Chapter 1

Teasing the metal shard from his mattress Tass gouged a line into the concrete wall. One more day etched in stone. He ran his fingers over the hundreds of marks behind his head. Too many to count.

He lay back and stared at the stained mattress oozing through loose metal springs above him. Clenching his teeth, he turned to the wall. At least with his bunk in this corner, only one boy was within touching distance.

The piercing night bell rang. The lights flickered out. Savage night time banter erupted from the forty-nine other teenage boys in the locked room. He heard his name and tensed, ready to defend himself, but a moment later the strenuous day and pacifying drugs saved him - the name calling mellowed to grunts and snores.

Tass’s face twisted into a rare smile. He was still awake for the third night in a row. He knew the authorities were drugging them. He'd suspected the bread which was the doughy bulk of their diet. He'd hidden his, pretending to eat. The feeling of no longer being half asleep all day and comatose at night gave him courage. Now he could escape and save Paydo.

The dormitory door was locked. A few days ago he'd noticed the window catch had rusted away. In a quiet moment, he'd pushed it open. Now, with no more than the clothes on his back, Tass crept to the window, pushed it open, dropped onto the ground.

He stood quickly, looking around. The searchlights crossed the dirt on the other side of the compound. He sprinted to the large tree stump he's seen from the window. He flung himself behind it as light grazed tits side.

Peering out he was excited by his clarity of vision and thought. Do they keep us all drugged or just this school?

Peering over the edge he watched the lights dance through the compound. He noted where they touched the perimeter leaving unlit places he could crawl or hide. All the while counting to discover the pattern of light and dark. On his usual solitary morning break, he's ambled the perimeter fence. He's realised it was too high to climb and the base was buried in the ground. No tools meant no digging. His only hope was a chained gate he's seen in the fence, the other side of the grounds.

It took awhile for the light and dark to form a pattern. Then, with a breath of fear and freedom, Tass took off. With the lights in front of him, he dodged to right and left. Missing his step he tumbled to the rough ground on his suddenly bare knees. Rolling away from the light path he gathered his breath. He kept counting. His timing was perfect as he rejoined the light puzzle towards the gate.

He thought he was close and paused in a dark spot. The lights lifted from the ground and ran over the gate before dropping down again. Back to counting. 33 seconds between the lights. The lights passed for the third time. He darted forward and pulled at the gate. It moved. Scrambling back to the dark the next lights showed the chain still had some slack.

This was for Paydo. As the lights passed Tass sprinted to the gate. He yanked at it stretching the chain taut. Finding hidden strength, he squeezed through the opening. Skin and clothes tore. He was through.

Stumbling and tripping in the dark, he ran into a hedge. Which way to go? He put his right-hand against the prickly greenery and using it as a guide kept running. His hand met air at the same moment as his legs ran into the stile. Tumbling to the ground it took all his effort to not cry out. He was still too close, they might hear him, He had to get further away. Getting to his feet and ignoring the pain in his legs he scrambled over the stile. Into a field of wheat. Running through it, he felt a softening of the air around him. It was a yielding and thick. He stopped. He saw the stars, the waxing moon hung in the sky but the air felt different. Push on. Need to make distance.

Suddenly he couldn't move. The air seemed to hold him in the running position he had been in. Fear transformed to a sense of great peace and goodwill. It was new and old at the same time. It felt so good, so gentle. His pounding heart slowed. He heard the wheat around him start to rustle. It softly lay down like a giant hand was smoothing it into place. He wanted to look up to see if anything was above him, but with a great sense of calm contentment realised he was frozen in place. He heard the wheat all around him flattening to the ground. The noise stopped. He was suddenly free to move.

The peaceful feeling left him. He fell over. Jerking up, he glanced around. The moonlight illuminated an intricate pattern imprinted on the wheat. He was in the middle. Turning quickly he saw the whole picture. The world around him started to spin fast. Everything melted, Roaring filled his ears. The stars gathered in closely and spun with him. Tass fell to his knees and closed his eyes, sure he was going to vomit. Then as quickly as it started it stopped. He opened his eyes. Dawn was breaking over the hills. It can't be morning. I've lost so much time, they'll find me, I must run. Now. He staggered to his feet. He fell, unconscious, to the ground.