Corinne let the door softly click behind her as she made her way down the face of the gray hill, towards the trees that hid the drinking creek. She took in a breath of the musty air and imagined sunlight. She pretended the dust floating in the air were prickles of warmth from light and fresh air that the elders told used to exist. Corinne sighed at the silence that screamed through her head, with every year came new restrictions and harsher punishment. First, limited weapons, then, collaborations between males and females were limited; and soon banned. “They steel and rot the brain.” The screens had told her, but deep down inside they all knew it was just another excuse. One step closer to complete control.

Corinne looked down at her hand that clutched the pale banging at her side. A soft blue glow came from under the skin that was just above her thin thumb. They were tracking her, making sure she didn’t venture past the boundaries. Prime punishment was to be released upon anyone who did. A cold shutter ran up Corinne’s spine as she remembered the ten-year-old girl on the screen not two nights ago. She had merely slipped a curious hand between the barbs and it resulted in thrashings of the most painful until slowly, she slipped to her bloody death. It was as if they had known Corinne’s plan and shown the girl on the screen as a warning. Corinne let the horrifying thought slide off of her shoulder. Today, fear could not be a distraction. Corinne pushed herself into a run, dodging moss-covered trees and stones as she went. She kept running on and on. When she knew for sure that she was far enough away from the confinements, she stopped in her tracks, and carefully listening for the promising trickle of the mucky drinking creek, dropped the pale. Corinne slowly walked forward, searching for the thin stream. After a few moments had past, Corinne heard the soft whooshing of the crick. He was here. Corinne could feel it.

“Adam?” Corinne called out softly towards the dirty water. Cautiously, Corinne edged closer to the water. Then, stepping on a flat rock, jumped to the other side.

“Adam?” Her gentle voice called out once more, as she pulled the long blonde strands of hair out of her face.

“Over here!” Corinne’s heart flooded with relief when she heard his voice tinker through her ears like a joyful bell. He had made it! In ecstatic joy, Corinne ran without hesitation and threw herself into the boy’s massive arms, breathing in his sweet smell. With a low chuckle, Adam picked Corinne up off of her feet and spun her around once in a romantic embrace. Corinne couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. She smiled into Adam’s deep brown eyes and was overwhelmed by the care he showed in just one look. How could one person make her feel so loved with something so simple as a look? Corinne closed her eyes and waited for a moment that seemed like forever to her. Then Adam’s lips met hers in a short, sweet kiss that left her stomach in excited knots. All too soon, their kiss ended and Corinne was pulled back to reality by Adam’s voice.

“Corinne?” His chocolate eyes seared into Corinne’s, a question, she imagined, forming in his brow, “Did you bring the pin?”

“Yes.” Corinne’s soft blue eyes fluttered open. She dug around in the pocket of her pants and pulled out a safety pin. Hesitantly, she handed it to Adam.

“Why don’t you sit down, just in case you start to feel woozy.” Adam said to her, genuine care pouring out through his expression. Corinne would have felt better if it was a knife. The process would be quicker and easier, but they both knew well it was impossible to get your fingers around so much as a butter knife these says. Something about “offender prevention” the screens had said, but everyone knew that it was just the Prime tightening restrictions and bringing themselves closer to complete control. So Corinne had decided to use what she could to resist.

Corinne sucked in a lungful of air and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the jabs of pain. When Adam took up her hand in his she felt a little more comforted. At least this would be done by a hand in whom she trusted.

“Wait,” Adams soft low voice freed her from the pin, “Corinne, are you sure you want to do this? Doing this means you are giving up everything. You can never go back after this, never. Just being here with me right now is punishable by death. The only reason they don’t know is because I’ve already removed my tracker. But you obviously know that. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I want you to choose me. I want you to run away with me because you want to. I don’t want you to feel like you’re being forced.”

Corinne was overwhelmed by the genuine care Adam gave to her. Every time she met up with Adam she was reminded of why she was doing this in the first place. The Prime had taken away all freedom to feel in love and she wanted to get that back. For herself, and others, she was determined to change that. Her anger with them had slowly been bubbling up inside of her and she had taken enough of their crap! She was going to go through with this if it killed her.

“Adam,” Corinne quietly uttered, tears of bliss for this boy mixed with anger for the Prime gleaming over her sky-blue eyes, “All I have ever wanted to do, ever since I can remember, is get away from this place, to escape, to be free of the restraints of our world. Being with you is like the candy on top. You are making my dream-come- true an even better one. Adam, there is nothing I would rather be doing than running away with you. I would never leave you to do this on your own.” Corinne smiled and grasped Adams hand. He looked back into her eyes, causing her head to spin as he mouthed the words “I love you.”

“Let’s do this.” Corinne declared as Adam unhooked the pin. Once again, Corinne sucked in a breath of air. It was all she could do not to shriek as the tiny blade pierced through her skin and work at removing the tracker. Surprisingly, the pain wasn’t as unbearable as Corinne had predicted and before she knew it, it was over.

“Look at that little bugger.” Adam said, trying to lighten the tense mood. A faint smile spread over Corinne’s face as she watched Adam toss the small glowing disk over his shoulder.

“How does it feel?” Adam asked Corinne with a smile.

“What do you mean?” Corinne questioned, confused.

“How does it feel to know you are not being monitored anymore?”

“I feel like nothing can stop me.” Corinne beamed and flashed a brilliant smile. She stood up off the rough ground, pulling Adam to meet her with an unplanned kiss. For the first time in nineteen years, Corinne felt free. She felt like a bird being released from its cage, spreading its wings to fly without ever looking back. She could do and be what she wanted as long as Adam was with her. All too soon, Corinne’s lips parted from Adam’s and they began the journey, running hand in hand to find the thorn fence that had kept their love apart, and they would escape it.

After what felt like miles of running and tripping over branched and dead bushes, Adam stopped abruptly in front of Corinne.

“Shhh, We’re here.” He whispered. Corinne crept forward in astonishment. She stared in disbelief and confusion at an old barbed wire fence whose needles looked like they couldn’t cut through paper.

“This is really what’s been keeping humans from escaping?” Corinne exclaimed with annoyance, “Those barbs look like they couldn’t harm a fly!” She stated, stepping towards the fence to part the wire.

“No!” Adam yelled and grabbed Corinne’s wrist, yanking her back. “That fence is made of thorn wire! The harmless looking barbs are deceiving! If you so much as graze them with anything they will practically attack you. It’s like barbed wire on steroids; they grow and dig deep into your body until you bleed to death. You’d never be able to escape. Here I’ve already dug and hidden a small hole we can crawl under.” Adam led Corinne to a spot in the fence with a hidden hole underneath; just big enough for a body to slide under. Carefully, Corinne army crawled under the fence. When she finally pulled her feet through, she turned to Adam, ready to help him; but he was already half way through. Suddenly, a loud snap pulled Corinne’s head up and her pulse jumped.


“Adam?” She questioned.

“S***,” He hushed Corinne, “Corinne, we have to hurry. They have been following us for a while. I didn’t want to tell you but we need to speed it up - ah!” Adam suddenly cried out, “I’m caught.” Corinne’s world froze as she saw. Above Adam’s hip, a small barb had pressed through his gray shirt and slightly into his flesh. It seemed like it was slow motion. The once small needle in a flash grew and plunged itself through the small in Adam’s back.

“Adam!” Corinne’s heart thudded in her chest as she grabbed Adam’s wrist in attempt to pull him through. Adam cried out, agony taking over his face as he cringed, unmovable.

“Corinne go, now! Save yourself!” Adam screamed, “Get out of here! The Prime, run!” Corinne let the lump in her throat burst into tears as she watched another barb grow and shoot itself through Adam’s leg with a loud crack. It snapped his bone. He screamed out again as blood flowed everywhere. Corinne’s stomach lurched at the sight of his pain. He yelled at her again.

“Corinne, go! Don’t watch me! You Have to escape!” another spear shot down and pierced through Adam’s forearm. Adam’s body wrenched and then he stopped struggling as Corinne fell to the ground, taking up Adam’s head in her lap as salty tears streamed down her cheeks, moistening the dirt below.

“No.” Corinne firmly spoke strait at him, then her voice quieted, “I won’t let you make me go. I won’t leave you alone.” Corinne felt her world fall apart around her as Adam, her only love, lay dying in her arms. She knew they had no more time. Their chance had past.

“Adam, I love you. I will never go on without you.” She whispered through her tears as she leaned over to plant a kiss on Adam’s panting lips. “Please, let him stay a little while longer.” She prayed out loud through her sobs. Adam’s blood shot eyes glared at her as he faded. Another barb grew and plunged through his stomach. Corinne screamed as his body wrenched once again.

He would hate her for not saving herself but they knew the hate would only last as long as he did. Adam moaned unable to speak, but Corinne got the gist. He was in too much agony to tell her his anger yet one look said it all. Every second Corinne had to watch Adam suffer was like burning coal against her heart and iron rods piercing her soul because she knew that the only person she cared for was slowly slipping right through her fingertips.

“Corinne,” Adam whispered, barely audible as he coughed up blood. In an instant, one last needle erupted and dug deep through Adam’s heart. In a violent cringe, Adam screamed, gasping and coughing as Corinne cried out for him until finally, his body relaxed and he went still.

Corinne broke down. She screamed and wailed at the swords that kept pushing into Adam’s distorted body even after he was gone. She screamed at everything. She screamed at Adam for leaving her, she screamed at herself for letting him go, she screamed at the fence for piercing him, but most of all, she screamed at the Prime. She hated the confinement and she hated them. She shrieked and cried until the end. She ignored everything but the pain. She ignored her instincts telling her to run. She ignored when the faceless masks emerged from the trees and dragged Adam’s body away. She ignored when they threw her down and bound her. She ignored when they marched her away. She ignored when they dragged her into the white room. She ignored the pain when they beat her. She ignored the feeling as her soul slipped away; and soon enough, they would ignore that any resistance ever happened. No one would ever know. It would be forgotten.