Are We Human?

Chapter 11

After a few more seconds of staring, I couldn't look any more. I couldn't look at what I'd done. So I left as fast as possible to escape the consequences.

I ran directly out of the guard's room, the weight in my pocket from the small weapon now completely gone. I sprinted across the grounds, my heart made of lead and my feet made of maps; they carried me to my destination before my brain even knew what it was.

I found myself at the entrance to the camp. It was a large, high security, electrified gate with two tall doors to allow trucks and off duty officers in and out. There was a small post where one guard sat and appeared to be checking everyone's clearance.

Great. Just fan-freaking-tastic.

I stepped towards the gruffy looking man with my head hung low and my shaking hands planted in the pockets of the pants. He simply saw my uniform and immediately the gates opened for me to pass through. My eyes widened in surprise, but I made my feet move away from that place while I still could. The man gave me a forced and completely fake smile as I passed and I simply nodded back to him.

When I finally crossed over the threshold of Hell, I breathed the air in deeply. I felt free. My lungs finally felt clear and useful, not full of mold and rust that years of that place had built up. I felt tears sting my eyes and I choked back a happy scream in my throat.

I'm free, I thought. I escaped. I'm finally here.

Then the alarms went off.

A harsh screeching erupted from the watch tower at the center of the campus. Emergency lights flashed red in their nooks and crevices. Stray clones that were wandering between buildings were ushered to their rooms by overwhelmed guards. Some were a bit more forceful than others, grabbing the younger children by their ears and practically throwing them towards their dorms or roughly pushing older ones to the ground then yelling in their faces to get up.

I flinched at the brutality, guilt luring my feet like magnets back towards the place that I had just escaped from. But a larger, apparently more selfish, part of me pulled my feet away and kept going.

I made sure to walk at a completely normal pace as to not draw any attention to myself. I hoped to any God there was that no one noticed my trembling limbs like almost broken autumn leaves or shallow breathing like I was having a panic attack as a squad of officers from the outside pulled up to the fence and ran inside for backup.

Their vehicles were smaller and more oddly shaped than the ones I had grown accustomed to. They weren't the same as the supply vans that I had seen enter the gates. They looked puny, almost wimpish, but I bet they got around much faster.

I made my curious mind stop questioning things and start doing. I made my way across something that I believed the Guard's had called streets, or maybe it was a road, I wasn't quite sure. They were filled with vehicles like the officers and many people bustling about. I waited patiently with a group of bored looking men in suits to cross this street/road. I found that the small vans seemed to move when a light facing them turned green and came to a stop when it became red. I wasn't quite sure about the yellow color though. Some vehicles slowed, but others sped up. I was deeply confused.

The men began moving after a little box across the road/street changed from an orange hand to a white figure. It looked vaguely like a walking human. I screwed up my eyebrows but carried on regardless.

After I had crossed another one of these street roads, I found a large dumpster like the ones they held behind the cafeteria. It was at the end of a small alleyway, a perfect temporary hiding space.  I took a quick look behind me before I made a sharp right turn and sped walked until I was at least slightly hidden behind the smelly trash holder.

I crouched down so the bin was giving me complete cover. I took two deep breaths, my hand clutching my chest and the other placed on the filthy ground beneath me. My mind flashed with images. The white walls of the Wacky Room. The feel of Pj's hands over my body. His lifeless form slumped over and paler than a ghost. Bile rose up in my throat and tears zipped like lightening down my cheeks; red hot and burning through my skin. I shut my eyes tight.

Then I saw Phil.

I saw him being dragged out of his seat that day in the cafeteria. I saw him holding me close as I cried that morning. I saw him go limp from the injection of drugs that I didn't know the name of. I felt his lips planted gently on my forehead and heard him whisper sweet nothings into my ear as he always did to get my eyes to drift closed and my heart to fill with love and hope for a better day. I felt him being ripped out of my grasp. I felt the void that was left behind in my heart.

My eyes opened, rage and adrenaline rearranging how I thought. I tore off my jacket, not wanting the disgusting reminder of that place on my skin ever again. I grabbed the hat on the top of my head and threw it down to the ground. I noticed a small lump poking out of one of the coat pockets and I froze. Curiosity took the better of me and I inspected the itchy thing and all its pockets only to find a ratty leather pouch. Well, it was sort of like a pouch anyways. When I opened a large opening in the leather, there were five bits of paper that I remembered the guards placing bets with. I believed they called it "money". I grinned at the papers and slipped the pouch into my left pants pocket in place of the knife. I shuddered at the memory, but shook my head to clear it.

Not now, I thought. Not again.

After a few minutes of me focusing on deep breathing, I walked out of the alleyway with what I hoped was convincing confidence and looked around. I saw no police. No guards. None of those silly cars. Nothing to blow my cover. I smiled.

I spotted a small sign only a few meters away from me which stated in bold, white letters against black, "Bus Stop". I had no idea what that even was or what it did, but I saw a few people standing around who seemed to be waiting for something. I went out on a limb and decided to join them.

A large man in a dressy, black suit checked a tiny clock that hung around his wrist and huffed under his breath. An exhausted and overwhelmed looking woman holding a small, wailing child looked down the street road impatiently before going back to shushing and comforting the kid. A group of teenagers with long, swooshy fringes and almost completely black outfits (save for some splashes of color from logos on the front of their shirts) cracked jokes to one another in a tight, quiet huddle. I stood closest to them, but still far enough away that everyone knew I was not a part of their clique. They eyed me every once in a while suspiciously, but always ended up going back to their mindless banter. I breathed a sigh of relief.

A large van looking vehicle eventually came to a stop next to the awaiting passengers and two doors opened on the sides of it for the people to step right in. Each person paused near the apparent driver to tell them their stop, how many people they were paying for, and then hand him their money. I practised what I was going to say in my head over and over again before it was finally my turn.

"Hello, sir. Can I have one ticket to..." I completely forgot where Phil was momentarily and stumbled a bit over my words. "Um... Big Ben! That's it! One ticket to Big Ben please."

The man glared angrily at me, his large, bushy eyebrows pulled down and his mouth forming a scowl. "I'll take you as close as I can to Big Ben. Two pounds."

I stared at him, frozen with confusion and horror at what would happen if I didn't give him two pounds, before I realised this was the part where the other people gave him money. I pulled the pouch out of my pocket and took out two papers. I handed them to him and he gratefully accepted them, his grumpy smile turning to one of shock and joy. I didn't question it and just began making my way to the back of the, I assumed to be called, Bus. It was the most secluded area I could find, after all.

The large vehicle began moving down the road street at a much more rapid pace than I imagined them to move. I decided to calm my anxiety at the sudden speed by looking out the window and watching the city zoom past me. I smiled. Tears welled up in my eyes as my chest exploded with bright emotions.

I'm coming, Philly.

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A/N

Hahahaha. Who said I was a good writer who published on a regular schedule? Eh, who cares? No one's reading this anyways. Sorry this is much longer than most of the other chapters, but I felt like I couldn't break this up so just enjoy an extra long part, I guess.