Bloodstock Island

Chapter 13

On the rooftop of the small gym, they sat, taking a sip of water. They remained quiet, watching how the men in hazmats were segregating the kids into line.

Some got taken into the vehicles, others returned to a separate building. While they kept some secured in another.

“So, what were you talking about a while ago?”

Max starts after finally having rested.

They’d been taking their sweet time, chatting about hobbies and other stuff. Their likes and dislikes, and he almost got lost in the conversation because he’d been so enthralled in finding someone who was nearly similar to him.

“This small town, and everyone here. You seem all clueless about a lot of things.”

Spartacus mutters.

He took one more gulp at his plastic bottle. Once empty, he crushes it with his bare hands, then throwing it at a nearby trash bin in a playful motion.

“What do you mean?”

Again, it made Max’s face wrinkle, thinking the guy was playing with him or probably looking down on them, cause they live in such a faraway location.

He heaves a sigh, unable to defend it. Since when he wandered his gaze around the place, there was nothing interesting to see there.

The school was literally the largest structure there. With buildings having at least three floors. All others, including the stores and hotels, only had two.

Farmland surrounded the entire vicinity. On one side there’s the corn, wheat, and the vegetable fields, and the rest were poultry farms.

They didn’t really offer much in terms of entertainment or anything else. Which might explain why the new kid, who probably came from some big city, can say such things.

“It’s as if you were all being protected in some sense. Or maybe your system is just truly amazing that nobody bothered to notice.”

Spartacus’s chuckle had this pain on it.

Even with his smile, there’s this foreboding state of depression coming in from him. His eyes were empty as he stared from afar. It was like his mind wasn’t with him, floating some place else.

“I don’t get it.”

He did not really understand where he was going with it.

If he didn’t know better, he’d say the fellow felts sad, his mood turning downtrodden while mentioning that.

The reply the question got was a hearty laugh before the lad stands up, making him do the same. With a grin on his face while folding his arms on his chest, he throws another meaningful glance at him.

“What year is it?”

Spartacus grimace.

His expression had this teasing tone to it, brow lifting as he waited for an answer.

It only made Max’s face twitch. A mix of curiosity and confusion came over him.

“What kind of question is that? It’s twenty-twenty, obviously.”

He can’t tell if the fellow was working on another joke, say something off, or start making fun of a thing within there.

Yet all he did was shake his head, heaving a deep sigh. He turns around, hand on his forehead to get a better glimpse of the horizon.

“Yeah, I figured.”

The lad murmured. His face turning serious when he viewed a place from afar.

Max tried checking what it was he saw, but the only thing within a few miles from there was the forest, then the orange wall signifying their borders.

“Dude, seriously. Are you tripping with me?”

He grumbles, shoulders falling from the sudden loss of interest. And here he thought he was going to tell him something exciting, or at least explain to him what he knew.

After messing up his hair, Spartacus turns to him with a wide grin. His teeth showing, giving out the mischievous vibes again.

“Why don’t I just show it to you?”

His eyes narrowed, bobbing his head to order him to follow before passing him, taking long strides to the back of the building.

The guy did not bother using the stairs, jumping on the container before landing on the ground. It wasn’t that high, considering it was only a single floor.

“Where are you going?”

Without a question, Max does the same with no trouble, chuckling as he tried to chase after his new friend kept doing signals with his fingers for him to keep up.

“Come on. This is actually the best time to do this, especially with all the commotion. No one should notice us.”

Spartacus puts his arms around Max’s shoulder when he finally caught up.

They both laugh when he forced him to jug and duck, moving behind the bushes to avoid being seen by the guards and men in hazmats.

From the gym, they went into the back of the school, then to the stairs descending straight into the parking lot. The large tree was enough cover so they hasten their movements, tittering as they made their jump over the fence.

The exhilaration of going out unnoticed, without permission, and during school hours, was enough to put Max in a rush.

Once they crossed the road, they headed into the nearby barn there, pausing for a moment to check around, making sure nobody saw them.

When they were clear, they entered the run down place from an open window. Nothing but hay, dusty boxes, and sacks greeted them. The only notable thing was the tarp which stood in the middle of it all.

“Whoa! Where’d you get the bike?”

Max’s eyes grew wide when his friend remove the covering showing the two-wheeled vehicle. He’d only seen it only in books, since nobody in town considered having one.

“Help me out here. We don’t want anyone knowing where we’re going..”

Spartacus mumbles grabbing hold of the front of the cycle, pushing it into the open.

Max was quick to go upfront and heave the large wooden gate as quietly as possible. Again, they move a good few meters away into the cornfield, before the lad hops on it.

“Where are we headed?”

He asks. As his friend finally gestures for him to sit on the railing behind the thing.

Once he was on it, the guy starts peddling with such pace they were dashing within the clearing in the fields. It seems the fellow knew how to operate it since they went straight and avoided any of the crops to keep themselves unnoticed.

“You’ll see.”

As they sped into the forest, the path became rougher. Max grabs ahold as to not fall off. Even though it felt dangerous, moving downward with such acceleration, with their senses on full drive, both of them were alert to what was in front and the things to look out for.

Thanks to their speed, they trek the woods with no problem, especially since there was a simple pathway.

Far from the dirt road, they bypass the patrols, remaining in the guise of the trees and moving in silence, as their transport produced not much noise.

The wind on their faces and the thrill of hiding and escape made everything seem so fun. As they continued to steer clear of any people posted and guarding some areas.

After a good hour, the flora became thicker and there was no longer any trail, so they slowed down, trying to make their way through some bushes.

Max somewhat felt a nudge of concern, as the place no longer seemed familiar to him, and they were quite far off.

They stopped when they reach a tall security fence made of wire. It reached up to about nine feet and had barbed wires up top.

What truly caught his attention was the signage which showed ‘Danger High Voltage’ clearly put up to warn anyone who’d dare to go near.

“Hey, isn’t this kind of dangerous?”

He utters, seeing no one close by.

If anything were to happen to them, it was going to take at least an hour or more to rescue them. Not to mention they were now in a secluded section of the forest.

“Only if you were stupid enough to touch it.”

Spartacus chuckles, putting the bicycle down on an adjacent timber.

The guy then surveyed the area, looking up as he remained close to the iron wall which separated them from the other side.

The lad let out a wide smirk upon finding a tall tree with large branches hovering over the thing. Without wasting time, he climbs up on it, carefully using the wooden bridge to cross over.

After safely making his way there, the guy throws a challenging nod to Max, who remained dumbfounded in place.

Not wanting to get left out, he does the same, easily maneuvering himself onto it thanks to the thickness of the trees.

“Now what?”

He haughtily says, sending a smug smirk at his friend when he landed with grace in front of the fellow..

“You think that’s the only blockage? Better ready yourself.”

Spartacus snorts, throwing him a teasing grimace, then throws leaves and twigs at him.

They both started giving playful punches to one another, as if they were sparring while making their way into the forest.

Again, they got stopped by a deep ditch. But thanks to a fallen tree which they used as a bridge, they passed it with no trouble.

A few more minutes of walking, and they finally reach the orange walls. Max could not help but gawk upon laying eyes on it, realizing how tall the structure was.

From afar, it may look like a small division, but now he was standing upfront of it. He’s certain the thing was taller than their school building. If he was to estimate its height, it would stand at about fifty feet. It became their pit stop, as there was a sizeable gap between the forest and the stone barricade, which left them with no option to climb atop of it.