Midnight Massacres

Chapter Two

Fred froze.

No, it cannot be. He knew that today was Noah's last day, but he would not have expected it to be his. 

One minute, Fred was grieving the fact that Noah had been chosen as a victim, now he was grieving about his own life. How could this happen? Out of all the children in the UK, how were he and Noah chosen? Without thinking, Fred rushed for support and comfort from his mother. It was the second time that day that Fred's mother had to hold a crying Fred in her arms, but this time she was crying too.

"Fred, I am so sorry," she said. He and his mother had experienced this pain before. Fred's father had suffered the same fate as Noah, he too was chosen to be massacred on the show. Fred was only three-years-old at the time, thus he did not suffer as much as he should have. Though his mother was a fully grown adult. She should not have to go through this pain again.

A long time after, Fred was in his room on his bed ready to be killed. There was no point to run. Fred's father had run, though was inevitably slaughtered. He could not hear a van coming up the driveway, so he knew the Massacres had not arrived yet, he still had some valuable time to live.

The silence was again broken by a phone call. This came as a surprise to Fred, he was not expecting a call. He cautiously picked it up.

"Hello. Fred. Listen you've got to run."

"Who is this?" Fred replied.

"It doesn't matter who I am, just run. There should be a forest ahead of your house. I want you to-"

"How do you know where I lived" he interrupted. Fred was now scared. They knew who he was and where he lived. He wondered what else they knew.

"Shut up and listen," the voice said. " I want you to run into the forest immediately. Keep heading north until you reach the end. That is where I will meet you tomorrow at noon. Now listen, they will be expecting you. When they find out you are not in the house the forest is the first place they will look for you. Keep low. Keep hidden. I cannot promise you that you will live, but it's the best chance you've got." And with that, the voice was gone.

Fred had so many questions. Who is he? Why does he want to save me? The questions kept coming at him like a fusillade of bullets, but he had no choice if he wanted to live. He immediately packed a compass, a sleeping bag, some food, some clothes, a stuffed toy, a book and a picture of his mother and Noah. He told his mother what he was doing and what had happened on the phone. He started to cry uncontrollably.

 Apparently, Fred's dad had gotten the same call to meet at the same place at the same time. Now Fred knew that he had more of a chance of dying than living if he took that path, though if he stayed he would definitely get killed. There would be no chance of living. He explained this to his mother, who was refusing to let him go, but she eventually agreed. 

He walked outside the house. There was no sign of the van anywhere, so Fred had time to hug his mother for what would be the last time in his life. He immediately felt the warmth of the motherly hug the moment he came in contact with her. They both started to cry. This was the last time they would see each other in their lives. His mother would live alone for a long time after, and Fred was inevitably going to die. After a while of being in her arms, they let go of each other.

'Goodbye' were the last words Fred would ever say to his mother. 

He entered the forest to see the masses of grand oak trees standing like pillars before him. He had never ventured into the forest alone before. He always had Noah or his mother by his side at all times. The thought of those two replaced Fred's sudden feeling of excitement with a feeling of dread, foreboding.

It was well over 10 o'clock, though Fred had never known the authorities to go beyond roads and civilization. He took out his compass to check he was going the right direction. He looked back at the house he used to live in and he saw his mother there, watching him with tears dripping down her cheeks. She smiled as he looked back. He suddenly felt like running back and staying with her until he got killed, all he wanted to do right then was to run back into her presence, to be back in her loving arms. He shook himself at the idea. He didn't want to die, he had to keep going.

He ventured into the forest until he became incredibly tired. He took out his sleeping bag and stuffed toy and laid them down on a flat terrain next to a large oak tree. He smiled at the sight of the stuffed toy. That and the picture were the only things reminding him of home. He started to cry at the thought until he cried himself to sleep.

He was woken up the next morning by the sound of multiple people rushing up the forest shouting commands that he could not quite understand. He looked around the tree and saw people with black jackets and red writing on their chests; Massacres. Fred suddenly pulled himself back to a position where he was completely blocked by the tree. He had to think of something fast. He pondered about possible escapes from them but was left with nothing except to run or climb up the tree. Running would sure get him killed eventually and took the smart decision to climb the tree.

He packed up everything into his bag and looked around, the Massacres were approaching. He started to climb up the tree. It was not a hard climb, he had seen worse. He was well up the tree by the time the Massacres arrived. Though one thing still haunted him when he was up the tree; the stuffed toy. The teddy was still on the ground where he had slept. It must have fallen out of his bag as he was climbing, but he did not have time to retrieve it now, the Massacres were there.

"Hey! Guys!" Said the rough looking Massacre "Look!" the cameramen focused their cameras onto the toy that lay helpless on the floor. 

"The kid must be 'ere," said another, looking around the terrain for another sign of a child. None of the Massacres or cameramen thought to look up to where Fred sat helplessly in the tree. They must not be as smart as the government makes them out to be, he thought to himself.

"Drop the toy," one of the cameramen said, "Come up here, there are footprints leading up!" The Massacres followed the trail of mysterious footprints across the forest. Fred checked his compass. They were heading east. Excellent! He waited for what would have been at least an hour before hopping down the tree and retrieving his toy, which he was so glad to have back in his possession. 

The rest of the trek was pretty uneventful, he reached the top by ten in the morning. He waited behind a tree there to avoid getting seen. North of the forest was a road, followed by a mountain covered by grass and fields. He was waiting for two hours before he started to worry about whether or not the mysterious figure would turn up. Though sure enough, a figure trotted up to him from the mountain above. 

"Hello Son"