Is freedom from this terrible night really only a few feet away?

I guess I’m not the only one who thinks this since everyone stares at Aiden for a good long minute before slowly and skeptically walking out the door one by one.

When I step out the door, it takes my eyes a second to adjust to the darkness of the outside world. From the looks of it, the brightly lit carnival looks like the safe place to be, and Treegrass is dangerous, but looks can be deceiving.

The town is engulfed by darkness, with only minimal lights on in the houses around the carnival. The distant trees, whose branches are almost bare in this early spring, stand ominously against the night sky. The carnival, once emitting a bright, joyous light, now seems like a distant bad memory. Its look of safety and excitement is a mere illusion.

I remember when we were kids, Devin and I would join the other kids in exploring the woods. We would run through the trees and make up stories about how a witch might live inside the biggest tree in the woods. We would spend all day searching for the biggest tree and then arguing about which was really bigger.

Over the course of a few months, we would grow tired of the same stupid fights and stories, and then slowly, people would stop coming to the woods because there was simply nothing more to do. Devin and I stopped going for a while because there was nothing interesting to do there by ourselves, and we had exhausted every game we could think of. But one night, the power went out, and we saw a group of younger kids running into the woods.

Of course, Devin and I were not about to miss the great opportunity to scare the crap out of some random kids. So we grabbed rakes and anything else made of metal that we could find, and then we ran into the woods, dragging them behind us and hitting them together and on trees to scare the kids. The look on the kids’ faces, along with their high-pitched screams, were hilarious, and no one would go into the woods at night by our house again unless they were dared to.

Aiden closes the door of the mirror maze, cutting off the little light we had. We all stand right outside the carnival. Houses are only a few hundred feet from us, and I wonder if the people living in these houses heard any of the gunshots or if they all went into the carnival. Aiden starts walking towards the trees in the distance, and we all follow him.

I am still uncertain about Aiden and the people he refers to as the Jumpers. I really don’t know much about these people other than what Aiden had said about them. How do we know they aren’t just as dangerous and misleading as the New World government? Could this all be an elaborate trap?

We are strangers to the people in these other distant towns. How do we really know they are who they said they are? What if they are trying to steal from us like the Fritts did in the past?

With all of this in mind, I keep my hold on Devin’s hand along with the hand of the younger girl whom I have never met before tonight. While I may not know this girl personally, I feel like I have to protect her from any more bad things that could happen, at least until we figure out what we are going to do next.

As we get closer to the tree line closest to our town border, I wonder where Aiden plans to take us. We can’t get past the border—at least, I don’t think we can. None of us have ever tried before. But then again, Aiden and the rest of the Jumpers got in here, so there must be a way.

Even if we can get past the border, then what? We leave all our belongings behind and live in no man’s land? We don’t even know for sure what lies beyond the border. We only know what we have been told, and it isn't much.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

Aiden speaks without looking back at me, “Theon and the others brought the groups of people they got out of the carnival to the border of your town, where they will be hidden in the trees.”

I can’t help but wonder if my Dad made it into one of those groups and is waiting for us. I want to run to where Aiden is talking about just so I can see my Dad again, but I know there is a good chance I would get lost, and I shouldn’t get my hopes up that he will be there.

My Dad might be dead, but I have to keep a positive attitude on the matter until I know for sure. After I know for certain about my Dad, I will find out about my Mother. Maybe she is safe from the shooters since she did not attend the carnival.

The people who didn’t come here tonight would have to have heard all the shooting and yelling coming from the carnival, at least the people in the houses nearby, right?

“What about the people who didn’t go to the carnival? What did they do with them? Are they safe?” I ask Aiden.

Aiden gives me a quick glance but doesn’t say anything.

“What do they do with them?” I ask again because I have to know if my Mother is alright.

Aiden seems like he doesn’t want to answer this question, but I don’t care.

“From what I heard from some of our townspeople we snuck out of Tundris following the carnival, the officials send someone to go door to door. We don’t know for sure what happens after that. Some people who were fleeing the carnival say they heard gunshots coming from inside some of the houses while others say that they heard absolutely nothing.”

Aiden continues, “Only one guy I know said that he didn’t go to the carnival and that he was sitting at home when he got a knock on his door. When he answered it there was a guard who asked to come in. He let the guard in since guards arriving at your house aren’t supposed to mean anything bad.”

He is right. It is not common for a guard to show up at a person's house, but when they do, there is usually no reason not to invite them in. They do general sweeps of a home if they are trying to find something that was stolen and other times, they are just doing a general wellness check.

Aiden stops for a second before speaking again. “He said that the guard asked him why he didn’t go to the carnival. He thought nothing of it and told the guard that he recently lost his daughter a few months ago due to the harsh winter, and he didn’t want to see other kids and be reminded of the one he lost. He said the guard seemed nice up until there was a commotion outside.”

“What happened?” I ask.

“He said that while the guard didn’t seem to have a gun, he still didn’t feel safe since the guard wouldn’t let him get up to look outside. He said as the sound got louder, the guard became more agitated. At that moment, the guy pushed the guard out of the way and started running out of his house. That’s when he said he saw the carnival and heard the people screaming. He later managed to find our group, and together, we all fled Tundris and started trying to figure out what to do next. We don't know for certain if the guard was going to kill him, but my guess is that he would have.”

As we walk closer to the trees, the group remains silent, and I try to think of anything else besides my Mother's possible fate. It doesn’t work. Did someone really show up at our house to kill her after we left?

“Why would they do that? Why kill the people who didn’t even get a chance to score any points and save themselves?” Devin asks.

“I don’t know,” Aiden says, “But if I had to guess, it would be because the people who didn’t show up to the carnival were seen as not wanting to participate in the government’s game. They probably saw them as a threat or as uncooperative and killed them.”

I decide to stop asking questions and let what he told me sink in. The more I think about it, the sicker I feel, and I can’t help but feel so stupid. I really thought we were safe and that we could trust them. We are supposed to trust them.

As we walk, I think about how dangerous what we are doing is. If one guard decides to shine a flashlight out here, then they will definitely see us and tell all the other guards. With each snap of a twig or crunch of a leaf, my heart skips a beat. I can't help but think we have to be as quiet as possible so that no one hears us.

When the sound of us walking into the group of trees becomes too much for me to handle, I can’t help but ask Aiden, “Won't the guards hear or see us out here? Is this safe?”

Aiden doesn’t stop walking when he answers, “No, from what we have seen, the shooters don’t leave the carnival until the morning. Our theory is that they think they have everyone trapped inside, so there is no need to look outside. We believe the ones that go into the townspeople's homes who didn’t go to the carnival stay inside the person’s home or at least a given street to stay at until the morning comes. That’s what we think, anyway. We haven’t seen any out here.”

He takes a quick glance at me and then says, “We’ll be fine. We’re covered in darkness, so they can’t see us anyway.”

That’s a reasonable response, but I still can’t help but feel like they will come looking for us and find us easily. Devin must sense my unease because he squeezes my hand and tries to give me a reassuring smile.

After a few more minutes of walking, I start hearing hushed voices in the distance. As we get closer, I can see that it’s a group of about thirty to forty Treegrass people. They are all standing around in an opening between the trees, talking among themselves.

The young girl whose hand I have been holding lets go and runs at the group of people before stopping to hug someone. I assume she must have found a family member or friend.

Other people start walking around looking for familiar faces, and I find myself doing the same. I drag Devin with me as I try to see if our Dad is out here somewhere.

If other people can find their loved ones out here, then so can I. It’s really dark, so I try to get close to people to see if Dad is out here anywhere. I look from one person to another, moving around in circles. Some people look back at me like I’m crazy. Others look like they see right through me. I sometimes think I caught a glance of him, but when I look closer, it is always some other guy. Why does every middle aged guy have to look so similar to one another?

I swear they do it on purpose. Everyone my Dad’s age has a similar haircut, similar T-shirts, the same jeans, and the same stupid jokes. No one is making any jokes out here, but I know that if the situation were different and I was talking to these guys, then they would quickly say something stupid that would make me laugh.

I don’t see him. I make my way around again to make sure. Maybe I missed him. Most people are standing around, but a few are sitting on fallen trees or on the ground. I lower myself to look at the faces of the people sitting down, but no one looks familiar. I try walking around and calling for my Dad without being too loud, but I get no answer. I go around another time to see if I missed him, but I don’t think I did.

He’s not here.

Chapter 12

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