I winced as he began to squeeze my arm tighter and tighter. I could swear he was about to break it. "Let go of me!" I shouted, kicking him in between the legs. He definitely didn't see that coming. He must've thought I was afraid of him. He let out a cry and fell to his knees. When he was down, I spun around and kicked him in the side of the head for assurance that he was down.
"You little bit-" He cut himself off, reaching a hand up to his nose to see is bleeding. I didn't have time to stick around and see what else was happening. I gave the man one last dirty look before I took off, running back in the direction of our cabin. I needed to tell Sam something was up.

"Sorry." I said immediately, knowing they knew that I was listening to their conversation. "But I just wanted to be sure I could trust you. I've got a plan."
"You?" Joe asked, I identified him by the sound of his voice, he had dark hair hanging just past his ears, which wouldn't have been intimidating if it wasn't for his thick broad build. "You've got a plan? Look at you. You can hardly run let alone escape from this base."
"Joe, let's just hear him out." Em said, holding up a slender tan hand, she was skeptical but she was giving me a chance and I took it.

I continued to run, not taking any chances with looking back. The Jaxlor's were up to something and I didn't want to personally find out what that was.
"Get her!" I heard from behind me. I had no clue whose voice I'd heard, so I finally decided I should glance behind me and see what was going on. There were two women and a man chasing behind me and my goodness they were fast.
"Melanie, go!" I heard one of the girls shout. They were gaining on me and I was running out of breath. I wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.
"Almost.... There..." I whispered between breaths. I could see the cabin in the distance. If I made it, I could get my gun and take care of this. I reached the steps of my cabin when someone grabbed my ankle, causing me to fall. I could swear every piece of breath I had in me was knocked out.
"Got her." One of the girls smirked. I opened my mouth to try an shout for help, but nothing came out. I couldn't breathe. The next thing I knew, something as hard as a rock hit me in the back of the head. I blinked a few times before everything went dark.

"Shut. Up. You're too loud." I heard a hushed males voice as I was waking up. I could feel myself being carried somewhere. I opened my eyes, but everything was blurry and upside down. Was I over someone's shoulder?
"Just take her where the rest of them are. She'll be alright." An annoyed girls voice spoke up.
"She was wheezing pretty hard. What if she dies on us?" Another girl spoke. I'm guessing one of the two was the Melanie girl from before. "Then she'll be useless."
"Who cares! One less Tilerian to worry about. C'mon, open the door for us." The man spoke again.

Standing up, I moved over to them as quickly as I could and sat down across from Spencer, who was eyeing me wearily, clearly the youngest of the lot, his short light brown hair differing from the other's darker brown.
I told them the plan, trying not to hurry through and get their agreement straight out of them, I took my time, letting them know every aspect of it.
"Now I know it's not completely detailed, we're still mapping everything out, but it's there and we want to do it, we've got to get out of here before they send us out to the front. I wanna live just as much as you do."
There was a moment of silence, in which the three of them looked at each other, thinking things over. It was Em who spoke first, brushing her long wavy hair over shoulder as she looked at me. "Who's we?"
"Daisy and I. We've been sticking together since our previous base got attacked. You were there right?" I asked glancing at each of them, Spencer looked down at his shoes, scratching an invisible itch on his knee. "Yeah, so you know what we've all been through. We can't go out there tomorrow. The more Tilerian's we get out of here the better."

I groaned as I was becoming more and more conscious. My head was throbbing and my lungs were burning. "Where- What's happenin'?" My words were slurred. "Sam?" I questioned.
"Oh shut up." A womans voice hissed at me.
"Melanie!" The other girl hissed. "Just dump her off so we can go."
"Where should I put her?" The males spoke up. "Oh, I see a spot." I was tossed from his shoulder like a rag doll in his arms and he sat me on the floor. "See ya t'marrah, sweet cheeks." The man chuckled, walking out and slamming a door behind him.

"Hello?" I sat up, placing a hand on my head. "Hello!" I called out again. I still felt drowsy so I tried not to move a lot.
"Quit yellin'." A girl spoke up. "We're stuck here. They brought most of us here so we couldn't try to escape."
"What? Where exactly are we?" I asked. I dug through my pocket, searching for my inhaler. It was gong. "Shit." I mumbled. It had to have fallen out of my pocket when I blacked out.
"The prison. They filled all the cells up. Now they're just waitin' to send us out." I could barely see the girl. From what I could see, she was lying on her back, her arms behind her head. She looked very small and had big curly hair all over the place. "We're sittin' ducks." She sighed.

"So," Joe began, "say your plan works. What then? Where do we go?"
"Well that's why we need to get the maps from the General's office. We get the maps, we know where to go." I explained, feeling nervous. I suddenly needed them to be on board with this idea. If they thought it was doable, then that would make me feel a hell of a lot more better about it.
Spencer nudged Em with his elbow as she opened her mouth to speak, distracted she looked over at his worried face. "Nina... she should be back by now. She said no more than ten minutes." He whispered glancing over at me, and I thought of Daisy, had she managed to find the Christy and the others?
Em and Joe suddenly looked alarmed as if they'd forgotten all about her.
"Oh no, something must have gone wrong. Nina's never late." Em explained looking at me before glancing down at her watch. "She was going to get food, after what happened at breakfast this morning none of us got the chance to eat anything."
"She shouldn't have taken this long." Joe said and stood up. "Look, let's say we agree with this plan. You help us find Nina and we'll come with you. I'm not staying in this place for a second longer."
"Sure, l can do that." I said and stood up, holding out a hand to Joe. He stopped and looked down at it, frowning for a second before shaking it.
"Joe." He said and I nodded.
"Sam." I returned. "We should get some weapons, anything could go down out there. We can't trust anyone. So be careful."
They all nodded and I turned back to my bed, I needed to get my gun.

"I can't believe I let this happen. I can't believe I got caught." I rubbed my hand down the side of my face. "We have to get out of here. I have to tell Sam-"
"We're stuck. We won't be out of this cell until the morning." The girl interrupted me. "I wish I could've at least got my siblings their food first." The girl trailed off.
"Siblings? You're not here alone? Well that's good." I huffed. I wished I was with my sister right about now. "I need to find a way back to Sam." I slowly stood up, holding onto the wall for balance and looking around our small, crowded cell.

Once we were all situated by the door, guns in hand and bags on shoulders, we were ready to go.
"We've packed just in case." Spencer said, noticing my eyes trailing over their belongings.
"You can't bring those, if someone see's you with all your stuff they'll know what we're going to do. It'll be too obvious." I said looking at Joe, knowing he'd agree with me, and that they'd listen to him. He nodded and set down his bag by the door.
"Fair point, we'll leave them here so when it's time to leave we can just grab and go." He told the others and they dropped their things beside his. "Now let's go. We'll head to the kitchens, that's where Nina would have been."
Minutes later, we were marching silently towards the food hall and I thought of Daisy again. This was where she was headed, hopefully she would still be there so I could let her know what was going on. Then I paused, faltering as I walked causing the others to glance at me, Em's eyes apprehensive. If Daisy was at the food hall and so was Nina, then something had to of happened to her too. Without a word, I pushed on faster, eager to find Daisy.

"It's no use Girl." She said to me. "We're done for." The girl sat up, her curly hair bouncing all over the place.
"My name's Daisy, not Girl." I rolled my eyes. It not like she could see, the room was to dim anyone.
"Ok, Daisy." She said. "I'm Nina." She pushed herself off the floor, holding her hand out. "Might as well make a new friend before we're sent to our doom, right?" She laughed a little.
"Yeah, sure... Nice to meet you, Nina." I shook her hand. "Now help me find a way out of here." I walked up to the bars that made up the entrance of the jail call and began to shake them, trying to see if any were loose.
"Tried it." She said. "Everything is pretty much sealed tight in here."
"Great." I mumbled, finding an empty space on the wall and sliding down it into a sitting position. I hoped Sam had realized I'd been gone a long time by now. I hoped that if he didn't find me, he'd at least make a successful escape tomorrow.

"Whoa." Joe said and held out an arm, stopping us where we stood. Ahead, I could see what had made him cautious, a couple of people were wandering about in front of the food hall entrance, laughing loudly as a few girls came to greet them.
"We put her with the others, don't know how long she'll last with those breathing issues though." One girl said loudly, chuckling as she spoke, leaving the others to join her.
I felt the blood in my veins boil, I knew exactly who she was talking about.
"Over here." I grabbed the arms of Spencer and Em and knew that Joe would follow us behind a nearby building, out of the Jaxlor's sights.
"They've got Daisy, and Nina probably." All three of them looked alarmed at what I'd said and Joe couldn't seem to string a sentence together. "The only place I can think that they'd take them is to the cells. Daisy and I went there earlier today and that's where they were holding a few other Tilerian's who wouldn't keep their mouths shut."
"How can you be sure?" Joe asked finding words at last.
"What's the harm in trying?" Em said cutting me off before I got the chance to reply.

I sat up, lift my arms behind my head and stretching my torso. My mother had always told me that opened my airways a little more. I had no clue if it worked, but it was better than nothing. I had calmed my breathing down a lot more from when I Was first thrown in here, but my head and my lungs still hurt. I just wanted some water, fresh air, and my inhaler. I'd never really needed it before, but now I felt like I was suffering without it.
"Hey, you alright?" Nina asked me. "You sick or something? You're wheezing." She said.
"I am?" I asked. I had no clue. I thought I was doing just fine. "No, I'm not sick. I'm fine. I'm alright." I was trying to convince myself more than I was her. "Just tired." I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head on them. I didn't know what to do anymore. I guess all there was to do now was just wait. Wait for the morning. Wait for someone to rescue us. Wait for me to feel better.

As soon as Joe agreed, we all made our way quickly and stealthily towards the cells. It wouldn't be as easy to distract the guards this time, not while we were trying to break their prisoners out.
"If I'm right, they'll probably have a lot of Tilerian's in there. Once we break them out, there'll be a riot, a full scale mess. So we've gotta plan accordingly." I huffed as we jogged, thinking things over. "We might have to split up, Daisy and I will go to the General's office and grab the maps, maybe even some food and medical supplies if we can. You guys can get the bags, and meet us by the Artillery shed. There's no point waiting for tomorrow now, we won't get a chance if we're caught. Pack as many weapons as you can find and we'll meet you there, in say half an hour once we split up."
"Sounds good to me!" Em said and I saw Joe nod. Spencer simply looked over at me, clearly nervous about the whole thing.
Five minutes later, we were there and hidden in the shadows of the same building Daisy and I had stood outside earlier this morning. "Someones gotta distract 'em." I said, I couldn't do it again, it'd be too obvious. I didn't get a chance to say anything else before Em sighed and strode forwards, Joe's hand just missing her hair as he reached out to pull her back.
"Emma-" Spencer began but Joe shushed him, watching as Em carefully but successfully distracted the guards.

I hadn't noticed before, but I could hear people talking, some crying, others yelling, in the other cells lined up in the hall. It was hot, kind of smelly, and definitely hard to breathe in here. I closed my eyes and sighed. "I hate waiting around. Takes too long. I wish they'd just get it over with."
"Yeah, well, be careful what you wish for. You never know how things will turn out." Nina chimed in. "My brothers and sister should be looking for me. I've been gone for a while. Hopefully they know where to find me. They can be kind of nervous sometimes. Joe can lead 'em though." She trailed off. I had no clue who any of those people were, though they did sound familiar.
"Yeah, and maybe Sam will swoop in and rescue me like a knight in shining armor." I mumbled. I felt so cranky because of my headache and lack of air. I just wanted to get out of here, I was in no mood for conversations.

I nudged Joe, now was the time, the guards were distracted but we had no idea how long for. "Let's go." I whispered and started towards the cell block as quietly as I could. I could hear Joe and Spencer following me, and soon enough we were slipping through the half open door and into a cold dim hallway.
"Nina." Spencer whispered loudly, his hoarse voice echoing slightly in the emptiness of the hall.
"Shh, there could be guards." I murmured to him and we began checking the cell windows, looking for a familiar face.

"Did you hear that?" Nina asked me. I looked up, shaking my head 'no'. I was consumed in my thoughts and had totally tuned everything out.
"What'd you hear?" I asked curiously. "All I hear is people talking." I tried to focus on what other sounds she could've heard.
"I thought I heard-- Oh, never mind." She shooed her hand and stood up, walking towards the jail cell bars and peeking through them. While she did that, I closed my eyes again and tried to relax. If we were going on the front lines tomorrow, I at least wanted to have one last good sleep.

Rounding a corner, I was starting to feel nervous. What if they weren't here? We'd almost checked every last cell.
"Nina." Spencer called again, not trying to be quiet this time.
I whirled around, irritated and ready to call him out on it, when there was a loud clang from down the hall.
"Go." Joe said looking at me alarmed and we ran from cell door to cell door, checking each prison block for Daisy or Nina.

"Spencer!? Is that you?" She shouted. "Spencer! Oh, thank God!" Nina laughed. She couldn't believe someone had actually made it in here to break her out. "I knew I heard something!" She spun around, a big smile plastered on her face. I stood up, walking over to the bars that kept us locked in here.
"He came to get you! That means I'm out of here too." I smiled, glad someone came. "How'd he know to look here though?" I asked. Nina shrugged. She didn't care. She was just happy we'd found a way out of here. Now all I had to do was get to Sam and tell him what was going on. Then get another inhaler.

Spencer whipped around and tore over to one of the cells down the end of the hall.
"Nina! Thank god, Nina, come on. Let's go," He said so excited and nervous he forgot that the door was locked.
"Spence move." Joe said as he came up behind him and brought out his gun, getting ready to shoot the lock off.
"No, wait, don't!" I cried and stepped forwards grabbing his arm. "We can't let them know we're here."
"They already know, don't they? That noise-"
"If they knew we were here we'd be surrounded by now, keep it quiet." I told him and he nodded, slipping his gun back in this pocket.

"Sam?" I stepped up, peering through the bars. "Oh my gosh, it is you! Sam, you gotta get us outta here." I pleaded. "They've locked us all up. That's why the camp is-" I paused, taking a deep breath. "Quiet." I finished."
"How are you going to get us out?" Nina asked, looking to who I assumed to be her brothers, then at Sam. "Just shoot the lock off. It'll be quick and easy." She suggested.

"Daisy!" I exclaimed happily then looked from Daisy to Nina and shook my head. "No, it's too noisy. Em's out there distracting the guards, we don't want to put her in danger. We've gotta be quiet."
I looked around, trying to think while Joe and Spencer shifted on their feet, anxious. "Do you guys have a hair pin?" I asked the girls, hoping something a simple as this could work.
"A hair pin? Really?" Joe asked raising an eyebrow at me, his fingers resting on his gun, obviously wanting to get this over with.