CHAPTER 18
Patrick
The travellers woke up to a completely different setting. Trees were surrounding them, the smell of burning wood was intense and the vertigo slowly faded from their heads. Most of them opened their eyes at the same time only to realize they were handcuffed and tied around each other. They all tried to move like one big, wounded animal but they soon gave up on their efforts of setting themselves free.
Sonia would not stop crying as if her body had been possessed by a weeping spirit. Carlos was in deep pain and it took a couple of minutes for Anne to convince him not to struggle. Pierre was awfully quiet, as usual, but inside his mind countless voices were screaming. Felicity was quiet too and the emptiness of her eyes made Sonia cry even louder for no apparent reason. Lucas was thinking, asking questions to himself and hoping he would get an answer.
'I reckon it's the right time for some good, old slavery songs,' Carlos said just to lighten the mood, in a playful, childish immaturity that made Felicity cringe.
'How can you be joking at this time?' she asked in annoyance and her cold gaze pierced right through him.
'I'd rather die laughing, you see,' he answered but his words did not come out as harmless as he thought they would. Sonia held her breath.
'Slavery songs?' Anne asked to keep the conversation going now that the guards were not in close proximity to the pack.
'Yeah, you know. The ones with hidden meanings, symbolisms about freedom, escaping or even returning home,' Carlos explained himself.
'My favorite song is a slavery song. Well, sort of,' Sonia rushed to say just to get her mind busy. She always loved giving answers even if it meant they had to be followed by sniffling of her nose in an attempt of hers to sound confident.
'Oh, holy cow! You're right! You're brilliant, you!' Lucas suddenly yelled.
'Holy cow? Lucas, I understand that people turn to religion in times of trouble but isn't it a bit late for that? Besides, I'm sure you could come up with something better than a common cow to rely on and-' she rumbled to stop the hot tears from streaming down her cheeks but Lucas interrupted her fast monologue.
'No! You don't get it! The song, Sonia! Your father's song!' he shouted back in an overwhelming excitement as if the meaning of his words was obvious and crystal clear to all of them.
'The song...' Sonia repeated his words. She started quickly singing the song inside her, repeating the lyrics in a paranoid loop without the rhythm, just plain words. 'Lucas, yes! The song! Why did it take us so long? It's a map! It's an actual map with directions and-and everything! It is a proper slavery song!'
Lucas smiled at her and his eyes were overflowing with mixed emotions of agony and thrill. The blue inside them resembled a big ocean whose waters were wild and ready to swallow everything in their path.
'The wind is blowing your hair in your eyes
You're a child dreaming of paradise
Your mother is calling
But the leaves are falling too soon
This time of the year
I wish you were here' Sonia sung with a quiet voice, trying to decode the seemingly simple lyrics.
'Right,' Lucas said. 'This could easily be your father calling you to join him. Did he never mention where he was going?'
Sonia shook her head and continued singing, her voice steady and clear.
'Your mind they have sealed
With diamond and steel
But I know that your heart can break free
Open your mind and open your wings
My little bird come to me
Please don't stay, get away'
She sighed. 'I get it now! I can't-He was trying to convince me to abandon New Earth?'
Lucas nodded with half a smile. 'Can you continue?'
'Walk through the trees
And dive in the deep
Let the summer breeze take you away
Walk in the sand
For I can't hold your hand
My little bird come to me
Please don't stay, get away' she said, now louder as a spark of courage and hope shone inside her eyes.
'The forest!' she almost yelled. 'That the trees' reference! And-and the diving part has to be-'
'The lake,' Pierre finished her words and all the pieces seemed to tie together.
'The sand is the dessert we were before so ... What's next?' Lucas asked in excitement.
'For the treasure you seek
You must dig underneath
Put your faith in your hands
And dig deep
I'll be by your side
In this lullaby
My little bird come to me
Please don't stay, get away' she added, as if reading a poem.
'Okay, I think the treasure is the place we're looking for,' she concluded but went on narrating the lyrics of the song.
'The wind was blowing your hair in your eyes
You're a child dreaming of paradise
Your mother was calling
But the leaves were falling too soon
That time of the year
You're finally here.'
'So, that's it?' Lucas asked her and she mumbled a "yes".
'Hold on. If it really is a map, it's supposed to tell us where to go next, right?' Carlos asked and everyone was secretly envious they had not come up with such a clever question.
'Right!' Lucas said. He looked at Carlos and then back at Sonia. 'You must dig underneath,' he repeated a sentence from the song.
'Does that mean...' Pierre mumbled, trying to glue the pieces together.
'The underground!' Lucas bellowed and his gaze had a hint of insanity together with his overwhelming excitement.
'I knew he would help me. I just knew it all along!' Sonia admitted, risking coming across as childish and desperate for attention.
'Yeah, right,' Victor commented but no one seemed to have heard him.
'Yeah, yeah all that is nice but we have a tiny little problem here,' Pierre remarked sarcastically.
'What problem?' Felicity carelessly asked.
'Uh, I don't know, we're tied up, ready to be packed and sent back to New Earth and most likely get killed!' Pierre was raging and he could practically feel his blood pumping in the veins of his throat and wrists.
'Well, we are not going to let that happen,' Lucas announced firmly. 'Come on! We did not come this far to give up!' he added, trying to encourage both the group and himself.
'But what could we possibly do?' Carlos wondered with his eyebrows raised like a young child that was not familiar with all the words of a sentence.
'Sonia, how about another clever little song that shows us how to escape dozens of guards?' Victor asked bitterly but Sonia had an answer ready.
'No, sorry I don't know any of this kind. I do know some songs about narcissistic bastards if you'd like to hear some!' she yelled back at his face and Pierre could not help but smile at her clever comeback.
'Hey, let's all take some time to think about it. No fighting,' Lucas bellowed and looked at Sonia as if she was responsible for everything.
'He started it,' she was about to say but did not. She had been immature enough for one day. Even if that day could be her last one.
'Wait, when you said "the underground" you meant we have to like, dig to find an exit?' Pierre asked next, his mind racing with thoughts.
'Yes, probably. I bet it's been under our feet all along, below the desert. A man-made tunnel maybe.'
'Maybe? You're still just guessing? Nice, leader!' Victor said in hostility.
'As we said before, you need to leave this group as soon as we break out of here,' Pierre shouted and accidentally spat on Victor's face since he was tied right next to him. There was little he could do.
'We'll need a plan. A bloody well-executed one,' Lucas suggested but his voice dropped as he heard the dragged steps of a guard approaching them.
'So, any last wishes, fellas? Hah, don't even bother. You'll all be dead by some time tomorrow,' the arrogant guard said just to mock them and fill their troubled minds with guilt and fear.
'How will they do it?' Anne asked in everyone's surprise.
'What?' he barked even louder as he spat on the ground.
'How will they ... kill us?' she repeated the question leaving a faint cry as the knot in her throat grew bigger and bigger.
'Ah, yes, right. You will be executed,' he responded casually with a forced dry chuckle. 'Yes, right in the middle of the school. I assume you can all figure out why, hm?'
An almost five-minute silence followed the guards' intimidating words. Everyone was exhausted and beaten up, the fire next to them was burning their lungs and their possible death that was stuck inside their minds made them all shiver.
The end was near and it would soon be the present unless they could come up with a last-minute plan.
Sonia started crying again and all her friends could sympathize with her, her sobs made them even weaker. Carlos immediately wished he could hold her but he was tied far away from her.
Pierre realized everybody was mourning for their still-living-selves, each one in his own way. More silence, broken only by Sonia's sniffles, followed. Pierre tensed up, every cell in his body threatening to explode. Anne started crying quietly too.
Lucas was desperate for a solution, an idea, something to prove him worthy to his friends and, most importantly, to himself. He was sweating but the night was particularly cold and the fire was not close enough to make him sweat. He was burning, burning from the inside out. And that's when it hit him.
His blue eyes sparkled at his brainwave and his face turned to face the guard. He had his plan now and it had a high succession rate.
He turned back around and looked at Anne this time. She was whipping some hot tears from her flushed cheeks.
'Anne,' he whispered.
'Yes.' she breathed and sighed.
'Listen, hey, listen to me. I think I have come up with a plan. A really good one.'
'For real?' she asked intrigued. A spark of hope found its place inside her, warming her up more than any fire pit could.
'Yes, for real. But ... I'm gonna need your help. We don't have much time,' Lucas answered, sweating all over his shirt.
'What do you want me to do?' she asked, willing to do absolutely anything that would secure her survival.
'Just follow my lead and agree with me,' he said. It seemed simple enough to his mind.
'What are you asking me to do?' she wondered. She needed to at least have a clue of what she was getting herself into.
'Act, Anne! I am asking you to act. Improvise, can you do that?' he asked impatiently.
She nodded. 'I'll do my best,' she said and that was more than enough for Lucas.
'Hey!' he called. 'Hey! Yeah, I'm talking to you!' he was now shouting at a guard.
A broad-shouldered young man with a square chin turned around.
'Me?'
'Yes! Do you see anyone else around?' Under other circumstances, Lucas' behavior could be described as offensive and irrational but the children soon realized it was all an act.
'What do you want?' he asked without bothering to get up from his seat.
'Come closer. I can't hear you!' Lucas said in pretence. The tall young man emerged from his seat, stretched his muscular arms and came closer to the fire. The others then remembered who he was; the boy that had attempted to handcuff them earlier that day with poor results. He was certainly not the brightest of all guards.
'What do you want from me? If it's food, you can forget about it,' he grunted.
'Come on. Just sit down. Have you ever had the chance to talk to someone so close to dying before?' Lucas asked him with gleaming eyes. The boy was puzzled and his wrinkled eyebrows made him look even less intelligent. 'This shouldn't be too hard,' Lucas thought to himself.
'No, n-no I haven't,' he admitted in stutters.
'Yeah, I thought so. What's your name then?'
'Why should I tell you?' he barked in confusion as his suspicious little mind refused to trust Lucas.
'Don't worry. None of us will tell anyone about it. We have less than a day left,' he said and dramatically lowered his voice at the last sentence.
'He's overreacting,' Sonia thought but she knew the guard would not tell as easily.
'Are you doing this to make me feel sorry for ya? Cause I won't!' he announced.
'No, no. I know you're too smart to fall for these tricks,' Lucas told him next. Anne almost laughed at the obvious lie Lucas had to use.
'Good. Mind your own business,' the guard answered in the hostility of a wild animal that only acted based on instinct.
'I'm Lucas, by the way. You know, you're most likely the last person I will ever meet. I feel like that gives me the right to know your name...'
'Fine,' The guard finally opened up a little. 'Name's Patrick.'
'Patrick, eh? Say, you've got a big family back home?' Lucas kept hitting him with one question after another. The blue of his eyes seemed warmer under the firelight, like the bottom of the sea during the sunset. The tone of his voice was calm and convincing but his peers could sense the anxiety that surrounded his every word.
Patrick hesitated. The questions were personal however he did not feel as if being interrogated. 'I do,' he answered. 'My dad's got many brothers so ... you know, I have cousins.'
'Oh, I see. To be honest, I don't. Just my old mum back there. She's not even very fond of me I think. I doubt I'll even miss her. See, I only need my girl with me, Anne,' At the sound of her name, Anne jumped alarm and waited for a few seconds before introducing herself to Patrick.
'Oh, hello,' she whispered just to make her presence noticed, realizing her time to act has come.
'Mhm,' Patrick mumbled.
'Hey Patrick, my new friend. Can I ask you another question? Last one, I promise,' Lucas said as Patrick's small brown eyes examined him. 'You can get right back to your drinking after this.'
'Fine, whatever,' was his blurted response.
'Yes, okay. You know, I don't think these guys really appreciate how helpful you are to their team,' he said, looking at the rest of the guards that were all gathered together around a big fire away from them.
'Are you trying to-'
'I'm not trying to do anything here. I just noticed they're being mean to you. How does that make you feel, Patrick?' he asked in a friendly tone.
'How do I feel? Angry, of course. It's not fair, you know. They don't know me.' Patrick answered like a hurt child.
'Maybe they're jealous,' Anne jumped in the conversation. 'Of-of your strength,' she added. 'Maybe they fear you.'
'Fear me?' he wondered. 'They've got guns and...'
'Yeah, but you have power in you ... I believe you'd be useful even for losers like me,' Lucas said next.
'What's he doing?' Felicity whispered but received no answer.
'You? What could I do for you?' Patrick was intrigued.
'Well, there's one thing but ... It's okay if you can't do it. Maybe the others were right after all. Maybe you really are only capable of carrying the supplies,' Lucas said and his voice faded.
'Is that what they said?' he asked angrily without looking directly at the group of guards that were still celebrating the capture of the seven children. 'What do you want then? I'll prove it, I'm just as good as any of them,' he said.
'I kind of have a last wish...' Lucas spoke again.
'What is it?' Patrick asked impatiently.
'Do you have a girl that's waiting back home, Patrick?' Lucas asked.
'Erm, well...' he tried to speak while hiding his flushed cheeks. 'Girls have a thing for me, I must say...'
Everyone was about to burst out in loud laughter but Lucas composed himself and went on. 'Great, so ... you understand that the only thing I have to ask is,' he paused to take a deep breath and look at Anne, 'a kiss from her,' he finally replied. Anne's eyes were round, the pupils dilated in fear as her heartbeat fastened.
'Ugh, how could I help with that?'
'Great question, yeah... you see, I'm all tied up and it's hard to-to reach her...' he explained trying to ignore Anne's expression of shock and pure fear.
'Do you expect me to be such a fool as to set you free and let you escape?' he asked and anger started to surround him again.
'Oh no, you don't get it. I wouldn't leave my friends here; I wouldn't leave her here alone!'
'What if I take her handcuffs off instead?' he asked and turned to Anne.
'Oh ... but my knees can't hold me anymore. They're weak, my legs are shaking,' she answered in an overly dramatic tone that was hardly believable.
'And if I tried to escape, which I won't, wouldn't a big man like you knock me down?' Lucas insisted.
Patrick took a minute to think, he was convinced he could defeat Lucas with one single blow.
'Stop being such a woose and man up already!' Carlos suddenly shouted and his words seemed to give Patrick the overwhelming feeling of bravery and desire. 'Patrick, look. I wish I could reach her without some random guard's help. But I can't. Just look how far they've tied her up. You're the only one I can count on!'
Patrick, with his face flushed in an angry red, walked up to Lucas after picking up a pair of small keys that were lying by his side. 'I'll be watching you,' he said as a warning and Anne realized he had no weapon on him unlike the other guards. They could obviously see he was not to be trusted with a weapon.
When Anne finally managed to snap out of her thoughts, Lucas was hunched right in front of her and Patrick was indiscreetly leaning high above them, hovering over their heads. Lucas' arms moved up to her shoulders as she sat there with her chin dropped and her lips wide open as her mind screamed for help.
As his hands climbed up to the back of her neck, he closer to her side and whispered to her, 'We'll make a run for it.'
'I love you too,' she said back louder, to make the scene more believable. He then looked her in the eyes and leaned in for the kiss. Anne held her breath but at the moment when their noses touched, Lucas suddenly kicked Patrick's foot with the heavy, chunky heel of his shoe so violently that the young guard landed on his back.
He shouted, still in state of shock but Lucas acted quicker than him. He rapidly grabbed a big log of firewood and yanked him on the head with vengeance, leaving him unconscious. He worryingly looked around him but the guards did not seem to have noticed; they were still shouting jokes at one another. Lucas smiled for the fragment of a second but quickly focused back to removing the handcuffs from everyone's hands with his newly-attained set of keys.
'That was so cool!' Sonia shouted with excitement as Lucas was setting her wrists free.
'I know,' Lucas replied. 'Listen up,' he then whispered to the group. 'These guards are behind the trees right there. They probably won't hear us but we have to be quick and really quiet. Don't screw this up now.'
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