The Bellingham Escape

The freezing air burned against the tissue of my ill lungs. The fog that blurred the distance of the road, and the sound of the approaching train paired with my trembling breathes made for a familiar memory.

The slow rhythmic clacking of my metal bottom boots was calming rather then frustrating. This is what happens when you rebuild a prototype of the now popular and widely used hover boots that everyone has. You get a shitty pair of hover boots that only work seventy five percent of the time despite the hours you spent slaving over them in secret.

I stopped at the train tracks as the metal arm lowered at the pace of a crawl. The lights flashed and a small speaker played the sound of a tolling bell. I let out one long, shaky, breath.

He was late again.

I didn’t expect anything more then that though. It was just like him, but I’d rather him be safe then sorry. Safe then gone.

I closed my eyes and felt the freezing wind gently push through my three thin layers of coats. My scarf was the only thing that really did its job. Both of its jobs. I readjusted it’s fabric and gently touched the bruised skin on my neck. If Xavier saw these he’d might actually try and do something this time. I didn’t need that happening. No not now, not with scouting season coming early, and the officer’s being on edge.

The train’s rush of power snapped me from my thoughts. It was traveling fast, it’s shape almost blurred into one continuous streak from its speed. It was nothing new, but today it brought thoughts of dangerous curiosity. I thought back to school. Watching that boy get pulled from his class, escorted out by scouts. That look of hopelessness in his eyes. His lack of will, we were all like that. This place, it took everything away from you. It made you sick.
All of us had weak wills to live.

This train could be coming for him, stopping at the station not far south of where I stood. He’d step on with his escorts never to be seen again. If he was, he’d be to insane to tell you anything true. Maybe being taken forever was better then becoming a reject. Though no one knew what they would do to you if you were…

I took in a big breath and shut my eyes. My body trembled and my muscles ached. Pain rushed through me for a moment.

If you were like me.

I was strong. 
During the warmer seasons I’m stronger then any one in this town. But being so sick all the time hide that, and hid it well. Even during the warmer seasons I was still ill, just less so then now. This place, this country that we once called the United States of America, was different now. Now we were called the North American Colonies. Our government supposedly a parliament but we all knew different. They sent out recruiters, scouts is what they were called, to look for ‘exceptional’ subjects who would then be taken into the ranks of the government. Based on why they’d taken you, you’d be given a job, and you’d do it until you died, or if they’d said other wise.

Xavier was like me, except he was smart instead of strong. He was at a high risk of being taken due to the fact that he was one of the more well known students. Not for his grades, no he made sure to be the same as all of us, but because he was kind and handsome. Many of the girls were fond of him and a few boys from what I’d been told as well. Why’d he’d become friends with me when he came here I wasn’t sure. It was elementary school, he’d become my neighbor, and despite my drunk of a mother, and my demeanor at the time, He became my best friend. My brother.

He got me to lay low, and now I was a very passive person. He taught me a lot and we exchanged secrets of how this place worked. But he was far wiser then I was.

I managed to bring myself back to the present again, to deal with my aching. I could hear a hum just behind me and I didn’t turn to see what it was. I already knew.

“Amy!”

I listened as the humming stopped and hard metal foot falls came to ear. He’d turned of his hover boots and had decided to jog the last few feet to me. His large frame stopped beside me and watched the last few train cars go by. The train had slowed its speed considerably now, it length seemed never ending.

“I’m sorry I’m late, some girl had me stopped and I didn’t want to try and move so fast. Scouts were right there.” He breathed in a lower tone and I nodded.

“I figured you were having trouble.” I said and he looked at me.

“You look freezing.” He mumbled, taking off his gloves and giving them to me. A gesture he had committed to habit.

I took them and nodded.

“I always am.” I breathed back as we watched the last train car go by. We ducking under the metal bar and crossed the tracks. I looked at him now a he walked with me. Tall with dark black hair and light blue eyes. His skin was paler and finer then my sickly pale yellow skin, and his freckles were so light you’d barely notice that they were their. He was large too, his frame statuesque,he held a certain elegance as he moved. I felt the opposite to him.

Skin yellow from illness, blemishes left and right, cracking dry lips, red nose and cheeks, tired eyes. My brown hair messy, cut as if I’d done it myself, and I had. My clothes poor. I looked homeless. Mostly because the place I stayed in could never be considered a home. The word home implies that there is love, warmth. But the place that I lived in had none.

“I’ve got some jackets that my brothers have grown out of that you might fit into.” He mused as we walked towards the bay. I nodded and hummed at the idea. We walked quietly to the rocky bay shore by the old and unused warehouses. They were just storage houses now if anything.

We ducked through the hole in the fence and walked through the lot to the rocks. It was our usual spot. Our home. There might not have been walls, or a roof, or an solid piece of ground. But we were safe here, and it was a place we could call ours. We found our places and sat on the large black stones.

The fog of the bay was heavy but the breeze here was almost pleasant despite the cold. The small pools, puddles, and ponds of water between the rocks closer to shore had slush and ice floating in them. The water was dark and unclean. Bellingham Bay was different now, no one knew why. Fish were no good from it. Anything was no good from it. Especially from this area. But it was peaceful all the same.

I sat skipping rocks over the water’s surface. My strength giving me the talent of skipping just about any sort of rock even if I was sick. Xavier sat watching, he was quiet for a time.
“Did you know the kid who was taken?” He asked as I turned a stone over in my hand.
“Not much, nothing personal.”
“You know what I mean A.” He said in a quieter tone and I grimaced.
“He was fast.” I replied and Xavier nodded. Silence fell for a few moments again.

“They’re early this year,” Xavier replied lowly as he took out a pack of cigarettes. “You should be careful.” he mussed looking over the almost empty carton. He rarely smoked, it was a very big stress reliever for him I suppose but he always limited himself. 
“I should be saying that to you. You’re way more noticeable then I am.” I mused beaming a rock across the water and into the bay’s fog.

He quieted and looked at the stone he sat on.
“You’re not fooling anyone with that scarf.” He mused and I felt my heart drop. I shut my eyes and he looked at me hurt.
“I heard it all. You forget I live next door.”
His voice was calm despite how upset I knew he was.
“What happened?”