I am running, again, it’s exhilarating, just as I remembered, but this time something feels different; maybe I just understand it better this time. I had been little the first time, and the second, the third time had been only a few years ago but those few short years had felt like a long time. Now it’s my fourteenth birthday, not that it matters, and we are running again. Johnathan had been afraid for a few days, growing more anxious at every squeal of tires and every bang of car doors, the tipping point had come when he had heard a car engine last night. Non-government vehicles hadn’t been allowed on the roads after dusk for almost three years and it was one law nobody had ever dared break. But Johnathan had stayed up at night and slept
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The place was huge and actually consisted of many parking garages, each designated to a certain division of Honors Corp., stuffed into one huge space. Each parking garage had a corridor of its own that connected to the main corridor leading to the elevator. It created an almost tree like system of hallways that one who wondered into the wrong part of could very easily get lost in. Which had made it perfect for us. We had slowed to a jog after we had gotten into the hallway designated to distribution and now, a few feet ahead of me John slowed to a walk and I followed suit. I glanced at my watch, it was 11:23, most people had gone home and night shifters had all migrated into their place of work. 37 minutes had passed since we split from her apartment. Her shift had started at ten and it had taken us 46 minutes to wipe all trace of ourselves from her home, a minute longer than usual. We might have risked another night there despite the presence of government vehicles but John had checked the recordings from the tap we had put on her phone and saw her call to the automated government tip line the day before. That had removed any question, we were gone. I looked up at John, who I realized, had been watching me as I seemingly stared at my watch. I inhaled deeply, the stale air leaving an unpleasant taste in my mouth. He looked back down the hall. Despite the fact that it did indeed lead to the main hallway, it was a long a winding path, meant to avoid the seemingly randomly placed garages. The hallway however, had intersected with many other hallways, effectively creating a maze for us to get lost in. He pointed to where the hallway bent to the left, away from everything else, and said, “There should be a custodial closet up around the corner, we’ll make camp there for tonight. Sound good?”. Wordlessly, I nodded my
The place was huge and actually consisted of many parking garages, each designated to a certain division of Honors Corp., stuffed into one huge space. Each parking garage had a corridor of its own that connected to the main corridor leading to the elevator. It created an almost tree like system of hallways that one who wondered into the wrong part of could very easily get lost in. Which had made it perfect for us. We had slowed to a jog after we had gotten into the hallway designated to distribution and now, a few feet ahead of me John slowed to a walk and I followed suit. I glanced at my watch, it was 11:23, most people had gone home and night shifters had all migrated into their place of work. 37 minutes had passed since we split from her apartment. Her shift had started at ten and it had taken us 46 minutes to wipe all trace of ourselves from her home, a minute longer than usual. We might have risked another night there despite the presence of government vehicles but John had checked the recordings from the tap we had put on her phone and saw her call to the automated government tip line the day before. That had removed any question, we were gone. I looked up at John, who I realized, had been watching me as I seemingly stared at my watch. I inhaled deeply, the stale air leaving an unpleasant taste in my mouth. He looked back down the hall. Despite the fact that it did indeed lead to the main hallway, it was a long a winding path, meant to avoid the seemingly randomly placed garages. The hallway however, had intersected with many other hallways, effectively creating a maze for us to get lost in. He pointed to where the hallway bent to the left, away from everything else, and said, “There should be a custodial closet up around the corner, we’ll make camp there for tonight. Sound good?”. Wordlessly, I nodded my