Their voices start getting too quiet for me to hear, but I think I have listened to enough.

The guards want to catch me so they can find out where all the people who escaped went. They don’t think we hid in no man’s land, but they do believe the Jumpers had something to do with us getting out of the tent. That means they do not know much.

They don't know all the facts, but they do have an idea about the Jumpers' involvement here. They know the Jumpers are here but do not know to what extent or where they are. The less they know, the better. If they end up capturing me, they should just kill me because I will not be giving up any information. I will not put Devin's life in harm's way.

They think we are hiding somewhere in the carnival, but they don't know that the Jumpers got us out and into the trees where we will be leaving in the morning or, should I say, where they will be leaving in the morning. If Aiden and I are not back before sunrise, then they will leave without us.

And what about no man’s land? I know that the government thinks it’s dangerous, but how dangerous can it really be? The government mentioned a long time ago that there are wild animals out there, along with potential human threats, but they never really specified any further. The details about no man's land remain uncertain.

Are these dangers of no man's land real, or did they lie about that too? How do I know if anything they have ever said has been true or not?

I no longer believe a word they have ever said, but at the same time, I am torn between my disbelief and my fear of the unknown. I don't want to go into no man's land and learn how dangerous it is by getting attacked by someone or something. What if what I discover out there beyond my town borders is worse than what is currently inside?

But then again, the Jumpers said they have a camp a few miles from here, and they didn’t mention anything about the dangers of no man's land. I didn’t think to ask. Maybe they are withholding important information about its dangers, and I just don’t know it. Once again, I am reminded of the fact that I don’t know the Jumpers, and I should not blindly trust them either.

When I am convinced that the guards are far enough away that they won’t see me, I look over the edge of the building to see where I am. It is dark, but I can make out the outline of a few booths. I look straight ahead into the darkness and try to find the Ferris wheel.

I feel like a crazy person constantly looking for something that is not there. The Ferris wheel was real, right? I did not just imagine its existence. It was a big circular thing lit up in the sky, it has to be here somewhere.

I keep looking, and I manage to catch the sight of something slightly to the right of where I am. A small reflection of light reflects off of one of the buckets of the Ferris wheel.

I am filled with relief now that I can find my way to the kitchen from here. Hopefully, Aiden will still be there waiting for me. I feel like I have taken so many detours, and now I am taking too long. Aiden probably thinks I have been captured or killed and has moved on without me.

Since the Ferris wheel is to the right, that means I must have passed it while getting here. In my defense, I was looking for a colorful, lit-up Ferris wheel, not a dark piece of metal in the night sky. I look down to see what building I am on top of. I know that I am not on top of the kitchen since the Ferris wheel was to the left of that.

As I look, I see a big letter M, which looks like a W from my angle. I don’t bother to read the rest of the letters. Of course, I would be right at the mirror maze. If only Aiden and I had planned on meeting back here instead of in the kitchen, then we would both be walking out of here right now.

I make my way back to the tree and climb down it. At least I know where I am now, and I know exactly how to get to the kitchen. The way back to the kitchen is pretty straightforward, so I start moving in the direction where the games were.

I think it would have been a better idea if the guards had turned all the lights in the carnival on instead of off, but I am not going to argue with their logic. The darkness is helping me right now. I say turn all the lights off so I can get to the kitchen easier.

If all the lights were on right now, I would be sweating at the thought of getting caught in the light for all the guards to see. But on the other hand it would make it easier for me to see the guards as well. I wouldn’t have to question whether or not if every sound I hear is from a guard or something else.

I make my way behind the row of game booths and start quietly walking from one booth to another. It is quiet as I make my way behind the first few booths. It’s not as dark as it was over by the mirror maze, but it’s also not as bright as it was earlier when Aiden and I were walking over here.

As I make my way closer to the Ferris wheel, I notice that the open area we crossed before is slightly brighter, and more guards are walking by. The first two times I hear footsteps, I crouch down behind the booth and cram myself as far as I can into the little spots of darkness. Since nothing happened and there were no guards even remotely stepping towards where I was hiding, I stopped forcing myself to fit in the shadows and instead just stood behind the booth.

That is where I am now, standing like a creeper behind a booth, waiting to hear the sound of boots walking off in the distance.

It takes about fifteen seconds for a guard to walk by me, and I wait another thirty seconds and move to another booth to ensure the guard is far enough away so that he won’t see me. It’s a tedious process but a safe one. The guards walk by my area every three minutes or so. They could all be different guards or the same guard. I don’t really know, nor do I care.

Making it to the kitchen is all that matters right now.

I keep moving from booth to booth until I come to the exact spot where we crossed over from the kitchen. I watch as the guards frequently walk by. It’s like when one guard finally leaves, another one enters. Getting to the other side is going to be tricky.

I stand in the shadows, waiting for any opening that I can get. I think about causing a distraction, but I fear that it would only draw more guards around to this side of the carnival, and that would increase the chances of the guards finding the kitchen. That’s assuming that they haven’t already.

I notice that I am never going to get the perfect opportunity to run to the other side, so I decide to do something a little risky.

When one guard is walking by, and his back is facing towards me and where I am going, I make a run for the booth in the middle of the opening. When I get there, I sit down in the corner of the booth and wait to hear the next guard go by. After the next guard walks by and has his back towards me, I run the rest of the way to the alley that leads to the kitchen.

When I reach the other side, I put my back against the wall and wait to hear if anyone saw me. When no noise is heard, I start walking down the alleyway and eventually come to the kitchen door.

I am hesitant to go inside since there is a chance that Aiden won’t be in there. I think about the fact that he could have gotten caught, but then my brain reminds me that if the guards caught Aiden, then they would not be searching so hard for me. I then think about if he left me here, maybe I took too long, and he assumed that I was taken or killed.

I push all of those bad possibilities out of my head and tell myself that Aiden is in the room. All I have to do is open the door, and I will see him standing there waiting for me. We will quickly catch up with each other about what I found in the room and about the guards looking for us and then Aiden will lead the two of us out of here safely just like before.

I open the kitchen door and am immediately reminded of how dark the room is. I walk in and close the door behind me.

“Aiden,” I whisper.

There is no response, so I try again, “Aiden, are you in here?”

I step further into the kitchen, but when I hear nothing, I lose all the possible hope I have left, and I turn around to leave.

Before I can take one step to the door, a hand is thrown over my mouth, and I am practically dragged down to the floor. Every ounce of my body is put on high alert and I start thinking about how on earth I could fight this person and make a break for the door.

I start kicking my legs at the person and throwing my arms around as hard as I can, but I stop when I hear Aiden’s voice in my ear, “Stop. Sam, Stop. We are not alone in here,” he says very quietly.

Chapter 19

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