The Rule of the Rogues

What do you grab when you have only six minutes to leave your home? 

Adira was conflicted. Not about leaving, she’d never called this hellscape home anyway, but because she had no idea what to take; everything she owned and was allowed to keep in the dingy basement bedroom she’d inhabited over the past four years was easily replaceable. The labs, doctors and endless experiments weren’t something she would miss but that didn’t change the fact that uprooting her life and taking nothing with her felt odd. Memories didn’t seem sufficient. After all she had been through day after day, hoping and praying the ‘well-meaning’ doctors who worked at the lab would find a cure for lycanthropy so she could be free, was there really nothing to take from it but a collection of sickening nightmares?

She owned nothing of significance and yet leaving with nothing felt wrong. There had to be something she salvaged from the neverending sea of suffering inflicted upon anyone and anything which stepped over the threshold. Of course, Adira knew that her meager belongings were not sentient by any means but they had still bore witness to atrocities no person should ever have to suffer through right along with her.

A pile of tattered clothes seemed meaningless and would only serve to draw more attention to her given the disheveled state. She may not have been outside or interacted with people much in years but even she knew that running through the woods with a bundle of what looked less like clothes and more like fabric scraps from a crime scene would draw much more attention than she wanted. There was no way to get a bag which could hide its contents and her state alone would already draw enough attention. By that logic though, there was nothing she could bring, even if she wanted to.

Five minutes.

There wasn’t enough time to get the others out along with her. As much as it pained her to leave them behind to face the wrath her escape would cause, no one would get out if she delayed herself with setting them free. She would come back for them; after all, she had promised Hope that she wouldn’t leave her alone and the young girl had already been let down enough, she refused to become just another adult who disappointed her.

Once she was free, she could find Damien. He would know what to do. Once she found Damien, she could come back and save Hope and the others. At least, that was what she told herself to lessen the guilt she felt for leaving. The reality was that she didn’t even know where to begin with tracking down Damien and, even if she did, it was not going to be easy, nor was it going to be quick. There was no telling how long it would be until Adira could go back for the others and that was presuming they were still there when she did.

Four minutes.

The room somehow seemed darker than normal. It was even worse than when the window got smashed and was boarded up with planks of wood for weeks. Adira remembered the way Brax would move around the room, chasing the minimal light let in by the board’s cracks. It wasn’t a lot but it was something at least. Back then, the slightest sliver of light felt like a privilege, a blessing among the darkness both physical and spiritual that consumed them.

On some level though, Adira was thankful for that darkness. Hidden under the cover of those shadows, her escape plan began to form. It was small at first and Adira didn’t know if she would ever be able to make it actionable, but even the smallest chance was easy to cling to when desperation was sewn so deep into your soul.

Three minutes.

Scrambling around the room now, Adira was reminded of those early days of her plan, when she would pace back and forth, counting in her head to establish just how much time it took the guards to make their route down her half of the basement. The day she noticed the blindspot, things began to fall into place. Her dream of leaving, of finding a life where she could be more than a pin cushion, an experiment, suddenly seemed more achievable than ever before.

It wasn’t much time. Six minutes to grab everything she needed, or to prepare herself at least, and two to run. Eight minutes from start to finish. Time had always seemed to go so slowly when she was hooked up to machines, being poked and prodded and being unable to move but, when it came to an opportunity like this, eight minutes seemed to pass in a heartbeat. She had thought it was manageable before, that she would be calm enough to do what she needed to, but now the time was here, she felt almost paralyzed.

Two minutes. 

If Brax were here, he would know what to do and exactly what to take. He had always been the calm one out of the two of them. Nothing rattled him. No matter what happened, he had always been at Adira’s side whether that was to comfort her, to reassure her, or anything else she may need. Doing this without him terrified Adira but she had no choice.

It had been weeks since she saw Brax despite the fact that they had always shared a room. They were never separated for long and that only concerned Adira more. She didn’t know where they had taken him or if he was safe. He had never been away from her for longer than a weekend and now she wasn’t even sure if he was still alive.

One minute.

Adira knew she had to breathe. She hadn’t even  grabbed anything but there was no time now. Anything she decided on now would take more time to find than she had and she couldn’t risk it. Not when there was so much at stake.

Her brain was cluttered, her scattered thoughts only increasing her difficulty as she tried to focus. The window was so small, there was no room for error. If she didn’t get out now, she wasn’t getting out at all. One attempt would get her moved and she would have to start a new plan from scratch. That was the best case scenario. In reality, Adira wasn’t convinced that she wouldn’t be killed for trying to escape. 

Failure was possible, of course, but it wasn’t an option.

Not this time.

Ten…

Just a few more seconds and the guard would be far enough that Adira had her chance. As long as she bolted, she would be fine. Anything less than her fastest was what held the risk. Anything less and she was little more than a moving target.

Nine…

Clear your mind, you can’t help the others if you end up dead.

Eight…

It was almost amusing how predictable the guards could be. Their patterns and routine made it almost easy to-

Clear your mind!

Seven…

Freedom had never felt so close, even as its distance continued to make her feel suffocated from the inside. The thought of crossing those bounds, eliminating that distance, was a terrifying one, but the alternative was even scarier.

Six…

What was the worst that could happen? Running would bring her a stitch, perhaps? Her legs might burn? None of that would even come close to the pain she had experienced in this place already. Ironic really that the pain that was meant to keep her compliant ended up being one of the things to comfort her as she made to leave.

Five…

No more thoughts. You can’t afford them, it’s so close.

Four…

Her plan was a strong one. Everything was working out just as Adira had practiced. For the first time in four years, Adira felt like she may be able to get herself out. The cost was something she chose not to consider. She didn’t want to do anything that might change her mind.

Three…

The guard approached the corner. They would be blind in just a few seconds. No distractions. It was time.

Two…

As Adira prepared to run, she caught sight of a small patch of brown fluff in the corner of the room. A stuffed bear. Brax’s stuffed bear, the closest thing she had to her brother. Two seconds. Was that enough time?

One…

Without thinking, Adira rushed to the other side of the room, grabbing hold of the stuffed animal as if it was the only thing keeping her sane. Her brain screamed at her for wasting time but some things, she decided, were worth a little risk. She still had time. At least, she hoped she did.

Taking a deep breath, Adira tucked the bear into the pocket of her dungarees and she ran.

She had nowhere to go, no sense of direction, just her most basic survival instincts. All she could do was hope that was enough.

Adira was brought out of her thoughts when she collided with the front of a young man passing by, apparently less focused than she had initially thought. Maybe hope wasn’t enough after all.