The World is After Us

Chapter 2

"Great, so what's your plan now?" I ask, staring at Jexton worriedly. He glances around with his eyes bulged out of his head, and quickly stands to his feet.

"I don't know, but if they stay where they are, they're gonna give us away." he says, moving close to the window again. 

My heart starts to pound even heavier, and when I realize that he is right, my panic starts to kick in. There is no other way out of here unless we climb out of the window, and even that is too dangerous. We are stuck. 

"We need a plan, Jex. Come on!" I say hurriedly and rush to the window across the room. It is the furthest escape plan, and if we get out of here fast enough, we will have just enough time to get away. 

Jexton follows close behind me, and looks back every few moments while I'm climbing out of the window to make sure that no one is coming for us. And when I am finally outside, he hops out faster than I had before. 

We the take off running in a direction that we didn't even know, but we didn't care. Anything and anywhere to get us out of here and out of danger. 

"I've spotted them!" a distant voice calls. It is echoed, so it tells us that it came from further than where we are right now. 

As we run, I continuously hope that Ren did not set us up. She and her brother had done anything and everything they could to prove to us that they were good and loyal, but their choice in escape plans makes me feel suspicious and nervous toward them. After all, Jexton had done the same thing to me, and I can't help but feel limited trust toward them. 

My legs soon grow tired once again, but I know that I cannot stop. My vision starts to go blurry from the tears that I had not known formed in my eyes, but I blink them away and try to keep close behind Jexton. 

Eventually we run into a large building with chipped bricks and rubbed off paint. There are electric barbed wire fences surrounding the entire premises and a series of people walking around wearing grey uniforms. 

Our breathing is heavy, and I look at Jexton with a worried expression. This is a concentration camp. Filled with people just like me. 

"Did you know about these?" I ask angrily, tears streaming down my cheeks all over again. Jexton nods his head, keeping his eyes on the camp.

 "I forgot about them." Jexton says slowly. My heart sinks at the sound of his voice, and I step away from him when I remember that when I was taken into the community, I was about to be brought here as a prisoner. 

"So these are all the rebellions? All-all of the Germans and the Japs and, and—" I ask, staring at Jexton, who is paying no attention to me. My heart pounds even more as the fear of knowing that if I'm caught, I will be placed here. Jexton shakes his head.

"No," he says quietly. "Not all of them." 

I turn back to the fence and watch all of the people walk around. There are so many of them, and most of them are children. The vast majority of the men are pushing around wheelbarrows full of grain, and the mothers are digging holes. 

The kids are running around with each other, and it breaks my heart that they probably have no idea what is going on. 

"So that's where they were taking all of the kids when they broke into people's homes." I say lowly, finally putting all of the pieces together. The memory of my mother hiding me in my father's old chest burns in my mind, and makes me cry when I connect it to this very moment.

"Jexton," I whisper, but he doesn't move. He just stares at the camp, watching all of the people closely. "If. . .if the Consilium wanted to imprison everyone who wasn't Jewish or Polish, then. . .then why did they only go after the kids?"

Jexton stays silent for a moment, then answers calmly. "The idea was to raise the kids in the community for more succession in possessing ultimate power." 

"And the adults in there are because they were hiding those kids from being taken." I say, and Jexton nods. I figured that out a while ago, and it scares me that it could be my mother and I in there if we were to be caught. 

"Do they kill them?" I ask worriedly, and Jexton nods immediately. 

"If they continue to rebel, yes. But if they surrender. . ." He stops mid-sentence, and doesn't finish. His breathing is starting to return to normal, and he actually looks pretty calm watching all of these trapped people roam around. Then the memory comes to me. Jexton is an rebellion recruiter. And that's what he was doing when the two of us first met.

"Jexton, we should go. . ." I say after another few moments of silence. He ignores my suggestion and shakes his head, with no intention on moving any time soon. Suddenly, sirens begin to go off, and I tug at Jexton's sleeve.

"Come on, we need to go!" I yell, but Jexton still doesn't move. I then decide that I am for myself if he doesn't want to move. I shake my head and step back, the turn around and bump into a tall soldier. I look up at him, and he grabs my shoulders tightly.