I sprinted through the dense pine forest, in search of something, anything. I could hear the drone of searcher planes and frantically searched around for a hiding place. Following closely behind, my ears caught the sound of shouting. The watchers. They had earned their name from always watching the citizens of her country to make sure that they were always following Odiea’s strict rules. For example, a burrow neighbor had run out of the little water that he’d had for the week, and he’d rushed to the factory to steal some. He had been dragged back to our burrow and had been neutralized on sight while we had to watch. Water was the more scare of all our resources and was tightly controlled. Family’s were given a couple liters a week, and it was strictly rationed. I had 2 older brothers and when my mother got pregnant, I knew that in order to survive, I would have to run. Family’s weren’t allowed to have more than 3 children, and everyone in my family would be killed as soon as my mother had the baby. She was too weak to get an abortion, not to mention that my father wouldn’t let her. My family be damned, I needed to survive so I could see what was out there. I was not going to throw my future away, because my parents failed to follow one simple rule. So I had spent weeks saving away clean water (I had nearly fainted of thirst a few times) and good, packing it all away in my school bag. Also packing in a change of clothes, a lighter, and a kitchen knife, I had made a plan to escape. I discarded my government required bracelet that I was sure had a tracker. And at 11:00 an hour after lights out, I had slipped out of my window and run. Little did I know that the window had a alarm that would sound if someone slipped out of it after lights out. So I had spent the past 4 hours running, only taking the occasional break. Back in the present, I could hear the droning and shouting getting closer and closer. So I poured all of my speed into my legs and ran. I made it about 10 meters, when I spotted a waterfall. Water! I would’ve screamed with joy if I hadn’t been worried about the watchers finding me. Desperate to lose the watchers, I stupidly decided to see if there was anything on the other side. To my surprise there was! It was a spacious cave with plenty of room for everything I would need. I waited for an hour until I could no longer hear the droning or shouting. I shouted with joy, and raced to the waterfall and drank to my stomachs content. I unpacked everything I had brought, and crawled out to get some leaves and moss for a primal bed. I changed as to not get sick, and fell into the best sleep of my life. The next morning when I woke, I ate some of the crackers I had brought, grabbed the knife, and set out to find a way out of the cave that didn’t result in me getting wet. Eventually, I found a path that led outside, looking around, I decided that I would stay here until I got used to living outside, and the search for me ended. I knew exactly what would happen. The entire town would attend a ceremony where they would review all my accomplishments and then they would sing the song of mourning. Shaking that thought out of my head, I went back into my waterfall to plan out my next move.