I turned down another corner just in time. Not a minute later, there was the sound of several people rushing down the hall. They stopped right outside the door to that man's office and I heard them barging in as I slipped away free.

I headed in the opposite direction from all the commotion, making my way to an exit so I could get out of this horrible place. I wanted to free all the other people that were trapped here, but I didn't know how I could do that. I was going to have a hard time getting out of here by myself. It would be unrealistic to imagine that I could help any of them.

But I vowed to myself that I would return if I could, and help them, someday. I didn't know when that would be, or if it would ever happen, but it gave me some peace as I made my way to the exit.

That man hadn't given me all the information I had been looking for, but it was enough for me go on, at least for now.

I spotted a set of white, double doors at the end of the hallway and breathed a sigh of relief. I was almost there.

I was two feet away from the door when there was the sound of running and then I heard a shout.

"Hey, you! Freeze!"

I didn't turn around. I didn't slow.

Instead, I yanked the door open and started to run. The door slammed behind me as I ran towards the edge of the compound. I was now outside and even though t was dark out, the bright searchlights lit up the building behind me and something else.

A high, chain link fence with treacherous, barbed wire wrapped around the top.

I hesitated, not sure what to do. I wasn't sure I would be able to climb it. But what other choice did I have? I didn't see another way out.

Steeling my resolve, I sped up once again and ran straight for a darker part of the fence that was hidden from the search lights.

I could hear shouts behind me and I knew that if I didn't get out soon, it would be too late. I was tiring quickly and didn't have much on my side.

I reached the the fence and craned my neck upwards towards the top. It would be no easy climb, and once I reached the top I would have to somehow get over the barbed wire.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my right arm up and hooked my fingers into the links of the fence. I gripped it tightly and raised my other arm higher, grabbing a gold with that as well. Then, I began scaling the wall as fast as I could. It caused my fingers to ache and cramp up from all the weight I was putting on them, but I ignored it as best I could.

Something whizzed past my ear and clanked into the fence before dropping the ground below.

I risked taking a glance back and immediately regretted doing so. There were at least ten men not too far behind. Some had stopped where they were and were shooting at me.

I heightened my efforts to get the the top, but in my hurry, one of my hand slipped.

All my weight landed on my one arm, sending massive sparks of pain up and down it. I bit back a cry of pain that threatened to come forth, my whole body shaking and straining with effort.

Bit by bit, as bullets whizzed by me, somehow missing, I lifted my arm to where it was, gaining a somewhat sturdy foothold once again.

I began my ascent again, trying to block out the chaos around me and just focus on getting out of there.

I reached the top, swung one of my legs over the fence, and took a second to breath. I faced my pursuers for a moment.

Then something slammed into my shoulder, knocking me off balance, and causing me to fall backwards, off the fence.

There was a crack. I couldn't breath. Pain erupted in my shoulder, and I blacked out.

[]

I came to with a groan, feeling stiff and sore. I slowly tried sitting up, testing my fingers first, then my arms. They didn't feel so awful; all except for my shoulder which was slightly throbbing.

"Slow down there, big guy. You took quite a hit."

I rubbed my eyes and looked around hurriedly, trying to figure out who the source of the voice was. I was on the cement floor of some brick building, empty paint cans and broken garbage littered the room.

I finally laid eyes on who had spoken. It was a short, scrawny kid who was sitting cross legged not far from where I laid. He had twig like glasses on and spiked hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for days. He was watching me with a slight grin on his face, and his head tilted to the side.

I pressed my palm to my forehead. "Where am I?"

"You're in the middle of nowhere. That's where." The kid snickered and pressed his thumb up against the ridge of his glasses.

"What happened? The last thing I remember--"

He cut me off. "You were shot. Those crazy government dudes weren't too happy you were making a get away."

I craned my neck to see my shoulder, but couldn't find any bandages or even the trace of a bullet hole.

The kid apparently could tell what I was thinking and explained. "They shot you up with some sort of tranquilizer. Probably felt like you were really shot, but it just put you out for a couple of days."

"Days? How many?" I turned back towards him, only suddenly realizing that we weren't the only two in the room.

"Three, I think. Now, I think it's time to introduce you to the rest of the gang." Scrawny stood up and stretched his bony legs. "I'm Kyle, by the way."

He went to the corner of the room where there was a small fire burning, made up of garbage and broken planks of wood. There were several figures hunched around the fire, but I couldn't get a good glimpse of them from where I was sitting.

Kyle lightly shoved one of the figures with his back to me. "Dude, why don't you introduce yourself to the escapee man?"

I cringed at the nickname, but figured if that was the worst they did to me, then I would be doing pretty well.

The person pushed Kyle away, but it wasn't angrily. It seemed more... annoyed. "Kyle, go away. I'm trying to think."

"Come one," Kyle whined.

I imagined that the person was rolling their eyes. But they finally turned around, revealing a stone face and dark eyes. He had a look in his eyes that told of all he had been through, and clearly he wasn't as young as Kyle was. He stared at me for a second before he said gruffly, "Name's Axel."

Kyle nodded, "Yeah, he's the leader of our gang here."

I nodded slowly, trying to take everything in.

The other figure around the lifted his head, revealing the 'he' was indeed a 'she.' She was young, perhaps around seventeen just as Kyle looked to be, with dirty blonde hair and bright, blue eyes. "I'm Celestia. You can call me Lest or Cele, or anything you really want. I don't care." Then she disregarded me completely, going back to her task of staring intently into the fire.

Kyle clapped his hands together rather loudly. "So... that's it. Now that you've met us all, wanna tell us who you are?"

"Lucas. Lucas Williams. Would you mind telling me how I got here? And what in the world is going on?" I asked, readjusting in my spot.

"Well, there's not much to explain really. We were watching the facility when we saw your escape attempt and decided to step in. Brought you here to our base." Kyle shrugged. "That's about it."

"Who are you?"

"Uh..." Kyle glanced over at Axel, "We don't really have a name. But since we're working with the FFA, I figured we should be called the FFA 2.0 or something like that. However, Axel here thinks it's a stupid idea."

"That's because it is," Axel butt in.

"Wait, you guys are working with the FFA underground?"

"Yep. Wanna help?"

"Kyle. I think it's time for you to shut up now," Axel growled.

Things were starting to make more sense now. And maybe, just maybe, I would be able to get these guys to help me out and turn things around.

Hello there! So sorry again for taking a while to update. I am not joking... school is... killing me. Ugh, I am just having to put this on the back burner to school right now, even though I don't want to, because I am so swamped. But don't give up on me! I hopefully will get it under control soon and be able to write more seriously.

Thanks for your patience, guys!

Ithildae