The soldiers are marching again, with the heavy sound of drums quick to follow.
Everyone in the town who knows what is coming stays silent and tries to hide, praying that they won't stop here, in Woodson.
And it's every week now that they pick a new...
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"You're crazy."
Kade says this to me half an hour later as we look outside of the door of the prisoner hut, waiting for the sun to set.
Slim and the general who questioned us have already come in for the last time today to check in on us. When they came in, I pretended to still be knocked out and Kade relocked the door with my bobby pin to act as if nothing had changed.
And after they left us for the night, we unlocked the door again, and proceeded to watch them walk over to where Andres and Camillo were being held so that we'd know where we were going.
Kade assured me when going over my plan that he could probably disarm a man or two if we got held up, but I'm still sort of worried seeing how easily the men captured us before. Nonetheless, the dark skies descending is our signal to start our escape, since we'll have better coverage in the dark. But before I step out of the tent I take a big deep breath.
I whisper, "We can do this, right?"
"Totally." Kade responds nervously.
Not waiting a second longer, I build up the courage to take a step onto the grass outside of the hut and I am followed immediately by Kade. There is no going back as we move safely behind the outside of our hut together.
When we slip into the shadows, we aren't noticed.
Step one, accomplished.
"Okay, now what?" Kade says, just as I slap my hand over his mouth.
I point over to two guards on the outskirts of the woods, their backs currently turned away from us. Kade's eyes widen like saucers as I slowly remove my hand.Picking up one foot, I try to see if we are able to move without the grass crunches underneath our boots. To my relief, the soft grass does not make a sound to attract the soldiers. Glancing back at Kade, he nods understanding that we should continue, and we make it a couple of tents down before we reach any trouble.
Previous to departing, we were careful to note the possible stations of guards that we could see. We had observed that there are two soldiers positioned at every four buildings me and Kade need to pass.
I tiptoe around the back of a tent, Kade's large form hovering behind me. It is now fully dark and we are halfway around the camp, until Kade almost trips over a rock. He catches himself with a hand on my shoulder, but stays deathly still after registering the noise it made.
He curses under his breath.
For a minute neither one of us moves, and I inwardly pray that the two men a few paces away do not turn around to face us.
"Hey, what-" Starts one of the uniformed soldiers.
They walk towards Kade and I in the darkness, but we react quickly. The guard's voice is cut off by Kade's arms around his neck and mouth, with me copying Kade's movements on his partner.
