Existing (under editing)

Chapter 25*

Most of the day I spent going through father diary, page by page of words and numbers I could not understand. Lucas went for a wander around the building, told me of how may rooms there was and found the armoury we would have to go to later. When eventually the time did come we left our room locking the door behind us, making sure that even though fathers diary was tucked under the crumpled corner of the rug that lined the floor when be safe. I had on some dark pants and a top with my hiking boots, Lucas the same. I almost regrated not grabbing a jumper but guessed it we probably hot outside anyway with the end of summer approaching.

Lucas lead me down through an inside sort of court yard where dying shrubs grew and a lot of the children and teenagers that I hadn't seen around, resided here. Girls and boys our age, maybe younger, maybe older, congregated in little groups, laughing and hanging out. But the darkness in my faces showed what they had been through. The terrible lives they have lived up to know, like how Lucas had. I finally realised what he meant when not to take my home for granted.

Lucas nocked at a huge wooden door which opened instantly, heavy and slow, just enough to let us in then shut behind us. The room was filled, every wall lined with guns and ammunition. Knives and swords made from every sort of material. Harnesses and belts. At the end was another huge door but this one was like a roller door, one that opened upwards. Clunky chains with pad locks barred the bottom to the floor. I jumped when Ember came out from behind us after locking the bolt for the first door in place.

"When everyone arrives we will leave." She said grabbing two shabby dark jackets covered in dirt off one of the hooks and two vests. "Put these on, it gets pretty windy out there."

"So no dinner?" Lucas asked.

"no." she said as I zipped up the vest under the jacket, the light material moving on top of the heaviness of the vest. "We leave while everyone eats."

She approached me with a belt, bringing it around my waist through the loop holes of my pants, I held the jacket up for her so she could fasten it tight. She turned to Lucas. "You can do your own, pick what you want, we are only going for a few short ours so pack light, and you're going to need to withstand the weight later if we find anything."

I watched as Lucas buckled himself, getting a glimpse of his abs when he lifted his jacket to slide a knife into his belt, eventually settling on a small hand gun. Ember drew me over to the wall of small knives. "I know you probably don't what to carry one of these." I shook my head, remembering the cries of the sheep on the farm. "But if anything was to happen and it was you or them, I'd like to think that you at least had a chance."

I nodded, it was true, in order to go into the dangerous place, I had to be armed. "Ok."

She smiled sadly. "The vest will protect any bullets from hitting any vital organs but it's good to have a backup plan, so... which one will you choose?"

"That one I think." I pointed at one of the smaller, skinnier ones. It was small enough to conceal in the ankle of your shoe or under your top but looked sharp enough to be of good use, like that ones I had at home for cleaning the fish.

"Alright." Ember agreed, looking satisfied. She slotted it into my belt then another devise. "This here will tell us if you're in trouble, Lucas you need one too."

I saw as he walked over, strong and tall. I was a bit flustered how manly he looked. Ember handed him one as well which he secured himself. She pointed to the button on top. "Press this and it will send a signal to all of us and we will come help you. Press it three times and it will send a message here to Mitsugi and he will send in backup."

We nodded. Without my noticing other men had joined us, the ones that had been in the meeting and others. There had to be at least twenty to thirty of us in here now gearing up ready to go. Ember handed me a large scarf and a small rope. "Tie your hair up and wrap this around over your mouth and nose. The dust gets pretty bad out there. If you need to, wrap it around you head like a bandana then the last couple of times like a normal scarf, but tight enough to pull up to your cheek bones and sit there securely. "She showed me, lifting her own up to sit nicely, covering the lower half of her face.