Chased

The line for The Pirn spills into the cracked pavement of the streets. The air is thick with black smoke, only the buildings within the city walls still stand. Any sign of civilization outside the walls has long ago been erased. The line inches slowly forward and I send a quick prayer to The Imprinters. I press a kiss to my grandmother’s silver heart locket for luck. This morning when I said goodbye to my mother, I made certain to keep my tears in, but now they stream down my face. I keep my sobs inaudible, appearing weak in front of the crowd is not an option. The other people in the line wear no emotions, eyes trained to The Pirn and mouths in straight lines. I can’t remain calm knowing I could walk away today with the mark of a Chased One. Knowing my parents lead many Beast hunts causes my heart rate to relax, nobody in my family has ever received the dreaded skull. Yet I can’t stop the foreboding thoughts looming over me, promising a dreadful day.

When I get to the front an elderly lady greets me with a broken smile. I notice she sports the skull of the Chased Ones on her neck. She makes no attempt to cover the symbol, she has reached the age of safety. She sits me down in a rusty metal folding chair, well worn in the middle where many people have sat before.

“Okay, sweetie,” she attempts a comforting smile, “you must have learned the procedure by now but I will walk you through it.” I know she wants to ease my anxiety, but the constant repetition of the program causes my breathing to strain and my heart to pound. “In a few minutes an Imprinter will be here, they will look over you and then choose a mark.” she pauses as pain flashes through her eyes, “Should you get the mark of the Chased Ones you must run immediately, run far and fast. If the system is on your side and you receive the bow that represents the Beasts, dinner awaits you in the dining hall.”

Just as she finishes a woman slams the door against the wall and I hear heels clicking on the floor. I bring my gaze to the Imprinter. She looks over me, as if I were gum on her shoe, for only a second and then pulls out her marking gun.

“Chased.” the Imprinter says as she stamps my neck with the symbol, she doesn’t bother to stay in the room, walking out as my jaw falls open.

“There’s no time for shock, darling, run.” The elderly lady looks over me with pity and gestures to the exit, granting me the opportunity to run.

I begin running, my feet pounding against the gravel as thoughts rush through my head. I will never see my mother again. I will never walk confidently in public again. I will always live in fear of the Beasts, of my own family.

I run toward the southern border of the walls. I know there lies a hole just big enough to crawl through. I’ve visited the hole hundreds of times through my childhood, never exiting the walls because of the safety the Imprinters promised within. Now, inside the walls presents more predators than outside.

Where two alleys join I smash directly into someone rushing in the opposite direction of the sunset. It’s a boy, no older than me, he has tears staining his cheeks and his ruffled hair. I glance at his neck at the same time he looks at mine. My shoulders sag and I take a deep breath, a shadow lays across his neck but there is the unmistakable skull of the Chased.

I reach my hand out to him to help him up, “Ellie, Chased as of five minutes ago.” I cock my head to the side, waiting for his reply.

He grabs my hand and lifts himself up, “Davie, I got my mark about two minutes ago.”

“Do you have a plan or are you purposely running directly into Beast HQ?”

His eyes widen, “Beast HQ is down that alley?” I nod, furrowing my brow slightly at his lack of understanding the city layout.

“Yeah, if you don’t have a plan you can come with me, I’m going outside the walls.”

“OUTSIDE THE WALLS??”

“Shhhhh, didn’t I just tell you we are near Beast HQ?” He shuts his mouth and stares at me expectantly. “I figure the Beasts don’t bother to go outside the walls and we’d be safer there until we reach the age of safety.”

He nods his head, shifting his eyes between the alleyways and keeping his mouth firmly shut. My heart hurts at the sight of the boy, despite his height he seems small. I hold out my hand and shoot him a smile, hesitantly, he grabs it. We begin running south again, towards the hole in the wall.

By the time we get there the sun can no longer be seen on the horizon, we have slowed to a walk after a couple hours of running. I crouch to the floor when Davie stops me.

“Wait, Ellie,” he glances around, clearly nervous, “Do you know what’s out there? They always said-”

“I know the stories, and I don’t believe them.” I pat his shoulder and smile at him, “Come on Davie, I’ll keep you safe.”

His shoulders relax a little and he nods, then we both shove through the small hole. On the other side lies bright green grass. Miles of it. To the east, trees line the skyline. The stories always said outside the walls was rubble and ash. I glance over at Davie’s wide eyes and open jaw. Hope fills me, maybe it won’t be so hard to live out here after all. Immediately after the hope I yearn to punch someone, throw something.

“I don’t get it,” I gesture wildly at the open fields before us, “they said- they said there weren’t enough resources. They said we had to prevent overpopulation. They said hunting the Chased Ones was showing mercy! This isn’t mercy! Even the Beasts suffer from malnourishment and poverty! We have resources, they’re right outside the wall! Why do they hunt us? Why don’t they use these?”

Davie walks over and places an arm around my shoulders.

“Breathe, Ellie,” he tilts my chin up until his eyes are level with mine, “I don’t know why they’re lying. What I do know is that now, we have access to these fields, and the trees that lie over there in the east. And you brought us here. Don’t be upset about the past, move on.”

He’s right, I know he is. So we head off towards the trees in the east, hoping to find a good place to set up camp.

When we get to the treeline we begin collecting large and dry kindling. As I start setting rocks in a circle for the firepit I notice Davie shifting and biting his lip.

“What, Davie?” I put my rocks down and walk over to him, “What’s bothering you?”

“Do you think-” he lowers his voice to a whisper and glances around, “Do you think there are wild animals in here?”

“Well I’d assume so,” I cut myself off when he widens his eyes at my comment, “but obviously none big enough to hurt us.” I paste on a reassuring smile.

“Okay, I trust you.” A carefree look returns to his face.

We build a fire and a lean-to of tree branches and grass, it’s barely large enough to fit us both. When the moon reaches the top of the sky we put out the fire and head to bed. I attempt to scoot as far from Davie as I can in the small shelter.

“Ellie?” Davie whispers from about a foot away.

“Yes?”

“Do you think you could cuddle with me?”

“Cuddle?” I smile in the dark but bite my lip before any laughter tumbles out.

“Yes, I know you said that the animals are small but I’m still scared.”

I successfully suppress the laughter that threatens to escape me.

“Okay, Davie, come here.” I raise my eyebrows every time his actions resemble those of a child.

I hear Davie shifting in the dark and then feel an arm wrap around me. He’s surprisingly warm in the cool night air and I can’t help but lean into him. Even though he initiated it, his embrace makes me feel safe.

“Goodnight, Ellie”

“Goodnight, Davie.”

I wake as the sun starts trickling in the tent, Davie’s arm still wrapped securely around me. I smile to myself a bit, I always thought of being a Chased One as an awful life, but maybe this isn’t so bad. My stomach growls, making me snap back to reality. While this beautiful, scaredy cat of a man may be a positive, we still need to figure out how to eat.

We decide to go out in search of a better place to camp more permanently, hopefully somewhere near water. We walk for about three hours before I hear the soft murmur of a creek. Davie’s eyes meet mine and his smile lights up his face. He grabs my hand and we rush toward the sound.

“Oh my goodness,” I squeal and clap my hands together when we get to the creek, “I’m totally washing my face.”

Davie eagerly nods in agreement. I cup my hands in the water and splash it on my face. I hear Davie clumsily stomping into the water and I giggle. I haven’t smiled and laughed this much since before my grandma passed away. I look down to my locket and the smile fades from my face as I catch Davie’s reflection.

“What?” His brows furrow in confusion, “What, Ellie?”

I scramble to make a plan, grabbing a large rock and holding it back like a dodgeball.

“Just- back up, Davie.”

Understanding passes over him as he looks at his neck. Colored water drips down his shoulders and reveals the bow of the Beast.

“Well, darn, Ellie, you weren’t supposed to find out so quickly.”

His voice drops into a sinister tone and a hideous smirk grows on his face. My eyes dart from his face to his neck, betrayal causing my eyes to sting.

“Oh come on, you didn’t have any suspicions? You’re more naive than I thought.”

My brain runs full speed trying to think of a way out of this, he can run through the woods no problem, his bulging biceps put my puny arms to shame, and he’s already outsmarted me.

“Being a Beast can be so boring some days,” he yawns, “so I thought, why not try something exciting? You know, play with your food before you eat it.”

I almost vomit at the thought. This is it, this is where I die. I have done nothing with my life, I’m only 17 and I’m totally getting killed right now.

“I have to be honest I was impressed with the wall move, nobody has ever dared to exit the wall before.”

I drop to my knees and give in to the water welling up in my eyes.

“It’s really a shame to see you go. For someone I’m sure.”

He reaches his hand behind his back to his belt. I press one last kiss to my locket and squeeze my eyes shut. Then I hear a loud bang.