⛕  

"What. Flynn. Where?"

Tom pointed to a tall boy who strolled, confidently, several rows ahead of them.

"He's here!" Kate lurched forward, attempting to grab Flynn- the thought of revenge had momentarily vanished from her mind.

Luckily Tom had restrained her, before she managed to knock district dwellers carelessly out of her way.

Tom held onto Kate for a moment longer, just to be safe.

Oblivious to their discovery, the flow of people carried on- barely speaking to each other except the occasional whisper or nod.

After Tom had released her, Kate searched for Flynn again. But she couldn't see him - for the crowd was moving faster now and their bodies pushing against each other like heated atoms in a molecule.

"Stupid. What we need now is to blend in," Tom told Kate.

She nodded and reluctantly admitted that Tom was right. The Forest guards nearby flaunted their tasers, swinging them from side to side whilst they studied the new recruits; as if in conformation of their required insignificance.

Tom and Kate did their best to look elsewhere and avoid eye contact, in case they were recognised. The government had to be after them by now.

Kate and Tom began to knock into each other. They had to run to keep up with the rest of the trainees.

Kate wondered why the people ahead had suddenly started moving so rapidly. But Tom, being blessed with height, saw exactly the reason why.

"What's going on?" Kate asked, cursing her inability to grow higher than Tom- or anyone, for that matter.

In the distance Tom could see the oxygen kiosk, quickly getting bigger as he and Kate ran with the group - it was hexagonal in shape, adorning a rusty hat of corrugated iron.

"Oxygen- like the coordinator said."

As they approached the stall at the back of the scrabbling crowd, Kate could finally see the oxygen masks that hung like Christmas decorations once did, in the era before.

It was smaller than they had remembered. Even though its job was the most significant in the District of Lakes- to sustain life. To provide oxygen that was carefully crafted, and contained even more carefully, in a metal alloyed tank that was sourced elsewhere. 

In comparison, the decaying cottage houses were giants. The buildings were more common since Kate and Tom had become closer to the oxygen kiosk. The houses shape was so warped from the acidic rain and poisonous gases that the houses leaned in towards the purifier trainees- as though they were waiting for something.

Kate caught a glimpse of Flynn once again- his ash blond hair gracefully framing the side of his face as he smiled at the person walking next to him.

*

"There's too many of us." Tom surveyed the increasingly restless crowd. "There's no way that we're going to get a plausible amount of oxygen to last us the whole day. Neither will half of these people. Hell is going to break lose." he explained, even though he wasn't quite sure what hell was.

The children had been taught that hell was on earth, along with the greed and destruction.  "Plus I still need a tank," he said in his gruff, slightly disapproving tone. He eyed Kate's long hair, enviously- for it was thick enough to create the illusion of an oxygen tank on her back.

There's only one way we're gunna get past this queue, Kate thought to herself, smirking slightly as another plot formed in her mind.

She eyed Tom's wound on his forehead, which was in the early processes of closing. Tom furrowed his brows once he'd seen the calculating look on Kate's face.Her knuckles were rising, then falling, as she clenched an unclenched them.

Deep in her thoughts, she failed to notice the slight familiar gleam of green light that flashed over Tom's eyes like a lime lightning.

*

WHACK

If the punch had been any harder a nose could've been broken. Tom stumbled back from the impact, watching small droplets of blood fall onto the bleached, sandy ground.

A scream punctured the air.

But it wasn't Tom's. It was Kate's. Luckily the noise was made quieter by the plastic alloy funnel that covered her mouth and nose - despite the container having been crushed andglazed with a layer of blood. 

Tom had, to her surprise, reversed fate.

Law Seven: Those with significant injuries, having occurred less than 3 times will be allowed to by-pass the queue for oxygen

The people ahead turned around in shock, causing Kate to feel even more out of place in her mask.

"My friend- her oxygen tank broke! She fell on that rock," Tom said in mock distress, rather than the real distress the girl beside him was experiencing.

"Grrgghh. N--n--ose," Kate burst into a coughing fit in order to rid her mouth of the iron taste that was clogging up her throat. Many people let out a horrified gasp- parting to let Kate through.

"What a cunning idea!" Tom said quietly, guiding Kate forward. The girl was too bewildered to even reply whilst they passed through the people, who thought she was choking on deathly air.

"Excuse me. Sorry about this. Thank you,"

Tom saw the concerned faces of the people they passed. He then kept his head down as he couldn't help but think that they were going to take oxygen away from someone who really needed it. He was thankful for the small size of the oxygen tanks, had they been any bigger- someone surely would've noticed the absence of one from his back.

Contrary to Tom, Kate now looked up- trying to stop the flow of blood from her nose as droplets trickled down her hands. We must've brushed passed Flynn Kate would've thought, had the taste of her own blood not quickly distracted her from their friend.

That blood. The way it lingered in her mouth made a suggestion of something. A possibility that Kate pushed away obstinately- along with the memory of the women in the facility, who lay in her own blood. Who she had killed.

Kate pulled off the mask and spat out the red liquid. She touched her nose- the pain she felt wasn't agonizing, it was a more dull throbbing kind. One that came in sequences like the padding of their feet on the ground as they approached the oxygen stall.

She wanted to kick Tom, to do anything to get him back but she recalled what had happened in her mother's house. Anger had got the best of her and so had that creature.

Two people stood behind the counter- wearing black oxygen masks that covered their whole face instead of the usual clear issue ones. They also had the small light blue insignia of Mother Nature overcome with a wave, like the Purifier coordinator had. These people work for the government too Tom noted.

Those masks were worn to make them unrecognisable, because when times were hard and oxygen stores low, people were known to strike out in desperation- often killing those manning the kiosk, who could not give them oxygen.

With no face to recognise- no one could be blamed.

Even though the faces behind the masks could not be seen -the one closest to them put their hand up to their mask- in the place where their mouth would've been and the other flinched in surprise. This told Kate of the convincing nature of her wheezing. They thought she was dying too.

"My friend fell onto a rock and her tank smashed. She's can't breathe, please help us." Tom pleaded, a little less persuasively than before.

"Oh my. I need your name quickly, please?" said she, from underneath the darkly coloured mask.

I can't give them my name or the people from the Forest will know where I am Kate thought and so told them that it was "Charlotte Monroe," whilst pretending to choke on toxic air.

The lady checked her name and nodded- quickly passing across a tank that was filled to 50%, with the perfect atmosphere for human consumption.

"This is your last permitted injury replacement tank and mask. Any more now and you'll be in the dark I'm afraid."

"Use it wisely. Stocks are low," the kiosk vender continued. "People are going to be disappointed," she said- eyeing the line of people in concern.

"Oh! and take care of yourself ok?" the lady handed Kate a towel, which she gratefully took. Kate put the tank on her back and the mask over her head. Then she smiled after turning on the oxygen tank.

The crowd behind them were beginning to get restless again after the initial shock. They'd seen how much oxygen Kate was given and jealously wanted it for themselves.

As the crowd pushed forward Tom and Kate dissolved into the mass of people. Kate quickly unplugged her mask and gave the tank to Tom, before anyone could notice.

She herself slipped the tubes of her mask under her hair and secured it using a large strand. This created the appearance of the oxygen tank once again.

"Let's get out of this sotku!" Kate gave Tom disapproving look as they slipped between people. "It means mess- In Finnish."

When they broke through the rabble and into the clearing  they both paused, thinking that they should be panting when in fact they did not. "I thought you said that we needed to blend in. " Kate spat- saliva soaked with bitterness and blood. She used the towel to wipe herself clean. Why did she have to suffer for Tom's gain?

"I did. That was until I saw the queue. At least you finally had a plausible idea." Kate shoved the blood soaked towel in Tom's face in revenge. "You're gross," he said with a scowl, picking the towel off him with two fingers and dropping it on the ground.

"Tom, turn around..." said Kate, because just a few feet away from Tom was Flynn, who seemed to be walking in the opposite direction to the rest of the crowd. "Now's our chance!"

The two tried to compose themselves whilst they ran towards him: their light-hearted friend.

It was even harder to remain calm then. From a distance the image of Flynn was like a lake of water in the desert- tangible and with the promise of something lifesaving. But now that they were inches from touching his world Tom feared that when he reached out, Flynn would slip between his fingertips- as a mirage, and he'd be left empty and ever searching, still, for something. For family.

Tom, who was closest to Flynn, reached out and shakily placed his hand on his shoulder. Flynn turned, with a quizzical expression on his face.

Though at first it felt as though they'd seen a six headed hydra. The two of them only had a worn casette tape version of Flynn.

Flynn stared from Tom to Kate- whose hearts were thumping. Flynn's mouth fell agape. Then his eyes brightened and he grinned from ear to ear underneath his oxygen mask. The uncertainty that surrounded him dissipated.

Flynn grabbed the two of them and enveloped them in a bone crushing hug.

"I don't believe it!" he said happily. "My favourite pals are alive."

"Squeeze any tighter and we won't be!" said Kate jokingly. Flynn ruffled her hair.

"Flynn it's so great to see you!" Tom said with watery eyes. His relief was unimaginable.

"Same to you Tom," he replied earnestly.  "I must say, you've aged well. You're very handsome mate." Flynn put his hand around Tom's shoulders. Tom rolled his eyes, smiling at the same time.

Flynn had survived the trees and The Forest. And as Kate took in this image of an older Flynn at 17 years old, she could spot parts of him that had not changed at all- like his cheeky smile and blonde hair, that he always wore back because he thought it looked more attractive. But then there was his hands- those were now worn, and Kate noticed at the base of his wrist, partly hidden- what looked like a trunk, sketched in black pen. 

I think I might've rushed this chapter a little to make sure that it was on time (roughly) for the weekly update. Sorry if it's a bit patchy in some places but yeah. Kate and Tom sure are mean to each other. It's a surprise that they're even still friends;) What do you think of Flynn so far? He has Swedish heritage (mother's side.) He was separated from his parents during The Great Migration and so from an early age Flynn has learnt how to deal with surviving on his own.  - hippywitch