Hide and Seek

I pull the the rotting door of the barn closed behind us, hoping desperately that they wouldn’t find us here. Our knees cut and bloody, we limp effortfully over the creaky floorboards, with clouds of dust filling the air with every step. On the other side of the room a large opening shows a glimpse of the great outside, though the colours have darkened and shifted from their brilliant blue. I’ve never seen the great ceiling turn red before.

“Water…” 37 stumbles toward a large shallow container filled with a murky liquid. He slips into it, his dry scales soaking up the moisture thirstily. I feel my insides twist painfully at the sight of his scraped flaky skin; I had completely forgotten that 37 hasn’t been in water for the past few hours.

My breathing is only just beginning to steady itself as my legs refuse to hold my weight any longer and crumple beneath me like paper. I can’t believe it, we actually escaped. No one from the facility had ever been outside before, and the few that did we never saw again. I suppose no one there will see us again either.

My hands are shaking as the expression of fury on The Commander’s face burns an imprint on my mind. How could I betray him, after all he has done for me? "Prove you're the soldier you were made to be." he had whispered sharply in my ear as he shoved a pistol into my shaking hands. I had one simple task: aim, shoot, kill. There was no place for emotive traitors like the repulsive coward who kneeled in front of me, and it was my job to eliminate rogue mutants like him. We were made to serve the state, and he had failed.

Yet I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t terminate 37 for him. But why? As I stared into 37's pleading eyes I saw a glimpse of myself staring back. I was as afraid as he was on the other side of the gun. Am I too afraid to take a life just as he is afraid to lose it? We are both mutants after all.

The moment I snapped the pistol in two with a force I’d never summoned before I had condemned myself. I’m a traitor. A defective. Unfit for service. I was fit enough to fight past his guards though, The Commander trained me too well.

“Cold” 37 whimpers, his limbs trembling in the water. As I scoop him out his tiny body feels cold and as delicate as glass, trembling in his soggy torn uniform. The Commander was right to think he was unfit for service; his fragile frame would shatter in a real mission. I hold him tight against my chest, hoping my body heat would slow his shivering. Perhaps neither of us were strong enough. We didn’t have what it takes to be a soldier. We couldn’t stand unfeeling and powerful like the rest. “You were created not born, you are weapons of the state, and weapons don’t talk back.” That’s what The Commander always barked at us at training every day, we were his living breathing weapons.

A faint groaning sound interrupts my thoughts. I spin around, my chest pounding hoping we wouldn’t have to put up another fight. A large bulky mass shifts it weight in the corner. Whatever is there it is alive. The creature lifts itself sluggishly from the ground. I have never seen a living thing that looks like this. Its eyes stare blankly at us, large and round taking up half of its long misshapen face. It holds itself up with four long bulky legs, with hard stubby feet. This is a strange creature indeed, but I see no violent thoughts in its eyes.

“What is it?” 37 clambers out of my arms and approaches the beast. My heart skips a beat as he places a hand against the creature’s side. Has he no fear? “It’s warm! And soft!” The corners 37’s mouth begin to curl upward into a faint curve, an expression I’ve never seen on his face before. It seems to be one of safety, I feel my own face take the same shape as relief slowly washes over me. The creature slowly lowers itself back onto the ground, tucking its legs under it in a way that can’t possibly be comfortable.

37 rests his head against the great beast, his eyes weary and only half open.

“The outside isn’t what I thought it would be.” He murmured softly.

I nod tiredly , trying to keep my heavy eyelids from closing shut. The outside world was less dangerous than The Commander promised it was. Perhaps that was another one of his lies.

"Do you think they'll find us here?"

I try not to reveal the uncertainty in my voice show as I assure him that we're safe here. But I don't really know that. I don't know what The Commander is capable of. Yet again, he didn't know what I was capable of either.

As I finally let my eyes close I make a promise to myself. I was strong enough to save a life, and I promise that I will be strong enough to protect it.