The Wall

part one: The Wall

We stood together, staring, staring as if we expected something to happen, for the wall to move and reveal all that we've been deprived of for so long. "what do you thinks behind it" his words brushed over me, my mind was in a different place. I looked left and then right. the wall never broke, only curved with the shape of the earth. I took a step closer. 'What are you doing!" he woke me from my trance. "I have to know" i stated robotically, taking another step. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I glared at him, a look he's never seen on my face, he looked at me as if id hit him just then. His slid his trembling hand into mine, which broke my stubborn expression and caused my shoulders to drop. I closed my eyes for a long minute. I couldn't leave him here, not after what we've been through, not when we finally found our way out, or had we? I let go of his hand. "We don't even know where we are, let alone whats on the other side, and besides, we don't even know how to get past the wall." He was looking directly into my eyes and i could feel his pain, his yearning for a better life, his need to be free. The sun was starting to set now. I looked past him into the woods we had ran, more like been chased through, and began to relive the fear, the screaming, the pain. He could tell my mind was wandering so he broke the silence with "How about we head east, towards where the sun will rise in the morning, we count each pine tree we pass to keep track of how far we've walked." Ive never heard him so unsure of himself before, he was all i had left to rely on, and for him i was the same. I nodded in the most normal way i could and we began walking. I could hear nothing other than the crunch of the grass as we stepped and the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my head, keeping me from thinking. I kept my eyes down at the odd line where scorched dirt met the meadow of grass, and i promised myself i would never step back into the hell i had lived in for so long. When the sun had finally set we were walking closer together, exchanging glances of worry every couple of feet. "Its kinda hard to see the trees" He said, his throat raspy from excessive screaming and a lack of water. "How many do you think we've passed" It was so painful to speak. "Exactly 100" he says and i stopped dead in my tracks. "W-whats wrong" I looked over at the wall. "Did you hear that!?" "Hear what?!" There it came again. A sound like laughter coming from beyond the wall. This time he heard it too. I almost managed to smile. "Were gonna make it Jack, I know we are." He grabbed my hand again and we continued walking. "101, 102, 103, 104."