We were sneaking our way through the hallway, Neil and I. We passed next to MAMA's room, Her Lights were still on, and the door was slightly open.
So we were a little extra careful and even took lighter steps.
We reached Outside , to the orphanage yard, And that's where I saw them, All the other 9 kids each one with his adult.
We all smiled and waved to each other, all of us kids had a grin on our face, everyone had the thought of seeing what was behind the orphanage walls every once in a while.
So it goes without saying how excited we all were at that moment.
We all stood up in front of the big gate, We kids grouped up and we were all hyped up together about going out for the first time, Each one of us was showing it in his own weird way, For me I couldn't even take that excited smile off my face.
The grown-ups also were talking together for a minute, Then they came to us, and one of them stepped up, it was Allen's Adult, and she asked:
" Everyone's ready ?... How about we play a little game kids. How about ... A race, Each one of you will go with his caretaker. and each team will take a different way outside, The winners will be those reaching our meeting spot first"
We all looked at each other and nodded, It seemed fun, A little competition is always a good thing to have.
Every kid went next to his adult-friend, I stood next to Neil, Who patted my head and was smiling at me.
"Let's win this" He said
"Umm ! Let's win ! " I put both my hand up out of excitement.
One of the adults opened the big gate, Then we all walked outside for the first time. Each team took a route.
"So this is how the city looks like... there are a lot of houses and they're all different from the orphanage." I was looking left and right while trying to catch up with Neil's fast steps.
"There's still more to see" Neil said
Suddenly I heard loud sirens starting off, They came from the Orphanage, We didn't really get that far away, So I could still see it.
All the lights turned on, security Guards came out running, MAMA too, I saw her running outside, She had a look of distress on her face. They were panicking and shouting.
"What's going on ?! The gates are open and all the kids are gone? where did they go ?"
"Some of the Doctors and nurses aren't here too, What on earth happened ?"
" I saw two of them running south ! "
Hearing all that and seeing the look on MAMA's face made me worried, I knew she didn't want us going outside, But was it this serious...
I was starting to panic, I looked at Neil who was holding my hand with tears glowing on my eyes. He then crouched in front of me, Put his hands on my shoulder
" Listen Lily, I know you're confused right now, But I need you to trust me, It's going to be all right, So don't be scared, I'm still here with you, Okay ?"
" Yeah, Ok..."
"Let's go" He said with a warm smile.
We started running further away from the orphanage and I couldn't keep up with him, So he was carrying me on his back for the most part of it.
We kept going until we reached a big gate, Bigger than the one at the orphanage, Walls were way higher too.
He put me down, And walked up to a guy in some kind of uniform, he had a weapon and was sitting next to the gate. Probably, the gate guard.
" Everyone got away ?" The guard asked
" Hopefully yes. " Neil replied
" Good luck out there buddy"
"Thank you, I owe you one"
The guy then went and opened a small door on that gate for us. Neil grabbed my hand and we walked out.
And that was my first time, as far as I remember, Stepping to the "outside world".
Going out from the big gate, I saw many people, camping there in tents, Some were begging us for food, Some were just sleeping there in the open.
" Who are these people Neil, Can't we help them, They look sad..."
" First we need to get out of here, Lily"
He held my hand tighter and walked faster, Ignoring everyone out there.
After a while of walking, There was nobody, No more people, No houses, No tents. It's like life ceased to exist.
It was only us two, It was so silent and scary, Neil wasn't talking too, He was really being on his toes, Looking behind every tree.
I grabbed his shirt and pulled it.
"What's going on Neil, You're acting all strange, Is there something in the woods we should be scared of ? "
" Don't be scared, I'm here by your side...There's nothing to worry about"
"But..--"
I was interrupted by a loud scream, There was another man out here too, But he wasn't acting normal.
He was screaming and walking strangely, Once he saw us, He started sprinting our direction, It startled me, I froze in fear.
Neil Quickly pushed me behind his back, and took out a gun from his back, and shot the man twice, Once in his chest and the other in his heart.
The man gave off a mourning scream before falling on the ground. I was shaking, My mind didn't process what just happened.
" lily Listen to me, We have to move quick, This place is not safe" Neil said while shaking my shoulders.
" Who ..is that man.. Why did ..you kill him.. You just killed ..someone Neil, see ? look there's ..blood there and... he's not waking up" I didn't even know what I was saying, My brain was still hung up, It felt like I was in a bad dream.
" Listen Lily, That man was bad ok, If we didn't kill him he was going to kill us. The world outside isn't what you thought it would be. It's different from the books you read at the orphanage. It's dangerous out here"
"Then let's go back, To the orphanage, Mama and to our friends there. We shouldn't be here , Mama was right"
Neil took my right hand and pulled up my sleeve, And showed me my number tattooed there 03. We all had those, The kids at the orphanage.
" See this , It's your code Number, That's what Mama calls you when she's not with you kids. That wasn't an orphanage, we were running tests on you , Cause you were ... special kids, We can't go back there, It's not safe"
It was all going through my head at that second, Why didn't I realize this before, The numbers we had on our hands, The weird tests we took so often, where were the kids coming from, Why do I only have happy memories of that place.
But I still refused to believe it, I refused to accept that my whole life until that point was a big facade and just a lie.
" why are you saying these things Neil, You've been acting strange since you woke me up, what's really going on ? "
He then reached his pocket and gave me a picture, There were two people holding a baby and smiling.
" I wanted to give you this as your birthday present, see those two.. These are your parents. Your Real Parents. Your mom handed you to me, She and your father didn't make it. But before they passed away, they entrusted me with you, they begged me to at least save you"
I didn't answer him, I couldn't, even though I had so much to say, No words came out of my mouth, So he kept talking
" I promised them both to take care of you right before they died, They were smiling at their last seconds, They wanted me to tell you that they loved you with all their hearts, And to tell you how sorry they are for not being there for you, To watch over you as you grow up to a strong, beautiful women, they put all their faith in me to deliver such a future to you Lily, I will try my hardest to keep you smiling every day, and I'll protect you with my life, I know I'm not your real dad, But I always considered you as my own daughter.
So lily, Do You trust me ? "
I tried to hold back my tears as much as I could, However, It all came out together, All my emotions came out together along with my tears.
I was whipping my eyes, Then I nodded to him, and jumped in his chest, He held me tight between his arms.
"Can I keep the picture ?" I asked
" Sure It's your birthday present" He replied...
After walking a little bit more, Neil Pointed in front of him
" that's our meeting spot"
It was a watchtower, I've read about it once in a book, It was not that far so I ran to get there as fast as I could, Not to win the race we thought we were playing, But to make sure everyone is there, Safe.
Finally reaching, Only two were there. Allen code: 001 with his caretaker, The women who announced the race at the orphanage gate, Nana.
"Slowpoke" Allen said with a smirk face
" Why do you look like a grandma Lylah, Did you run out of breath while running you slow turtle... ?" He was smiling cockily.
My eyes were red from crying and my face was so pale, I looked sick, To be honest, I had to go through a lot in one day, and the sun hasn't even risen yet...
"Shut up! you stupid, You guys probably just took a shorter way, No way you beat me in a race"
"whatever helps you sleep at night, slowpoke"
We were interrupted by Neil.
"Hey, anyone else got here?" He asked Nana
"Only us 4" She replied
"How much longer do we wait?"
"there's still about an hour left till sunrise, Then we move."
We just sat there waiting after that, but no one was coming, I was starting to get worried, What if something bad happened to them.
The sky was starting to turn blue, Still no sign of anyone showing up, Neil and Nana were getting ready to get moving again.
"What about the others ? are we leaving them behind? " I asked
" we agreed on a second meeting spot if we couldn't make it to this one,No one will come to this watchtower after sunrise anyway so it's pointless to stay here. "
We suddenly heard someone yelling from behind the bushes
" Heyyy ! We got here !"
It was Lucy code: 006 and her caretaker Sasha.
I was so relieved seeing her, Even if it's only 1 more making it, It made me so glad... We were happily greeting each other, when the sun has officially started to peek from behind the mountains.
However, To our surprise, One more popped up from the behind the bushes after a couple of minutes, It was Raymond, we always called him Ray at the orphanage, Code: 002
He was alone.