*~*Mikey's POV*~*

When Gerard left for the moment, Alex elbowed me. "This is our chance to escape," he whispered.

"We can't," I whispered, "there's trained soldiers out there. They could kill us. Besides, this is the first time I've seen my brother in years."

"You'll give up your chance of freedom to see your brother?" Alex asked, looking between me and the front of the tent. I nodded, without really thinking. This could be my last chance to escape with my life, or be stuck here for who knows how long. I could be tortured for information I didn't have, or I could try to escape now. If we tried, we could fail, and that would more than likely end with execution. The only thought that made sense to me was just to sit and wait. "Why?"

"I haven't seen him in years." I repeated. "Besides, he said he has a plan."

"His plan could fail." Alex said simply. Before I got the chance to say anything, Frank spoke up.

"Do you really expect the two of you to get along suddenly and become the best of friends?" he asked. It sounded like he was siding with Alex, which was something I never thought I'd be alive to witness from the way the two seemed to hate each other. "Do you want to make up with your brother so much you're willing to risk our last possible chance of freedom?"

"Yes...sort of...but I don't know how it'd work out. You've seen him. He's threatening to kill us if we leave." I said, which was followed by Gerard walking in.

"You bet I'm threatening you," Gerard said when he stepped back into the tent. He had a piece of paper with him. I watched as his eyes traveled over the three of us. "Go to sleep."

"Just as bossy as you were when we were growing up," I mumbled but didn't say anything for a moment.

"This is a new experience for me," Gerard started, "and you don't know who I am anymore, Mikey. I'm not the same old Gerard you remember. I grew up, and I learned from my mistakes. I'd advise you to be quiet."

I didn't say anything, not having anything left to say on the subject. He was different, seemed more...I don't know how to describe it, important? He acted like he was a respected man, but I don't know where from. I watched him from where I sat, unable to even think about sleeping. My arm hurt too much for the thought to even go through my head.

Gerard was writing something on the paper, stopping every once in a while to reread what he wrote, chewing on the end of the pencil a little. When it looked like he was finished, I quickly closed my eyes to pretend that I was sleeping, not wanting him to know I had been eavesdropping, even though I hadn't gained any information out of it.

I heard him sniffling, distantly and sounding like he was trying to hide the fact that it sounded like he was crying. I tried to will myself to sleep, but my shoulder was aching, and the cold wasn't helping at all. I moved from where I was leaning against Alex, wiggling a little to try to get comfortable, but it was no use.

Forcing my eyes opened, I looked over at Gerard. His face looked red, from what I could see of it. He had his knees up to his chest, and was looking away from me, but I saw part of it. "Gerard," I whispered, repeating myself a few times before he heard me and looked my way. He tried to look that he hadn't been crying, but I knew him well enough to know that he had been, regardless of having heard him.

"What do you want?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"My shoulder really hurts," I complained.

"I'm not a doctor," he said, and I rolled my eyes. Of course he wasn't, I knew that much.

"Can you do something to stop it from hurting?"

"There's nothing I can do," he said, almost a growl, "stop complaining."

I huffed. "You can't tell me to stop unless you've been shot in the shoulder, and I don't think you have," I paused, "have you?"

He shook his head. "I've made it out unharmed of any fight we've been in, except for a few bruises and scratches that I caused myself. I'm lucky, I guess." He looked sad, to say the least. He was frowning and talking quietly, it was hard to hear him at times.

"Come here," I said after a moment of silence, "tell me a story." I wasn't really sure what I was saying, but there were words coming out of my mouth. "Tell me about your life. Where do you live?"

"Massachusetts," he said simply, not moving an inch closer. "What do you want to know about my life?" he asked, sounding curious. Perhaps not many people asked for him to talk about his life.

"What do you do? What's your daughter light? What's her name again?" I asked sheepishly.

"Her name is Bandit, and she's wonderful..." he trailed off, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Ray, a friend of mine, has a daughter the same age as her, and they both share a tutor and according to Lindsey they're both enrolled in a school now, but that might change soon..." His frown was back, but only for a moment. "I'm a lawyer. I guess the only good thing mom and dad did for me was send me to law school to get rid of me for a few years." We both chuckled at that, sharing a laugh which got rid of most of the tension that was in the room. "I'm not good with talking about myself. I live an ordinary life, except with more money than most." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

"I would kill to have a life like yours," I said, quietly, barely loud enough for myself to hear it. "You have a family and someone who loves you, plus a job you so obviously love." Gerard didn't say anything. "My love life? Nonexistent. No relationship of mine has lasted over a month, I think, you could even ask Frank about that. He's the closest thing to family I have, except our parents, but you know how they are."

"They liked you better," I heard Gerard say, "you were treated better than I was any day. If you had come home with your pregnant girlfriend, they would have celebrated. They hated having me as a son, and you know it."

"You should get some sleep, Gerard," I said, unsure of what else to say. We hadn't seen each other in years, and I had nothing to say to him. I was a horrible brother to say the least.

"You too, Mikey," he said, "I'm going to get someone else to watch you guys. I'm going to sleep in the comfort of a tent full of body heat." Gerard got up, and left. Him leaving saddened me. Even though I had nothing in particular to say, I wanted to just talk, still not fully believing that we were meeting each other again.
23

*~*Gerard's POV*~*

I woke up to the sound of chaos and an alarm bell ringing. I sat up to avoid being trampled by people as they ran out to see what was going on. I followed out, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. When the morning sun hit me I could start to feel the adrenaline in my body kick in. I started running to where the weapon were kept overnight (it was unsafe to keep them with sleeping soldiers, as we learned quickly), and someone pushed me down to get ahead. Many people trampled over me to get a gun, not even caring about me.

A gun finally made its way to my possession, with gunshots already firing, and I was about to join the fight when I remembered something important.

This was my chance to escape.

I ran to find David, he said he would have food. I wondered if he had gotten enough time to find any. There was also Ray I needed to find and Jared - did he even get the message? Did Ray find him? I was starting to panic, too many thoughts running through my head, and many people running into me. I saw Ray towering above a group of soldiers, trying to push past them, maybe looking for me. I ran over to him, moving out of the way of people going towards me.

"Is this what you were talking about?" he yelled over the noise and I nodded.

"Meet me at the guardhouse, unlock their chains," I said, digging in my coat for the key. I was the only one with a key since I had been the one to retrieve the chains, and only one was made, or that's what they said. He took the key and nodded. I saw a satchel hanging over his shoulder and I wondered what he had with him, hopefully some supplies.

Now to find David and Jared.

I expected David to be by the kitchen, and he was, or that's where I found him. He was standing against a side, out of view unless you were looking for him. He didn't see me until I was a few feet away when he then threw the bag at me. "Go, get out of here," he said, turning me around to push me away. I dug my heels into the ground and turned towards him.

"Please come with," I pleaded, "I can't just let you stay here alone."

"Don't worry about me, Gerard, continue your life and get as far away from here as possible," he said, or that's what I heard. It was hard to hear with all the gunshots in the distance, which were getting closer by the second. I nodded, grasping his hand and squeezing, meeting his eyes. I offered him a smile, trying to convey all my thoughts, which were along the lines of 'Stay strong and stay alive' and 'thank you', and he seemed to understand.

"Wait, before you go," I said, remembering what was in my pocket. I dug around for the letter, handing it to him. "Please get this sent, it's important," I said and he understood, or at least looked like he did. Our eyes met for the last time before he took off to join the battle.

I started running towards the guardhouse, or in that direction, but scanning crowds looking for Jared. He found me instead. He ran into me, whether it be on purpose or accident, I don't know. He had a gun on him, with his powder hanging by his side.

"Jared, come with me," I said, breathless but hopefully he heard me. It wasn't too loud here yet. "Ray and I, we're leaving. With my brother, one of the captives."

"I can't," he said simply.

"Why not? Don't you want to get out of here?" He shook his head.

"You go and reconnect with your brother. You promised me and Pierre you would, now go before it's too late." He started to run again, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back, almost causing him to fall to the ground.

"What about your brother? Don't you want to find him?" I asked, remembering that he had mentioned a brother frequently. If he was wanting me to reconnect with my brother, then why shouldn't I make him?

Jared grinned, and whispered into my hear. "My brother is already here." He pulled away and was still grinning. "Thanks for the offer though." He started moving away and again, I pulled him back, wanting answers.

"What do you mean?" I yelled. The fight was starting to get closer. I had a feeling we wouldn't be winning this battle.

"General Christopher is my brother. Haven't you ever wondered why no one knows his last name? Or why when I got injured he never left my side. Christopher is his middle name, and he's the reason I'm here. He's the reason you're here." He poked my chest, "It was my idea for this all to happen."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. My thoughts were running a million miles a minute and I couldn't stop to ponder one for more than half a second.

"All in good time." He was still grinning and started to jog away, this time I didn't stop him. I watched him and after getting a few feet away he turned towards me, jogging backwards at a slower pace. "This isn't the last you've seen of me, Way!" Those were the last words I heard him say before he turned back around and ran off to join the fight. I didn't know what he meant, but I needed to go. I would have time to think about it later, when I was free.

Free.

I ran, meeting Ray behind the guardhouse. It was the tent farthest away from all the fighting. He had Mikey and his two friends unchained and waiting. I met their eyes for a second, a simple understanding that we were getting out.

We took off in the opposite direction as the fighting, running into the trees for cover and hoping nothing was coming for us. Nothing did. It was just the five of us about to start our lives again.

Notes

The end.
Thank you for reading. Sorry for the long gap between the first chapter..and the rest...I couldn't access this account until then now.
Please tell me what you think.