The First ~10K~ (book 2)

6.) Stealing

I woke up early the next morning, not being able to get any sleep. The idea of being able to get out of here kept me awake. My mind flooded with the thoughts of being caught or we wouldn't make it.

Jon came back around 8, freshly showered and wide awake. He pulled out a long roll of paper from his sleeved shirt and rolled it out on my table, using candles to hold it in place.

"Okay," Jon said, taking in a deep breath. "This is the East gate, part of the new complex we've been working on. It's barely guarded because we haven't built any watch towers yet. There should be a small gap...here." Jon pointed near a wall. "It'll be blocked by plywood, which we can easily knock out with a few kicks."

"What about if we climb? Wouldn't that be easier?" I asked.

"Maybe, but it'll probably give us away easier. We can hide along the bushes near the edge of the wall and sneak our way over. It also doesn't help that we have guards that patrol the streets. If we could do it without too much noise, we could get out fast." Jon explained, leaning on one hand.

"So we get out through the East Wall. Well, it doesn't sound too hard." I said.

Jon rolled up the blueprints and shoved them back up his sleeve. "It may seem easy now, actually going through with it will be hard."

"I'm good at sneaking. It's how I've lived this long." I said.

"I talked to Tracie last night," Jon said. "She wants to talk to both of us."

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I told her we just needed to ask her something. We were planning something. She didn't like the sound of it." Jon replied.

"Hopefully she doesn't freak out." I said.

Jon nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets. It grew awkwardly silent between us. Ever since he told me he loved me, I felt as if the air between us was intense.

"I should apologize," Jon finally said.

"For what?" I asked, knowing what he was going to say.

"For...telling you my feelings. I shouldn't have done that to you. You're already dealing with so much and I didn't help any by telling you that." Jon said.

"I appreciate you telling me. I know how it feels to keep your feelings bottled up." I replied.

Jon sighed. "We should probably go meet Tracie."

I nodded and followed him out of my house.

—

Tracie was waiting for us on her front step. She looked pale and sickly, but she didn't act like it bothered her.

"Whatever you guys have to tell me has been eating at me all morning." She said.

"Let's go somewhere more private," Jon suggested.

He led us behind Tracie's place and gave me a look. He wanted me to speak first.

"Listen, Tracie," I started. "You know how I was found outside these walls? Well, Jon and I are going to escape and we need your help."

We both waited for a reaction from Tracie. She just looked at us, no emotion on her face.

"Tracie?" Jon said, snapping his fingers in her face. "Trace?"

I moved my head and Tracie's eyes followed. I looked at Jon who shrugged.

"Are you guys CRAZY?!" Tracie yelled, making Jon and I yelp.