The alarms pounded through the concrete walls of the Golad prison. Emmy had just managed to escape—for the second time, and hopefully for the last time. She had noticed over the last year that the guards seemed to have an opened time table during the shift changes. Emmy assumed that they expected her to forget about the first incident that happened five months into her arrest. But she wasn't that foolish. With the guards being preoccupied and unable to find out exactly where Emmy had run off to, it left her with the open opportunity to get out unseen. At least until she got to the lower level of the prison.

Even four years after Tanya had last visited, Emmy still remembered that she promised to get her to Terra Nova. She wasn't sure how Tanya was able to keep up her end of the bargain, but she somehow did. During Emmy's time in prison, three other pilgrimages followed after Tanya's, meaning that the sixth pilgrimage was scheduled to leave soon. When she glanced at the small clock on the wall, as she ran passed, the electronic blue date showed up, it was 2146. Underneath, in small blue lettering, a notice came up reading that the next pilgrimage was scheduled to leave in just over two hours.

A smirk was spread across Emmy's face as she ran down numerous hallways. The horror of being trapped and lost crossed her mind, but the small white markings on the wall gave her hope. Tanya had managed to get a message across to 2143, during the third pilgrimage when the time fracture was open, and to a man that their family had been friends with for quite some time. Each year, without fail, Tanya had sent a message to Michael Ashford—the man who helped raise Emmy when her father had disappeared—about a plan Tanya had about getting Emmy out of Golad. Although Emmy had been sceptical, she was finally seeing the results.

Michael had visited her each year after Tanya had left, each time was a day after her birthday. He had managed to send through small gifts, that the guards had somehow missed during their searches. Every time he visited he had explained to her more of the plan. Emmy was now twenty-two. The day before her birthday, Michael had given Emmy a laser knife inside a new rebreather. She knew that it was now or never since Michael was two days earlier than normal. Michael had said that he had hidden a spare bag and her I.D. card outside one of the train station platforms. That had given Emmy the extra boost of confidence that she needed.

As Emmy ran down the corridors she could hear the yelling of guards. She cursed to herself violently, they had already found her and she wasn't even out of the building yet. She continued to follow the white markings, ignoring the guards as she ran faster until her legs began to ache, but even then, she pushed herself. A small black door was at the end of the corridor. When she reached the door, she glanced back, the shadow of the guards crept around the corner. She turned back and noticed a small card on top of the key pad. Michael must have left it there for her. She picked it up and swiped it against the keypad, the red light flashed green and the door opened to a blinding light.

"You're early? You're meant to visit after the pilgrimage tomorrow," Emmy questioned as she stood up from the ground of her cell. Michael stood outside the in the light, a smile ghosting over his wrinkled and worn features. She watched as he handed her a new rebreather. Great, another year of waiting. She thought to herself. This could only mean that Tanya wasn't able to get her through to the next pilgrimage.

Michael shook his head with a grin. "Not this time, kid." Emmy's head snapped up to his, her eyes scanning his face to see if she could detect a lie. But there was none.

"Wait, so you mean—?"

"You're going on the sixth pilgrimage to Terra Nova." He nodded to her and watched as a smile spread widely across her face. She glanced down to the rebreather before looking back up worriedly.

"What about you?"

"I'll be there, don't worry. I was recruited by your sister. Considering as they weren't giving you the opportunity," he explained, "Tanya suggested last year that she'd recruit me—I know I never told you that, but now you can see why. Anyway, your sister had planned this whole thing out, she went over statistics and everything, she told me this plan was definitely—without fail—going to work."

"What place did they offer you?"

Emmy knew that Michael had many talents, she wasn't sure why he wasn't recruited for the second pilgrimage after Commander Nathaniel Taylor walked through the time fracture in 2142. But she was glad that he was at least getting recognised for his work now. Michael rested his forehead against the cell wall as he looked in at Emmy. He bit back his comments every year on how she looked—on how much worse she had gotten. He couldn't wait to give her an actual meal—although he remembered Tanya telling him that for the first week they can only drink a strange mix of chemicals—or whatever the hell it was.

"I'll be a doctor. Like your sister."

"You sure this is going to work?"

"Emmy, I've been around long enough to know that the promises you and your sister tell one another never fail. I know that this will work, nothing is going to go wrong." She nodded to him in response. Her smile didn't fault as she looked down while processing the new information. She was going to Terra Nova. She was going to see Tanya again. "I'll be by the platform when you get off, we can go together. I had someone fix your card for you."

Emmy frowned. "Fix? As in—"

"Yeah." Michael nodded.

"That's illegal."

"So is this plan."

"Okay." Emmy nodded, her smile appeared once more. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You'll see Tanya tomorrow," Michael responded. "Take care of your gift, you could do some damage with it," Michael called out to her as he stepped back, knowing that their time was up. She looked at him weirdly, still holding the rebreather in her hand. He gave her two thumbs up before Turing back around, patting one of the guards' shoulders as he left. Emmy shook her head at his behaviour while she watched him leave. Neither of the guards bothered to look back as she glanced down at the rebreather.

She didn't know what he meant. You could do some damage with it. She sat back down on her flat pillow, bringing her knees up to her chest as she stared at the rebreather. Her thumb ran over the edge of the mask, which was when she noticed that the interior moved. With furrowed eyebrows, she began to pick at the inside of the mask until she pulled back the filter to see a laser knife. Her jaw tightened as she picked it out and gently placed the mask down—it was still usable. She glanced at the bowl beside her, it was old and had some uneaten porridge—or whatever it really was.

The laser knife had a small red beam prick out of the end and Emmy sliced the bowl in half. She watched as the sides fell apart in two and the porridge seeped out onto the tray. Unbelievable. Emmy bit back a laugh as she shoved it back into her pocket and stared at the wall in front of her, counting down the minutes before the shift change. This really was it, if Michael had arrived the day before the pilgrimage it definitely meant that she was going through that time fracture. The only problem was getting out of Golad undetected long enough to get onto the train and towards Hope Plaza.

Just as Emmy ran out of Golad and closed the door behind her, the electric train pulled up and opened its doors. Emmy shoved the card into her other pocket and ran across the path towards the fenced area of the platform. Somehow, she went unnoticed by a group of people—who were more than likely poor and homeless—as she got onto the train. She turned to face the door she left from, her arm holding onto the railing of the train above her head as the door opened with the guards rushing out. With one last glimpse before the train doors closed for good, she saw one of the guards look directly at her.

The train began to move. Emmy let out a deep sigh as the train moved over the desolated city and towards the main platform. She knew she just had to get to Hope Plaza and get through security and she would be one step closer to seeing Tanya again. The ride was long, especially as she was forced to listen to the other passenger's sputter and cough up—what sounded like their actual lungs. Emmy moved to sit down, grabbing a spare blanket to wrap around her body to hide herself from other prying eyes.

She quickly placed the rebreather over her mouth and waited for the train to stop. Emmy knew that the next stop would be the only stop. The train only went from Golad to Hope Plaza. There were other trains, but due to the severity of the destination the train was forced to take, the high security at Hope Plaza was the best option. Although Emmy was able to find flaws in that notion. As the train continued to move past the dusty, crumbled city the light began to fade from the sky. Emmy looked out the window and up and the large dust cloud where the sky had once been. She had to get away from this place.

When the train stopped, it was dark out. The electronic lights from the billboards with signs reading; 'A FAMILY IS FOUR' created light for Emmy as smoke filled her vision once she stepped off the train. Her eyes flickered up and watched as the billboard changed to say; 'OVERPOPULATION EQUALS EXTINCTION' and Emmy shook her head. The only ones to blame for this were mankind themselves. She brushed passed people and made her way along to a fenced in section. She took off her blanket and put the bag over her shoulders, placing her I.D. badge around her neck.

"The eyes of the world are on Hope Plaza today," the woman on the cracked Plex commented as Emmy moved through the crowd, her face hidden behind the rebreather. "As the sixth pilgrimage prepares to depart for Terra Nova. Bringing the total number of colonists to over a thousand."

Emmy lifted up her rebreather and placed it in one of the boxes before following the crowd to get her I.D. badge scanned against her eye. She hoped that Michael was right and that it was fixed. When the woman scanned her badge she offered Emmy a smile and told her to enjoy Terra Nova. Emmy could feel her heart racing as she let go of her I.D. badge, letting it hang on the string around her neck, and followed the crowd again. Fear was intensifying inside of her as she pulled down her sleeve for the umpteenth time, making sure that her right wrist was covered so no one could see her mark.

As she passed the crowds waiting behind the fence, she looked for Michael. She couldn't see him, which worried her even more. She wasn't sure if he had been caught helping her escape, or if he had been arrested or if he had forgotten her. But whatever it was, it remained heavy—not just in the back of her mind—but everywhere. There was no time to wait for Michael as she began to look suspicious. Everyone else had already walked in with their family members or friends, but she obviously came alone and without him. Without putting much thought into it, her feet began to move forwards slowly.

Her monitor on the left sleeve of her jacket buzzed, she furrowed her eyebrows as she lifted it up. It was a message from Michael. 'Don't turn around, I'm right behind you, I'll catch up with you soon. Stop being so worried, Emmy.' She breathed out and smiled to herself, dropping her left arm back down to her side. At least now she knew that Michael was safe and there. All she had to do was wait for him to join her by her side. She was forced to keep her pace steady to avoid suspicion from the other civilians and the guards—who, she was sure, knew about her escape.

"Just breathe," she mumbled to herself.

With her back straightened, and her eyes trained in front of her she allowed for some of the others to brush passed and get in front quicker. Emmy knew that she technically had just under eighteen minutes to get to the time fracture before it closed. She wasn't sure why but it only stayed open for eighteen minutes, and once it was closed, it wouldn't have been opened for another year or so, and she doubted she could stay hidden for a year with a search party after her head.

Of course, she knew that Michael would offer, but she couldn't expect him to harbour a fugitive for over a year. It was too dangerous, for both of them. That's why if she couldn't make it to the sixth pilgrimage, she wasn't going to make it to any. She doubted that her body would have been able to handle another trip to Golad, she had lost a lot of weight, and not healthily. She looked a lot like a corpse, she doubted that she smelt any different from one. Her body was shutting down and if she couldn't make it to Terra Nova to get the help that she needed, she might as well just jump over the side of the railing and end things once and for all.

Emmy shook her head and continued to walk. She couldn't think like that. She was minutes away from seeing Tanya again and she wasn't sure if that was the reason why her heart began to ache, or if it was another underlying medical issue that she had succumbed to in the cells of Golad. Nevertheless, Emmy had a ghost of a smile on her face as she followed the crowd. With one last adjustment to her bag and the tug if her right sleeve over her wrist, she strode forwards with a hope of a second chance.

Emmy's life was about to change but she didn't know if it was going to be for the better or for the worst.