk, the more people I pass and greet. I reach the end of the hall into a sliding door.

I step in front of the entry, and the door slide open. I peek into the section and discover it is the cafeteria. Fugitives lining up, receiving food to eat. Just a faint smell at the sight of food and my belly growls in response. I'm hungry. The only thing I ate was the bearclaw yesterday morning. I get into the queue waiting for my turn to receive the food when a person behind me spoke into my ear.

"I know why you here.." the voice whisper.

I glance behind to see a petite woman, with red hair and blue eyes smiling at me.

"I'm sorry" she said. "I didn't mean to scare you. Let's start over.. I'm Marie.. I saw they brought you last night and just wanted to say Hi to you... so HI!"

I return my attention to the row of line. I hate these type of people. The perky and cheerful attitude. I can't stand them.

"—thinking about showing you around here" she continues. "I love meeting new people. You seems like a really nice person... You are beautiful.. and that man that came with you.. Yum... Delish.. I came here two weeks ago.. Had a—"

Oh my god. Would she shut up already. The only thing I want after waking up is listening to a woman rambling on and on. Please god, make these line go any faster.