Dwellers of the New World Chapter Six ( Pt 6 ) The Plan

Upon returning to the chamber, the smell of decay and excrement, amongst other odorous stenches, became all too much for Dawson. He thought it was as if these boys were completely oblivious to anything. Trying to think became almost impossible, under so much pressure.

A quiet...scrawny child sat up in one of the alcoves, his hands clenched around his knees. Dawson couldn't see his face, long straggly hair fell past his shoulders, as it reached down over his knees, the boy rocked as if his life depended on it.

Varden noticed Dawson staring at the boy. “Hey...Mr Dawson, that's poor Sam, he ain't finding it so easy down here, keeps asking for his mum, poor kid couldn't chop wood, so they chucked him down here, he reckons he was captured with his brother and came from a place called the Valley.”

Dawson suddenly came over all emotional, he thought of his own son, how he would feel if this child were his own. Walking over to where the boy sat, he climbed up to him. The boy looked up his face bruised. Varden said that Sam had been beaten and slapped for being disobedient, but Dawson doubted that the boy stood a chance, he was so young and frail.

The child was so scared, he backed away. Dawson tried to put his arm around him. “It's okay Sam...I'm not going to hurt you.”

Sam put his face back into his knees, starting to rock again. Dawson spoke softly, he knew it wouldn't be easy to get the boy's trust.

“Sam...Sam...look at me.” He went to brush the hair back from the child's face, but the boy suddenly looked up with fear in his eyes, that Dawson had never seen before.

“Don't touch me! Just leave me alone.” Tears left the boy's eyes, they started to slip down his dirty, bruised cheeks.

“Listen to me Sam...I'm not going to hurt you...honestly.”

Before Dawson could say any more, another child came up to him from behind, a freckled face lad of about ten, his voice not yet broken, but it wouldn't be long before a deeper tone would be evident. “Hey Mr...I'd leave him alone, he only came in here a day ago, it takes time to get used to the place, he'll come round when he's ready.”

Dawson realised the boy was right and Sam was still in shock. “How can this be happening?” he said, as he scrambled down the rocks.

The freckled face boy shrugged his shoulders. “Don't know much else Mr, we been down here for so long.”

As he reached the ground, it suddenly dawned on him, that although these boys were scrawny, they were still alive and that food must be coming from somewhere. “Varden...do you get any sort of food in this place? You must eat something, otherwise you'd be dead.”

Varden came and sat beside Dawson, he started counting on his fingers. “There be about four vents in the roof, the guards sometimes drop scraps down...or bones, we eat the marrow out the bones, sometimes we get some scraps of meat and apple cores.”

Dawson looked up at the high ceiling, aware of how colossal the chamber actually was, their voices echoed constantly as they spoke. “So where are these vents?” he once again asked Varden.

Varden pointed in the direction of the vents, as once again they peered up. “Well...there be one there, two over there and one in that corner over there. They ain't very big Mr Dawson, even a chicken bone needs squeezing through, that's if you were thinking of an escape route.”

“Can you see daylight through the vents?” said Dawson, suddenly excited, feeling a little more hopeful.

Varden shrugged his shoulders. “Don't know Mr...can't get up there to look.”

Dawson had an idea, that had been mulling around in his head, ever since Varden had showed him where the opening was. With all these vents, where there was a way in, there must be a way out. It was just a matter of how...when and where.

He wanted to share his food tablets with the boys, but knew there were too many of them. He only had a week's worth, so he took one of the pills, then explained that they were pills for his health, like a medicine. He also took a diabetic pill just in case, he didn't want to frighten the children by having a fit.

Gideon asked if he would let him try one of the pills. Dawson knew the only way to stop the boy asking, was to tell him they would hurt him if he took one, so not to ask again. Gideon seemed to accept his word, much to the relief of Dawson.

It was diabolical the way these poor children had been treated, Dawson was determined to get out of this chamber, at the first given chance.

He gathered the boys together, each one eager to hear his plan, that is all but Sam, who still would not budge from his rock, still clutching his knees and rocking. He glared at the others, eyes not flinching for one second, just staring as if into thin air. Dawson thought it better to leave him be.

“So what's yer plan Mr Dawson?” Varden was eager to hear, as he plonked himself down, hitting the ground with a thud.

Dawson thought the boy was fearless, and would one day make a great leader, if they ever got out alive, which Dawson had every confidence that they would.

“Well it's like this...at some point another child will be thrown down here, what I want to know is, how frequently do they bring children into this godforsaken place?”

“There ain't no time down here Mr...it could be days, we just don't know, but the guards usually come during the day, never at night.”

“We need to be ready and waiting,” said Dawson. “I will climb into the tunnel, and stay there. As soon as the boulder is moved, I will be ready with my gun, which they won't be expecting.”

The boys looked at each other like they were about to explode with excitement. Varden shouted out. “Hear that Sam...we're getting out Yeah!”

Dawson wanted to know how many guards normally worked together, to bring boys to the chamber?

Varden calmed down, scratching his head he declared that sometimes there were two or three, depending on how many boys they brought together, but usually there wasn't more than three.

The chamber was an accumulation of stench and excitement...of happiness and sadness all rolled into one. Dawson went on to explain that once he had put the guards to sleep, he would change out of his suit and into the guard's garments, just retaining his gun and tablets, which he would wear on his belt, under his new clothes.

He turned to Varden once again. “I will need to hide my own clothes and backpack, have you any idea where I could hide them?”

The boy thought about it, scratching his chin and gazing around for any possible concealed spot, out of sight. “Problem is Mr Dawson...the Master knows this chamber like the back of his hand, he'd soon find them, you'd probably never see them again. You gotta be careful, otherwise the master will have you flogged as a way of saying, if anyone steps out of line, this is what will happen to them.”

Dawson thought about it, then decided once he got out, he would find a place outside that would be more secret. All he had to do now, was wait to put his plan into action. He knew it would be all about timing, so they bided their time, waiting and listening to any sounds, hearing only the echoes of their own voices.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Six ( Pt 7 ) Enquiring Minds | ABCtales