Gut Feeling

Just like that, Alexis had made a friend(?) for the rest of the trip to who knows where Skylar ran around talking to everyone he could. It was amusing watching him.

I was honestly surprised by how much information he could gather from just having a few short conversations.

With each new boy thrown in, we got small glimpses of how much time had passed. With each sunrise, my hope of seeing the familiar cracked brickwork of district C died a little. The terrain changing from the still damp pebble paved roads of my district block to the high-tech iron roads that only appeared in the high-class districts.

More and more boys were thrown in, each bringing their own stories and experiences that we told to pass the time, on what appeared to be a never-ending car ride.

Most stories were about family, although a lot of the storytellers ended up in tears by the end of it.

Just like that, days and nights started hopefully. But as more and more time passed, things started to look bleaker and bleaker. On the 4th day, I overheard some of the boys I had gotten particularly close to, Eddie and James, whispering to each other about something.

I became close to them after I found out that their dad got drafted when they were young too. I can relate to what they went through since my dad left 10 years ago. Since I was only 4 at the time, I don't have many memories of him. I don't even remember his face, but my mother tells me that I got his eyes. My eyes, however, don't exactly belong to any specific color group. Normally, I like to think they're cool grey but depending on the light, they're anywhere from a piercing, intense blue to a murky deep brown.

"It's been too long-" A higher-pitched voice membered. Instantly I could tell that it was Eddie, he was easily the smallest out of us all younger by a year too. He lied about his age to get work as most kids did. It was a harsh life in the poorer districts, overcrowded and grimy, many didn't make it to adulthood.

"Next time let's- " A deeper voice responded, that must be James, he and Eddie were brothers. And very close at that, honestly, it made me jealous. They were each other's pillars of support throughout this whole ordeal.

I shuffled over to the corner of the transport that they were sitting at as quietly as I could, bumping into a few people on the way.

"Okay, you remember the plan?" James inquired.

'Plan? What plan' I deliberated. Though I was quickly snapped out of that trance when the younger boy reacted.

"Don't worry James, I won't make any errors." Eddie ushered James.

I was thoroughly confused now. What were they whispering about? I was curious to find out what they were talking about but something in my gut told me to just wait and see what happens.

A choice I would learn to regret for the rest of my life.