A Troubles Paradise

Chapter 8

We have spent at least an hour dodging Troubles and hiding. We need to act fast and get out of here and meet up with Stella and Noah. Who knows, they could be waiting for us already.

Daniel and I are sitting in an overgrown shrub on top of an old building, you can see paint peeling off the walls and dust gathering in small crevices. I feel that if we take one step too close to the edge that it might crumble, and I'm not willing to take that chance. It looks to be an abandoned Italian restaurant, beneath all the dirt and old age, you can still see delicate designs carved into the stone. We are surrounded by a nature park, it's tall trees nearly reaching the height of where we are perched. It leaves space for us to be able to keep watch but also enough coverage from being seen.

This is our fourth hideout. The first one we found was in the newly built church. We thought that it'd be a good spot since it was on a main road but we saw nothing. The next one we tried was the local swimming pool, we snuck in and climbed to the top of the giant water slide. We sat there for a while, talked and then came along this moth. And of course, I totally freaked out. So much that we ended up slipping down the slide and into the pool at the bottom. We couldn't stop laughing until we heard voices. They came closer so we hid under water and against the wall. Luckily those Troubles were stupid enough not to notice the tiny ripples in the water. We then went and climbed a tree in someone's backyard, getting a good view of the street. Then a few Troubles popped into view and we thought that we were in luck. We had started climbing down when around thirty more Troubles marched down the street, guns in hand. We froze in place and are so thankful they didn't see us.

By now It's getting mid afternoon. And we need to meet Stella and Noah soon.

Then I feel Daniel tense beside me and notice he has his gaze locked on something on the ground. My eyes follow his gaze, and then I see it. It's too far to see who but from what I can tell it looks to be a little boy.

He looks small enough to be about eight or nine and is running frantically in our direction. As he gets closer I can make out that his face is wet with tears and has a look of terror on his face. I can't take my eyes off him, what is he running away from? He sprints round to the back of the building out of my view. I turn back towards where he came from and sure enough, three Troubles appear with glinting blades and black clothes, running towards the boy.

I instantly want to help him, we can't just sit here and watch what they'll do to him.

"Daniel!" I whisper harshly.

"I know, I know. Follow me." He slowly gets up, not making a sound and makes his way to the other side of the roof. I follow him and check behind me, we have about a minute before the Troubles get here.

We peer over the other side and he's there, huddled in a corner shaking and crying. I desperately just want to give him a hug and tell him it's ok. But time is running out and we have to think fast.

"Little boy." I whisper. He doesn't look up.

"Up here." He still hasn't seemed to have heard me so I pick a bit of the crumbling stone and throw it at him. This time he sees me and a look of hope spreads across his face.

Daniel already has some rope out and has tied one end round his waist. He throws the other end down for the boy to climb up on. As the rope tenses and he starts climbing up, I start to hear voices. Quick! I want to scream at them to hurry up. Then I see a little hand appear over the ledge and I reach forward and pull him up. He immediately hugs me, but all I think about is not to be seen, so I pull him down so we are lying flat on the roof.

Heavy footsteps come round the corner and stop abruptly. I can only faintly hear what they are saying, "...here I swear, there's nowhere for him to go."