Chapter 1: Caught

Courtney saw the look on her father's face when he returned home. His eyes were wide in fear and anger.

"Daddy, please, what is it?"

"Courtney, get your things. You must leave here tonight!"

The girl gasped... what could be the problem. She knew that her father was the leader of the resistance movement against the government but why did she have to flee.

"Please no Daddy, I won't leave you alone."

"Courtney, sweetie, if you do not leave now, you will certainly be leaving soon for the worse. Trust me, you do not want to become a prisoner of those animals. Pack one small bag and then I will lead you to where you will begin your journey."

Courtney started sobbing but her father took her by the hand and led her up the steps into her small bedroom. She had lived alone with her father for 11 years, from when she was 5. Her mother had been killed while walking home from work late one night. She had been brutally raped and murdered, her body left on their front porch where her father found her. He was active in the rebellion then but had become one of the leaders since then.

Courtney had pretty much been kept in the house since then, let out only for school and church. She had few friends and trusted no one but her father. Now, the only person she loved was telling her to leave immediately without much of a discussion.

"Please Daddy, tell me what's going on," she sobbed as her father stuffed some clothes into a small bag.

Her father stopped, his eyes red from the stress and emotion.

"Courtney, sweetheart, I am going to be killed very soon, there's nothing left to stop that. I have been an enemy of this state for too long and now some extremists are taking over the government and word is they are going to kill all enemies. If I were to run with you, they would hunt us down and kill us both. You alone might have a chance to survive."

Her father's words cut through the young girl. He was all she had, this couldn't happen twice in one short life.

"Please Daddy, don't say that. We can make it. Run away with me... I'll help you."

Her father looked at her with sad eyes. "My dear, I wish there was a way. But you have to survive... for me."

The girl completely broke down, her body shaking with sobs. The man walked to her and wrapped his arms around his beautiful daughter. "Shh, it's alright, it's alright. I will always be inside of you. You are strong... you can make it. But there's no time. We have to hurry."

He closed the bag, grabbed a coat and took his daughter's hand leading out of their small house in a secluded development, far from the eyes of the military police. All of this was happening so fast for the young girl but soon they were in the middle of heavy woods right near a path.