The Despairing Tribulations of a Doomed Boy

Chapter 13

Otto's lungs weren't much better, but Pieter was right on his heels. He couldn't stop running. Not now. He ran down the hallway, bumping past firemen who formed out of red-tinted shadows in the smoke, until he slammed into the check-in desk at the end of the hall. He scrambled over the desk just in time to hear Pieter hit it behind him.

The two of them burst through the front entrance of the building into cold, clean air and a crowd of shadows and flashing lights. Run towards the crowd or away from them? Otto thought through his choices as quickly as possible. He wanted the comfort and protection of the people, but he wasn't sure how they'd react. And in the time it would take him to explain the situation, Pieter would be on top of him again. So, he changed his direction and ran towards the tree line. In the dark and confusion, no one noticed.

Except Pieter, who kept his burning eyes on Otto and followed him into the woods. Otto could hear his feet in the grass, but the sound was muffled by Otto's own panting. He focused himself on dodging trees and tried to throw Pieter off by changing direction. His bare feet hit stones and thistles, sending shooting pain up his legs, but he didn't slow down until his running led him to a brick wall.

It was ten feet tall and topped with a wire that was no doubt electrified. He had no choice but to run along the wall until he reached the front entrance to the compound. If he was lucky, it'd still be open from all the emergency vehicles coming in.

Feet hurting, lungs burning, and body aching, Otto ran as fast as he could towards the gates. He could just see them in the distance—illuminated by the colored lights from all the emergency vehicles. There were other lights now, too. Flood lights filled the entrance to HOME, helping the guardsman keep track of all the residents. Soon they would notice that two, very important anomalies were missing. Then they'd search the yard and most likely close the gates to keep Otto and Pieter from leaving. He had to make it to the gates before then. If he was lucky, the gates would close between him and Pieter.

He glanced behind him to see how far away Pieter was. He was close. Those legs, which were always folded up in a chair, took long strides to keep up with Otto. And Pieter had been prepared. He was fulled dressed and wearing shoes. No rock or pine cone slowed him down.

Otto made himself run faster. His mind was filled with only two thoughts: Keep breathing, and think ahead. Where will I go once I get out of the gate? Left or right? Or Straight? He remembered turning left to go to the prison, but that was of no help. He didn't know where the prison was or if there was anything else in that direction that would be helpful. He didn't know which way was home and even if he did, he didn't know how far or if that'd be of any help to him either. Even if he was able to shake Pieter off his tail, what then? Turn himself in and end up back here? Or worse. Maybe they'd put him in solitary confinement. Could they do that? It'd make sense. Being with others was clearly not good.

This was depressing. Just think about now, he told himself. I have to lose Pieter.

The gates were still open when he got there, unattended. But from the look of the compound yard, Otto had a feeling that guardsmen were already searching for him and Pieter. Black shadows were spread out across the field with flashlights pointed in every direction. Otto followed the pavement out of the gate and ran for the trees across from the road. Once I get in there, I'll head right and try to lose Pieter, he thought.

The two crossed the road and ran into the woods.

Saturday

Otto woke up on the ground. Light streamed through the trees, warming his face. The rest of him was cold and numb. He forced himself to sit up and examined his feet. His right foot had a thorn in it that had been pushed deep from his run. His pajamas were muddy and wet—either from dew or sweat, he couldn't tell. He attempted to pull the thorn out, but only made himself bleed again. His foot throbbed with the pain and slowly his whole body began to feel the pain that his adrenaline had hidden from him during the night.