Maddie took her up her position and waited for the rest of the children to come as Jasmine said they would.
“It is nearly time and we are the only ones here.”
“They will come and we will wait and if they do not come we will walk out of here on our own.”
“What exactly will that achieve Maddie?”
“It will show them that it can be done and that they should not be afraid.”
“That is if they do not shoot us all.”
Jinn was the first to see them.
“Look there it is the first of them.”
Jinn was right they were coming from everywhere now and settling in behind them.
“My god there is hundreds of them.”
“Yes Maddie this place is huge and when I was in here there were too many to count then.”
By the time they had all lined up behind them they appeared like a small army.
“What now that it is time to leave?”
“You have to lead them out of here Maddie so you should start walking towards the edge of Juvi.”
Dylan was right but for a moment Maddie’s feet refused to move until miraculously she found herself moving off ahead of everyone else.
Please follow she thought to her-self or this would look even more ridiculous than it felt.
Dylan raised both of his hands above his head and started to chant the word Maddison over and over again.
Seeing this Jinn followed suit as they moved on after Maddie and soon the whole crowd were chanting and following Maddie.
Not once did Maddie look back as they chanted her name, Dylan and Jinn took up position beside her with what looked like the whole prison population behind them.
“We have them Maddie now all we need to do is not get shot.”
Maddie could not have agreed more and was about to say as much when they heard the first solitary shot ring out.
“Don’t stop we have to keep moving no matter what.”
Maddie did not hesitate and just kept on walking with Dylan falling slightly behind her.
“There Maddie that is where the guards are posted and they must have seen us before now.”
Jinn was scared but he kept pace with Maddie as he said this.
“We keep on going just ignore them and keep on going.”
The guard on duty that afternoon had seen them coming for quite a while and was waiting for instructions from the Capital as they approached his position.
“Yes sir there are hundreds of them all children and they do not appear to be stopping.”
“This is the First Minister here when they are close enough fire a few warning shots close enough to frighten them.”
The young guard who had once been a State policeman did as he was ordered.
“Maddie those shots were meant as a warning if we do not stop then the next ones may just tear through the crowd.”
Maddie was aware that these shots were not meant to harm them but could not stop thinking of the shots they heard earlier.
“I know they were warnings Dylan but I don’t think that the shots earlier were to warn and if Jasmine and her people can walk into a hail of bullets then we can do no less.”
Dylan thought they could do a lot less like running for cover and not getting themselves slaughtered senselessly.
“They are still coming sir and they seem to be shouting a name.”
Jarod had already had reports of a revolt at the north side of Juvi and had ordered the shooting of those involved but was reluctant to give the same order involving children.
“What is the name they are saying?”
“It sounds like Maddison sir.”
On an Impulse Jarod made his decision, he did not want a bunch of martyred children on his hands.
“Let them through and then make your way to the north of Juvi to make sure that no-one gets out that way.”
It was incredible thought Maddie a few warning shots and that was it they were nearly through.
“I think we are going to make it Jinn.”
Jinn never thought for a moment that they would not make it out and had been chanting the name Maddison louder than anyone else.
“I knew we would Maddison I just knew we would not fail.”
Maddie could not help but notice that he had called her Maddison.
“I am still Maddie you don’t have to call me anything else Jinn.”
“No you are Maddison and everyone here knows it and so will everyone else in Velaria by the time we reach the Capital.”
It was happening thought Maddie they were out and together they would march on the Capital picking up anyone that wished to join them along the way.
“This is just the beginning and although I don’t think my father will set the StatePol on us he will certainly use the Academies to stop us when we reach the Capital.”
“Then we need as many Imps to join us as possible so we must hit as many towns and villages as we can on the way to the City.”
“There are Academies in those towns and villages that may just put up some resistance.”
Maddie was in no mood for Dylan’s negativity.
“Then we will deal with them when we come across them.”
In her relief at being out of Juvi Maddie had not given much thought to the fate of Jasmine and her followers but now that they were all safely out she could think of nothing else.
“Jasmine may well be lying back there dead with most of her people suffering a similar fate so I do not want to hear anything more about how difficult this is going to get.”
Jasmine set off to the north perimeter of Juvi at the same time as Maddie, the distance to the guard’s turret being somewhat shorter she found that her people were in danger that much sooner.
The first bullet took down one of the Devs a few feet away from Jasmine but he was held up by the others as they kept on marching.
“KEEP GOING WE MUST KEEP GOING OR IT IS ALL FOR NOTHING.”
Another shot and if they were not all linked arm in arm another Dev would have fallen.
“WE MUST KEEP FAITH AND WE WILL SUCCEED IF NOT IN THIS LIFE THEN IN TH………?”
Jasmine was cut off as the bullet seared into her cheek and then another went through her chest silencing her forever.
“THIS IS NOT THE END FRIENDS WE HAVE JUST BEGUN A JOURNEY THAT WILL END WITH THE DEATH OF THE STATE.”
These were the last words that Randall spoke as the bullets that killed the old man tore into his ageing flesh.
The bullets just kept coming and as more and more of Jasmine’s people fell, the panic began to set in as those left alive began to run for cover. When the shooting was over there were over fifty bodies left out on the street some wounded but most lay there motionless.
“It is over sir, the crowd has dispersed.”
“Well done son now make sure that that you flush out any more dissenters and punish them.”
Jarod may have failed to stop Maddie from leaving Juvi but he was pleased to know that his guards had been successful in containing the adult population of the prison.
Maddie just wanted to get as far away from Juvi as possible and not think about what may have happened to Jasmine.
“You know your way around pretty good Jinn where do you think we should head for first?”
Dylan jumped in with an answer before Jinn could think.
“Ardil it is an average sized village and then after that we can move on to the town of Kalen.”
Maddie did not feel qualified to argue with Dylan but still wanted Jinn’s approval.
“That sounds good they are on the way to the Capital and we can pick up more Imps along the way especially in Kalen.”
“What is so special about Kalen?”
“Have you forgotten that is where Lana comes from and when we tell them what has happened to her I am sure we will pick up hundreds of Imps to come with us.”
“I remember that there are Cads there and it might be best t
o avoid them.”
Dylan shook his head.
“Jinn is right we need as much support as we can get and we cannot avoid the Cadets they are in every town on the way to the Capital not just Kalen.”
“They are well trained and armed with Lektros what chance do we have against them?”
“The further you get away from the Capital the less formidable the Academies are they have scarce resources and just basic training also we will have superior numbers.”
This went some way to reassure Maddie but she was still not sure what to do with the large number of ex-Juvi residents at her back.
“What do we do about feeding these people and do you think they are just going to blindly follow us all the way to the City?”
It was the first time she had seen Dylan smile for some time.
“Not us Maddie they are going to follow you just as they risked their lives to follow you out of Juvi and as for food well they are all expert scavengers who have survived with a lot less than they will be able to steal outside of there.”
It was good to have Dylan here with her thought Maddie but she knew that if this did not turn out well for him and Lissa she would have to deal with his anger when it was all over.
“You have experience of being in command Dylan and I need your advice when it comes to leading these people and getting to the Capital are you on board with that?”
Dylan looked thoughtful before answering.
“I am on board with anything that brings me closer to getting Lissa back but if I feel that anything is getting in the way of that then I will not hesitate to go my own way.”
Not exactly what Maddie wanted to hear but she knew it was the best that she could have hoped for from Dylan and she at least knew he was being honest with her.
“On to Ardil it is then and how long before we get there?”
Not wanting to be left out Jinn decided to give Maddie the answer to her question.
“We should reach there in a couple of days, less if we don’t have to stop for any reason.”
“He is right and I don’t see any reason for us to stop on the way.”
Jinn looked a little put out at being echoed by Dylan.
“I know I am right Dylan and I don’t need you to jump in every time that I speak.”
Dylan was about to say something in his defence when Maddie interrupted his train of thought.
“Stop bickering you two it is not doing us any good and there is a thing as being too sensitive Jinn.”