• PART ONE
    tab Jason and Tom. Stuck in this horrible place, like me. A place of torture and loss. A place I never would have believed existed, before. A torturing military base.
    tab I walked in and couldn't believe my eyes. Hot, wet tear overflowed my eyes. It felt like flames had risen in my throat. I wanted to cry out for help.
    tab The guards walked me over to some metal benches where Tom was sitting. He looked so helpless. His cheeks were tear stained. He didn't even look up as i slomly sat down next to him. I searched for Jason and sadly found him.
    tab Jason was a sad sight. I wanted to heave as soon as I saw him. He was tied, ankles and wrists, to a stretching board. Almost like one of those old mid-evil torturing devices. He screamed and i heard his back break as they pulled his body out farther and farther.
    tab How long had they been here? How could we have been so stupid together? We knew the punishment for having a forbidden romance was death and torture. Why had we been so nieve? A gasp escaped my lips. Though it sounded more like a broken sob. Jason looked up and met my eyes for a moment before he wailed in pain again.
    tab The guard came over to our bench and picked up Tom. Jason and I stared at him as he was carried over to a steel table with a griddle nest to it. We all knew what kind of torture was in store for Tom. He would be cooked piece by piece and then eaten alive. Jason looked down as if he couldn't bear to watch.
    tab I tried to distract the guard by waving my hands around and throwing trash at him. Jason looked up suddenly at me and then back at his poor defenseless brother. His eyes begging for interference.
    tab The guard through Tom over his shoulder and then walked back to me. He dropped Tom back onto his place on the bench and instead picked up me. I would take Tom's place.
    tab They shut off Jason's stretcher board so that he could watch my torture. They knew that Jason and I loved each other deeply. In fact that was the reason we were here in the first place. It was forbidden romance for people of our class to love someone of their class. Tom too was watching.
    tab The guard slung me down on to the table and I knew not to fight him. The knife came down hard against my knee. I could feel it scrape against my bone, I could feel the muscle snap back when it sliced through. I could hear the sizzle as he placed it on the burner. I had my mouth squeezed shut, fighting the urge to scream and shout and thrash around the table like a mad man. New tears streamed down my face.
    tab The pained look on my friend's faces
    were driving me wild. I knew that they were in pain too. Broken tearless sobs were coming from Jason's mouth and Tom was in a fetal position rocking back and forth ont he bench. I had to do it...
    tab I twitched around and kicked the knife out of the guards hand, sending it flying across the room towards a power box causing the already dim light to go out. I jumped off the table and ran through the dark to where I remembered the door was. I tried not to remember their surprised faces as I turned my back to them and walked out into the sunlight. I tried not to remember all that I had left behind.

    PART TWO
    tab I started to run... our more like hobble to my house. Which was only about three minuted in walking distance. It was twilight now and all of the children had gone inside for dinner. All except my brother. He ran to me and hugged me tightly but pulled away when i wobbled a little bit.
    tab He looked up at my face and saw that I was smiling. Seeing my brother and knowing he cared even after what I had down was special to me. I hated feeling vulnourable, like right now as I hugged my brother ever so tightly. Tears of joy ran over my cheeks. I knew I was home.
    tab Being an escape base fugitive wouldn't be easy. I had escaped but someone could still turn me in and I didn't really want to see what would await me there if I should ever return.
    tab "Joseph." I said "I'm losing blood fast. But you can't tell mom that I'm here. Please, ok? I'll be in the Casados' old house. Alright?" He smiled at me warmly as if he understood perfectly and I walked away to my hide-out after kissing him lightly on the forehead. I left my adorable, kind, caring, young brother standing surprised and astounded as I walked away.
    tab The Casados' hose was old and musty. It smelled of dust and mildew as I climbed in it's back window. There was an old green and shabby Lazyboy recliner in what used to be the living room. That would come in handy. It was freezing outside but the chair would supply the warmth that I would need to survive through the rest of the winter out here. A dirty, white loveseat was placed in the center of the room. Pieces of fabric were hanging off of the bottom left-hand corner.
    tab I grabbed a piece and tied it around my gory, blood soaked wound. I would wash it out at my house after my mom left for work tomorrow. I sauntered over to the recliner and sat down. Nestled into the chair for some much needed rest. Faces played in my head over and over again.
    tab When I woke-up I noticed that a ratherly large bandage was placed on my knee. smelling faintly like alchohol. I could smell food and peered around the house looking for it. There was a stirafoam plate with piping hot food on it. Some baked beans were piled on a leftover hotdog and chips were in a bag next to it. My mom's famous sweet tea was in a tall glass next to it all. I would deffinitly thank my brother.
    tab It was barely light outside. Near sunrise. He must have snuck out while she was sleeping to bring the food to me. I slowly stood up, careful of my throbing knee and picked up the empty plate and glass and placed them safely on the loveseat.
    tab The school bus would be here soon and my mother would leave for work right after. My stomach was full now and I knew I wouldn't have to eat for a couple of days before being hungry again. The bathroom was indeed a problem though. In the old abandoned house there was no plumbing. I would have to wait until I could get into my house to use the toilet.
    tab I could hear the bus brake's screech to a stop. Then I heard the doors close as it pulled away. My garage door opened and my mom backed down the driveway.
    tab The beginning of a new day began...
    tab I picked up my plate and my glass. I should stick them back in my house before someone noticed that they were gone. My mom always hid an extra key in the flowerpot next to the front door. I took my free ahnd and dug around in the potted dirt until I found it. The house smelled of lavender, my mom's favorite flower. The smell reminded me of her best perfume. When I hugged her she always smelled like that. I missed her but I to stay in hiding.
    tab I set the plate in the trash and then walked over to the sink to put my glass away. I walked to my room to silently search for my money stash. I could use the money to get food and supplies outside of town. If I took anything out of the house that was too noticable they might see that I had been here.
    tab My knee was still bleeding...not good. I went to the nearest bathroom for first-aid supplies and made dure to use it too. Then I grabbed a needle and some thread from the supplies. I ran back to the knitchen to grab a bag of ice to make my knee numb for when I stitched it up. I carefully took the blood soaked bandage off of my dirty knee. I stuck the ice on the open wound and then pour alchohol all around it. My leg tingled as I slipped the threaded needle into my skin, sewing the wound closed. I replaced the supplies when I was complete and through the already melting ice out the front door.
    tab Walking back to the Casados' house seemed to take forever. My knee was burning now because the ice's numbness had worn off already and I was thristy again. Soon Joseph would be home and he would come visit me. I tried to look at the bright side.
    tab I walked into the familiar smelling house and fell back onto the loveseat. I stratched out as much as I could and tried to get comfy. I don't remember when I finally drifted off to sleep but when I woke up, they were there.
    tab "Tori?" Jason? Was it really him? "I think she's dead." Tom too? "Shut-up doofus. She's just sick. Man, look at her knee." Was I sick? Jason and Tom... how long had I been asleep? Was I dead? I flinched as a cold hand pressed up against my forehead.
    tab "She's burnin up." Jason said. I listened to them talk back and forth.
    tab "I can't believe that she took thawt knife for me man. How could we have just let her walk away like that? She was in serious pain judging from the look of her." Tom's voice was soothing. "Should we wake her up?"
    tab "Tori? Are you okay honey?" Jason's hand pressed against my cheek this time and I really wished he would just leave it there. Against my hot skin.
    tab "Hmmm." I pretended that I had just woken up. Hoping that they didn't see that I was faking.
    tab "Whoa...OW!" My knee was on fire! I grabbed my leg as if trying to hide the pain.
    tab "Tori! Where does it hurt?!" Jason's hands fluttered over me nervously.
    tab "My knee... it's nothing. Don't worry about it. "I wasn't going to complain about something so small when Jason had broken his back and didn't seem to...
    tab Wait, how was Jason walking? He shouldn't even be able to keep his head up. He looked fine.
    tab "Jason, how are you walking? Your back, you broke it."
    tab "I stole some toxin shots from the medical center when we left. It healed me and took the pain away.... I guess it isn't broken anymore. Are you sure you're okay? You're face is kinda sweaty and your head is burnin up but it's freezing outside." Jason seemed really concerned but I didn't let that get to me.
    tab "I'm fine." I tried to sit up but my head spun and my knee hurt so bad that I was sure that the stitches had busted. I leaned back agains the arm of the love seat and closed my eyes again letting out a sof tmoan.
    tab " Tori!" Tom screamed.
    tab "Ouch....My knee hurts." I hated giving into vulnerability
    tab " Hold still, it'll only hurt for a second. I was ready to ask Jason what the hello he meant but a sharp pain in my arm interupted me.
    tab "I stocked up on extra toxin shots...ya know...just incase you were in worse shape. You'll feel better in a while." Jason said uneasily. The shot. H took the valuable time that he had. Time where he could have been re-captured to stock up on medical supplies for me.
    tab Something cold and soft preseed against my hair. His lips? I didn't mind. This was meant to be.
    tab We would stay together, probably buy a house, have kids, no one but my brother and Tom would ever know that we had survived. We would change our names and get fake IDs. I wouldn't care. As long as I was with Jason. mrgreen