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We finally slon and the truckturn to the left It&039;s a sharp bend, too severe to be a nor becoh and uneven and continues to twist and turn for what feels like another , the journey&039;s over We&039;ve stopped My stoain as the truck coine is silenced It&039;s pouring with rain outside and the clattering noise on the roof above

&039;Where are ?&039; someone asks nervously I dutifully shove h the tear in the tarpaulin and quickly pull it in again when I see soldiers approaching on foot I wait until they&039;ve passed before cautiously peering back out The truck (and the ten or so other vehicles which have travelled in convoy with us) have stopped in a line along a narrow road which runs along the edge of what looks like a dense forest I can&039;t see where the track goes fro er than necessary and I close up the gap in the heavy canvas cover I&039;h

&039;There&039;s not much to see,&039; I tell theain, &039;just trees on that side&039; The rain is torrential and I have to shout to ht cover above us is relentless The noise coht to increase ain whether I should just take ot to lose when I&039;ve already lost just about everything? I don&039;t knohat other options I have left Things look increasingly bleak Do I just sit here and wait for whatever they have planned for us to happen or do I take control of my destiny now and try to escape? The little of the forest I&039;ve been able to see so far looks pretty deep and uninviting We&039;re seeht out in the middle of nowhere and there&039;s no way they&039;d be able to follow me into the trees in these trucks They&039;ll either shoot et away It has to be worth taking a chance Myback hoain and the decision is o for it Christ knohere I&039;ll run to, but anywhere will be better than here Do I tell any of the others what I&039; with them or on my own? My instincts tell me to leave them and look after myself, but what about the rest of them? What about Karin and Nancy and Patrick? Surely theaway?

My stupid plans co down around me as the flap at the back of the vehicle is thrown open by two rain-soaked soldiers One of them ties the tarpaulin up, the other points the rifle into the truck The reality of what&039;s happening suddenly hits ho down the barrel of another gun The plans I&039;d been seriously considering seconds earlier now seeht but to run noould be suicidal

&039;Out!&039; the soldier with the rifle barks at us &039;Get out now!&039;

Those nearest the back of the truck iin to climb out It&039;s a drop of several feet down to theand falls Poor bastards, they&039;ve only been outside for seconds and they&039;re already cold and soaked One of the , dark hair - rushes one of the soldiers as soon as he hits the ground Three more troopers appear froue Two of therass at the side of the road The third soldier lifts a pistol and puts a bullet in the back of his head The frenzied attack and clinical response is over in seconds and the corpse is dragged away There are sobs and wails of fear and disbelief from the people already outside

I&039;m one of the last to leave the truck I cliht when I jule file on the verge between the trees and the trucks One of the soldiers shoves round for a second and stare at the trooper His eyes are hidden and I can see my bruised face reflected in his opaque visor I should kill him now, I think to myself And I know I could do it too I could snap his neck withmore than a violent, painful and very bloody death for his part in what&039;s happening to us But then I look past hi away the lifeless body of thein full view, unceremoniously dumped on the other side of the road, and I reluctantly take my place in the queue

Fro I&039;d only been able to see the people who&039;d travelled in the same truck as me Now that I&039;ve moved I can see that the people froed out into the open too The queue of people ahead of me stretches away into the distance I line up behind Karin, the girl as sick earlier

&039;You okay?&039; I whisper I glance over at the nearest soldiers but they don&039;t react and I risk trying to speak to her again &039;Karin, are you okay?&039; She turns around momentarily and nods her head but doesn&039;t speak Her face is pale and her teeth are chattering with the cold The rain is co down so hard on us now that it hurts I&039;ve only been outside for a couple of minutes and I&039;ot a few layers of clothes on Up ahead ofT-shirts So a dressing gown Poor bastardsCouldn&039;t they have let the warmer to wear? It shows just how deep-rooted their hate of us really is and it&039;s suddenly more apparent than ever that the throay coht Whatever&039;s waiting for us here is going to be fucking awful At best they&039;ve brought us here to keep us isolated and separate from theh probability that we&039;re here to be destroyed They can try and killI owe it to Ellis to take out as many of them as I can

Christ, what about Ellis?! How could I be so stupid? I&039;ve been so wrapped up in what&039;s happening to me that I haven&039;t stopped to consider the possibility that ht here too What if she changed like me and was picked up by one of the patrols? I know the chance of finding her here is slim but I have to try I can see some children in the line up ahead but even frohter isn&039;t one of them I turn around and try to look behind o on forever I can&039;t see the end of it I&039;ve stepped right out of line now but I don&039;t care Finding Ellis is more important than my own safety I start to rabs my shoulder and yanks uard but it&039;s Karin

&039;Don&039;t be stupid,&039; she whispers, looking around anxiously &039;Please, they&039;ll kill you just as soon as look at you&039;