Chapter 5

AJ checked the blue out after she showed up. If this was going to turn out as an instant death sentence, at least he had something beautiful to look at in the end. He must have been staring because she turned looked at him like he was crazy.

“Hey blue, are we gonna get out of here or are we going to wait to get caught?” Nick asked impatiently looking around for any signs of other citizens or guards.

She looked around as if she were looking for someone. “Someone else was going to show up but I guess she changed her mind.” She shrugged and moved closer to the wall. “This way,” She said grabbing hold of Nick’s hand and pulling him along.

AJ followed them closely wondering where exactly they were going to break out, it wasn’t as if there were any walk ways to the surface. They were surrounded by solid cement; the only place he knew outside light came in was in the agriculture zone. They reached the north side of the arena, the entrance to the government zone.

“Fuck, you are turning us in.” Nick panicked but the blue would not let go of his hand. She reached her hand up and covered Nick’s mouth glaring at the purple outfitted man.

“SHH.” She demanded. AJ wanted to bolt. Why did he convince them both to do this, she was someone seeking to gain some extra credits. He couldn’t leave Nick though; the blue had a vice like grip on his hand holding him in place.

She turned her attention to the government zone. There was no movement, nobody was around. “Why do you think people get caught trying to escape?” She asked nodding her head towards the area where the guards and the government officials called home and work. She removed her hand slowly from Nick’s mouth and flattened herself against the wall. She seemed to be hesitant to enter the zone; AJ couldn’t blame her.

They stood there in silence for what seemed like forever to Nick. The blue was still clinging to his hand despite the buckets of sweat that seemed to be pouring off of it. His heart started racing when he heard the all too familiar sound of guard boots slowly approaching their location. If AJ had not started blinking that morning Nick would not be standing where he was today, it was only the thought of keeping him alive a little longer that kept him rooted to his spot instead of bolting.

AJ and Nick both about wet themselves when the guard came into view and turned in their direction. They knew they were caught, AJ only hoped their execution would be one of the more quick deaths. The guard made no movement to apprehend them but rather turned and looked the other direction.

“Now,” the blue said and pulled Nick’s arm so hard it felt as if she pulled it out of his socket. Nick didn’t have time to look behind him to make sure AJ was behind them. He hoped his friend was following closely. He hardly had time to take in the government zone as they ran but he noticed that the living spaces were definitely bigger than even the married dwellings. Others even stood alone and apart from each other. They looked huge.

AJ kept right on Nick’s heels though he was positive Nick didn’t know he was there. They were out in the open far too long for AJ’s liking and he sighed with relief when they turned down an alley way. They sat crouched in the darkness as the guard from the front walked by them again. All three were heaving in an attempt to catch their breath as they waited. Waited for what though?

AJ’s eyes fell on the blue that had risked a lot to tell them her plans in the open arena with everyone around. He watched her as she continued to watch the guard, waiting for the next signal. Her dark, wavy hair was loosely pulled back tonight instead of freely falling around her shoulders as it had been when they first met. She had a bag strapped to her back, why hadn’t he thought of packing a bag of things, it was likely they would need them if they did get out of Endwise.

“Now,” the blue whispered and they started running again taking a sharp right and heading towards the biggest compound in the government zone. Nick’s heart was beating a mile a minute at the looming building; he thought he was going to have a heart attack as they got even closer to the building.

They reached the end of the building where it met the wall and Nick wondered where they were going now, he was beginning to think that the blue had taken a wrong turn when she started to shuffle between the building and the wall. Nick felt AJ grab a hold of his other hand as all three shuffled through the tight space. When they finally came through the other side, Nick about peed his pants as he saw a guard standing there waiting for them.
“Fuck,” AJ muttered when he came out of the confined area.

Nick and AJ were somewhat stunned when the guard came forward and hugged the blue. “Good luck,” he whispered and pulled a metal cover out of part of the cement wall. He held the cover as the blue pushed Nick through the hole that was revealed.

“Stay safe,” AJ heard the blue tell the guard as he entered the tunnel.

AJ shuddered to think what he was crawling over, he had never felt anything like it before and wasn’t sure he ever wanted to again.

“Nick, if you fart I am going to beat your ass when we get out of here.” AJ muttered to the man crawling in front of him. “That is if we don’t die the moment we get out of here,” AJ added.

“Shhh,” came the blue’s harsh voice from behind him.

They seemed to crawl for hours before Nick came to the end of the tunnel. He was unsure what to do next, why did the blue put him in front, he didn’t know what he was doing. He felt AJ collide with his backside and start muttering to him about his ass smelling.

“Push forward.” The blue spoke up. Nick reached his arms in front of him touching the wall in front of him, it was not rough like cement but cold and smooth like metal. He shoved as hard as he could and let out a grunt of disbelief as it moved and fell down to the ground outside the tunnel.

Nick managed to turn enough so that his feet would be the first things out of the tunnel. He moved out and stood to the side. He took several deep breaths and looked behind him. The walls of the arena loomed next to him. He was standing outside Endwise and he was still alive. His eyes continued to take in the surroundings letting them fall on the next tallest thing around.

AJ’s feet came out of the tunnel and soon his whole body was emerging. He wiped his hands on the borrowed purple shirt and stood next to the wall. He turned his attention to the tunnel and stuck his hand out for the blue to grab as she exited the darkness. Only after she was out did he notice his friend staring at something dumbstruck. AJ looked in the direction that Nick was looking in and gawked.

“Is that a…?” he asked to no one in particular.

“A tree,” Nick breathed out the words. He remembered pictures of these beautiful plants from his school books. Never in his life did he think he would see one in person.

“We made it.” AJ smiled to the other two looking down at the blinking light. He wondered if it would ever just stop or if it would be a forever reminder of where he came from.

“Not yet,” The blue spoke. “Someone will miss a blue and purple and report it. They will come looking and it won’t be long before they think to look outside. We must keep moving.”