The Persecuted

Chapter 9

Memories

As good as his memory was, the escape was still a blur in his mind. How he got past the crowd and managed to lose them was something Adan couldn't remember clearly no matter how hard he tried. His first clear memory of it was a dark cellar he had ducked into. There were heavy sacks of potatoes among which he hid. Soldiers came in at one point and poked around, but they missed him, somehow.

Even after they were gone he remained hidden, listening. He could hear shouts and running footsteps and angry voices through the hatch leading outside. The sunlight that came through the cracks in the wooden door was not enough to illuminate the cellar, but it was enough to tell Adan when the sun set. He waited well into the night before emerging from his hiding place and taking the careful steps towards the way out. He stopped to listen, but heard nothing. More steps towards freedom.

His arms screamed in pain when he pushed on the hatch and took a look outside. The dark alley was empty and the main street that had some light to it looked just as empty. Carefully, Adan climbed out and proceeded to move from dark alley to another. The further he got the scarcer the buildings became. He saw a patrol go past in the main streets from time to time, but they didn't bother checking the alleys. They had searched everything during the day. They must have thought he'd gotten away into the nearby woods.

The thought gave him pause. If they were out looking for him in the surrounding countryside would it be better to stay in the city? He shook his head. No. The city wasn't going to be safe for him. He needed empty countryside around him. In the woods he'd be able to hide and let his wounds heal.

Having reached a decision he braved on. The sky was clear and the moon was full so the darkness wasn't too much. The city slowly turned from tightly packed buildings into a more loose gathering of houses and finally the next house was so far away he could barely see the light leaking through the closed window shutters.

Adan had no idea what the terrain would be like, where there would be a forest and where just open farmland. The only thing he had to go on was getting away from the city and he did just that. Soon there were no buildings to be seen and he could run as best he could with his sore body. Any patrol out at night was easy to spot since they all seemed to be carrying torches.

He ran through fields that had tall crops growing on them. It made it hard to see what was ahead, but he was careful and stopped from time to time to listen. People discounted hearing in favour of their eyes, but in the darkness your ears were your best friend. He heard nothing alarming so he continued onward.

It was after many similar fields that he saw the familiar shapes of trees. He headed for them and breathed a sight of relief when he found it to be a real forest instead of just a small group of trees. He had no idea how far he had run, but the urge to continue on was greater than the desire to rest. His body complained, but he pressed on through sheer force of will.

Tripping on roots and bumping into trees made for slow progress, but the same would be true for anyone else. It did not seem anyone was out during the night, so far from the city, so Adan started to feel slight relief.

Maybe I've actually gotten away. Maybe I will live.

The mere though of that gave him pause. He stopped running and leaned against a large tree. He couldn't see much in the darkness. Moonlight barely got through the branches above. He shouldn't have stopped. His legs froze up and refused to take another step, the muscles throbbing with pain as he slumped to the ground and took deep breaths.

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

Snapping awake to a sudden sound had his body screaming. It wasn't just the beating he had taken at the hands of his captors, it was the running and the poor choice of sleeping place that had every muscle and joint locked up. Looking around he couldn't see anything dangerous. The sun was up and casting its light down to the forest floor.