The next morning at roll call, his sister Jessica's number was called. She was forced towards Kitler. When she was a foot or two away from him, he lashed out at her. She fell to the ground and curled into a ball, all ready trembling with fear. Taylor couldn't take this.
Despite the fact that every part of him ached with excruciating pain, he ran forth upon Kitler. His first blow knocked Kitler to the ground, but not because of the strength behind it, because of the surprise. Taylor shouted at the top of his lungs, "Why the hell do you feel the need to beat up innocent people? She's not even a damn musician! Not even a damn teenager! What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Kitler's eyes filled with hatred for Taylor. "You will not speak to me in that tone, and you will not question my authority. This is your last chance. You fuck-up again and you're going to be the puddle on the floor that I can't help but step in. You got that, prick?"
Taylor seethed. "Yeah."
Dusk was just beginning to fall. He sat down for one more night of boring captivity. A night of just looking at the stars. That's when he noticed K.D. walking over to him.
She sat down and whispered to him. "Tonight you're gonna break for it. You okay with that? We've got everything all planned out."
He whispered back. "Yeah. Sure. Explain it to me."
K.D. scratched her shoulder. "The bars on the window. You lift them up, they come out. There's a camera in the corner. Jay's taking care of it. Tonight's a new moon. We disable the camera, we disable the sound, you're scot-free outta here. But, out there. There's a fence around this place. We've befriended a guard. He cut the fence for us. You get out of here, you go straight, it'll be right around there. There will be dogs out there. I'll give you something in a sec to keep them at bay. Now, once you're past the fence, there will be a river. This is the tricky part. Yeah, it's 50 degrees, but you'll have to get in and float downstream to a bridge. If you don't, they'll see you. Once you get to that bridge, go underneath it. There's a change of clothes and some food there. There's also money. Get on the bridge, and go to the side that doesn't have any pine trees. There's a path there. Take it. You'll come to a taxi place about a mile down that path. Ask for Johnny. Have him take you to Malone. There's a hill there covered in large stones and a house up on that hill. Go to that house. They'll have further instructions. Got that?"
He took a deep breath. "Yeah. I got it. Now, what was it you had to give me?"
She handed him a handkerchief. "Place this in front of the dogs. They'll sniff it, and their senses will get all mixed up. Rather than chase you or bark, they'll lie down and try to sleep."
He nodded. "All right."
She grinned. "Now, as the camera isn't disabled yet, but as soon as it turns dark it will be and you'll have to go, say goodbye to everyone now. You'll have to pretend you think you're dying. And, really overdo it with Alisa. Tell her you love her or something. Cry if you can. Got it?"
He nodded. "Okay."
He walked over to his parents giving them each a hug. As he did, he whispered the plan to them. When he pulled away, they nodded.
His siblings. A hug each. A little explanation. More nods.
All of the "until tomorrow" people knew, so he gave them hugs and received nods.
That left Alisa. He walked over to her, and placed his arms around her, whispering into her ear the quick version of the plan. When he pulled away, tears were forming in her eyes. She spoke in a trembling voice. "I'm gonna miss ya. You know that, right?"
He nodded, his eyes watering at the sight of her tears. "Yeah. I'm gonna miss ya too. I love you. You know that, right?"
Her bottom lip trembled. "I guess. Do you really mean that?"
He looked into her eyes. He saw himself and yet he saw something he never had before. He saw the true Alisa. She wasn't a fake by any means, but what he saw wasn't all she was. She was so much more. Much easier to.....love. "I do really mean it. I love you, Alisa."
She wrapped her arms around him. "I love you too. Really."
The tears welling up in his eyes began to flow. "I'll see you soon. I hope. That is, after it gets dark."
She nodded. "I know."
Dusk fell and a few wires were clipped. It was time. He headed to the window. Kaylin stood leaned against the door just in case someone tried to look in through the peep hole or push open the door. With Melyssa and Silver's help, he pulled the bars from the window. They helped to lift him up, and he pushed out through the opening in the wall. He landed on, of all things, a few pillows. Obviously more help from the befriended guard. He heard a growl from behind him.
The dogs. He frantically pulled the handkerchief from his pocket and tossed it towards the dogs. They sniffed at it, then whimpered and walked around in dizzied circles. They lay down and he took off for the fence.
He got to the fence. The top was barbed wire, and he certainly wasn't going to climb over that. He felt along the fence, trying to find where exactly it was cut.
He felt it, the blood now running down his hand kind of clued him in that something was sharp, obviously the cut in the fence. He slipped through, disregarding the fact that the fence scraped his skin and tore his clothing. He needed only to be quick. As soon as he passed through the fence, he heard sirens coming from the camp. They knew he had escaped.
He saw the river. He ran towards it. Without looking back, he took a breath and jumped in. The cold hit him immediately. His teeth chattered as he floated downstream, unknowing of what might happen that night. He saw something in the distance.
The bridge. A single dim light shined upon it. He swam a little to reach his destination a bit more quickly. Almost there. He raised his hand and caught the edge of the low bridge, slowly pulling himself towards the bank. He hit land then crept under the bridge.
K.D. had been right. A plastic bag lay there. When he ripped it open, he was greeted with some non-perishable food items, a change of rather baggy clothing, a hat and a wallet containing $200. He quickly changed, shoved the wallet in his back pocket, then picked up the food deciding to eat it as he walked to save time. The sooner he walked that mile, the better.
He set off down the path. Each step set off an alarm of pain in his body, but he disregarded it all. He had to save them. This was his duty. He was the only one who had this chance. He had to take it, make it work.
No pine trees. Yet, the other side of the bridge had only pine trees. He busied himself thinking about that and eating as he walked. 10 minutes or so later, he reached the taxi station.
He entered the small building with the somewhat familiar cabs out front. He hit the bell on the desk. A moment later, a tall man with pale, freckled skin and orange hair stepped behind the desk from a small room in the back. "Yeah? What?"
He took a breath. "You Johnny?"
The man squinted at him. "Who sent you here?"
He was unsure of what exactly to say. The man waved his hand. "Of course K.D. sent you. Who the hell else would come here at midnight? You're Taylor, right? Hi. I'm Johnny."
Johnny held out his hand, Taylor shook it. Johnny grabbed a set of keys off the wall. "I know where to take you. C'mon. Out to the cab."
He followed Johnny, and got into the taxi. Johnny started it up and drove. A minute or two passed, and the cab stopped. "We're here. Yeah, wasn't all that far, was it? Here kid."
Johnny gave him a slip of paper with the words, "aerodynamic accelerators actually energize air," on it. "If someone says to you 'What did you learn in class today?' reply with that. Got it?"
Taylor nodded and opened the door of the cab to exit it. But he held back a minute. "Hey man? Thanks."
Johnny nodded. "Keep cool, kid. By the way, once you save the world from all this, I expect to see a new album from you. And, ya better autograph mine."
Taylor smiled. "Sure Johnny. Well, I'd better go."
Out the door. He saw the hill. He stumbled up it. The house. It stood, tall and brown, with large fields of fruits and vegetables on each side of the house. He walked up to the door and knocked.
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