Stolen Truth

17

Raven and Louis are still being watched like they're the enemy (I suppose Louis technically is, but still...) and Viper and Bear constantly argue over how we're going to get into the training camp. I say "we" as if I'm actually joining in, I'm not. I'm a lot of things but I'm certainly not stupid and I'm not going anywhere near that place for as long as I live (which honestly won't be long). Louis keeps trying to help Viper, but no one trusts him, so nobody listens to him. To be quite honest, I actually trust him far more than I do Shark right now, at least if Louis is bad he's actually making an effort to seem like he's on our side.

I can't actually count very high, but I'm definitely sure there are more than five of us stuck in this cart right now and it's starting to make everyone go insane. If the others do decide to march to their deaths by going into the training camp then we probably need to at least tolerate each other, problem is it's pretty hard to not hate everyone when you're constantly within the same breathing space as them.

I'm usually the one charged with watching Louis, mostly because I'm the only one who can stand his constant questions that I have no idea how to answer and his obsession with trying to a start a conversation with everyone. I think Louis just wants a friend really, he's far too nice for me to believe he's a blank (and far too attractive too), all of the generals are usually old and cruel. One day during roll call when I was younger, the boy next to me couldn't speak because the general had knocked most of his teeth out the day before, still, the boy was sent to isolation for three days as a punishment for not answering when his number was called.

Despite the fact that we had all become rather sick of each other, there was still a disgusting sense of togetherness that the others have, they expected to find this prince and win, as much as I wanted that too, I know that's not how it's going to end, not for all of us anyway. I wonder if this prince even knows he's the prince, if he's stuck in that training camp then they erased his memories and there's absolutely no way he's going to believe a bunch of hungry looking kids.

They've lived through a lot and it's been hard for them, but none of these guys have a realistic sense of what might happen because they've never been around a blank long enough. Louis and I have grown up around these training camps and the kind of stuff they teach kids there, if we find the prince the first thing he'll do is alert everyone of our presence and we'll be killed before we can explain anything. No one is listening to me about any of this because most of them still don't know that I was a blank soldier, and no one is even thinking to ask Louis anything because he is a blank.

"We've made a decision," Viper announced, and we all gave our attention to her. "Bear and Owl will be staying behind, Owl is too young and Bear is still injured. Anybody else can pull out and stay behind if they wish."

I was about to pull out, I had promised myself after all, but that was all based on the assumption that Dove would've pulled out, I couldn't let her go in alone. "Are we pulling out?" I whispered to her.

"No, I promised Bunny that if I left I would find the prince, I didn't leave her to have someone else find him whilst I stayed behind, I might as well have just stayed at camp with her."

"You didn't leave her so you could die either," I pointed out.

"I won't die," Dove insisted, "You can still stay behind if you want to."

"No, I'll go," I sighed.

"Can I go then?" Louis asked, looking at Viper hopefully.

"Well I didn't say you were staying behind, did I? Plus, you're probably the only person that can get us in and out safely. You will be with me, Rat and Dove at all times though, you and Raven will not be on the same team."