Some of the younger ones especially the eight and nine years olds were visibly scared, a few of them were shedding tears while some just held and sat quietly, Zell got out of his seat and walked to the one sitting closest to him and his brother, he spoke to them in the language common to most of the boys who lived along the lake, he comforted and promised them that no harm would come to them.
Standing in the aisle of the bus, he saw the teams of men and dogs heading up the trail in thesame direction the boys had run, Zell looked at the time, six-twentyfive, he silently prayed for the boys who recently escaped , that it would be dark in the next fifteen minutes or so, and he hoped they could use the darkness to their advantage.
He darted back to his seat as a key was turned in the lock, he didn’t know what lay beyond the gates or what was in store for them, what he knew was that he did not like this place and he didn’t intend to stay here for a long time, he glanced at philp who was starring at the back of the seat in front of him, Zell could bet his brother was thinking the same thing.
********
Present Day::
Inside the facility, Zell had witnessed part of the event that had resulted in the disturbance outside, he only wished he could see what was happening beyond the main gates, ‘ would this be the first successful escape in the six years they had been in this godforsaken place?’
He turned and looked across at his colleagues in the dormitory, most of them were asleep, tired from the difficult ten hours shift they had just completed, today they had been left off early, only because one of the machine in the factory had developed a fault.
The ones who were awake had either not heard the uproar that had followed that mad dash for freedom, or they just couldn’t be bothered.
Nobody was at any of the other slot in the wall, he had actually not expected to see any of the drama that had just happened, he had overheard one of the managers tell another that they were expecting a bus load of kids to strengthen the numbers.
That was the only reason why he had come to the slot, to see if he would spot the newcomers, the business was growing rapidly and there weren’t enough hands available to perform some of the duties.
“What is happening out there?” Someone whispered, putting a hand on zell’s left shoulder.
Zell jumped with fright, ” what the hell man” he said in anger, turning to look at who it was ” brian! how many times have I asked you not to creep up on me like that?’
“Iam sorry man” brian mumbled, ” I thought you heard me approaching”
” Well I didn’t, so next time try something else” Zell snapped.
“I said Iam sorry man, you don’t have to get upset over this” Brian said, ” what is happening out there?”
“Don’t know yet” zell answered, turning away from Brian to look through the slot.
Zell had started off as a ” water boy” but an underwater accident had caused him to partially lose vision in one eye, he had been the best driver and the hardest working lad on the complex at that time, the managers decided it wasn’t worth the money they had invested to risk losing him during a dive.
He had therefore been pulled out of the nightshift and made a ‘ surface boy’, Zell had hated the idea, all the careful planning he was putting in place for his escape had been put on hold.
He had later valued the chance to see the other side of the operation, now he could use his experiences on both side to fine-tune his plans, the downside of the daytime shift was that there was no opportunity for the team to take a real break, the work was set and the boys had to stand on their feet throughout.
There was no room for error and any lad who made mistake during preparation of the lobsters was severely punished, but the good thing about a ‘ surface-boy’ was that it was way less dangerous work and your chances of getting killed were close to zero.
“Have you figured out what is happening?” Brian probed.
Zell watched as ‘ELF’ bus slowly rolled into the compound and came to a stop in the parking lot, he debated whether to tell Brian about the escape or not, he later choose not to.
“Nothing much is happening?” Zell replied, ” I think they just brought in a new bus-load of boys”
“Can I have a look?”
“Dude there are two other slot in the wall, why can’t you use one of those?” Zell suggested.
“Sometimes I get the feeling you don’t want me near you” Brian replied miserably, ” we used to be the very best of friends when we were younger, you know”
Zell was about to respond to his old friend’s concern but Brian turned and walked away, not to another slot, but to his bed, Zell felt sad, he knew he had come to a point where he could not share secrets with Brian anymore, deep within him, he knew there was a way out of this place, and he realized he had to form new partnership to attempt any escape.