Never Again

Chapter 25

Katie's - POV

"Come on, quicker!" Drew said, holding the punching bag to make sure it didn't stray too far away from me.

My breath came out in pants as I punched quicker and harder, trying to squeeze out every last drop of effort before the minute was up.

"And time!" She said, moving away from the bag and throwing me a bottle of water. "Well done, you've already improved so much in the last few weeks."

Although we knew that we were going to be leaving soon and all of this fighting and stamina training might mean nothing considering the time we had to train was so little, we were still going to take all the precautions possible and try and get closest to our physical peak before leaving.

We didn't want to leave anything to chance as next week was going to be one of the most crucial weeks in our lives.

It was going to be a struggle to get back to my home, but that didn't mean that it was impossible as there was always a way.

"Have you got any idea how we are going to reach your home town from the mission area?" Drew had asked when I mentioned going back to my house.

Although I didn't have a definite idea on how it was going to go, one of the main options that I was looking towards was travelling by boat.

We would hide on a ship that was going to the United Kingdom with food and water that we would pack, sneaking off afterwards before anyone noticed us.

It wasn't much of a well thought-out plan but it was all I could come up with in such a short amount of time. I was sure more ideas would come to me after we arrived at our mission homebase. This was because we would get to scout out the actual area, which was always better than on a screen. I would also now have Drew coming up with plans as well which would make the process twice as efficient.

Now, all we could do was try our hardest and hope that everything went according to plan. Otherwise we would be in real trouble.
                                                                                          

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It was finally the day that we were scheduled to leave. We had packed everything that we would need - weapons clothes and electronic devices - so that we could communicte with the people back here. The other things that we would need for our escape plan would be bought at our destination as too many questions would be asked if we took food and water or other things in that vein when we could get them there. Simple was better, especially in situations like this.

"You made sure that you have everything?" Drew asked, checking her bag one last time.

"Yep," I said, "I've made sure to tick everything off my list."

"Good," Drew said, before muttering under her breath "This is my final chance."

"I know," I said softly, in a comforting tone.

I didn't have to mentally prepare myself for things of this nature as I was so confident in my own, and Drew's ability. Leaving no room for doubt in my mind that we weren't going to succeed in our escape attempt.

"Let's go then." I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder and walking out the door.

"Right behind you." Drew said, grabbing her bag and catching up to me.

Walking down this hallway had felt different ever since that night I had decided I was going to get out, but today it felt even more different from anytime before. I felt sad in a way, like I was leaving something important behind and although being in this place had made me a person that I was more proud of, it was inspite of this facility and the people inside, not because. I wouldn't have wished anyone to go through what I'd been through here but it didn't make the fond feelings and memories that I'd developed here go away any faster.

Before I knew it we were on our flight, flying out to our destination. As I watched the the ground slowly change from land to water I felt a sense of relief. We had past the first stage without any hitches.

Now, it was up to us to complete the next stages and get away from this organisation. Compared to the time I'd spent away, it would only take a little bit of time to get back to my town.

To pass the time I asked one of the quetions that I'd always wanted to ask Drew: what was her family life like before we got to this place. I had never had the courage before but now that we had left that place and those people, the adrenaline was making me feel more confident in my decisions.

"Hey, Drew?" I asked, glancing to my right where she was sitting. "What was your life like before you came to this place?"

She was quiet for a long time, almost to the point where I didn't think that she would answer. I had looked away, feeling deflated, before I heard her start to speak.

"I moved around a lot when I was a kid since it was only me and my mum and she had to take whatever work she could get." Drew had a far away look on her face as she said this, like she was reminiscing. "Although we had a happy life and were really close I had always felt that something was wrong. She told me that us moving around was all for her work but in reality the assassination organisation wanted me and had tried to take me. Meaning that every few months we would move to try and escape them."

She slowed down for a bit but I was prepared to wait until she was ready to tell me the next part. It wan't until a few minutes later that she actually continued though.

"One morning when I was supposed to be going off to school I came downstairs to find my mum covered in blood and two people wearing black standing over her. As soon as they noticed me they lunged and before I knew it, I was in that wretched place." By the end of the story Drew had become quieter and didn't look like she was going to talk again, lost in her own thoughts.

Now I had learnt what had transpired, it made my ember of rage towards the academy grow exponentially for hurting Drew's mum and for trying so cruelly to get her. While I didn't have to deal with them hurting my family physically as well as emotionally, that was something that she had to deal with. I needed to help Drew at all cost regain her family and take down the organisation. This was a situation that made me feel as if my experiences were diminished. While Drew had been constantly worrying about her mothers health, I had complained to her about matters that now seemed trivial. A fire was lit under me. I was going to do whatever it took to reunite my friend with her mother. No matter what it was that I had to do, I was prepared.