Beyond the Walls

Chapter 9

  ((This is what I imagine Jackson looks like))

"Where the hell am I?" is the first thing I think as I am awoken by a mix of different masculine voices shouting all at once. I sit up quickly from the small cot I had slept on and look around to find that I am in a wooden shack with the only light coming through small holes and cracks between the logs and sticks that form the walls around me.

Panic begins to flood my mind and my muscles tense as my head whips around the room looking for a way out. I stand to my feet and begin to feel the walls for some kind of door or way out, finally touching a small handle I pull and push the door only to find it is locked. Pure adrenaline coursing through my veins causes me to be rash and back up all the way against the opposite wall and run full force forward, crashing into the door, breaking through on my first try and falling to the ground on the other side.

Light is all I see, even when I squeeze my eyes shut I can still make out bright orange and yellow spots. I cover my face with my hands and rub my eyes hoping to relive some of the burning. I open them slightly, attempting to adjust to the bright sun in the sky above me. Pushing myself off of the ground I look around me and find myself surrounded by small wooden shacks and large tents.

"How did I get here?" I wonder, turning in a circle trying to remember anything that could be useful to me right now. The last thing I remember is fighting alongside Asher with the men that we found in the house. The whole fight is a little fuzzy since most of the things I was doing were because I was high on adrenaline.

"Hey! You aren't supposed to be out here." A man yells to me as he starts to advance in my direction. My first instinct is to run, so I do run, straight into another man who was turning a corner in front of me.

I slam into the man, pushing him down and falling on top of him. I am up and running again almost as fast as I had fallen, dodging buildings and taking sharp turns left and right finding myself lost but never stopping, even though my body is begging me to breathe again.

I hear heavy footsteps and men shouting behind me. I take a peek back to see how many are chasing me and immediately regret it, knowing now that I don't stand a chance. At least eight men are following me and my body is already starting to slow. This is a race I can't win and I won't be able to fight them off when they do catch me. The only possible way for me to get away is to mentally be one step ahead.

I need to outsmart them.

I make a sharp left and then a right, finding a large tent and keeping myself on the opposite side they were on. They stop in their track and look around with angry and exhausted faces.

"Where'd she go?" One man said as he places his hands on his knees and sucks in short breaths of air.

"I don't know but we can't let her get any farther than she already is, split up and search the whole camp. Alert the guards and tell them to watch the meadow and surrounding forest in case she does manage to get past us."

The men begin to run in all different directions, some coming my way. I crouch low to the ground and try to plan what my next move should be. I see a large crate to my right and decide that I can use it for cover instead of being out in the open just waiting for someone to find me like I am now. I find my way over to the crate and huddle beside it waiting for some of the men to pass by so that I would have a better chance of running without being seen.

Ten minutes go by, then fifteen and I begin to feel little more confident in going out and leaving now. I peek over the crate and see no one. I think the coast is clear. I get up and walk fast, staying alert and ready to take off running at any moment.