Demarcus, Polly, and Gilly led the young Sapes away from the Sape Meat Factory. They took them to an area where they could access fruit and water. Then, they encouraged them to spread out. Most of them could not walk that well. The inactivity and tight clamps had affected the strength of their legs.
Polly looked over to Demarcus. ‘Do you think they’ll be okay?’ she asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ said Demarcus. ‘At least we have given them some sort of chance.’
‘It’s so shocking that that’s how our food is treated,’ said Polly.
‘It’s so different from the life that the Sapes in Adoy get,’ said Demarcus. ‘At least they have a decent life before they are killed.’
‘They still die,’ said Polly.
‘Not all of them,’ said Demarcus. ‘I’ll have to tell you about Hamlet one day.’
‘We’ll need to find somewhere safe to sleep soon,’ said Gilly. ‘It’ll be dark in about an hour.’
‘Sure, let’s gather some fruit and top up our water first,’ said Demarcus. ‘We still need to keep building our strength.’ Gilly and Polly agreed.
Gilly and Polly began to collect more fruit, and Demarcus topped up the water at a nearby stream. About twenty minutes later, the three of them met up to begin their fruit dinner.
Before they could start, they heard the sound of enforcer flying vehicles approaching.
‘We better hide,’ said Demarcus.
The flying vehicles turned on their bright searchlights. The three of them hid in a patch of thicker undergrowth. They could feel the bright lights shining above them. Polly closed her eyes again, as she had done a few days ago. Demarcus did the same. Gilly kept her eyes open.
A bright light caught Gilly’s eyes. She flinched a little. The enforcers had seen her. Two flying vehicles shone their lights directly at Gilly. Gilly knew she had been seen. She knew the others would soon be seen as well. She got to her feet and ran. She hoped maybe she could be the distraction they needed for them to have a chance.
The enforcer pilot radioed to the Head Enforcer. ‘We have a runner. Should I shoot her down’?
‘Yes, but non-lethal. Ripe Company might need her,’ replied the Head Enforcer over the radio.
An enforcer in the flying vehicle took aim at Gilly. Gilly ran as hard and as fast as she could. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her left leg. Seconds later, she felt a sharp pain in her right leg. She fell straight to the ground. She had been shot in both legs.
Demarcus and Polly heard the shots. They buried their heads, as far as they could, into the foliage.
A flying vehicle landed beside Gilly. The enforcers grabbed her and dragged her into it. Two enforcers began to search the area near where they shot Gilly. Demarcus could hear the enforcers’ footsteps approaching.
Polly unexpectedly gasped. One of the enforcers heard the sound. He turned in their direction and shone his light directly at them. Demarcus felt the light touch his head. He knew it was over for them. He held Polly’s hand tight.
A few moments passed. Nothing happened. An enforcer moved within a few metres of them but somehow did not see them. The enforcer turned and returned to the flying vehicle.
‘Nobody here,’ he said to the pilot. ‘Let’s search the other side of the factory.’
The flying vehicle took off and flew away.
As soon as Demarcus and Polly felt the enforcers had left, they got up and ran as far away from the factory as possible. They ran for over an hour before stopping to rest. They collapsed in a heap together.
Demarcus began to cry. Polly put her arms around him. She could feel his pain and his guilt. They lay together until the morning.
Eventually, Polly got up to gather fruit. They had lost the fruit they had when they ran from the enforcers. They also only had one bottle of water left, but it was full.
‘You should eat something,’ Polly said to Demarcus. Demarcus nodded.
They both ate breakfast but did not speak.
‘What now?’ asked Demarcus.
‘Same plan,’ said Polly. ‘We go to the next region we reach.’
‘How do we get in?’ asked Demarcus. ‘If we do, they’ll arrest us immediately.’
‘We will find a way,’ said Polly. ‘We have made it this far.’
‘I don’t think I can do this anymore,’ replied Demarcus.
‘Yes. Yes, you can,’ said Polly as she got to her feet. ‘You got us off a crashed train. You got us through the wastelands. You rescued abused Sapes. You helped us both escape the enforcers. You will get us back into a region. You will get us back to our families.’
Demarcus looked up at her with tearful eyes. ‘Okay, let’s do this. Let’s do this as a team,’ he said.
Polly helped Demarcus to his feet.
They continued walking through the Southern Agriculture Zone. They heard something, and they both hid behind a bush. There were two Ueban Company vehicles.
Demarcus sighed in sadness. ‘I bet they are here to track down the Sapes we rescued.’
‘Our Sapes will find a way to survive,’ said Polly. ‘You just need some faith that things can work out fine sometimes.’
They both got back to their feet. They did not realise they had stumbled into the path of a group of fruit-picking Sapiods.
‘Let’s back away slowly,’ said Polly to Demarcus.
They walked backwards. Demarcus looked at the face of one of the Sapiods. He recognised him. He saw the scar across his left eye. He looked down at his right arm. It was also scarred.
‘Darius,’ said Demarcus. ‘Is that you, Darius?’
Polly pulled Demarcus’ arm. ‘That’s a Sapiod. That’s not Darius,’ she told him forcefully.
‘It’s Darius,’ said Demarcus. ‘I know it’s Darius. He has his face and his scars.’
Demarcus went up to the Sapiod and said, ‘Talk to me, Darius?’
The Sapiod did not and could not respond. Demarcus put his arms around the Sapiod to hug him. The Sapiod still did not respond. Polly took a closer look at the Sapiod. He looked like Darius. He had the same scars. He could not be Darius because Darius was Sapien, not Sapiod. It was not possible to change species.
‘It’s impossible,’ Polly told Demarcus. She pulled Demarcus back.
They were about to leave when the Sapiod reached out and touched Demarcus’ arm. Demarcus looked back into the Sapiod’s sad eyes. It should not have been possible, but it was. That Sapiod was Darius. Demarcus put his arms around the Sapiod and hugged him. The Sapiod did not resist.
Demarcus and Polly led Darius away from the group of Sapiods. Polly was shocked, but she was beginning to believe they had found Darius. Sadly, Darius had no way of communicating with them.
The three of them walked for a few more hours. They could finally see a region.
‘Okay, time to get in,’ said Polly.
‘No,’ said Demarcus as he shook his head, ‘we are heading to Jeed. I need to pay someone a visit.’
