6: Crushed

Realization [ree-uh-luh-zey-shuh; n]: The act of becoming suddenly aware of an idea transforming to a fact.

***

The girls slowly approached the large fence that encircled the building known as GRFS. A walk through the woods, just as before, had dumped them out in the clearing. A tinge of nervousness surfaced in both of their minds. The night was similar to the first one they had gone on. It was getting dark, but not pitch yet. The peepers all made loud noises around them as they stepped through the thick and wet grass. Dew was already collecting.

"Something is different," whispered Bryanna as they approached the fence. It seemed taller, shinier almost.

Standing directly under it, they noticed that it was a brand new fence. It was made of cutting-edge, modern materials with the occasional barbed wire twirling the perimeter of it. "No," she whispered again.

"Look," said Liz with a motion. A security camera was fastened to a top post, slowly scanning the area. It had not yet reached where they were standing but was soon about to. As what was happening slowly dawned upon them, they ran.

They ran away from the shiny fence and the expensive camera. They ran away from the ugly building that was so contemporary on the inside. They ran away from their friend, who they were sure wasn't actually there anymore.

She was gone.

The President knew what they'd been up to.

It was in that moment, once they resurfaced back in the cover of the green forest, that Liz began to freak out.

"I'm going to have a panic attack." She was breathing heavy and Bryanna sat down on the wet, mushy ground in defeat.

"This is very, very bad."

For once, Bryanna was completely silent.

"We're in so much trouble, oh my God."

There was a look of confusion in Bryanna's eyes. Then, a look of understanding.

"They're actually coming for us. Tonight, I bet. They're going to take us away when we are sleeping and lock us up somewhere for knowing their secret. Or worse, they'll kill us. Execution for treason... and then-"

Bryanna cut her off, still staring into the distance as she began to speak. "You don't understand, Liz."

Liz looked at her friend with a thick frame of rage. "What do you mean I don't understand? I understand that our lives are over. I understand that your stupid idea got us into this. I understand that you have actually wrecked everything I look forward to in life because you were just so... so curious. It was better when we didn't know what was happening. There was less tension. Why did it have to be you to fix the problem?" She paused. "And why was I dumb enough to go along with it? No. Bryanna. You don't understand."

Bryanna seemed to ignore everything Liz said and continued to stare off. She spoke in monotone. "No, Liz. We aren't in trouble. You don't get it. There must have been security cameras that day. I don't know why we were dumb enough to think there weren't. It's a government-run, science laboratory. They already know we were there. They knew that from the second we told the President's secretary that we wanted to tell her about a conspiracy theory about GRFS. They went and watched those cameras right away. They saw Phoebe pull us into that office. I'm sure they checked her office phone records afterwards, also. If they'd wanted to punish us, they would have done that a long time ago. They punished Phoebe. Those fences were put up as a warning. They knew we'd come back when she didn't answer her phone. They knew we'd see that new security set-up. That's not a death sentence; it's a warning."

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Author's Note: Vote and comment pretty please! Sorry it took so long; I was away for 2 weeks, but I'm home again! This one is a little short but that is alright:) Thanks for reading!