The Mystery Of Blonde Beauty

005

~Savannah~ 

Savannah's heart dropped into her stomach. Charlotte clung to her arm tightly enough to draw blood with her fingernails. They were both pale in the face and struggled to breathe. Silent tears fell from Charlotte's eyelids. Savannah felt nausea arising in her abdomen. 

"Tell me you're not still contemplating going closer." Charlotte begged. Savannah barely heard her. She was too focused on how the leading policeman dealt with the situation that had just unfolded in front of their innocent eyes. He seemed almost...good. "Savannah, snap out of it. We have to go. Now!" Charlotte was harsh with her now. She knew the redhead was right. There is no good here.

"Wait till they go back into the tent, then we'll sprint the way we were going." Charlotte seemed to relax. She threw her head back in relief and slid her freckled hand into her friend's. She gave the soft skin a squeeze. Savannah tightened her grip as well and watched the men as they made their ways back into the base. She couldn't help but to keep revisiting the kindness and compassion demonstrated by the superior officer. It was a small act, most likely a personal dilemma, that he didn't want to shoot at the kid. He didn't even imprison him even when pressured by his peers to do so. Savannah watched as the man disappeared behind the mesh constructed visor that served as an entrance. That was her cue. 

With their hands still linked, the girls sprang out of their hiding place. The runaways darted fast under the hot sun that was browning their skin. Charlotte had gotten sunburn on the bridge of her nose and cheeks.

"My skin's so sensitive." She chuckled when they were a mile away from the camp and began to slow. She tapped the pink flesh lightly as they trekked on through yet another field.

"It doesn't hurt?" 

"No. Not enough to stop me, anyway." Another chorus of giggles rose into the surrounding air like smoke. "Gosh, I'm starving." Charlotte rubbed her stomach longingly. "I haven't eaten in a while."

"Char, honey, I don't remember the last time my belly was full."

"You're not kidding." The pair was positioned atop a sort of plateau overlooking a valley. Savannah could see bushels filled with berries and fruit trees growing plentifully. 

"Guess it's time to eat." She pointed to the food. 

"I've never been so overjoyed to see an apple. That's one of the things that the people in the laboratory fed me every single day."

"Sounds gross."

"It was." Charlotte charged, racing Savannah. They came to a halt beneath the apple tree and reached up to pluck a juicy red fruit from its branch. Savannah brought nature's gift up to her plump cherry-colored lips and sank her teeth into the skin. The apple was sweet with a tangy aftertaste. Charlotte munched loudly on her's, looking satisfied. They eyed each other with bright grins and examined their surroundings with a pinch of awe. The sky was a magnificent baby blue with just a handful of fluffy white clouds dotting the skyline. Green leaves rustled in the wind that smelled of flowers which wafted through the landscape. 

"This place is gorgeous!" Char exclaimed. Savannah couldn't help but to agree. "I want to build a home here one day."

"Someday you will." Savannah breathed in a wave of fresh, fragranced air. It was then, while looking at the only beauty she's ever seen in her world, that she confirmed what her purpose is. I'm going to free the blondes...

"What are you thinking over there?" Charlotte's eyebrow was curved upward. "You just made quite the confident statement, sounds like you have plans?" She guessed. 

"I know why this happened to us." 

"Elaborate." Savannah looked at her now with fire lighting in her eyes.

"We are going to start an uprising." Charlotte stopped chewing her apple. 

"How do you suggest we do this?" Her word choice proved to Savannah that her new friend was on board. Savannah tugged at a strand of her blonde hair and twirled it into a coil around her soft yet boney finger. Letting it go free, she spoke.

"Violence and unity will burn our image into the government's brain." Charlotte smirked in a sly manner.

"I'm open to this." Savannah knew she was remembering the doctors in white trench coats who worked tests on Charlotte day and night while she was trapped in the laboratory. 

In a synced sort of way the two took another bite of their separate fruits and looked out across the horizon. Savannah felt a strong calling to go in that direction where hills, almost as large as mountains, jutted up to the skyline. 

"What if one of the rumored refugee camps for blondes isn't as far from us as we think it is?" She posed.

"Hmm." Charlotte didn't know what else to respond back with.

"I have a feeling we're close to something important like that, even if it's just a small camp of people. I can feel the presence of people...people like us."

"Then we should follow that instinct." Charlotte stated.

And so they did.