Northside, Zento, England, Mid
Wednesday, July 12th
6:35am
Sean finished up covering the dead fire's ashes with dirt, glancing over at Corey and watching him tare down the old tarp they had been using for their make-shift campsite. They're finally leaving.
It had been about fifty days since they had gone through the parnal mirror and arrived back in Mid, arrived in Zento at least. They both know they should've left days ago, hell- they should've left right after the first night. But they argued; they couldn't decide on a plan, a way off this Grey Army inhabited island and to the mainland. Sean kept insisting on paying the ferry ride back whilst Corey kept insisting on stowing away on the ferry or stealing someone's boat. But now, the argument has been settled with the acknowledgement that they needed to get back to Perible now, and a plan has been decided; Sean didn't find any forgotten coins to use to pay for a ferry ride so it's Corey plan. They'll try stowing away on the next ferry over first and if that doesn't work, they'll steal a boat.... plan b is only 'plan b' because neither of them know how to drive a boat of any sort.
Corey folded then rolled up the tatted tarp, using the old rope they found over a month ago to tie it into it's firm roll before slinging it over his shoulder and turning towards Sean. They're keeping the tarp just in case, they may still need it. With the tensed silence between them, they climbed up the dried out riverbank, climbing up and over the top before following the gravelled path leading away from the bridge. Sean retracing his steps back to the docks with Corey following close behind.
Within ten minutes, they arrived at Zento's Easternside boat docks. They pushed themselves back into the thick treeline the second they caught sight of a few patrolling Grey Army soldiers and that's when they really looked at each other today: Corey is still in the greyed army uniform whilst Sean was standing in a pair of grey cargo pants and a long-sleeved white shirt (the 'prisoner' clothes he had been forced into whilst back at Blighfall), neither of them had discarded the army related clothing as they needed it to stay warm, they're into the second month of winter after all. Out of the two of them, Corey will stand out the most, a kid in army uniform compared to the much older men patrolling the ships is one thing... the fact that it's mostly Corey's face on majority of the wanted posters Sean has seen after their first week here is another; they have been here for almost two months, all the soldiers and town residents would have the hypnotic's face memorised by now. The best bets they had to getting near the boats would be to crouch down and use the rocks for cover then quickly duck under the closest wooden dock, getting near the ferry would have to be figured out once they were that far.
They quickly rushed down from the treeline and onto the sand, darting behind one of the large rocks lining the beach then waited. Sean moved around the rock and scattered over to the next, keeping low whilst Corey stayed behind the first rock. One at a time, that is their silently agreed plan. Corey carefully peaked over the rock, seeing the closest dock cleared of soldiers before whispering 'go' to the older boy, both darted out from behind the rocks, keeping low and close to their jagged stone cover, Sean a couple feet in front of Corey. They counted thirty seconds before darting back behind the rocks, Corey peaked around his own cover, watching a soldier step onto the closest wooden dock, his back faced towards the boys. Sean glanced back at Corey, being given a nod from the hypnotic to continue, so the older teen turned back and slowly and quietly as he could moved to the next rock, the other boy following in suit. Moved two rocks forward and stopped, waiting thirty seconds before peaking up at the soldier to see if his back was still facing them, then moving two more rocks forward. Once a couple of feet away, they stopped moving and stayed as low to the ground as physically possible, if they moved any closer and this soldier finally decided to look out on this side of the dock, he'd seen them and alert the others; Corey recaptured and taken back to Vixen, and Sean most likely to be killed on sight. So they have to wait, either for him to abandon the dock and re-join the others on the busier docks or for a shift change, one will probably take forever to happen and they'll miss the ferry over to England, and the other will result in only one of them making it over to under the dock whilst the other would have to wait for the next shift change to join him, both cannot dart over to the dock at the same time during the shift change, the idea was already turned down without either of them talking to the other, they already knew it.
Shift change. The soldier leaned into his radio as he stepped onto a boat with the Grey Army's emblem marked in the side of it, Sean quickly rushed over and under the dock whilst Corey took his place behind his rocky cover. Five seconds passed as Corey looked above the dock, seeing the new soldier wasn't standing on it yet before meeting Sean's gaze and immediately, the older boy frantically shook his head "No" he mouthed, shaking his head even more whilst watching the hypnotic glance back up at the top of the dock. Corey ran over as Sean covered his eyes, and when Corey was a foot away from the dock, the new soldier stepped off the boat to replace the other, the hypnotic dropped to the ground and skidded the last bit, landing on his side under the dock and by Sean's side yet the rushing feet on the wood above signals that Corey was seen. The hypnotic dropped the rolled up tarp and grabbed Sean by the arm, pulling them both flesh up in between the rocks beneath the dock, Corey's eyes glowing bright green as his hands covered in black shadowy smoke and the next thing Sean knew, the two of them were covered in a thick blanket of darkness. Both held their breath as they listened to the soldier step under the dock for a few seconds before hearing a radio click "False alarm, just some old rubbish the wind blew under" the soldier stated into the radio, the boys hearing him pick up the abandoned tarp and take it with him whilst walking back up to the dock above.
Hearing the soldier's footsteps on the wood above, Sean watched the shadowed blanket drop along with Corey who almost fainted, the older boy catching the other and making him sit down on the sand, the hypnotic's eyes stay heavily shut.
"You suit the uniform quite well" Vixen smiled, stepping into the cell that the poor controlled boy stood in, his old clothing tossed to the side as he now stood in a Grey Army issued uniform "Now for the finishing touch" Vixen muttered, pulling out a gold pin with the army's emblem moulded onto it and pinning it to the coat on Corey "There, no they'll all know you're special" Vixen smiled, holding the other boy by the shoulders. "The Leader's Brother, fitting title, isn't it?" "Yes, my brother" the words were forced out through his lips to please the other.
Corey held his head as his eye kept their uncontrollable glow, dangerously on the verge of a much unwanted daze. Sean waited until the soldier walked to the other end of the dock before turning to Corey in a whisper "You alright?" the older teen asked as Corey shook his head a little.
Ever since they went through that portal, he has felt completely drained and sick... he had used his powers too much in one go when they escaped the army base and this whole time he had been trying not to use them just in case he gets as sick and fatigued as he got back at the army base. He feels a million times worse now, along with being dangerously close to a horrid daze, he can't let that happen- he'll be useless to Sean if he went into a daze now.
"I'm fine... when does the ferry leave?" Corey questioned "Seven, I don't know which town it'll go to tho-" "As long as it's off this island, it doesn't matter" the hypnotic stated, cutting off Sean as he opened his eyes and looked over at the ferry by the next dock. It's cargo bay is open and being loaded up with crates of supplies, each one branded with the Grey Army emblem "That's our way on board" Corey stated as Sean sighed "Alright, how are we getting over there?" the older teen questioned as Corey thought to himself.
It'll be hard going the rock route again- they'll have to somehow move between them without a soldier from behind, the side or in front spotting them.
The hypnotic glanced further up the beach, seeing all the crates being carried over, no empty ones available and there were no possible hiding spots up the beach. Corey's eyes then settled on the water beside them "...how well can you swim?" he questioned as Sean's eyes grew wide "Can I swi- you want to swim over?!" the older teen tried to keep his voice down whilst looking at the hypnotic as if he were a mad man. "We can use the boats as cover, it's just a couple more feet to the next dock, then we just pull ourselves out and sneak into the cargo bay of the ferry" Corey said as Sean shook his head "We should've just stole a row boat" the older teen muttered before hesitantly following the hypnotic's led, stepping into the water, still under the dock, and quickly ducking their entire bodies under as in attempts to get themselves used to the icy winter sea water.
They quietly treaded out beneath the dock and to the first boat on their left, Corey poked his head out, seeing no soldiers near them, he turned to Sean and nodded over to the boat closest to them at the next dock before turning back and taking a deep breath in before diving down, the older boy following the hypnotic's lead. Winter in Zento results in the constant dark storm-like clouds consuming every inch of the sky, turning the waters around it to a dark greyish-blue, giving the boys a little bit of camouflage whilst swimming across to the next boat. They don't stop until their saltwater-blurred vision darkens and their heads feel like they're going to pop, breaking the surface halfway pass the boat they were swimming to and gasping for air. The two boys stuck close to the boat's side, quickly and quietly treading the water to beneath the next dock. Once under the second dock, they slowly swam beneath it, out pass each boat until they got to the end of the dock where an old rusted ladder hung off the edge, Corey climbed up first, slowly followed behind by Sean, water dripping off of them as they climbed. Up and over the edge, they crouched low behind a couple crates, glancing over at the ferry being loaded up and the second the soldiers stepped away to grab more cargo from the shoreline, the two boys rushed over to the boat and into its cargo bay, weaving their way through the maze of crates and luggage until they reached the back right corner behind the already chained down crates, once reaching the corner, they found a small crawl space and immediately snuck down into it and as far out of sight as it would let them.
They waited, listening to the rest of the crates being loaded and chained into the bay of the ferry, minutes later listening to people board the passenger area of the boat, their heart's only resting from their panic the second they heard the ferry's engine start up and the cargo bay's door firmly close, then the boat's slowly departure from the soldier ridden docks.
Comments (0)
See all