Wired

Chapter 3

The only sound for a long time was my feet crashing through the undergrowth in the forest. The trees had begun to blur together and my breathing was getting heavy. I decided is better stop running for a while to catch my breath.

Behind me I heard the sound of another person's footfalls. I hadn't really planned for what to do if there where other people out here. I mean, they tell us there is danger out here so obviously there must be a reason right?

I step over behind a tree and watch as a boy comes running from where I had come from. I didn't recognize him. He had hair that shone like mine.

He bent over with his hands on his knees, panting.

"Where did she go?" He asked himself. I stepped out from my hiding place. He whipped around. His vibrant blue eyes finding my dark ones. His mouth was half open.

"You sure scared me," he said, getting over his initial shock. "Who are you and how did you get here?" He switched tones pulling out a short knife. I took a step back.

"My name is Echo. All I did was escape the city." I said calmly, not taking my eyes off the knife.

"How did you escape?" he asked.

"I jumped off the wall." I stated. His eyes widened at my response. He put the knife away.

"Come with me." He said, then started walking away. I stood there surprised for a few moments before running to catch up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" I asked him.

"Grayson," he said, "just follow me."

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We walked for the rest of the day not saying a word to each other. The sun had begun to slip below the horizon when Grayson finally turned to talk to me.

"I'm taking you to the place where I live. There is only a small group of us. Rarely are we all there at the same time..." he trailed off. I just kept walking. I couldn't believe I wasn't the only one who hated the city.

We walked for another ten minutes before he made me stop.

"It sounds like this is the one night everyone decided to show up. Great," he threw his hands in the air, "You wait here until I come back. Okay?"

I nodded, watching as he went on ahead. That's when I heard them. There was a group of people up ahead. Sounded like, maybe ten or so, boys. Suddenly they all went silent. Then a few cried out. The ones that shouted seemed angry. The others were just completely shocked. Then one of them yelled out 'go get her!'

Then Grayson returned to me. He looked relieved and scared all at once.

"Get up. They want to meet you before they decide what to do with you."

"What they do with me?"

"Either leave you out in the woods to be killed, or make you one of us."