Free The Outcast Ones by Maya Shepherd Page B

secret out of it. She’s always been honest to me, even if not everything she said was exactly true. At least she believed it was true.
    When I try to climb up the sandy wall, my boots scrape loudly. Far too much noise. If I keep going, Paul is certain to get suspicious. Quickly I slip to the front wall and look out. He doesn’t seem suspicious yet, but surely it won’t be long before he gets interested in the sound.
    Without hesitating, I crouch to the floor and undo the laces of my boots.
    The sand feels strange under my bare feet. It sticks between my toes and is pleasantly soft and warm, even though it’s night-time. I’ve never felt my feet more than in this moment. Now, when I set a foot on the wall rock, there’s nothing to hear. With my hands I grip the uneven rock spurs and pull myself upwards against the wall. It’s hard to find places to hold on, but I can do it, and I’m even enjoying it. In the safety zone there was no place for climbing, everything is flat or polished there. But then, no one there is preparing to escape. In the past I would have asked why I’d ever want to escape from somewhere. The safety zone was the only place that existed for me in the whole world.
    The hole in the ceiling is so close now that I can stretch a hand through it, then I rest on one foot and push my face through. A cool wind blows around my nose and my bald head. It even smells different here. I can’t describe the smell, it’s got so many facets and it’s so strange that I have no words for it.
    I try to recognise something, anything in the darkness, but except for red hills, I can’t see a thing. Still I push my body through the narrow hole. My hips stick for a moment, but a little effort helps me out and I’m free. Barefoot, I stand beside the hole and look out at the surroundings.
    Slowly my eyes get used to the dark, but I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I thought there would be level ground, a little cave in the middle of nowhere. But it’s completely different. Around the cave I stand on, which isn’t small at all, there are trees several metres high. It must be a kind of forest. None of it is dead, as the Legion commanders always showed us in their recordings. There’s more life here than would ever be possible inside the safety zone.
    For a moment I find myself doubting and I ask myself what else the Legion might not have told us. Maybe I should stay here, maybe the outcasts are right. But the way to freedom is within my reach. It’s so near that I don’t want to climb back into the tiny cell. I cast my doubts away and step carefully across the hilly cave top, one foot in front of the other.
    The cave is much bigger than I thought. There must be a lot more in there than just the hall with the little cells. I make an effort to go slowly so that no one will notice me. The wind drags at me, pushes me, shoves me from one side to another. So I’m happy when I notice the slope starting to descend. I drop to my knees and grope along the ground, then let myself down over the edge.
    Suddenly I hear excited voices some distance away. Torchlight brightens the darkness in the distance. Have they really noticed my disappearance so quickly? Looking at the trees I judge that it can’t be much farther so I let myself fall to the ground. But it must be several metres, and I lose control of my body. With a loud crash I land on my rear in the rough sand. I get up quickly when I hear running feet, and decide to hide in the forest. They won’t find me so easily there.
    Although it’s hard to run on the uneven ground with bare feet, I run so fast that my lungs burn. The soles of my feet burn too, I must have damaged them a lot by now. The forest floor is strewn with leaves, branches and stones. Again and again I stumble and trip over roots. But every time I fall down, I get up again. My own heartbeat drowns out the voices of my hunters. I don’t know if they have weapons, although I think I hear a shot now and then.