Run. [on hold]

II

Hayden's POV
..

Faceless eyes peered from the darkened corners, watching my every move as I made my down the sunken alley. The further I ventured into the unkept street, the more I could feel them burning holes into the back of my head with their stares.

Eyes darting from side-to-side, I crossed the rickety old bridge that connected the north side to the south; what used to divide the Districts before the Great War. My heart pumps in my ears, as my feet take me across the rotting wooden boards with my rucksack, filled with items I scrounged from the drop-outs earlier, bumping against my hip with every step.

Arriving at the tall set of double oak doors underneath the Arc, I knock twice, once and twice again. They creak open, leaving a small enough gap for me to squeeze through. Checking behind me quickly for any followers, I slip through unnoticed.
..
A hand roughly grabs above my elbow and pulls me to the side under one of the numerous canvas tarps at the market-like shelter,
"Hayden," Sage hisses at me under her breath, "what did I say about crossing the bridge to the North"
"I'm sorry Sage, the supplies—"
"I don't care Hayden," she cuts me off, "you know the rules." I look down at my shoes as she sighs and lifts my chin to meet her light blue eyes, "There was another sighting. Last night."
I can't help but hide my shock. The last sighting was more than three months ago when a group attacked the West
"Where?"
"The East," she looks down, contemplating her next words, "word's gotten out that they are making their way around." She looks at up once more, before grabbing my shoulder again and pulling me around the corner into a different tent,
"You can't leave the North Hayden. Not anymore. They're cracking down on who comes and leaves." She lowers her voice as if to not be overheard. My mind spinning, I look around to see that the usual loud buzz of the North is no where to be seen. Instead, it is replaced with solemn expressions, eyes cast down avoiding eye contact, and minimal interactions.
"I don't understand Sage why—"
"Because Hayden," she pulls me further into the web of the creamy coloured canvas tarps, scanning her eyes quickly around the area to ensure no one will over hear us, "the government suspect that they are living amongst us."
"But what do they want?"
"Look, Hayden all I know is that the West has been taken, the East is under attack and there quite possibly could be non-human things living amongst us. What they want? I don't know," she looked around her before dropping her voice even more, "but it can't be good. And we need to get out before they come."
..