Us Against The World

Chapter 30

"Everybody, calm down!" the guards yell from inside the gate. I slowly stand from my crouching position, uncover my ears and open my eyes. I notice the dust clouds that fill the air entwined with yells and screams. 

I look around frantically and take off running toward the gates, coughing as the dust fills my lungs involuntarily. And as I enter the community, people are doing exactly as I inferred: running and screaming. I cover my mouth as I run through the small city and straight to the medical center. I ponder whether or not to yell for Jexton, but decide that through all the yells and screams taking place, nobody will notice or hear me. 

"Jexton!" I yell and look around. When I get to the medical center, I run inside and find everyone crouching against the walls lining the narrow hallway. "Jexton?" I yell and all the people stare at me with fear and confusion. "Everything's alright," I assure them. "just stay down." to my surprise, they follow my orders and allow me past them. 

I check the room Jexton took me to to get the prevention shot and find that he's not there. I begin to worry, but continue looking anyway. "Jexton!" I yell again.

I don't know why I'm wasting my time looking for the boy that has put me through so much. I should have just taken this time to run and get as far away from here as possible, but something told me to stay and look for him.

I leave the room and check several other rooms with no luck. I sigh and almost give up until I see dark brown hair run across the hall behind me out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turn and scamper to the room the person had just entered. "Jexton?" I ask and look around. I see a woman standing by a window and she turns to me slowly. Karen.

My mouth drops and my heart rate picks up. "Hey, Farrah." her words are stretched in an echo and I scream when I feel arms around me. "Farrah, Farrah, hey. Shh." Jexton's voice replaces Karen's and I turn and hug him. "It's okay, it's alright." he assures me. I try to catch my breath as he pulls away and looks at me. "What's wrong?" he asks. "What are you doing here?" my breath comes out in short wheezes as I look up at him. 

"We have to get out of here." I mumble and grab his arms. "Now!" 

Jexton and I run out of the medical center and through the yards of the community. We head toward the gates and aren't stopped until guards stand before us. "No one leaves." one of the men with a very deep voice and buzzed blonde hair say. "What?" 

"Ander says we keep anyone and everyone from entering or leaving." the other man, with long dirty blonde hair says. I sigh and look at Jexton, but he stares between the two men angrily. "We have to go." he says and the man who spoke first looks at him. "Yeah? And where to?" he asks and Jexton shifts his weight. "That's none of your business, but we need to." 

I keep my head down to hide my face so that the soldier doesn't recognize me. The air is still pretty dusty, so seeing anyone is almost impossible. 

"Sorry, kid." the second guard says. Jexton sighs angrily and rolls his eyes. He grabs my arm and walks me in the opposite direction. 

"Who's Ander?" I ask. "My brother." Jexton replies quickly. "You have a brother?" I ask cautiously and he nods. "Wait, why does he get to make the decisions on whether or not people stay or leave?" 

"Because he's older than me and it was set that if something happened to my dad, he takes charge." 

"Your dad said that?" instead of answering me, Jexton sighs and we continue walking. 

"Where are we going?" I ask and he sighs again, obviously becoming annoyed by all of the questions I have been asking. "To the emergency exit gates," he answers and looks at me. "no more questions." he says and I nod. 

When we get to the emergency exit gates, Jexton and I look around to see if anybody followed, or is watching us. "Does it make a sound?" I ask and Jexton rolls his eyes. "No." he says and I mentally apologize for asking a question so soon after he told me to hold off. 

I watch the inside of the community as Jexton works to open the back gates. When he does, he whistles and I turn around and follow him. He closes the gate swiftly and we sigh of relief. 

We begin walking away from the community, then I remember my bag of supplies. "Jexton!" I say and he stops walking and looks around. "What?" he says in annoyance. 

"I have a bag with some supplies in it. We have to go back to the front." I say and he tilts his head. "I left it behind a tree. It has guns and clothes in it." I say and he nods. "We have to hurry." he insures and I say "Okay."

As we make our way to the front again, a siren goes off. Jexton and I flinch and stare at each other, startled. I shake my head and continue walking. I stop when I realize Jexton is not behind me. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Come on!" Jexton shakes his head. 

"You don't know what those sirens mean, do you?" he asks and I shake my head. "No?" he stares at me blankly and I begin to worry. "What does it mean?" I ask and Jexton turns to the wall, then back to me. 

"It means someone's missing," he says and I shake my head and roll my eyes. "Okay? Whatever. We can still go. We need to." Jexton shakes his head and steps back. 

"No, they were taking count. They know we're gone." he says and worry flashes over me once again. 

"So? What can they do?" I ask and Jexton palms his face. He rubs both of his hands up and down his face while sighing and looks at me as if I am the most clueless person to walk the planet. 

"We have to go back," he says and takes a few steps. "if we leave and they have to find us, they will kill us on the spot." I take a step forward. "Jexton, they won't find us. We'll run away. . .you can't just give in like that." he shakes his head again. 

"We've taken too many chances already." he says and I shift my weight. "We can't go back, Jexton." I whine. "I can't." Jexton shakes his head and begins to walk backwards. "You have to." he answers genuinely. "You have that chip in your arm, too, remember?" he reminds me and turns by jumping on his right foot then runs back to the gates. 

I'm left standing alone with the reminder that no matter where I go, they will find me.