The Camp - Phan

Chapter 5 - Date Change

 It's the 24th, I remembered. Two days until the escape.

I couldn't tell them it was my fault about accidentally losing the escape info. Dan would hate me, and they would all shun me. If they knew, they wont be able to escape, and Dan was right – they all needed to get out. If the guards find out, they could hurt them. I couldn't do that to them. But I couldn't just let them go now that they were in danger.They had to know somehow.

The second class was over, I pushed Dan into my room. "We have a problem," I told him.

"Everything ok? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you're perfect," I said by accident, drawing a blush. "Ah, no, that's not... oh never mind. There's a bad situation though. You have to tell Rosa and the Rebellion."

Dan's face became serious. "What happened?"

My tongue twisted and my lips pursed. "Somehow, I think the guards know about the escape," I whispered nervously.

"What? How?"

"I don't know," I lied. "I–I think I heard them talking about the 26th, and that they'll be 'watching for the escapees.' They're onto us."

Dan ran an anxious hand through his hair. "That is bad," he said, "but could be worse. I'll run out and tell Rosa tonight, and she'll know what to do."

"Ok," I said, a bit reassured.

"I wonder how they found out, though. Rosa's so good about keeping quiet. Do you think someone told?"

"I don't know." My body tingled with pain from lying to him. It's my fault, I reminded myself. All of it....

"Well, it's ok. We can fix that. At least they don't know who's a part of us, right? That's a start."

I wrote her name, I knew. And yours too....

"Phil, you seem nervous. Don't be! It's ok. Everything's fine."

"I know."

He came over and attempted to kiss me. I took it, but I didn't deserve it.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him.

"You don't sound fine."

"I am."

"Do you want to talk?"

"I'm fine, Dan."

"Are you just nervous? I'm telling you, you can trust Rosa. She'll get us out of this and no one will be hurt."

I nodded. I believed him. Rosa was an efficient leader, and I didn't have much of a choice now anyway.

Instead of a kiss, Dan hugged me. He felt warm and caring, like a teddy bear. Somehow, his hug felt more calming than a kiss. He felt real. Holding Dan, everything fell on me all at once – someone who loves me for me, someone who wants me to feel ok, someone willing to sacrifice everything to be free. It was so different from before – beatings, starvation, hate. I wondered about all the others who were trapped in this prison with us and what their stories were. Who else was hurt, physically or mentally? Anyone in the Rebellion must've gone through something. I hoped it wasn't too bad for them. I remembered the scar beneath Rosa's shoulder.

"Dan?" Iuttered. "You know Rosa?"

"Yeah."

"How did she get that mark on her shoulder?"

"Oh, her scar.That was from a few years ago, she tells me. Her religious mother went crazy over her being a lesbian, and well... it ended badly for her. She was sent to a hospital and almost bled to death by knife. She can't move her arm very well either; just enough to what she needs."

"That's awful."

"She almost died that day, she says. It's something she never wants to forget. As soon as she is free, she says she'll be an LGBT advocate."

"That's brave of her."

"Yeah, she's a strong girl. I'm glad to be friends with her."

Of course, we were cut off again and separated.

Poor Rosa, I thought. She was almost killed by her mother, of all people. Right then, I didn't want anything more than for every one of those people who are suffering to be freed and live a real life.

~~~~~

It was the next night after, the night of the 25th, that Dan had someway broken into my room, probably from the open window. "Phil," he whispered, shaking me awake. "Phil, wake up. We need to go, now."

"Now? Why?" I complained, rubbing my eyes to adjust to the low lighting.

"Come on, we need to go. Get your things."

"Wait, why?"

"We're escaping now," he said. "Rosa's changed the date to tonight. She's sent a few of us out to wake up the others. Come on, we don't have much time."