"Come on Charlie! We’re going to be late,” Lizzy urged.

“Slow down Lizzy! I’m not as fast as you are,” Charlie begged, “Plus why do we have to be home right away? It’s not like the officer is going to be there.”

“Yes he is I can feel it,” Lizzy burst.

When a teenager turns 15they will take a test and be selected by an officer, a worker, or a doctor to determine where they will work for the rest of their lives. Lizzy and Charlie just turned 15 they took the test, but they don’t receive them for ten days. Lizzy always wanted to work with the officers unlike Charlie who was fine with being a factory worker.
They had just arrived at home when they saw two officers. Lizzy was overjoyed but Charlie thought he was going to hurl. Their mother, Jane, walk out. It was obvious she had been crying. Lizzy knew exactly whey, Charlie wasn’t cut out to become an office he was slow; he had a slight limp; he would never be able to kill somebody; and he couldn’t stomach the sight of blood.

“Here they are officers,” Jane squeaked. Jane was thin with hollow gray eyes and lifeless brown hair. Charlie looked just like her, but Lizzy looked like her father with fiery red hair and deep brown eyes. She had only become this way after her husband, Sam, was killed on a recon of the forest edge.

“Lizzy and Charlie you have been selected to join the officers. Here are your new uniforms. Tomorrow we will come to pick you up for training. We will arrive at 9:00 am and we expect you to be ready and waiting. Remember an officer is always on time,” Officer Miles said.

When the officers left, Jane rushed them into the house finished packing a bag of food. Lizzy tried to sit her down but she just kept grabbing food. “Mom calm down. Charlie is going to be fine. I’ll take care of him,” Lizzy said. “Mom, stop it! You’re scaring me!”

“I’m worried about both of you,” she whispered. “When I married your father I knew our kids would become officers and I knew that you would both die. I just didn’t want to face the truth. I can’t lose all of you so this is what’s going to happen. We’re going to pack as much food as we can and then near midnight we’re going to escape for the woods. They’ll know where we’ve gone so we must move quickly.”

Without hesitation Lizzy and Charlie ran to their room and started to pack their clothes. It was winter and living in Minnesota meant that they would have to pack as much as possible. During winter people didn’t go out into the forest. The officers normally hunt deer so there is a source of meat for the community but otherwise people were too afraid to leave their homes.

About ten minutes passed before Jane ran in with three empty duffle bags, two guns and a tent. “Mom why do you have a gun? You’ll be killed if you’re found with one, let alone two,” shrieked Lizzy. Jane just ignored her and started to help with Charlie’s clothes. Lizzy stood there shocked and not moving. That was when they heard a knock at the door. They all froze. Jane mouthed the words, “Go get the door,” to Lizzy. Lizzy casually walked to the door and looked out the window. She saw that is was Matthew. She wiped the palms of her hands on her jeans so he wouldn’t see know nervous she was. Matthew was Charlie’s best friend.

“Is your mother here? I’m ready to go,” he said as he walked into their hallway. Lizzy was beyond confused. When her mother came running out of their room it all became clear. Matthew had taken the test the same day they had. His officer went to his house that morning. Matthew was so nervous the whole day and instead of walking home with them, he went directly to his house.

“Is everyone ready? Can I help you with anything,” he questioned.

“Um, you can get some blankets and pillows out of that closet. Oh, and then grab the last two guns from Charlie’s room,” Jane urged. Matthew came back with the guns, pillows and blankets. They continued to pack food until it was all out of the cellar.

At 11:30 pm they woke up and gather the last items. By midnight they were on their way to the fence. Matthew, Lizzy and Charlie dug a tunnel under the fence. Charlie went through first, followed by Lizzy and then Jane. Matthew pushed bags through the hole and then hauled himself through. They filled the short tunnel and escaped to the woods. It had been over three hours before they stopped to camp.

Lizzy woke up suddenly in a cold sweat. Her knuckles were white from gripping her sleeping bag. Then she heard a rustling near the fire. She looked around and saw that everyone was in the rather full tent. “You guys wake up! Someone’s outside,” she urged as she pushed them awake. Matthew awoke, grabbed a gun, put on some boots and inched outside. Lizzy heard voices, walked outside and saw that a boy not a year older than her was putting the fire out. “What are you doing? Who are you?” Lizzy shouted.

“I’m William. You must be Lizzy,” he said. “I saw a fire and I came over here to see what was going on. I thought you guys were officers but you are most definitely escapees.” He looked Lizzy over then walked to the tent and started to wake Jane and Charlie. “Start taking down the tent and pack up. I’m going to take you to our safe have,” he ordered.

As they hurried through the forest, Lizzy and Charlie noticed the thinning of trees and saw that in the center was a wall of trees. “Where are we,” Lizzy inquired. Charlie nudged Lizzy and pointed to the guards standing by a ten foot wide opening in the tree barrier. “I think we’re at that safe have William was taking us to,” Charlie answered Lizzy.

“Lizzy, Charlie I know you guys are afraid but this is the only place where we’ll be safe,” Jane said. They looked around and nodded in agreement.

“Welcome home,” Charlie muttered to Lizzy.