I hurried back down the hall, feeling my face get red. The teen that found me wasn’t built heavily, but she was threatening. Maybe it was her punk look, with black hair and a streak of blue, and her black clothes, and her nose piercings, but whatever it was, it scared me.

When I saw the first hallway that branched off, I took the teen’s advice and turned. My mom almost plowed me down.

“Oh, Lia, I’ve looked everywhere for you! It’s time to go home.”

I nodded.

Mother looked at my clothes. “What happened?”

“I got locked in a closet.”

“I won’t ask.”

I buckled my seatbelt. Mom started the car. After a moment of gathering my courage, I spilled. “Mom?”

“Hm?”

“I found a vault of meat.”

Mom turned white. “What?”

“In an old hallway. In the AGO building.”

“T-That’s not possible. That’s either illegal or…” Mom shook her head. “N-not possible.”

“What do I do?” It came out as a whisper.

Mom sat in silence until we pulled in the driveway.

I was so scared, to see Mom’s reaction. I just continually whispered that same question. “What do I do?”

Mom turned to me. “Go pack a bag. Just clothes and fruit and your hair brush.”

I nodded and numbly went to do what she said. A threw three outfits in a pull-string  bag. Tossed in a brush, and a few pieces of fruit too. I hurried out to Mom’s truck and hopped in. Mom started the car and drove off.

    “Where are we going.”

    “You’re now in danger.”

    I panicked. “How do you know?”

    “Do you want to know why everyone is so worked up?”

    My eyes threatened to spill tears. “Is this relevant?” I shouted.

    Mom glanced at me. “Very. President Winston said to report if anyone finds anything suspicious. If anyone does, he said he’d keep them quiet.”

    I gasped. “Like, kill them?”

    “We don’t know.”

    I sat, shocked and shivering at this new revelation. Finally, I whispered, ”Where are we going?”

    Mom sighed. “To a nearby tribe.”
    I gasped. “Why?”

    “To hide you from President Winston.”

    Now upset, I just stared out the window. Mom finally stopped the truck at the edge of the woods. Mom reached over and took my hand, tears glistening on her face.

“Try to fit in,” she whispered. “And remember that I always love you.”

    I nodded, a few tears slipping down my face. “How will I get there?”

    “Just go straight. One of the tribe members will find you.”

I said goodbye one last time and ran towards the woods. The branches tore at my clothes and at the branches in my clothes. The leaves cut my face. Thorns reached out and grabbed my feet. I never stopped running, even though the branches tore at my legs and feet. Finally, I spotted someone in the gloomy forest.

It was a man, with deer skin pants on. He had no shirt, instead tattoos covered his chest. His hair was black and long, his skin tanned. He turned when he heard me crash through the brush.

“Who are you?” His rough voice echoed through the trees.
    I stopped. “L-Lia. I got caught seeing something I wasn’t supposed to see, so my mom sent me on the run.” That whole sentence tasted weird on my tongue.

The man nodded. “She sent you to live with us, yes?”

I nodded. A woman burst through the undergrowth behind the man. I jumped.

“Who’s this, Enyoto?” the woman asked.

Enyoto explained my problem. The woman looked at me and grinned. She was heavy set, with hair in a long braid, and a deer skin dress.

She came and hugged me. “Ah, poor dear. Come on, we’ll get you comfortable.”

She led the way to where I presumed the tribal village was. I liked the woman. She reminded me of a grandmother or something. I don’t remember my grandparents; they moved to the China area.

After wading through a field of thorns, me tripping over a few roots, and a snake scaring me to death, we got to a humble village, people dressed much like the first two running about.

The man went to talk to a man who had a giant headdress, the chief, I thought, and came back.

“He says you can sleep there.” The man pointed to a little hut. “The owner of the hut died a few days ago.” I nodded and went to it.

I got a few odd looks from various people, mostly teens and kids. The hut’s door creaked on wooden hinges. All that was inside was a bed. I shut the door behind me and fell into the bed and immediately fell asleep.

A.N.

For whatever reason, that was painful to write.

Well, three more P.O.V.s until Day Four. Aren't you excited?

Also, thank you so much FlawedMuslimah for reading this and commenting and criticizing. Your awesome :)

I will try to finish Day Three tonight, lovelies

-Cal