I grabbed a pack with water and some dried fruit before heading over to the south camp border.

Strangely, it was deserted. Gunshots and the electric whizzes of electro-guns sounded behind me, but none were coming closer—for now.

Taking a deep breath, I held on to the small sachet in my pocket, squeezing it in my fist.

A swift end.

The small red leaves looked harmless, but I recognised them now. They were the bottom leaves of a rare plant which had appeared on the buried ashes of Outsiders several years ago.

The top leaves of the plant had a calming virtue when used in a tea, but the ones on the bottom half of the plant were deadly. In a matter of seconds it could be over. Now that the leaves were dry it might take a bit longer, but the effect was all the same.

Your heart would slow down, until it was nearly still, and then it would freeze the blood in your veins. It was like you fell asleep—but to never wake up.

No wonder they called it the Sleeping Curse.

I heard it was a name from a very old story, told to children centuries ago. It sounded like a boring story, if it was about killing people with some dried leaves. What's to tell about that?

I'd slap myself if it was about some revenge thing, if it was about a boy and a girl, and the boy hurt the girl, and she wanted revenge! Oh, my, gods. What a disaster. How immensely original.

I'd choose Rafa's story any day.

Giving camp one last glance, I turned around and set out in a jog. The bailas trees glided beside me as my feet dug into the soft forest floor. The familiar weight of my pack bounced between my shoulder blades.

I slowed down to orientate myself. If I was right, behind this hill should be...

Bingo.

The train tracks.

If I followed them, I might be able to slip into the tunnels that led into the Globes. The hard part would be over. From there... well, that was open for suggestions. I had to be crazy—I was definitely going to die if I tried this. But still, it seemed like there no other thing I could do, other than this. Maybe this had been my purpose after all, as strange as it sounded.

I knew where to walk without leaving tracks, because of the time I had spent with the hunters. I knew how to hide in trees, from the time I had spent with patrol. I knew where and when to slip into the trains, from the times when I had hidden in the trees and watched them unnoticed—the trees from which the lumbers had said had the best hiding spots. I knew switchers weren't useless—I might be the best candidate for this job. Still—it scared the hell out of me.

I never had been inside any of the Globes; in fact, I only knew how they looked on the outside. They were massive glass spheres, with veins of green and blue lacing through the glass like a geometrical web. By capturing the weak sunlight and preserving it in the form of electricity, I think it protected the Globes from overheating or freezing.

That's how the Globes keep running, without having to exploit the grounds for the scarce coal or oil. There were nearly no fossil fuels left, so the Globes were forced to switch to solar energy. Still, the Government forbade the use of non-renewable energy to prevent further destruction of the world.

What they didn't know is that it wasn't to them to decide. Nature found her way. Yes, half of the Earth had been destroyed in the War of Kin, taking two thirds of the population with it, but we had bounced back.

At first, the air had been poisonous, consisting of nearly only carbon dioxide and other hazardous components. I admit, back then it was impossible for people to live outside. But, after a century or so...

People in the Globes wanted to get out. They didn't believe that after so many decades the air would still be poisonous.

They escaped.

And they lived.

The first Tribes with Outsiders were founded.

Still, the air was thinner than it used to be, and the ozone layer had become twice as thin due to all the radiation. It was liveable, even though the clouds sometimes showered acid rain, and the UV-radiation in the weak sun was even more dangerous.

It only made us tougher, right?

The plants? The variation between them had become nearly non-existent, so, for a long time, bailas, weeds and grasses were most prominent.

But, where plants die, the ground becomes fertile. Slowly, more plants were growing back, even though they were in a different form than they were before the war.

In this area, pine trees and bailas trees live together, side by side. Bailas can live anywhere, dry or wet, but they are a sort of weed. They are starting to mess up the progress nature made by suffocating the roots of the new trees and plants. Bailas trees are nearly indestructible, their wood hard yet flexible. That's why we use their wood for our huts. We also use it for firewood, because it burns three times longer than normal wood.

A screech sounded through the trees and I quickly crouched behind a bush.

A train had arrived.

I held my breath as the enormous, metal snake stopped. I had never seen one before, and the sheer force of the iron creature dazzled me. The sight of the cut down trees next to the tracks saddened me–man had never done anything but destroy nature. Out of the carts swarmed dozens of Authorities, spreading over the clearing. I bit my lip so hard it drew blood. It tasted metallic in my mouth.

All the Authorities were wearing the black suits I had seen earlier and held electro-gun in their hands. They stomped out of the carts, marching in perfect lines and units like machines.

A couple of Authorities in white suits stood spread over the area, looking like the woman I had seen back at the tunnel exit. It looked like they were each commanding one unit of about two dozen black-suited Authorities.

I gasped when I saw the female Authority again. She had her helmet tucked under one arm, and the other was making gestures. She was talking with some other white-suited Authorities.

Great. She looked like some high ranking officer.

I dug a little deeper in the bushes, peering through the leaves, trying to regulate my breathing as evenly as possible.

Please don't see me.

I could hear them talking. I slowly moved a branch of the brown bush, and now I could see much clearer.

A black-suited Authority walked up to the female Authority, "Captain Thorne, unit 5 and 9 have successfully reached the centre," he said. He folded his hands in front of him, and glanced around , taking a deep breath. "But..." he added hesitantly.

The woman, apparently Captain Thorne, cocked her head. "But what?" she asked. She took a step forward, towering over the frightened soldier, who was shaking visibly.

"They–" he said, "The camp is deserted, sir. All the Outlaws are gone."

I clasped my hand over my mouth, concealing a big grin. They made it out! I had to bite my fist to stop myself from pumping it in the air and yelling "HA! TAKE THAT!". Immediately, my mind started racing, wondering where they had went. I recalled one of the stories of the patrols–they had probably fled into the mountains.

Slowly, the clearing was emptying, as all the Authorities marched away in different directions. I waited for another fifteen minutes before I came out of my hiding spot.

This was my chance.

I brushed the dirt off my dark green cargo pants, and I slowly tiptoed towards the train.

There was no time to rely on mights and maybes. I had to act now.

Taking a final look around, I stepped into the open train cart.

And there, I waited.

* * *

It felt like I sat hidden for hours, my mind wandering off, the only thing I could look at being the backside of a smooth, silver-grey box. There were several scratches along the side, from it being moved around. Two scratches in particular made a shape which looked like a crescent moon. I traced it with my finger, feeling the even surface of the crate interrupted by the deep scrape.

About half an hour ago, the train had started moving again. No one had entered this cart, luckily.

It looked like it was a supply wagon, filled with labelled compartments which were unreadable due to the dim lighting, coming from a single blue strip on the curved ceiling. Everything was made of a sterile-looking silver, with white borders and handles.

The contents of the boxes rattled from time to time, so I suspected they contained spare parts or something similar.

I fumbled with a loose bolt on the floor, twisting it loose, and then tight again. From time to time, I would be shaken around by the movement of the train, losing my balance for a second, but catching myself. For the rest, the ride was pretty smooth—and soundless.

Until now.

A thump sounded behind the door, like a pair of heavy boots jumping on it from a height.

I shot with my hand to my dagger on my hip, holding it in front of me.

I wouldn't make this easy for them.

Soft beeps, followed by what I recognised to be error beeps, came from the general direction of the door. I grinned faintly.

Thanks, Jaedie.

Before I had chosen my spot behind the box, I had pulled some cables loose, which should keep the door from opening from the other side.

It was pretty easy, since the locks were most advanced from the outside, to keep people out. Why would they have to place advanced locks on the inside? It was not like the cargo would try to escape.

Jaedie once told me how to rig the system. Pull the blue cord, then push the button with the X on it.

Or was it the green cord?

I started doubting myself. Had she said green or blue?

It didn't matter, they couldn't get in, and that was what it was about.

It was quiet for a second.

Then, all of a sudden, the control panel next to the door started sparking and smoking softly.

The lamp next to the door burned red, and the door slid open. The sound of wind rushing past the open door filled the train cart.

A trio came through the threshold.

I couldn't see their faces, only their silhouettes against the flickering artificial white light that came from outside the wagon.

There were two boys, and one girl. The girl was about as tall as the smaller boy, and it looked like she was holding a curved knife in her left hand.

They didn't notice me.

The smaller boy turned towards the panel, and started fumbling with the cords.

"It looks like someone messed up the controls," he said, letting go of the cords. "One plus, they also messed up the alarm! Thanks, random person," he mumbled.

The tallest boy turned around, and I saw he had something like a sword strapped against his back. "Good," he said. "Get the supplies." He grabbed one of the railings attached to the ceiling of the cart, to retain his balance.

The train was still moving, and suddenly it shook, making me fall over. I fell against the box, making it shake in the otherwise silent wagon.

The girl pointed her curved knife towards my direction. "I heard something," she whispered, her voice a bit raspy for a woman.

The boy swirled around as well, pulling his sword from his back as fast as lightning. I swallowed, the weapon was about as long as my arm, and probably very sharp.

"Who is there," the boy with the sword said, also pointing it in my direction. "Show yourself."

I closed my eyes, staying as still as possible, hidden behind the box.

"Come out," he said again, "I can hear you breathe."

Shit.

I heard light footsteps walking towards the box. The girl, probably.

"Oh look," she said, "It's a girl."

_______________________________

Oooooh! What will happen?

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-xoxo Vivian