The Runner

By Nicole Sharon Elliott               

Kaden dropped to the ground and slid down a short slope, barely missing the bullet that tore past him.

“What is wrong with you, Kaden?” He grunted at himself “If you were one second slower you would be a dead man right now.  Why do you have to be so good at your job?” He could imagine Joeren’s pleased smile and cautioning laughter when Kaden told him of the dangerous move he’d made, just to get a little more info.

                He laughed at himself as he kept running, avoiding another whizzing bullet. Every time he got a vacation from his dangerous job as a ‘runner’, he would visit his parents and they would laugh and talk and encourage each other.

                “Those are the best times.” Kaden thought to himself. Then he felt it, “A couple more steps and…” He turned around to face the squad that was shooting at him, waved the papers in his hand at them, and smiled with satisfaction. In an instant he vanished from their sight.

                “…I disappear, right under your nose!” Kaden laughed as he bolted the trap door above him. He laughed all the way through the underground passages to Joeren’s office.

                Joeren looked up from his computer to see Kaden burst through the door, huge, sly grin across his tanned face. His short, black hair was coated in dirt and pieces of grass were stuck to his whole figure.

                “Chased by a squad, again?” Kaden nodded and Joeren chuckled, “I see they actually know how to hold their guns!”

                Kaden was confused. Sure, most of the squad members couldn’t even shoot their own foot if they wanted to.  But how did Joeren know this squad had been better? Kaden followed Joeren’s pointing finger and saw holes in his shirt and jeans.

                “I didn’t realize how narrowly I missed those bullets, I was sure-” Kaden was shocked; he had never come that close to death! Well, except for that one, small, incident with the guided missile. He hadn’t remembered that the squads were usually dumb and the missile, twenty feet behind him, was the size of a motorcycle.  He had felt a thudding on the back of his neck as he ran, and yanked it free to find it was a tracker. Instead of sending a heat seeking missile, like Kaden had thought it was, they shot a tracker at him. He threw the tracker as far as he could and tumbled to a summersault as the missile hit its tracker and blew up.  Kaden still had a scar across his right eye from that incident.

Joeren sighed, “Their getting better, Kaden. There’s no way to avoid that fact.” He sighed again and said, in a mournful tone “I’m afraid that soon… We will no longer be able to protect the believers.”

-<->-

Kaden couldn’t sleep. Joeren’s words played over and over again in his mind. Soon, we will no longer be able to protect the believers. Could it be true? Could it really be that close to the end? Kaden didn’t know, but he did know one thing. He needed to see her. He needed to warn her… and soon.

-<->-

“No, Kaden!” Joeren was firm in his decision.

“But, Joeren, I have to warn her!”

“No! It is too dangerous! You saw that squad! They can shoot! And they are all the way out here! You can’t possibly know what it is like, now! Right there where they train the squads!” Joeren broadly swept his hands through the air to emphasize the risk it would be.

Kaden looked at the floor “I promised that I would protect her…”

Joeren slapped both hands onto the desk “Stay away from there, Kaden. Do you understand?”

“I know it is dangerous,” Kaden straightened and look Joeren squarely in the eye, “But, I have to go! You would too, to keep a promise!”

Joeren sank down into his office chair and sighed, like always. “I know… It’s just hard for me to think about… losing you.” His face reddened with grief. “You know I…lost….all my children…” Kaden nodded, he could hardly bear to see Joeren breaking down like this. “Kaden… You are like a son to me… I could not bare to lose you too.”

Joeren turned away and Kaden could hear him taking deep breaths to calm down. Kaden took the opportunity to cool off himself; he was not used to seeing Joeren this upset and depressed. Though Joeren had tons of cause to be the most depressed person alive, because of what had happened fifteen years before. A fellow BPUC runner (Believer Protection Underground Compound) had told him Joeren’s tragic history during his training year.

When the government decided that religion was bad and made all religion illegal, only one “religion” stood strong, and that was Christianity. From the very beginning, a government official named Reikensal (Ray-ken-zal) enforced the law with an iron fist. He paid a pretty penny for any Christians that were brought before him, but only living ones were worth the trouble. If they were dead, the prize was so low that it wouldn’t even pay for a day’s food or a new round.

Joeren had founded BPUC among his church friends that wanted to stand strong, but the Compound was so small and their knowledge of the new technology so limited that Reikensal’s men found an internet post and traced it to Joeren’s home. They broke down the door and Joeren bravely defended his family.  By the time the squad left they were dragging Joeren’s wife and two children leaving the thirty year old man behind, thinking him to be dead. The only reason Joeren was alive today was because of BPUC, and since that day he worked, day and night, to protect fellow Christians he didn’t even know. Kaden felt so honored that Joeren thought of him as a son.

Finally, Joeren turned around, stood up and embraced Kaden with strong arms.

“You’ve spoken of her so fondly…” Joeren spoke into his ear “I only wish this were a time were believers could come out of the dark and have peaceful families like it used to be.”

Kaden shrugged off the uncomfortable comment when Joeren released him “It’s not like that. She needs help and I can give it. It’s my job!”

“Oh, Kaden…” Joeren chuckled “Be safe.”

“Oh, you know me… I won’t be safe...” He winked “But I’ll survive”

-<->-

                Kaden fastened the gear box firmly onto his motorcycle, he was ready to go.

                “Kaden!” his friend, Zack, shuffled up to him “Hey!”

                “Hey!” Kaden replied, glad for a little delay.

                “Heard you were going to the big hole!” Kaden nodded.

“Alone?” Kaden nodded again.

                “You’re crazy!”

                “No, not crazy! More like…” Kaden rubbed his chin, pretending to be deep in thought “… Kaden! That’s the word!”

                Zack laughed heartily, “Yup! I guess that is the best word, maybe with ‘nuts’ on the end, though.” The two good friends laughed together. “Hey, me and Rachael are heading to Fort Geron to prepare for a jail break; it’s mostly the same road as to Xarvington (Karving-ton). We could ride with you till you start taking the back roads!”

                “Sorry, Zack, but I’m afraid I’m taking the REALLY back way, so I won’t be on any road at all. Thanks anyway!”

                “Oh, that’s fine!” Zack slapped him on the back, “Make it back here, bro!”

                Kaden knew that was Zack’s way of saying ‘Don’t die!’

                “I will, but I may need you to patch me up!” They laughed and Zack slapped him again before rushing off.

                Kaden had already said goodbye to Joeren, so he strapped on his helmet and drove off toward Xarvington, the home of Reikensal and the beehive of squads.

                -<->-

                The journey was pretty easy because he wasn’t on any road, so he didn’t have to dodge as many squads. He was very anxious, though, and apprehensive because of the disturbing shots he heard and saw. Five times, now, he had stumbled upon a makeshift training camp and the squad members that were training there hit the bull’s eye almost every other shot!

                They’re getting better, Kaden, there’s no way around that fact. He remembered what Joeren had said. You can’t possibly know what it is like, now! Right there where they train all the squads! Joeren was right, He had no idea what it would be like, but those five camps gave him a taste.

-<->-

                Kaden stealthily crept up to the metal wall and leaned his motorcycle against it. He strapped on his gear;  pistol, cartridges, grappling hook, wire cutter, padlock scanner, stiff wire for picking locks,  electric cloth,  and slabs of wood.  He whirled his grappling hook above his head and let it pick up speed as he calculated his throw.

                If he threw too low, the hook would bounce off the metal wall and the noise would alert the swarms of squads that he knew were inside. But if he threw it too high, it would either get caught in the razor wire and would not support his weight, or wrap around the electric wire above it, which would set off the alarm.

                Finally, he decided to leave the results up to God and let the hook fly. It soared through the air and bounced back… as it wrapped around the supportive rod Kaden had aimed for. He climbed up the side, thanking God for the perfect throw, and slid one leg under the razor wire for balance. Then he cut a section of the razor wire out and dropped it into his side bag. Leaving it lying around would draw attention and shorten his time to talk to Kim.

                He pulled out a roll of cloth that looked like bandage fabric, wrapped two areas on the electric wire, then chopped out the section between. He stood up between the two wrapped ends and was proud BPUC had created electric cloth. The cloth on one end absorbed the power and passively sent it to the closest exposed electric wire. This meant Kaden could walk straight through the electric waves and the alarms wouldn’t even flinch.

                He scanned the area from his perch on the wall. All four walls were lined with metal buildings and in the center was a large courtyard, buzzing with squads practicing drills. He pulled out his binoculars and found Reikensal’s metal fortress, on the opposite side of Xarvington.

                “Rats!” Kaden grunted. Now he would have to circle all the way to the other side and back to warn Kim. He jumped down to the roof below and leaped to the next.

                Kaden landed on the tenth roof and planned to drop down to the ground. He leaned over the gutter and jerked back just in time to avoid eye contact with a squad leader. He plastered himself flat against the roof and held his breath.

                He waited and listened to the squad leader issuing commands to the squad about a fake mission. He heard the squad disperse, but, though his ears were pretty good, he didn’t hear what the squad leader said to a member.

                “Alert Master Reikensal of an intruder” The leader whispered and both rushed away.

                Kaden waited until he felt that the group was most likely gone before sliding down the side gutter. He crept between the buildings and the wall avoiding squads that were training there. As he got closer to Reikensal’s home, the squads diminished to none, but he came across multiple mechanical hindrances. The first was an electric trip thread, which he spotted quite easily; another was an electric volt like a constant mesh of lightning, from the back of a building to the wall. At this he simply pulled out his wood and blocked the electricity on both sides as he passed.

                “Reikensal sure likes to play with electricity.” He laughed to himself, so far everything was pretty much the same except, there were many more squads in training and the noise was louder than usual. He was glad to be back here, it had been an entire year since his last visit.

                The next barrier was a maze of red lasers, which he weaved through with ease.  He made his way stealthily to the back gate of the fortress, barely noticing the scratches the razor wire had given him on the way here. It had been improved! It was now a solid block of metal without even a doorknob sticking in or out of it. He pulled out his padlock scanner and smiled at the memory of presenting it to Joeren.

                “We have tools like that, Kaden! Why don’t you just get one from storage?”

                “Those ones can be tracked, and mine cane do some things those ones can’t! Besides, their more fun to make!”

                He scanned the metal gate and it revealed a hidden keyhole. He shaped his wire and stuck it into the hole. It clicked and a number keypad slid out, the screen above glowed with nine zeros. Kaden slumped down and racked his brain for a combination that made sense. He knew he probably only had a couple tries or an alarm would go off, but he didn’t want to take the chance of setting it off.

                “One chance…” He told himself. But what could make any sense with just numbers? Reikensal could have just come up with a nine key random number combination and taught it to himself. Kaden had had to do that for a locker during his training year, but somehow Kaden felt that Reikensal would think of something other than random numbers. Reikensal would do a code that actually meant something. But what?

                Suddenly, Kaden had an idea. He whipped out his cell phone. He wasn’t supposed to own a cell, and it didn’t work anyway, but Kaden liked having it just for the sake of owning something his enemy didn’t like.  He looked at the letters below the numbers.

                “7-3-5- No, 4-  5-3-6-7-2-5” Kaden whispered and double checked. “Rei-753 ken-536 sal-725 Perfect!”

                He jumped up and punched it in. Nothing happened… He clutched his side bag and prepared to run, but then… the gate slid open! Kaden breathed again with relief, he had outsmarted Reikensal!

-<->-

                He sneaked through the magnificent fortress till he came to the kitchen. He peered in to make sure no squad members were there. The coast was clear, so he slipped in and closed the door behind him.  The cooks looked up from their noisy work and fell silent. Kaden made a motion with his hands to tell them to keep up the usual noise. He looked around for Kim, but she wasn’t there. An old woman came to Kaden, lifted his hand, and patted it affectionately.

                “Bless ya,” She croaked in her kind, friendly, Irish way “The Lord uses young, strong uns like ya, to make miracles.”

                Kaden smiled at her, “I’m glad to help, in any way I can, Mrs. Leafton.”

                Her face grew solemn and she grabbed his arms with both floury hands, “Then get Miss Kimmy out of yur! She’ll be goin’ to de black mask tummurow!” Kaden was shocked; ‘Black Mask’ was what Mrs. Leafton called the executioner!

                “You mean-“Mrs. Leafton nodded and a tear rolled down her flour powdered face.

                “Dey caught her slippin’ a note to a b’liever and-“She covered her face with her hands. “She been in de cells fer tree weeks.”

                Kaden grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes, “I will!” He assured her, “And I’ll free you too!”

                She shook her head and smiled, “No. I be fine yur, an iffen ya did git me out of yur, I can’t be helpin’ in de compund. You get the young un out!”

                He smiled, though she was old and forced to work almost unbearable hours, she was just as brave and feisty as himself, though in a different way.

                “Now, go! You must ‘urry. Ya ‘aven’t got much time.”

-<->-

                Kaden couldn’t get down to the dungeon cells, there were too many guards!  Finally, he gave up to knocking out a guard, buttoning the guard jacket over his shirt, and pulling the cap over his forehead.  He still avoided sight of the guards as much as possible, but the costume and his knack to act saved him quite a few times. When he finally hit the bottom floor, he sighed with relief to see only one guard reclining in a chair, leaned back on two legs. When the guard noticed Kaden, he quickly sat up straight and cleared his throat. Kaden used this apparent authority and commanded the guard, in a low and malicious, fake tone, to lead him to the prisoner that was to be executed. He knew better than to use her name.

                The guard jumped up at Kaden’s request and quickly showed him to her cell. It took a whole lot of effort not to give her a comforting smile. She was huddled in the corner of the damp cell hands clamped together in prayer, but when she heard the key in the door and saw the two squad members, her eyes grew wide and she began to shake.

                “They said it would be tommor-!” She quivered

                “Silence!” The guard shouted “You have a visitor.”

                Kaden, dressed as a guard, stepped into the cell and the other guard went back to his nap.

                “Please-“Kim mumbled

                “Silence!” He mimicked the other guard, then knelt down and whispered to her. “Kim, it’s me, Kaden.”

                Kim was still quivering and she didn’t seem to believe him. Kaden removed the cap and unbuttoned the jacket to reveal the embroidered letters on the pocket of his shirt, BPUC. Kim stared at them for a while, as if they meant nothing to her, then looked up and studied his eyes. Finally, her worried countenance softened to joy and she wrapped her arms around Kaden’s neck.

                “Oh, Kaden, it really is you!” She whispered.

                Kaden sighed, “For a second there, you had me worried! It seemed like you had forgotten me!”

                Kim released her grip, “Oh no! I wouldn’t forget! I just have to be really careful since they are going to get rid of me tomorrow…” Her voice trailed off and she stared out of the open barred door.

                “Kim,” Kaden tried to pull her from her daydream “I came here just to encourage you to pull through with faith,” Kim turned from the doorway to Kaden, then down to the floor and began to whisper the words, I know.

Kaden continued, “But Mrs. Leafton told me that you were to be executed, so I’m busting you out of here!”

                Kim blinked at him with wide eyes, “You mean-” She didn’t finish, but looked back toward the doorway, her face lit up with hope. Kaden searched her expression, trying to read it for signs of fear. Suddenly her face went pale.

                “I think we had better go, now!” She said, the quiver returning. Kaden turned to face the doorway, just as the large guard stepped in it.

                He gave out an attempted maniacal laugh, but sounded more like a duck trying to sound like a frog.

                “I’m sure you know that there is a fat, shiny dollar sign on your head, Mr. Kaden?”

                Kaden felt his forehead, looked up, and searched for it, mocking the guard.

                “Oh, man! I can’t find it! Do you see it, Kim?” He asked with a chuckle.

                The guard growled, “You think you’re so funny-“

                “You have to admit that I am at least amusing.”

                The guard growled louder, “But soon I will be the one laughing at you.”

                “That was the whole point of my act! But since you apparently didn’t enjoy it,” Kaden jumped to his feet and began to dance around the cell. “Here’s another!”

                The guard growled even louder and began shouting things that Kaden ignored. The guard reached forward to snatch Kim away, but Kaden skillfully whacked his side bag at the guard. The razor wire inside made for a simple, but painful weapon. Kaden whipped it off and whirled it above his head. The guard, still clutching his stomach where the bag had struck, mumbled out pleas.

                “No, no, no, I wasn’t going to hurt anybody. I was just kidding-“

                “Silence!” Kaden imitated him with hilarious accuracy, “Give me the code!”

                The man continued to mumble, avoiding the command.

                “I will not say it twice…” He waited… “That’s it! Time’s up!”

                He whirled the bag and prepared to strike the guard, but a shout rose and Kim caught the tossed card. It had a black band to slide through the scanners and all that was written on it beside Reikensal’s golden emblem were the nine numbers: 753536725.

                Kaden smirked, “Good choice.” he told the guard. “But, I’m sorry to say that you still will have to take a blow.” He saw the look on the guards face and added; “Well, I can’t have you following us!” and he slammed the door, clean into the unsuspecting guards face, knocking him out cold.

-<->-

                Before they left, they slipped the card to one of the other Christian prisoners and prayed together.

                Kaden whipped back on his costume and they acted that he was taking “the prisoner” to her early death, but once they were out of the fortress, they had no fake roles to protect them. They were fair game to the nest of squads that swarmed Xarvington.

                They weaved back through the lasers, passed through the electric volt, stepped over the trip wire, and then the real trouble began. They encountered several squads, absorbed in their training, and were lucky to pass them unnoticed, but Kaden could tell they were searching. He didn’t tell Kim, but he could tell they knew he was here, and they were after him.

-<->-

                They reached a building and Kaden stopped Kim, threw his hook and began climbing up, helping Kim behind. But as they bent over the gutter, preparing to jump from roof to roof, they were spotted. Suddenly, there was a frantic stir in the square. Squads began throwing grappling hooks, finding ladders, and shooting guns. Kaden was glad, (once again) that the squads were brainless and that they threw their grappling hooks only to the building they were on at the time and quickly off of, but he had to get Kim out of there, fast!

                He felt a bullet graze his arm, tearing the flesh, and he cried out in pain. They reached the opening Kaden had left, but there were three squad members there. Kaden didn’t stop and take the time to issue a couple sarcastic comments, but simply set to work, knocking them out.  In the process he was shot in the shoulder, making it hard to lay the grappling hook, firm for their descent. They scrambled down, but before they were firmly on the ground, the hook fell loose and they tumbled the rest of the way.

                Kaden scrambled over to Kim who lay face down on the hard ground.  He turned her over and prompted her to her feet.

                “Are you alright?” He shouted over the noise. He could hear in the distance, the huge metal gate opening and squad members flowing out. There were also a couple making their way down a newly set grappling rope where Kaden’s had been.

                “It doesn’t matter. We need to get away from here.” She said firmly.

Kaden helped her to the motorcycle and they zoomed away into the tall, golden grass. Bullets whizzed and Kaden sat in the front, catching another in his hand, and willing them not to hurt Kim. He prayed fiercely as the tore across the plains, another shot hit his leg, and the pursuit began to taper from his fading knowledge. All he could see now was the growing army of his friends, lining up to face the enemy. Soon he could barely even notice them and he couldn’t stop the motorcycle from crashing through the lines, ending in a heap behind.

                Next thing he knew he was looking up at a face against a cloudy background. He could hear soft words in his ear.

                “Kaden?... Kaden… Are you alright?” He closed his eyes from exhaustion and loss of blood.

                Joeren cam running out of his office and was over whelmed by the sight.  Reikensal’s tapered but still huge army looked like a cloud of fire as it stormed toward them. His own fearless band of BPUC runners stood strong, but they were no match for the coming onslaught. And off in the grass, a puff of smoke, a half dead man and…

                “Could it be? Could it REALLY be?”

                Kaden opened his eyes again as the figure beside him stirred to face a man running toward her. Kaden could barely hear the joyous shouts.

                “Is it really you? So they named you… Kim? When you were taken? Oh, Kim. Kim!”

                He couldn’t hear her response, but he could see the two figures embrace and he felt the joy, though he was too weak to show it. He closed his eyes again, felt the footsteps next to him, and heard the soft voice one last time.

                “He brought me here, Daddy… He saved me.”

                “Yes,” He heard the quiet reply “And and held back nothing… not even his life.”

                The clouds above began to unload their burden on him, and the soft soothing rain was the last thing he felt before drifting off.

-<-The End->-

This is a short story I wrote for Michaela, Rebekah, and Cydney's writing contest.