Pain

Chapter 7 - Prisoner

Chapter 7
Prisoner

"Are you ready?" Koby asked, reaching for my hand.

"Yeah," I managed, grasping hold of it.

He got to his feet and pulled me up with him. I noticed immediately how clammy his hand was. He knew that what we were about to do was extremely risky, yet he was eager to prove himself to me.

"Now remember, anything I tell you to do you obey immediately," he reminded me. "If I say duck, you duck. If I tell you to run, don't stop until you get back to safety."

I nodded, already knowing just how serious this was.

"And whatever you do," he added. "Don't be a hero."

I knew straight away what he meant by that. I'd never run from danger in my whole life, I'd always stared it right in the face and fought back at it. This was his way of telling me two things – I wasn't going there to rescue Jamie and I wasn't to stay and fight if Koby told me to run.

"Got it," I said.

He squeezed my hand lightly before dropping it and heading off into the bush.

"Wait!" I called.

He turned to look at me, raising his eyebrows.

"Aren't we going to take any of the others?" I asked.

"No," he answered. "The higher the numbers, the riskier this is. Now come on, we don't have much time. Let's move."

I nodded and followed him blindly into the bush. The further away from camp we got, the more uneasy I became. What if this was just part of Koby's scheme to hurt me? For all I knew he could be getting my hopes up by convincing me that Jamie was alive and leading me into some kind of trap. At this point, a soldier could have told me that Jamie was alive and I would have followed them. Koby was surely a better option.

About ten minutes into our journey, I saw the first sign of soldier activity. A burnt-out fire was off to the side of the track we were following. Koby was the first to spot it, stopping me with his arm and telling me to get down low.

"We need to get off the trail," he whispered. "Now!"

He shoved me off to the opposite side of the track and the two of us crouched low in the bushes, looking and listening for any sign of soldiers. Finally, after what felt like hours, Koby seemed satisfied and we continued on our way.

The bush around us was peacefully quiet. The sounds of the night were welcoming and gave me the sense that we were safe for the time being. Even Koby seemed to be calm during our journey, always keeping his guard up and yet still seeming peaceful.

After many miles later, the bush around us lost its natural feel and I could see a glowing light up ahead. I knew what it was before Koby even told me and my stomach dropped. They were much closer than I had ever imagined. We wouldn't be safe for much longer.

"Stay low," Koby whispered, pulling his gun over his shoulder and continuing on.

I did the same with my gun and kept close behind him, attempting to watch both his movements and keep an eye out for any around me. We had just about reached the base when I crashed into his back. I heard him groan in annoyance.

"Watch where you're going," he growled.

His demeanour had completely changed since we'd arrived here. The calm and the peace had vanished in thin air and the anger that had consumed his once beautiful soul was surging through him. Now it was up to me to get this unstable boy to keep me safe.