The invasion of Denmark was a chaotic mess for us. We had only just picked up the last family when we reached the border. Seeing the fleet of the Union in the water was a frightening sight. We only passed the border into Germany a few hours ago, but we still have far to go before we are out of Ismilda's reach. We are now moving through Central Germany, near the border of Toulouse. Germany lost most of it's land after the end of the Great War. Now Germany is just a thin strip of land that stretches from Denmark to Austria. Germany would have collapsed, if they had not made the most important innovation in farming since the tractor. It is a type of structure which we are passing by now. Erin looks up into the sky and points to the towering structure.
"wow, look at the size of that thing!" we all look upon the wonder with awe. We are passing one of the Spiral Gardens. One of the first Spiral Gardens that were built in Germany in 1945, are right in-front of us. The Spiral Gardens are a winding path of soil which is held together by concrete. The water is poured onto the very top of the tower, and the water moves all the way down the spiral until it leaks out from the bottom. The soil is sandy, so he most produced foods include Potatoes, Corn and Strawberries. The good thing about the Spiral Gardens, is that it takes up minimal space, while also adding plenty of space for more food to grow. This has of course shifted the average person's diet to more of plants, fruits and vegetables. Meat is seen as a premium meal. I have only had meat on the occasion, so it is something that I love to eat. As we pass by the Spiral Garden, more start to emerge from behind it, revealing a large field full of spiralling towers. Even though our focus is centred on the top of the towers, the fields around the bases are green enough to take our attention away from the towers. The land around us screams of prosperity. The blue sky compliments the green fields around us. We can see the wind blowing across the fields. Everyone is looking upon the wonders with awe. Erin, who was the first of us to see the spirals, is stunned by how large the structures are. Miranda walks up to the window beside me and looks up to the top of the towering garden, where the birds fly.
"Greece may be one of the most populated places in the world, but Germany was the first country to construct those things. Germany is now as populated as the Papal State. It is amazing that a country in ruins, was able to make such an amazing innovation" the aftermath of the Great War left most of the defeated nations in ruins. Even though most of the defeated empires managed to maintain their integrity, the people of the defeated nations suffered. Due to that, there are many hostile feelings between each nation. The fact that Germany was able to recover so quickly means that they have already started rearming by now. Emily walks up to the window on my other side and places her hand on the glass.
"these Spiral Gardens would have increased Germany's manpower and economy significantly. Their surplus of food would lead to a population boom, which would then lead to an increase in military power and mass industrial expansion. If Ismilda declares war on Germany, it will be a war of complete devastation and mass casualties" Emily is thinking along the same lines that I am. I can see a war of utter annihilation ahead of Germany, but a war resulting in the destruction of the Scandinavian Union is almost guaranteed. If we can get away from Ismilda's agents, we should be able to avoid the dangers that desperate agents would pose to us. I look over to Emily.
"I am afraid of the possibility of stray agents who would be left behind after the fall of the Union. If we can get to Toulouse and see if Bengelon is worth our trust, we might be able to stay ahead of Ismilda's agents" if we can find peace, we might be able to finally be free of the stress that has taken hold of us. I would be so happy if we could all just forget about all of this and settle down. But unfortunately, Ismilda does not tolerate disobedience. Emily makes an uneasy face to my words.
"we will run into them eventually. We need to be ready for when that happens" Emily is right. Our battle against Ismilda's agents is inevitable. Our main priority right now is to reach Toulouse. We will be able to face Ismilda's agents without worrying about any of our vulnerable group members. But even then, we are still going to have many troubles with fighting the agents. The agents are specialised against kids with supernatural powers, so we would barely stand a chance against the agents. As Emily makes an uncertain groan, Thaniel walks up behind me and places his hand on my shoulder.
"all I can see coming from this is a Europe under Ismilda's control" that would be the worst case for us, but it also seems to be the most likely outcome.
"we will have to do our best to keep away from Ismilda's reach if that happens" Thaniel shakes his head and points his finger up.
"we should be doing that anyway" perhaps I should have phrased my words a little better. I move my hands from side-to-side.
"I could have said that differently. What I should have said, was that we will have to push ourselves past the breaking point if we want to maintain a safe distance from Ismilda's agents. We are going to have to reach Toulouse with quick haste" Thaniel leans against the window and watches as the Spiral Gardens pass by. He turns his eyes to me.
"let's hope that Bengelon is good on his word" I am hoping that he is. We really do need somewhere for everyone to stay while the rest of us try to find a safe place to live. But ultimately, we will only find out once we reach Toulouse and find Bengelon. Glinora walks up to the seat next to me, and sits with Erin, who has finally lost interest in the Spiral Gardens.
"I am holding out hope that Bengelon has somewhere for our families to stay, while we find a place to call home" Thaniel's eyes jolt directly towards his sister and he stands up from his seat. He moves his arm up and points his finger towards her.
"you are not going to be coming with us. I do not want you to put yourself in any kind of danger. I want you to go with mum and dad" Glinora shakes her head and strikes a pose.
"I want to stay here and help everyone. Especially Erin" Erin looks up to Glinora and smiles. Glinora moves her hand over Erin and pats her head.
"we will find somewhere. Ismilda will not catch us. I know that we are all going to get out of this without getting hurt" Erin's optimism brings a smile to Glinora's face. For Erin to be so positive at a time like this, after everything she has gone through, her attitude is live-giving and inspirational. Thaniel shows a light grin to Erin and looks back to Glinora.
"I don't like this. But I suppose that if you want to join us on the perilous journey of finding a refuge away from Ismilda's reach, I guess you can join us" Glinora strikes a pose as if she was a fairy or super pop-star. She makes an exaggerated pose with her arms stretched out, makes a peace sign with her hand, and winks her right eye shut.
"I will do my best to help wherever help is needed" Thaniel sighs and moves next to me. He leans down towards me and whispers.
"I absolutely do not like this. I do not want my sister in any danger, she wants to go on this 'adventure' with us, but she does not know what she is getting into" I look to Thaniel and point my thumb back to the way we have been fleeing from.
"that attack on Denmark would have given her a good idea of what we are up against" Thaniel makes an uneasy groan and looks back to Glinora.
"if that did not deter her from wanting to join our 'adventure'. Then I wonder what she expects to happen. Why would she still want to join us even after seeing that unfold?" It seems that Glinora either seeks the thrill of adventure, or the fulfilment of protecting those who she cares about.
"she probably cares about you deeply Thaniel. She is also growing attached to Erin. I think she just wants to protect us, especially Erin" Thaniel makes a slight nod of agreement. We pass by another Spiral Garden as Thaniel rests into his seat.
"looks like I am going to have to work as hard as I can to protect Erin and Glinora" I nod to Thaniel in agreement and stand up from my seat.
"I am going to speak with some of our other group members" Thaniel nods and looks out towards the Spiral Gardens in the distance. I move out from my seat and walk towards the back of the bus. I find Talof, 7I and 13V talking to each other. I move over to them and sit on a seat close to them.
"what are you discussing?" Talof looks to me with a look of disgust and hatred. He points to 7I and 13V, showing a face of disbelief replacing his previous look of disgust.
"I know about what actually happened at that place where my sister worked. Why did you do such horrible things to these guys!?" this was inevitable, I should have told everyone before we crossed the border into Denmark.
"believe me, I had a lot of trouble dealing with that fact. I wanted it to stop, but there was little that I could do" Talof shakes his head and shakes with anger.
"and it did not even cross your mind that you could have reported the facility to the authorities!?" I am going to have to tell him about the limited amount of time that I had in-between getting the job, and Ismilda seizing power in Sweden.
"I had only just got the job, so I was still dealing with the fact that something like this existed. It was only a few days later that Sweden was completely under the control of Ismilda" Talof places his hands over his ears and presses them into his head in frustration.
"come on, dealing with that fact would not have deterred you from reporting it one bit. SO what really kept you from informing the government about the operation and the experiments?" Talof is right, I could have acted quickly, but I did not.
"I suppose that I did not act, because it was the last chance I had at having a job. I have only ever had dead-end jobs, so having this once was a big break for me. I realise now that the choice should have been obvious from the beginning, but at the time, I thought I had no other choices, no other chances. But a lot has changed in a few days. Now I just want everyone with us to survive and be kept safe from Ismilda's dangerous ambitions and plans" 7I moves closer to Talof, who is still angry with me. 7I places his hand on Talof's shoulder.
"even though Lothar contributed to the security of the facility, he has been the one who has been keeping us safe from Ismilda's agents and the forces pursuing us. What he may have done is unforgivable, but he has become someone very different within the little time that we have known him. And I predict that he is only going to continue to become a better person, someone for all of us to look up to, as well as strive to be" I still have a long way to go 7I. Now that we have everyone with us, my goal is to find somewhere safe for everyone to stay while the rest of our group finds a better place to live.
"7I, I have not done much, I still have a long way to go before I have made up for how I helped with the capture and holding the many kids in their cells. Ismilda's reach is still growing, so we need to find a place where she will never be able to reach us. I am risking our entire group's safety by taking us to Toulouse in the hopes of being offered a place for our families to stay, all based on the words of a mysterious man. I will have to find that place for us if I am ever deserving of forgiveness" 13V leans in and shakes his head while looking at me.
"just because you do not forgive yourself, does not mean that we do not forgive you. You are our leader, and we are happy that you are. From what I have observed, you are the best choice we have for the role anyway. Do not place too much pressure on yourself" how can I call myself a good leader if I can not handle the responsibilities of being a leader? I want to be the best leader for our group, so I am not going to just maintain my current effort as leader, I am going to increase my efforts in helping our group. If I can save everyone in our group from becoming victims of Ismilda's agents, I will do anything to make sure that they do survive.
"my choices are the thing which could kill all of us, but you still wish to have faith in me?" 13V and 7I nod to me. 7I points down towards the front of the bus.
"you think that we are not prepared for the likely eventuality which are our deaths? We have been ready for our demise since we were first tested on" out of everything a child should have on their mind, accepting death should not be one of them. If anything, this just makes me want to try harder to keep them for reaching such a fate. Talof looks at the two boys with a look of shock.
"why would you be okay with dying?" 7I shows a light smile to Talof. 7I leans back into his seat and makes a light sigh.
"I guess you could say that my experience in that facility has helped me to reach the conclusion that if I die, then so be it. I consider myself lucky to have survived the first experiment that is performed on everyone when they first enter the facility. Most test subjects who go through that first experiment do not survive. But we did, so I believe that I will reach my fate no matter what happen" I refuse to accept that our fates are to die to Ismilda's forces. I will make sure that we will never lose someone to Ismilda. I look over to 7I and try to give him a sincere look.
"you are a valuable member of this group, and we would never want anything bad to happen to you. I do not want any of you to feel like you are going to die. I promise you that we will all get out of this alive" 7I smiles and 13V looks at me with a satisfied expression.
"it makes me happy to hear you say that Lothar. It also proves our point that you are indeed the best choice as our leader. So please do not put too much pressure on yourself. There are some things which I can not stop, and one of those is to take the responsibility that I have to. I am eager to find that place where we can live peacefully.
"I can not just lighten my efforts because you want me to. I do not want to fail any of you, I want all of you to survive this journey. That is why I want to do my best to make sure that we all make it through this" 7I shakes his head to me.
"if we are meant to die, then we will die. We can not prevent fate from coming for us" that is not at all true. I can stop anybody from dying. I just have to work hard enough to make sure that such a thing never happens.
"I refuse to allow any harm to come to any of you. You may think that your fate is set in stone. But I refuse to believe that we can not prevent any tragedies from happening" 13V and 7I rest their expressions into more of an expression of longing. 13V looks out the window.
"when I was first captured, I had the chance to escape. But I chose not to" Why would 13V have not taken the chance to escape?
"what stopped you from making a break for it?" 13V continues to look out of the window, watching as we pass by a few trucks being loaded up with the fresh harvest from the Spiral Gardens.
"there was this feeling in the back of my mind. As if I was being told that if I managed to escape by myself, I would be dead anyway. At first I regretted my decision, but now I see that making that decision was what resulted in me being in this group. I am happy that I made that decision, and that is also why I believe that my fate is set in stone" I do not know how to properly answer that. I consider myself fortunate to have 13V and 7I with us. To hear 13V say that he is happy with the choices which resulted in his suffering, just because he likes that he is with us now, I do not know what to say. Are we really good enough, for someone to consider that going through such horrible experiences is worth it if we are at the end of the tunnel?
"but we are not even out of this yet. We could still fall victim to Ismilda's agents and die. Are you sure you are happy with the way things have turned out?" 13V nods to me and eases into his seat, relaxing as his body melts into the soft fabric.
"Talof still has a lot to learn about the current situation we are in. So I am going to continue to explain everything to him. There are some other people in our group who you should probably check on too" I do still have to get around to talking with some of the families. I should probably speak with Henry's family first, seeing as though Henry is the one who is driving us all the way. I nod to 13V and 7I. I then stand up from my seat and move towards the middle of the bus, where most of our group is gathered. I quickly find where Logan, Lilly and Matthew are sitting. They spot me and gesture for me to join them. I walk up to them and take a seat, being greeted by Logan in the process.
"from what I can see, Henry might only be alive because of your leadership. Thank you for doing such a good job of keeping everyone in this group alive. Especially my son" I am only doing what is expected of me. I could still do more to help the group through the journey to a place to live. I am still happy with the fact that we have not lost anyone yet.
"I will continue to do my best to keep this group safe from all harm. We still have a far way to go, and I am not going to allow any of Ismilda's forces to either find us, or even lay a finger on us" Logan shows a grave expression and looks down towards his hands.
"please make sure that Henry and Matthew get out of this alive. They are all we have left. We lost most of our friends back at the town. Since we lived in a close community, we knew nearly everyone. Trying to deal with the loss of so many friends is a lot to take in. We do not want to lose our sons too" that is understandable. Ismilda has already taken so much from us, all we have been dealing with so far is loss, and running away. Everyone in our group has abandoned their homes due to the danger that Ismilda poses. We are united by the experiences and the reasons we are in the group. Our shared goal is to find somewhere that Ismilda could never reach. I look into Logan's eyes with sincerity.
"I promise that I will ensure that your sons survive these dangerous times. I will do everything in my power to protect everyone in this group" Logan shows an expression of relief to my words, while Lilly appears to be very satisfied with my promise. Logan raises his head up to me.
"once this is all over, I would like to share a drink with you Lothar" it is a nice thing to look forward to. I would be happy to end this troublesome adventure with a relaxing celebration.
"I would love to share drinks with everyone, once this is all behind us" I can imagine it now. All of us will be standing on the shore, as the sun begins to set. It will be the perfect conclusion for such a hard journey. I hear Erin whine as the last Spiral Garden passes us. I turn to Lilly.
"will the three of you be going with the other families for safety while the rest of the group tries to find somewhere safe for everyone to live?" Lilly and Logan nod to me in unison. Matthew looks to his parents and gently nods with them. Logan looks down towards the front of the bus, where Henry is driving, with Thaniel, Glinora and Erin around him.
"we have faith that you will protect and lead our son through the great journey across the world. Besides, we would be a burden on the group anyway. We will eagerly wait while the best of our large group nobly risk their lives to find us somewhere to live" we will do our best. I am hoping that we can find that place sooner rather than later. With Ismilda's ever-expanding control, we need to remain one step ahead of her, and her agents who are following us.
"we will keep ahead of Ismilda's reach and reach Toulouse soon. Once there, we will meet with the man who has promised a safe place for most of our group" Logan looks to me with a sceptical face. He places his hand on his chin.
"I am intrigued by this mysterious man who has promised us a safe place to stay while you search for somewhere for us to live out the rest of our days. How do we know if we can trust him?" he has been right before, so I am going to see if he can be trusted.
"he appeared in my room the night before the breakout happened, so I believe that he might be telling the truth. But there is also the question, what does he mean by a safe haven?"