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28

28

After we were dropped off on a street corner and the truck drove away, an instant sense of vulnerability seeped into me. Even though we were only there for two days, I had gotten used to having someone look after me. Now we didn't have anything.

"What's the plan?" Hector asked softly as we began to walk in no real direction.

Looking over to him, my stomach lurched. His face was turning pink with the exception of the darkness under his eyes. You could see the visible toll this situation was taking on him. His age was beginning to show. Catching Tate's eye, I attempted to pass my message on through discrete facial expressions. Should we send him home?

Suddenly Hector let out a growl before saying, "I'm not going anywhere."

I forgot he could do that. "This is hard going. Maybe going home is a good idea," I suggested.

"There's no shame in doing it Hector," Finn said gently.

"Drop it. I'm staying," he hissed. His tone told us he was being serious, so no more was mentioned. Instead we just continued walking with no words.

As we moved along, the noise around us increased. The farther we walked, the more people there were. While regular people sauntered through the streets, it was easy to spot squads of patrol. Thankfully it was daytime, so we could just hide amongst the crowd.

Emily slid beside me and whispered in my ear, "Maybe it's just ordinary patrols?"

I tried to get the best view of their faces. They looked a little tired or stressed. The one I could see was pale and grey with lines across their forehead. Whatever their job or mission was, it was an important one.

"I'm going to ask someone," Emily stated. My eyes widened but before I could stop her, she had hopped forward and tapped the person ahead of us.

I dropped my head to my chest in an effort to hide my face.

"Excuse me but our radio hasn't been working at home the last few days. Could you tell me what has been on so I could tell my parents?" She had altered her voice so she sounded more kind spoken, matching her outfit. There was pause which forced my heart to stop. This is too risky with all these guards crawling around. My hand started to sneak out to snatch her back just as the woman began to speak.

"Well, there's been a lot about those missing kids still. And there is a curfew being put in place where everyone has to be inside at nine at night."

Another voice chimed in, "Good timing to ask girl 'cause it's starting tonight."

"Oh, how come?" Emily as with a voice like an innocent child.

"They're trying to find them kids. Rumour has it that there's some group going around. That's why there's so many guards roaming about; they want to catch them. I heard that, whoever they are, are super dangerous. Sound like a bunch of lowlifes to me, luring people away from their families."

Emily briefly thanked them for their help before slotting back beside me.

"Well, we're in trouble," she said with tight lips.

"We need to get to somewhere quiet before someone sees us," I murmured to myself, glancing back at the others.

Catching their attention, I pushed through the throng of people. I kept my eyes trained on the ground and pulled my shoulders close beside me. My breathing came heavy through my nose with every glance at the familiar boots that I used to wear. But a gasp slipped out of me when a pair of them landed on my toes. My gaze flickered up to a wide-eyed face. A dishevelled beard lined his slightly partly lips as his shaven head rung bells in my mind. Adrian. We stared at each other, no one making any moves. To my surprise, he stepped to the side to let me pass.

"Sorry ma'am," he said with no sound of emotion.

I froze for a moment before kicking myself into gear to continue my fast-paced walk. I hadn't realised my throat had gone dry until it hurt when I next swallowed. There's no way he didn't recognise me. He could see my face. Was it him?

"Did you see that?" I whispered back to Emily.

She shot me a look of angry impatience. "The guards? Yes, now let's go."

She didn't see him. Maybe it wasn't him. Shaking my head free of my thoughts, I continued to scurry through. I must just be tired and be seeing things. If it was him, he would have known it was me straight away and caught us. It wasn't him. I'm just going crazy.

*****

It got extremely quiet once we escaped from the busy street to a dense alleyway. We were surrounded by high walls with the only exit being where we came from.

"This a great place to set up camp," Beth groaned sarcastically, stamping around as we set ourselves up.

"Got any better ideas? No? Then hush," Emily snapped while she brushed past her. People had begun to pull things out of bags. Our 'setting up' consisted of spreading out piles of blankets away from each other. But Finn walked over beside me with his bedding in his arms.

"Mind if I set up next to you?" he asked with a goofy smile. My own smile leapt onto my lips at the slight nervous twinkle in his eyes. He doesn't want to be alone in the dark.

Giving him a small nod, I murmured, "Of course."

I gently placed my things onto the ground while Finn hastily dropped his down with not much care. His landed close to mine but a comfortable amount of space remained in between. We were no farther away than two people in a dorm. I glanced around us to everyone else. Expecting to see Tate and Beth settle down beside one another, a sliver of shock tapped me when they were as separate as anyone else. Sam and Emily were nearby with Hector bridging the gap between them and the other two.

"We better try find some sort of food for dinner," Sam stated. He's right, but where would you find clean, edible food?

Voicing my inner question, I was met with, "I said 'some sort of', can't guarantee it will be nice."

He was right; it was something to eat But I never want to eat something like it again. Hector had found a series of bags discarded somewhere with scraps left inside. It looked fresh enough. However, the first bite told otherwise. Its usual softness was replaced with a nauseating stiffness. You could easily tell that it wasn't long until it would make you completely sick. Even though the food tasted disgusting as it went down, it didn't stop me from craving more as my stomach rumbled loudly. My face pinked at the sound, but no one reacted to it. Seconds later, Beth's body copied.

"Is there anything else?" she questioned as she ran her hand over her stomach to quieten it down. Tate quickly searched through the group of bags, but they all just fluttered away when touched off of. He shook his head with a scowl.

The sky was becoming dark at this point so everyone slowly made their way to bed. The pain in my stomach sent pricks of irritation straight to my head. Any cheerful mood I had previously evaporated as I climbed under my blankets. Whether it was because of my persisting hunger or genuine exhaustion, my eyes felt heavy. I vaguely heard Tate say something about him going on first watch, but my attention was drawn to the fluttering of my eyelids. Soon I was submerged into soothing darkness.