Reunited: Against the Odds

Chapter 5

Wynter's P.O.V. 

"Almost there," I say, grinning as I look towards the door. After several turns, we had finally found the exit to the building. Red lights flashed on and off through each corridor, sirens wailing, encouraging whatever security there was to find us. It was a game of hide-and-seek, and only a few times had we been found, though only temporarily. Delilah and I, we were used to running from authority, so it was a breeze. Snorlypuff on the other hand had a little trouble keeping up, occasionally bumping into a wall or stumbling over his own tangled feet.  

"Are, are you sure Wynter? This is getting really hard..." Snorlypuff barely was able to make out from under his deep pants, bending down for a second and placing his hands on his knees. Loud gasps of air seemed to match the wails of the sirens. He tried putting his hand against the wall for support but was too far away, instead losing his balance and falling against the floor. "It's...it's okay you guys...go on without me!"

"Oh, shut up and stop being dramatic," Delilah says, turning back towards. "This isn't a movie." Reluctantly outstretching her hand towards Snorly, she jerks her hands towards her, Snorlypuff losing balance yet again and falling into her arms. 

"Oh, how cute," I say, holding out only the index fingers and thumbs of both my hands in the best attempt of making a square. "Let me take a picture." Making a distinct 'ugh' sound, Delilah pushed Snorly off of her before sprinting up towards me, the boy attempting yet again to keep up with us. We almost race each other through the hallways, our own small competition in escaping.  So far I'm in the lead, which of course is where I belong. But just then as we make the last turn towards the door, I trip over her foot, stumbling forward and almost falling flat on my face. Just in front of me- the bright red exit sign...and Delilah going through it. 

"Beat ya to it," she sniggers as her pasty hands push through the door, the wind from the outside immediately entering in, sending chills down my spine. The strength of the breeze challenges Delilah, trying to wrap its arms around her and push her back inside. Hugging her arms around herself, she turns her face towards me, strands of her blonde hair instinctively blanketing her face, protecting one of her cheeks and a single blue eye from the fierce wind. "Are you coming? Because I can just leave if that's what you want." Even though she says that, she still keeps the door held open, not making a move towards or away from me. 

"You're such a great person," I say, beginning to push myself up off the ground. Snorly has just caught up with the two of us. He was just behind me- I could tell because of his panting for breath again- his hand against the wall closest to myself. Nearing the door, he began to cough, the icy wind forming into a hand of white and pitching itself as far down his throat as it could, reaching into his stomach and trying to pull out all that is possible. Coughing it out into Delilah's face, he shuddered. "It's mighty cold out there for an early autumn night," he says. It was true, it shouldn't be this cold. Maybe we were farther north than we thought? How unfortunate that no one told us where the hell we are. 

Giving a slight nod, I step outside of the door. Delilah follows behind me, intentionally trying to shut the door on Snorly. After a second or two of resistance, Delilah just lets him tag along, though making an extra effort to stay away from him. The breeze seemed to have instantaneously quieted down, a wind so gentle it almost went by unnoticed. The temperature wasn't freezing as I had expected, but it was below what I was used to. Lights lit up the ground around us, the sirens still quite audible, though not as loud as they were inside. The ground for the most part was bare aside from soil and dying grass. However, a small ways off from us was a fence. An iridescent silver, small barbs reflected the light shining upon it., displaying its deadly beauty. For a security fence, it wasn't too high up, though the barbs gave a small fright to me. It took me a second to remember, a second to bring back the horrible memories. The tributes...replicas, I told myself...strung from the ceiling, strung from barbed wire...wrapped around their necks drained of blood...drained of emotion...drained of life.