Lawless

Chapter Two

It's 7am sharp when Ma and I wake to prepare breakfast. Dad and Max walk through the front door as breakfast is being placed on the table. Max takes his gloves off and throws them, leaving an imprint of mud on the wall.

"Damn Lawless!"

Ma and I wait in silence, not willing for the anger to be directed towards us.

Dad sighs as he takes a seat and wipes the sweat and rain off his forehead. Both of them look exhausted.

"Some Lawless got over the fence without triggering the alarm" he seethed between clenched teeth. "The dogs are tracking where they've been" Dad explained.

Ma manages to hide her shock and I can't stop my jaw from dropping. No one had ever gotten over and not been caught, let alone been able to get back over and escape. At least from what I'm aware of. I quickly close my jaw before anyone notices.

My mind briefly flashes to whoever I'd seen on Lawless side of the fence yesterday. There's no way it was him, I'd heard him leave and I doubt he'd risk coming to Class after being seen earlier in the day. It'd be idiotic.

I dont mention the man, or anything I'd seen.

Security is upped along the fence and through the town over the next few days; there's been no attempts for the last five days, the longest for a while. It's been nice catching a full nights sleep and not waking up to gun shots. Dad and Max are hardly home, along with every other male within Class. Sir Walter has them running crazy trying to find the culprit and fix the fault in the fence security.

Life goes back to normal over the following days. High Class never located the escapee and the fence was checked over by maintenance workers. Everything appeared fine and no damage had been sustained. This did little to ease the concerns of Class society though; Sir Walter assuring the people of their safety and that the fence was in perfect working condition.

It's not until almost two weeks after the escape that I'm awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of the fence alarm being triggered, the sirens almost blowing my eardrums. I hurry to the window in an attempt to catch who it is, my mind instantly going to the man I saw.

I kneel on the floor and look over the window seel, a draft of wind causes goose bumps along my arms. I hear the backdoor slam as Dad leaves the house. Max follows shortly after shouting words unbeknownst to me as my entire focus is on the man frantically climbing the fence. Movement on Lawless side of the fence catches my eye. It doesn't take me long to recognise that it's the man I saw the other week and his running towards the man climbing the fence.

Dad and Max make it to the fence and start shooting, the bright flashes only allowing me to see in between gun shots. My hands cover my ears and tears well in my eyes. The man on the fence falls onto Lawless side, for a second Im convinced his dead before he opens his mouth in a guttural scream while clutching his leg.

The man I saw last week runs without fear towards him. The bullets hitting the mental fence create sparks and bounce off. The sound of guards running towards the scene is loud and chaotic.

The man picks up the guy thats shot and throws his arm over his shoulder while they attempt to run and limp further from the fence and towards the safety of Lawless.

My eyes zero in as a bullet makes contact with the arm of the man from yesterday. I gasp and while the tears that I tried to hold back slowly fall. He continues on with nothing but a wince.

They both make it into the dense bush, no longer visible. The shooting continues for a further minute before stopping. The guards still shout commands, dogs are barking and radios are blaring, although theres no more gun fire.

Frantic footsteps are heard along the hallway leading to my bedroom. Before I have time to get back in bed, Ma barges through the door, her face a look of concern turns to anger as she finds me looking out the window and watching the scene unfold.

"What are you doing Dove? Get to bed" she yanks me up by the arm and directs me towards my bed before going back to the window, having a quick look and harshly closing the blinds. "Dont look out there again" she warns.

The slam of the door announces her exit as I lie in bed feeling cold and fearful.