Daughter of fire

The escape II

On the way to the meeting point, we almost bump into a patrol team, which, fortunately, we manage to avoid without being noticed. They're too busy at the moment with the power shortage to notice the little group running behind them.

It takes exactly 4 minutes to get to the place and meet Gabi and the other boy. They both look bad enough, but they can still stand, so we'll have to worry about it later.

Gabi is the first one that turns and starts running and we are following him. While he had been waiting, he had managed to start the van in which the boy was to be transported and to make, using another van, a hole in the metal door of the garage. I didn't known of the destructive ingenuity he had, and now that I do, I am beginning to like him more and more.

"Get in! Quick!"

Now is a good time to say that I've never been in a car before or maybe I did when I was very young, but I don't remember. I can, therefore, say that my reaction when Gabi pressed the pedal was absolutely and completely legitimate. However, I will never forget the laughter of that A-boy when I screamed, trying to hide under the back seat.

The rest stopped laughing after a few minutes, but the A-boy still hasn't finished. I already hate him.

"That was the cutest reaction to…anything, I've ever seen. I'd give anything to know what you were thinking."

"I was thinking of you burning in hell!"

"We just got out."

He looks at me with a cheeky smile and then he has the nerves to wink at me. To wink! I turn my head, looking for Liana's eyes and hoping the boy didn't see the blush in my cheeks.

I see Liana smiling at me, too. Actually, everyone is smiling. Except for Daniel, who's throwing murderous looks towards the A-boy. I ignore that and focus on the foolish excitement in the van. 

Stupid, because we didn't fully escape yet, but it's hard not to feel it. I'm so excited that I'm not even angry at them for laughing at me for five whole minutes. I can't even be angry at the A-boy. Because I can not believe that the way I have lived my whole life up to this point will change so drastically. A new or better-said, a real-world, an unknown future, and a satisfactory total lack of routine. Now I am beginning to live the reality, leaving behind all lies and the past. Or at least that was what I thought before I got Gabi to bring me back to earth.

"Don't be so fast to celebrate, We haven't escaped yet. We have now entered the tunnel linking the underground base to the outer perimeter , but we have to get through two secondary control points and three main ones. And that's the safest way..."

I am trying to remain optimistic. If we got here we can't be caught right out. Or so I hope.  

"And?" Daniel asks, with a little childless in his voice "What's the plan?"

"I have no plan. I wasn't really sure we would get here." Gabi answers after a few seconds of looking away embarrassed.

"Are you kidding with me!?"

"Gabi, I remembered something…"

"Miri, my dear, if you forgot something, forgotten it remains."

"Not that,  do you remember the ditch that surrounds the whole area? There's just a single bridge over it…"

We all look at each other. Defense ditch? What's next: holes with swords in them and cauldrons with boiling pitch?

"Are there crocodiles in that ditch? Or is it a spell that turns anyone who drops into the water into a golden fish?"

"We don't know, hero. Maybe you can solve this by making the car fly with your mind, or the fire girl can just boil the water till we have a dry road ahead. Magic problems require magic solutions. I don't see why are you the shocked ones."

"And yet, a ditch?" I can't blame Daniel, if I could speak I would vent about the absurdity of the situation, too.

"Let it go, already. We must get to the ditch and get past the other bases, and you must use your powers to do that. Can you, the A-type kid, throw something lightning?"

"If I could, this place would have been destroyed long ago, don't you think?"

"I suppose the one with the fire can't burn down an entire base, can she?" 

That is a really good question. The only problem is that I don't know how to answer it. We had never been allowed to use our powers, and in my room, I had to hold myself enough to avoid making any visible marks. Even during the escape, I did not think I had reached the limit of my powers because I was afraid I would hurt the rest of them. So how can I know how destructive this power really is if I had never had the opportunity to test it?

"I don't know."

"She is a B-subject, Miri, what do you think?" 

"You weren't there when we were almost caught by a Brother." 

"Well then, we'll find out in a minute. Buckle up, kids!"

Gabi floored the acceleration, and in front of us, closer and closer, is a square, compact concrete building that connects two strands of the high fence that separate one area from another. There are a total of five areas separated by high fences, which you can only pass through highly secured checkpoints. However, in the north-west there is an emergency road, used extremely rarely, which had no checkpoints but narrow openings in the wall. I had originally thought we would use that gap, but Gabi had opposed it, arguing that as soon as they found out about our run, they would assume we would head there and would send a large number of Brothers along that route, leaving the other checkpoints less guarded.

As far as I can see from my seat, there are only two men in camouflage equipment sitting on both sides of a barrier. They probably were not informed about our escape, because they seem rather surprised at the moment when they see us approaching in speed. 

"Showtime." Screams Gabi.