RUN

New Hope

Adam whipped around with fearful eyes. There was so many of them. They crowded the bridge to see what the fuss was about. As I took in more if my surroundings, I realized the city wasn't abandoned at all. Boys came out from buildings and from the narrow streets. A few boys jumped in the river to drag Adam's boat to the dock. I felt all eyes on us as a group approached me and Ethann. A very tall, older looking boy walked quickly towards us. There was no way he was fourteen.

"Welcome to Paris. And Congratulations on making it thus far in the trials. I am Arthur." He said, putting out his hand.

"What is this?" I asked, hesitantly taking it.

"Welcome to the new Paris, its where boys like yourself hide during the trials." He said, smiling.

"But how? You can't be fourteen." Ethann said.

"You're right. I did the trials five years ago. I hid. Over the years, our army grew" He stated.

"But I don't understan-"
"Everything will be explained" Arthur said, cutting me off.

I looked to Ethann. He was just as confused as me. Arthur then marched off followed by a few younger boys. Another boy, about sixteen came up to us.

"You will need to follow me to where you will stay for the time-being." He said, walking away.

"Wait, you still need to answer our questions. You can't just expect us to join your little "township"." Said Ethann.

"All in good time. We're not forcing you into anything. Just hear us out." Said the boy.

Ethann looked hesitantly at me. I just shrugged my shoulders and followed. We walked down the street. By now, most of the boys that had crowded around to see who was here had broken off. There were hundreds of them. All working hard. It was more like a town. Like Paris was being revived. The clothing stores were storage spaces. The bookstores, Libraries. The other shops were now houses. Carts of supplies rolled past. Inside, we're guns and grenades. They stared at us as we sauntered by, taking in our surroundings. They eventually looked away with disinterest, and continued with their daily toils. The boy led us into a small jewelry store. It  was now empty except for a few beds and some dressers. Adam was waiting timidly on the farthest bed.

"Théo! Ethann!" He said, jumping up.

We greeted him and set down our packs. We lay on the beds. They were soft. Musty, but also clean. It felt so nice after days of running to have a place where you could rest. The old shop was just one room. It had white walls and dusty windows. The wooden floorboards were rotting in the corner. But it was already feeling like their home. Adam sat up on his bed.

"What is this place?"
Ethann asked.

"It's basically a town. All the boys that hid over the years have gathered in Paris. But this year, they're fighting back." Said Adam.

"Fighting back?" I wondered.

Before I could question it anymore, there was a knock at the door. Without waiting, it opened. A small boy opened peered inside.

"We need all new citizens to come to a meeting." He said.

"Can't you let us rest for a minute?" complained Adam.

    

The boy looked kind of hesitant. He was obviously just following orders. We looked to one another. I threw my pack on the bed and followed him out the door. He led us through the streets of Paris. Once hustling with art, cuisine and fashion, now looked more like a labour camp. The farther we got from the river, the less crowded it was. He led us into an old train station. Inside, it was completely empty. Also very clean. The marble floors shined as we walked onto a platform. It was small. Central station was down the river more if I remembered correctly. It was made of stone and wood. It once was probably one of the busiest places in Paris. On the platform, was a small riser. There, stood Arthur. We joined a small group of boys. Arthur cleared his throat.

"Welcome everyone to the new Paris" Arthur greeted, followed by a few, mundane claps from the group of boys behind him.

"This, is a hard working town. Trying to revive the hardworking city, Paris once was. We know most of you are still in competitive mode for the trials. I will let you know, all enemies, all alliances, and all vendettas are over here. Because here, we are a team. All, with one cause. To defeat the soldiers, Defeat the Nazis, and defeat the trials. Now, I know some of you will want to continue. That eager spirit wanting to finish the race. You, are welcome to go. For the others, you will be assigned tasks to help our town grow and win. By win, I mean this year is the final year. We have prepared and stocked our supplies. Year five was always meant to be the year we put an end to it. The soldiers will be here in an estimated two days. We will fight. We will win" Arthur proudly stated.

     I had to admit, he was a natural born leader with his words. But I also wasn't buying into the revolutionary speech. 

"Now, if you wish to leave, follow Marcus over there and if you wish to stay, go see Pierre." He said, getting off the riser.

A few boys shuffled over to Marcus. I guess we might as well stay. It's not like we're chained here anyway. Besides, we could use the rest. We stayed with Pierre's group.

"Well this a great number! I will give all of you your task schedule. If you have any concerns or comments please report to me. My office is the old candle shop." Pierre said, handing each of us some papers.

Pierre then walked briskly out of the station, following Arthur's little cluster. He seemed to be quite high up in this system. Whatever that was. Marcus' group was escorted out a different door. We were then ushered quickly on the street as a few boys came in to start cleaning the floors.

We were then guided back to our houses. It was late at night now. According to Adams pocket watch it was 10:07pm. But it had got some water in it back in Nancy so the gears were probably rusting. I went straight to my bed and flopped down onto it. Adam followed.
Ethann was speaking to someone passing by the house. He was standing in the doorframe.

"Ethann come to bed! We have to work all day tomorrow!" Adam said.

Ethann closed the door to the house, and walked to his bed.

"This day has been such a rush." I said, getting under the quilt.

"It's like there are no games at all in this place." Ethann said.

"This is good for us. No more running. We don't have to worry anymore. This town is large. We're safe. As long as we work hard, we'll be fine." Adam said.

"Who was at the door?" I asked Ethann.

"It was just one of Isaac's old friends. He has been here for a few days." He said, creating a heavy moment of silence.

"We have to get up early tomorrow, let's just go to sleep." Adam said.

"Goodnight everyone." Ethann said.

"Goodnight." I said.

I lay in my bed. Maybe this is good. A real life. A future. Something not so hopeless. I closed my eyes and breathed out all my worries of soldiers and guns.

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Hey everyone! Thanks for reading this far! This chapter is dedicated to Sharey_magic for her character response! Go check her story!