Beyond The Know

Barrier Lockdown

Parker was panicking; why hadn't he thought about the key before they reached the Barrier? He knew Alexa was disappointed, which was probably an understatement. It was more like devastated. He'd slowed down during his thought process, so his sister took the lead, sprinting along the wall with her bags swinging.
Alexa stopped abruptly, and walked forwards slowly. She beckoned Parker over, and he saw what she was looking at. It was a metal door in the Barrier, completely flat and smooth. There was no keyhole, only odd looking buttons and something small and dome shaped attached to the wall.
Suddenly, a beam of red shot out of the mini-dome, and flicked madly across their bodies. Parker couldn't feel anything, but he stayed still just in case, and he could see Alexa doing the same. The beam flicked to green, and then disappeared.
"Passcode required." The sudden, automated female voice made them jump. The sound of the Garrison shouting with dogs at their heels was coming ever nearer. But what was the passcode?
"Benefactor." He tried. There was a pause, and the voice spoke again.
"Passcode," there was another pause, "incorrect. Attempt one of three."
"Dammit!" Parker said out of frustration.
"Passcode: incorrect. Attempt two of three." Before Parker could say anything else, Alexa interjected.
"Circle!" Parker stared at her in confusion, but she didn't look at him. She didn't want to lose confidence in her answer. The pause lasted forever, and they could hear the Garrison a few hundred metres away. They could be caught any moment now, if the passcode was wrong.
"Passcode," Alexa's heart thumped painfully in her chest, "correct. Door open." Alexa stifled a scream of relief, and she almost went limp. The door hissed and opened slowly, but Parker and Alexa squeezed themselves through the gap, bags and all. The beam scanned them immediately in the other side as they faced to closing door. It suddenly shut so quickly that the 'bang' echoed a few times. The Garrison definitely heard that. Alexa tried to think of a command for the door, to stop the Garrison from chasing them, and hunting them down.
"Barrier lockdown." She said, awkwardly. Parker was leaning against the wall, doing his breathing exercises he had to perform when he was angry, or stressed, or seriously upset.
"Please specify duration of lockdown."
"Twenty-four hours." That should be enough to get them to 'New York', wherever that was.
"Affirmative. System shutdown has begun. Twenty-four hours remaining." And there was silence. Alexa hadn't even turned to look at what lay beyond The Know. She'd expected marshlands or toxic waste; a no man's land.
What she saw was far from it.
There was a sandy path that snaked through towering trees of all species. Alexa remembered some from her Biology class; fully grown oak, pine, sycamore and willow trees shed a green tinted glow onto the grass. The sky was an azure colour, the clouds scattered across the yonder in light wisps.
It took her breath away, and she stared at her brother in amazement. He was doing a 360, taking everything in. His jaw was practically hanging on hinges, and let out a sunny laugh, which cracked Alexa up too.
"I was not expecting this," Parker ran his hand through his hair, a drunk-on-happiness smile plastered onto his face. Alexa couldn't reply; the air smelled like grass, she felt clean. They began walking along the path, cherishing their escape. They talked as the miles dragged on; about their friends in The Know. Alexa hoped she'd see them again; Lottie, Jessica, Aaron. In the afternoon, at around four, they sat down and unpacked the food Nathaniel had prepared. They shared salads, sandwiches, energy drinks, chocolate bars and so much more. Then they continued their voyage.
Night began to fall, and that's when Alexa spotted some lights through the trees. Parker was dragging himself along by this point, but Alexa was raring to go. She held his arm and pulled him under the hanging leaves of a nearby willow. She watched closely; there were two men, and they were looking at their watches, and searching the nearby area. They wore purple shirts; Alexa had never seen people dressed in that uniform before.
"Where are those kids? Think they got Garrisoned?" One asked. Alexa perked up visibly, but Parker's eyes were droopy and he was slumping his head forward, his hair falling into his face. Alexa took the risk, lay her brother down and crept out of the tree's shelter. They spotted her immediately, and the one who'd spoken smiled at her in relief.
"Where's your brother?"
By the time the two guys had heaved Parker into the their van and strapped him in safely, Alexa was starting to feel drained. And by the time the van was packed up and ready to leave, she snoozing beside her brother.