Vitality [Teaser]

Chapter 8: A Fine Day for a Walk

The sky was still in its twilight phase when they finally woke up. Gentle little taps could be heard from their window. Some were louder than others, but they couldn't tell with the giant rumbles that echoed throughout Salento. The sun will not show its face for the entire day.

Orion and Nikos looked out the window on to their street. The guards were making their final rounds for the night. Orion would occasionally yawn while Nikos' eyelids gently began to fall. They remained quiet as they gazed out the window. Every so often, a flash of light would illuminate the sky and reflect its rays on the droplets running down their window. They waited patiently for their mother to enter the room.

"What time did mom said we're going to go?" Orion asked in a whisper.

"Just before five o'clock. We need to leave before the announcement turns on downstairs." Nikos replied.

"And what time is it now?"

Nikos looked at his CloverWatch and turned on the hologram for a brief moment to check the time. Then he quickly shut it off.

"It's 4:40 A.M." He replied.

Orion nodded and pulled his backpack closer to his body. He then looked at the box that sat on Nikos' desk.

"Is that where you kept your tracker?" Orion asked.

"Yeah," Nikos said as he picked up the box. "And I plan on leaving it here."

"They won't notice that you and your tracker are not at the same place?"

"They probably will eventually, but when we leave today, I won't have to worry about that. No one knows about the tracker in the box beside Dr. Ana and us."

Suddenly there was a knock on their door. The boys turned around as their mother slowly came in.

"Are you guys ready?" She asked.

They nodded at her.

"Good. Then let's go." She said.

Orion quickly picked up his backpack and followed Alanis downstairs. Nikos was just about to follow him until he saw the box in his hand. He then walked over to his desk and placed it right by the window. Nikos walked downstairs and saw Orion waiting by the door. Alanis was by the TV pulling wires out of it.

"What are you doing?" Orion asked.

"I'm shutting down our TV completely so it won't come on. The last thing we need is noise leaking out of the house." She said.

"What about the guards?" Nikos asked

"What about them?"

"Won't they see us leave our house and report us?"

"They won't see us if they're inside for the morning pledge. There are a brief few minutes where no one is outside Salento. It's the minutes before five o'clock. The guards will be home by that point preparing for the pledge while the other Proditors will barely wake up and get ready to start their day. Curfew ends in just a few minutes from now before the TV even turns on so our door won't even alarm the Resinix that monitor our activity. We'll leave the house when all the guards finally enter their homes. There will be no one outside, but us and any other Advors." She said.

"It's a good thing there are no cameras here," Orion said.

"That's because this town is still a new Proditor town. If we were living up North, then this plan will probably not work at all." She said.

She then stood up and moved away from the TV and walked over to her bag. She checked it once more then looked over at Orion.

"Orion, peek out the window and tell us when you see our street guard enter his house." She said.