The Approximation

Captured

The party booms in the background, and as I move silently by on the pavement I can feel the vibrations of the pounding music. I run through the streets people spaced out behind me, as I knock once on doors that have a rag nailed on the front. 

People duck out behind me, and I can feel the breathing of those behind me. Every nerve within me is crackling and my heart beats a thousand beats per second. 

People exit their homes and rip the rags off the front doors as they exit. Their faces hooded, a boy no older than eight grips his fathers hand, as we run. We run faster than I thought I possibly could. 

Noise is behind me, a black hood pulled over his face. Res is tacking a different route gathering those who listened unto the busses heading towards Atlanta. The only city in America that was not renamed because it is abandoned. 

We where only able to gather people that Res knew and they told others. Some chose to believe him others didn't since they didn't want to leave behind city life which is much better than pollinating trees in the country. My only regret is I will not be able to save more. 

We continue the run the pounding in my ears so loud that I can't even hear the music. 

Then I hear a scream, I spin around and see a man lying on the floor his pant leg ripped open, and his leg broken at an odd angle his eyes are watering. He begins pulling at his leg trying to make it straight. I cringe as he begins to yelp. 

"Shhhh." I say gently trying to tell him to be quite. The rest of the huddle of men look at me questioningly. 

"Go on without me, I will stay here with him until I am able to get him to the busses. Leave behind no trace of you ever being her, take the rags with you." I tell them, they remain silent watching me with the man. 

"GO!" I say more forcefully. They turn to move. Noise stay along though, his unruly blonde hair peeking out from beneath his hood. 

He points to the ground then to himself, and then at the man. Finally he points at me motioning me to go. 

"No Noise, you go I'll help him up." Noise nocks the door of the house and motions angrily for me to run. "No look you aren't strong enough to help him." 

I attempt to grab the man by the shoulders, but he screams out again and his head lolls to the side. He has blacked out from the pain. 

Noise crosses his arms, I consider leaving the man on the street and leaving with Noise and the men, but I take a look at the man and no matter how much I try to dig deep within myself to do so I jut can't do it. 

"Alright you stay here, once I get to the busses I'll go find Res and get a stretcher to help this man to the busses, okay?" Noise nods once sitting down on the street beside the unconscious man. 

Then I run faster than before. I run past the men running down the street no longer a mob but a huge herd of men. The noise they're making on the street unbearably loud. I cringe at the sound as I slink by them to where I see the delivery trucks two big looking men in standard slave uniforms of orange jumpsuits herding people into the truck. Another man stands at the entrance in all black and a machine gun. But as I take a closer look I realize that the man, standing there isn't a man, it's a women. And not any women she's Anusha. 

When I near her I stop and gawk at her. Then she cocks her gun right at my forehead. 

"You have five seconds to explain yourself before I shoot." She says, a fierce look in her eyes.  

"Anusha it's Tera, I'm here leading the North group and I'm in dire need of a stretcher a man broke-" 

"Otera King-Wang?" Anusha tightens her stance, but  Res runs over and stops her. 

"This is Tera she's with us, she's actually the one who told us about the experiment." Anusha looks at me skeptically, but jerks her head for me to pass. 

I move in a haze from the surprise of seeing Anusha, but once I reach the busses I immediately snap out of it. 

"Res we need a stretcher, a man feel down and broke his leg, Noise has stayed there with him until we can get the man help." 

"What!" Res looks at me with confusion. "You left Noise by himself!" Res begins running to the back of the bus. He brings out a black tarp.

"Did you find a stretcher?"  

"This is about as good as it gets Princess." He says.

He runs over to Anusha and whispers something to her, she nods curtly.  Then he begins sprinting to the alleyway. I move behind him huffing and puffing, I guess a life sitting in the library didn't prepare me well enough for this.

We reach the clearing but instead of seeing the man and Noise on the curb they're gone. But when I look up I see the man, a rope hung around his neck as he dangles by the flickering lamp post, his leg forever locked in the grotesque position. 

"Where is Noise." I say my voice trembling as I watch the man sway, blood cascading in rivulets down the mans neck. 

I feels someone grab by arm and tug me towards them. I yelp in surprise, as I see Res grabbed as well my dark hands in the night. He presses a red button then smashes it to the ground. 

I scream when I see a fun pressed to Res's neck. and I begin to struggle away from my captures. 

"I wouldn't do that if I where you." A sickly sweet voice taunts behind me. 

 I turn to see look where the voice had come from, and that's when I see her. 

Elena walks through the white mist like the darkness shrouding her like a cape. 

"I knew that you weren't the angel that everyone said you where." She sneers. 

"Elena what are you doing here." I ask. 

"Getting my job back from an 18 year old girl." She says straightening her shirt. 

"So your doing all this because you didn't like the idea of me having something that you didn't. Well boo hoo. Grow up, and just admit that you could't figure out the formula." I say. Her face tightens into anger. 

"That really wasn't the right thing to say." Res whispers beside me. 

"You, shut up." Elena says. 

"Now tell me where those men you sent away are." 

"What men?" I say. She scowls at me. 

"Bring him out." She says drawing her hands out in front of her beckoning a dark figure hunched in the corner.   

Noise comes out from the corner a gun pressed to his head, and an arm slung around his neck the women holding him presses him to her chest to insure that he doesn't escape. 

I squint at his face, but instead of having a normal five year olds reaction to being captured his eyes are dead his face still, resigned to his fate. 

"Let his go." I spit out at her. 

"Then tell me where the men are." 

"Ter-." Res begins to say before begin choked by the goon. 

"There are two busses they're parked two blocks away they're full of the men you want. They're on they're way to Doorbrooke." I say to her. Res looks at me shame filling his eyes. 

"Wich way?" Elena asks. I point in the opposite direction. She nods her head at Noise, the lady lets him go.

He begins to run away. 

"Shoot him." Elena says no emotion in her voice. The women fires her gun once, I hear the thud of a body hit the floor. 

I feel hot tears on my cheek. 

"Take them away." Elena says 

"No no no NO! NO!" I scream hysterically as they take me and Res away.