The Choosing

Chapter Twenty One

"Let's go shortie. Wake Essence up. We don't have long to escape."

I nodded quickly, still in shock.

"Essence wake up," I said, shaking her.

She groaned and looked up at me confused.

"We're escaping, let's go."

Essence practically leaped out of bed and said, "about time."

I could barely contain my excitement as I saw Alistair and a few guards waiting for us. I beamed at the support, I could barely believe.

"Wh-how?" I stuttered out.

"Guards all over are helping people escape tonight. Nobody deserves this. A lot of guards don't agree though, so you guys have to be careful and stay with us."

I turned to see the man that had brought me to the bathroom the other day. I gave him a smile which he returned with a nod.

"We have to be fast," a female guard said, locking the door to Me and Essence's room.

We all nodded waiting for them to tell us what to do next.

"We're going to handcuff you three and lead you to the exit. Close your eyes and follow behind us. That way it'll look like you're under command. Got it, kids?"

"Got it." Cade voiced for us.

"Vanessa is going to lead you, Eve. Laura has you Essence, and I'll lead you, Cade. Rick and Leo will be lookouts. My name is Rhett, now let's get going."

I could see all the guards had identical earpieces to the ones Alistair had given Cade and me earlier. That must have been the way they planned on communicating.

I walked over to the female guard that had spoken earlier. She was a little bit taller than me with ashy red hair. She made sure to put my handcuffs tight enough to be believable but not super tight.

"Thanks," I said.

She nodded, "I hope this works."

"Me too," I said, turning back towards the group.

I looked to Cade and he flashed me a goofy grin. I moved closer to him while the guards finalized the plan.

"This will be a cool story someday," he said.

"I guess so," I said, "I just hope we don't get killed. Then we can worry about cool stories."

He chuckled and kissed me on the cheek, "we're going to be okay, I promise."

"I hope you're right," I said unconvinced.

Alistair came over and joined our conversation. Cade tensed immediately.

"Hey calm down, I'm just here to say we're leaving soon." Alistair said looking at Cade, "I know I've already said it, but I'm super sorry. I know you guys will probably never forgive me, but if it helps I was injected when I did all of that stuff. I never would have-" He choked up a bit, "I never would have even thought of hurting that girl. It's no excuse, but I figured you guys should know."

"I forgive you," Cade said, "I'm not saying it's okay because it's not. But grudges do nothing for anybody. You'll never be my best friend again because frankly, you don't deserve to be. You don't know how much pain you put me through."

I felt tears prickle at Cade's words. I felt so incredibly bad for him.

"I wish I had never done any of this man," said Alistair, "I don't know what's going to happen, but I promised I will do anything to get you guys out of here."

Cade nodded, "You better."

"I forgive you too, " I said.

I didn't need some dramatic speech to convey what I felt. I wasn't stupid though.

As Alistair, I whispered to Cade, "Forgive but never forget."

He smirked, "Precisely what I was thinking."

Rhett told us to line up and we began to walk. It felt weird to walk with my eyes closed. I was clumsy, to begin with, I didn't need to not be able to see on top of it. I was forced to trust Vanessa as she led me.

I could hear some other guards chatting as we walked by, but none of them tried to stop us. That made me feel a little bit less anxious. Maybe this whole thing would be easier than I thought. Something sided me doubted it, nothing was ever easy. But as long as none of us messed up maybe it could not be super hard?

A voice broke me out of my thought, "Where are you taking them?"

The voice sounded female, but thankfully not the distinct voice of Elder Ryan. This voice was a lot less shrill and powerful.

"Elder Ryan told me to take them to the courtyard. Sometimes about testing how well their commands work," said Rhett, "I don't know. I don't question her though."

Rhett's lie seemed pretty convincing to me, but I was never a great liar.

"Weird, last time I heard new injected people we're supposed to be tested outside until a week after. We can't test their abilities until then. Attacking other communities with newbies isn't exactly ideal."

So many questions entered my head with that single statement. I forced myself to shove them down though. I couldn't afford to make a sound.

"Look, Karri, those are my orders. Take it up with Elder Ryann if you care so much."

With that, we began walking again. That was not handled in the best way. I hoped that woman wouldn't tell elder Ryann. Rhett was intimidating enough, so maybe she wouldn't.

The ground under me changed. I wasn't sure if we were outside yet so I kept my eyes closed. I wasn't going to do anything before I was sure it was safe. But as my excitement grew I was more than ready to rip my eyes open and run. That says something because I hate running.

"Shit," cursed Vanessa beside me.

Quickly I was pulled into a room. When I heard the door click I opened my eyes to see everybody.

"What?" asked Cade.

"Elder Ryann was blocking the exit," said Laura.

"How do you know that?"

Laura, Vanessa, Rhett, and Alistar all pointed to their earpieces at the same time.

"Okay, so now what?" I asked.

Rhett pulled his hands over his face, "Well, we can either wait until she is gone, or we could cause a distraction. If we wait we could be here forever, but if we cause a distraction we could get caught."

We all thought over our options. Neither one seemed better than the other. I knew a distraction would be our best bet, but who would do it.

Alistair spoke up, "I'll cause a distraction."

We all looked at him with shock, except for Cade. I guessed maybe he'd considered doing the same thing.

"I'll tell Elder Ryann a room needs her attention and try to lock her in. What do you guys think?"

Rhett nodded, "That will buy us enough time. Just make sure the room is on the other side of the building."

The decision was made as Alistair stepped out of the room. I shot him a smile and he returned it.

I heard talking and then running down the hallway. Rhett pressed the contraption in his ear and nodded as a small smile went across his features.

"We're clear. Let's go."