Caught (The Runners)

Caught

By Logan
Rutherford

Smashwords
Edition

Copyright 2011 Logan
Rutherford

CAUGHT TAKES PLACE MOMENTS
AFTER “RUNNER”

Chapter One

S
eventeen and Fifteen
were in the back of the police car. Things were
not
looking
good. There was no escaping this time.

Seventeen was afraid. How was he going to
find his family, from behind bars? He felt a tear escape from one
of his eyes. It was game over.

“What are we going to do?” Fifteen
whispered.

“I have no clue.” Those words were hard for
Seventeen to say. He always thought of himself as a leader, even
when he did not have a clue on what to do; he acted as if he did.
He never wanted to look weak in front of his friends.

That was the old me.
He thought. He
knew that he would never be the same, again.

“Yo, Steve,” Said the officer in the
passenger seat. “Why don’t we stop and get some-”

The windshield shattered as bullet holes
appeared in the windshield, and in the officers themselves.

As the life left the drivers hands, the
steering wheel jerked to the left, and the car flipped.

The car rolled four times, before coming to a
stop upright in the middle of an intersection. The four police cars
that were following them surrounded their car. Then in unison, they
all exploded.

Seventeen looked to his left, and he saw
Fifteen was unconscious, and her head was bleeding. Seventeen
realized that his own head was bleeding. Then, he smelled smoke
coming from the front of the car. He began to panic. He couldn’t
unbuckle himself, because of his handcuffs. He was going to die,
and he could not even try to fight back.

He was afraid.

Then, the window exploded, and a hand reached
in and unlocked the door. The door swung open, and Seventeen saw a
masked man unbuckle him and throw him on the ground. Seventeen did
not move, because the man had a gun pointed at his head.

“Is she alive?” The man shouted at his
partner, who was retrieving Fifteen.

“Yeah, man. She’s coming around!” He
shouted.

Relief flooded through Seventeen. She was
alive.

The man pulled him up, and they began walking
to a white van. When they got to it, the man threw him, and Fifteen
into it.

Seventeen felt the van lurch forward as they
drove off.

*****

Seventeen and Fifteen were sitting against
the side of the van. After about thirty minutes into the drive,
Fifteen woke up. Other than Seventeen telling Fifteen what was
going on, they never said a word.

Then, the van stopped. The door slid open,
and Fifteen and Seventeen were thrown out, along with a black
bag.

“Sorry, we don’t get to kill you this time.”
Said a masked man. “Better luck next time.” Then, he jumped into
the van, and drove off.

They sat there for a moment, before Fifteen
spoke up. “What’s in the bag?” She asked.

Seventeen reached for the bag, an opened it
up. Inside, was a laptop with an SD Card already inside the slot.
Seventeen opened the laptop, and a word document opened.

Hello, 15 and 17.

We would like to say, Congratulations on
making it this far.

In order to make it to the next round, you
must go to 135 Mary Jean ST. There, you will find something that
will help you to survive.

Inside this folder, you will find a map that
will give you directions to the address.

Thank You for your time.

They read it over, and over again. Seventeen
was dumbfounded. The way the letter was wrote they made it sound
like they should be happy that all this was happening to them.
Seventeen had to fight the urge to break the computer in half.

“Next round?” Fifteen thought aloud. “What is
this to them, a game?!” She was getting very angry.

Seventeen did not answer. He was asking
himself the same thing.

He shut the laptop, and placed it back inside
the bag. “It looks like we have some errands to run.” He said,
placing the bag on his shoulder, and walking off.

Chapter Two

T
hey stepped out of the woods across the street from the
house. There was a mailbox in front of the house with the
numbers
135
on
it. The house was a two story red brick house with a big red door
in the front of it. There were overgrown hedges in the front of the
house, and the steps leading to the door were chipped.

“I guess this is the place.” Seventeen said,
and he walked up to the door. He rang the doorbell, and heard
ruffling noises from the inside, the sounds of locks clicking and
sliding from the came from the door. The door opened, but a chain
lock stopped it from fully opening. A face emerged from the crack.
“Whataya want? It’s Two ‘o’clock in tha mornin’!” Said the
voice.

“We’re very sorry to disturb you, sir.” Said
Fifteen in a very polite and gentle voice. “But you see, we were
told to come here by some person. We don’t know who it was, but if
you let us in, maybe we can discuss some things?”

The door slammed shut. They heard the sliding
of a chain, and the door opened again, fully this time. “Come on
in,” said the man.

He led them through a small entrance hall,
and into a large living room. The living room was painted gray, and
had two black leather couches up against the wall facing a large
TV, and entertainment center. “Please,” he said motioning to the
couches. “Sit down.”
Fifteen and Seventeen sat down beside each other on one of the
couches. The man sat on the opposite one. “What’s your name?”
Seventeen asked.

“My name,” the man said as he sipped a cup of
coffee that he must have been drinking before they came in. “Is
Felix, and I am similar to you, but not quite the same. You see, I
am what am called, a Keeper. You see,” he said standing from the
couch. “I watch over this place, this safe house. This is a place
where no harm can come to you; a place to think, to recuperate, to
make plans, but most of all, a place to devise ways to bring down
Kappa.”

Fifteen and Seventeen stared at him silently.
The thing that stood out most in Fifteen’s mind was that she
finally knew the name of the people that took her family. She knew
the name of the people that took her family. She knew the name of
the people that she despised.

“So,” Seventeen said in a shaky voice. “Kappa
is their name.”

“Yes.” Felix said.

“Do you have a number?” Fifteen asked.

“Sorry?” Felix said with a puzzled look on
his face.

“A number. Marcus – who I am guessing is the
head of Kappa – called me “Fifteen”. What did he call you?”

“Oh, yes. Of course, I am number Six, but
around here, we don’t go by numbers. We all give each other names!
We shall come up with names for the both of you over
breakfast.”

“We?” Seventeen asked.

The phone rang. “Yes, we. There are three
other Runners here. You shall meet them tomorrow. But now,” He said
quickly as he walked over to the staircase and motioned up it.
“It’s time to get some rest. We will answer all the questions that
we can tomorrow. You,” He said pointing at Seventeen. “What’s your
number?”
“Seventeen.” He replied quickly.

“Go up the stairs, down the hall, last room
to your left.” He turned to Fifteen. “You will be right across the
hall from him. Goodnight.” And he disappeared into another
room.

Seventeen went up the stairs, walked to his
room, and collapsed on the bed where he was greeted by sleep, and
nightmares.

Chapter Three

Seventeen looked at the clock next to his
bed. It was Five ‘o’ clock in the afternoon of the next day. After
killing two people, possibly blowing up a few others, breaking into
a library, being arrested, and going across the city to arrive
here, he deserves some un-interrupted sleep.

He sat up, and looked around the room. On the
white walls were vintage guitars, and picture frames with a
different family in each one. He swung his feet of the side of the
bed, and walked to a dresser that was in the corner. He opened the
drawers, and pulled out some jeans, and a white V-Neck T-Shirt.
Then, he went to take a long, hot shower.

After the shower, he got dressed and went
down the stairs.

“Ah, there’s the sleeping beauty!” A boy of
about 15-years-old said.

He saw Fifteen sitting on one of the couches,
along with Felix, and three other people.

“Seventeen, come sit.” Felix said, standing
from his seat on the couch. Seventeen went over and sat next to
Fifteen. He looked around the room, and there was another boy,
about fifteen-years-old, sitting on the other couch staring at
them. There was also an Asian girl who looked to be eighteen. She
was sitting next to the boy, typing on a laptop.

“How was your sleep?” Felix asked, as he sat
down on the opposite couch.

“More like a coma.” Said the girl.

“You can’t go into a coma, just from being
really tired…or can you?” Said the boy, with an unsure look on his
face.

Seventeen was anxious to learn some answers,
and he said. “Can you guys tell me what the heck is going on?”

“Oh, yes. I am sorry. What would you like to
know?” Felix asked.

“How about,” Fifteen said very politely, “we
start by you telling us your names.”

“I think she should tell us her name.” Said
the girl on the computer.

“My name is Fifteen.” She said very
proudly.

“No, that’s your number.”
The girl said sarcastically. “What’s your
name
? You know, with letters that
make up a word?”

“Oh, yes. My name is, it’s,
umm…Oh my god.” A look of horror came across her face. “My
name!
I don’t know
my
name!
What’s
going on?!” She shouted, standing up from her seat.

Seventeen put an arm across her shoulder, and
lowered her to her seat. He was completely freaking out on the
inside, but he did not want to show it. How could he forget his own
name? He never even thought about it. The only person that he met
while he was running was Fifteen. “Why did I do it?” He asked to no
one in particular, but found himself looking at Felix. “Why did I
introduce myself as ‘Seventeen’ so Fifteen?”

“Well,” Felix said, looking at the wooden
floor. “Kappa has messed with your memories. They made you forget
your name, and you only realize that you don’t know it until
somebody asks you it. It is their way of saying, ‘We know who you
are, and you don’t. We have everything you value, including
yourself.’”

“Why?!” Fifteen screamed, with tears rolling
down her cheeks. “Why would they want to do such a horrible
thing?!”

“If we knew,” Said the
other girl in an irritated tone, as she looked up from the
computer. “We wouldn’t be sitting around having a jolly old
chat!”
“Twi ,” Felix said, throwing her a
Shut
up
look. “Don’t pretend that you didn’t
react the same way when you found out.”

Twi’s face flushed with anger and
embarrassment, as she looked back down on her laptop. Her fingers
hit the keys hard out of frustration.

“If we don’t know our names, then how do you
know yours?” Seventeen asked.

“They’re nicknames, dude.” Said the other
kid. Seventeen almost jumped, he forgot that he was there, because
he was so quite.

“Yeah,” Felix said. “I’m Felix, that’s Nick,
and that’s Twi.”

“So,” Fifteen said, as she wiped the tears
off her cheeks. “What are our names?”

“You look like a ‘Cry-Baby’ to me.” Twi
said.

“Well, you look like a-”

“Alright, ladies! Let’s take it down a
notch!” Nick said.

Seventeen sat there for a
moment and thought,
What’s my name?
He never really thought about what he would ever
change his name too, if he got the chance. He didn’t know what his
real name was, but he got the feeling that he liked it. “Adam.” He
said. “My name is Adam.”
“Well then, Adam.” Felix said as he stood up and extended his arm.
“It’s nice to meet you, my name is Felix,” and they shook
hands.

Chapter Four

T
hey were sitting around a table in the dining room, eating
some Pizza that they heated up in the oven.
Adam sat with his hands in his face. He couldn’t eat, even
though he had not eaten in forever.

Kappa
. The word echoed through his head. They were the ones who
did this to him. They were the ones who ripped his life away. He
hated them. All he wanted was to walk up to Marcus, their leader,
and drain the life from him.
How did this
happen?
He thought. He never thought he
would kill somebody, but he has killed a lot in the past
day.
I am a monster
He screamed in his head, but those people deserved to die,
didn’t they? Who was he to think that he could decide who deserved
to die, and who didn’t? Adam never thought he would be doing the
things that he was doing now, but that is how the world works,
doesn’t it? Things may not go your way, but you fight back, and do
whatever it takes to make things normal – to make things right –
but what is right…