Leo.
And suddenly Leo was standing in the woods, his bare feet itching against the undergrowth and his skin smothered in goose bumps. He blinked, looked down, and realised he was naked.
That was strange.
He reacted with the instincts bred into him during his seventeen years alive, and covered himself with his hands, feeling as though he had just woken from a dream. One moment he had been … somewhere, doing … something, and now he was here, in the woods. Naked.
He swore and closed his eyes, clutching for the memory of where he had just been, of what he had just been doing. The memory skipped from reach and ran off laughing. He swore again, louder this time. He had no idea what had happened to him, had no god damned idea why he was standing naked in the woods.
If Leo had been the sort to take drugs, like a number of his friends did, he might have pointed his finger at them. Drugs, however, were not his thing. Perhaps alcohol was involved somewhere. He certainly drank, sometimes too much. Quite often too much, actually. If this is because of alcohol, Leo thought, I hope I had a damned good time last night. Deciding that as there was no one else around there was no need for modesty after all, Leo dropped his hands.
At least the scenery was pleasant. He was surrounded by swaying greenery and proud trees. The sunlight, filtered through the bright canopy of leaves above, felt comfortingly warm against his skin, whilst the broken twigs and tiny flecks of dirt beneath him made his feet itch. He could hear, but not see, a nearby river, its waters sloshing and splashing in play. Everything was peaceful.
Despite the situation, the pleasant surroundings did make Leo wish he visited woodland more often. Even though he lived in a small town surrounded by countryside and nature, he had rarely left the confines of urban life since he’d hit his teenage years. His life was a blend of school, friends, parties and videogames. There was something almost childlike about the country, he’d felt, but now he was here he saw that wasn’t really the case.
Well, what do I do now? he wondered. Obviously he had to make his way back home, but he couldn’t do that until he knew where he was. He turned slowly on the spot, his bare feet sliding across the dirt and weeds. As far as he could see, there were only trees and the river nearby, and no other landmarks. If only he had his mobile with him, then he would be able to call someone for help.
With that thought, he realised he hadn’t actually checked for his stuff yet. It was entirely possible that his mobile - or even better yet, his clothes - were simply hidden behind a small rock. Pacing around his immediate surroundings, Leo searched. He pushed aside long blades of grass, checked around a couple of trees, and even sought out the river and searched its weed infested banks, pushing through the wet clumps of leaves that grew on the edge of the water. Nothing. No clothes, no mobile; all he won was a thin scratch on his finger from a thorny weed.
Well, this is just great, he thought, sucking on his wound. He took the finger out his mouth, deciding he wanted to vocalise his suffering at the sadistic hands of Fate. ‘This is crap,’ he said, and put the finger back in.
There was nothing for it but to pick a direction and walk. Shrugging, Leo started forwards, all too aware of his lack of shoes. The thorns on some of the plants looked rather vicious, and Leo had no intention of getting any closer to them than was needed. But regardless of how careful he was, there was no avoiding the fact that walking barefoot in woodland wasn’t an altogether smart idea. Small, hard bits of dirt, broken twigs, jagged stones, and various other such nuisances plagued every few footsteps. Leo had to stop walking to check and clean his feet twice after only fifteen minutes of walking.
And those fifteen minutes of walking had gotten him little closer to home than when he had started off. He was still utterly surrounded by trees. For all he knew, he could have just wandered even farther into the forest. C’mon, this is England. Just how big are our woods? he asked himself. He sighed, as miserable as he was naked. I just want to be home. I just want to be in bed.
Looking around himself sadly, Leo realised that off to his left the trees started to thin out. Hoping that was a sign the wood was ending, he headed in that direction. The way was uphill, but as he got closer Leo noticed that crude steps had been carved into the earth, with dirty wire meshing placed over them to keep their shape. Almost smiling, he bounded up them, hoping.
Trees thinned rapidly, as the land beyond the peak of the hill came into view. The trees ended suddenly here and the hill’s plateau was more or less flat. On it, a collection of squat buildings came into view. They were modern temporary homes, all green and brown and flimsy looking. Each one was rather big, probably able to house eight people each without much trouble. Leo could see six of the buildings, but there were probably more outside of his view.
There were people too. Soldiers, dressed in khaki uniforms. None had noticed Leo yet, and he slunk back so that they wouldn’t be able too. He could just see the tips of the soldiers’ heads now, and hopefully they should not be able to see him at all. Even though the top of the hill was in a clearing, it was still surrounded by trees and bushes. He shimmied behind a bush and completely out of sight.
This was an interesting problem, Leo decided. He hadn’t a clue as to how the soldiers would react to a naked teenage boy approaching them. With no idea how he ended up in the woods, he wouldn’t be able to explain anything to them. Also, for all he knew, this could be a restricted area; he might well have passed a ‘we shoot on sight’ sign on his way into the woods. Leo didn’t like the idea of being shot on sight.
On the flip side, the army was a government established institution. It was possible that they would be able to help him. They could clothe him and call his parents, and all would be right again.
Whilst Leo was debating with himself, a voice suddenly broke his concentration. It was a man’s voice, deep and baritone. ‘I thought you should know,’ it said. ‘Sir, the readings have been erratic. Not like last time, but it’s definitely different from the norm.’
Leo peered through the bush, and found himself staring at two sets of khaki trousers tucked into black boots. Biting his lip, he eased back. He hadn’t heard the two soldiers approach, but now they were only a couple of feet away from him. If they peered around the bush they’d find him. He shivered.
‘How different from the norm?’ asked another voice. This one was higher, but also more confident.
‘Different enough to be notable, sir. Radiation levels also fluctuated, but quickly settled down again. It’s no guarantee, but I think it’d be foolish not to look into this.’
‘That’s good enough for me. Get everything prepared, will you?’
Before the first voice answered, there came approaching footsteps. They were light on the soft grass, and Leo almost didn’t hear them again. A third voice joined the conversation. ‘Found something, gentleman?’ it asked.
The deep voice answered. ‘Perhaps, sir.’ It sounded uncertain. ‘Maybe not, though.’
Leo glanced behind himself, wondering if he’d be able to slip away without being seen. He wasn’t sure he’d be able too, though. If he moved away from the bush he might end up sliding right into the soldiers’ line of sight. All he could was sit and wait the conversation out.
‘I see,’ said the new voice. ‘You weren’t going to waste anyone’s time with this, were you?’
‘Shove it,’ said the second voice. ‘You’re not part of this operation, you have no say over how it’s run. That’s my job.’
‘Careful, Major,’ said the new voice. ‘I’m not one of your underlings you can boss around. You don’t outrank me.’
‘And you don’t scare me,’ said the confident voice. ‘Bugger off.’
‘Very well. I’ll leave you chasing shadows, then.’ There were more footsteps, this time leaving.
After a short pause, the deep voice spoke again. ‘Sir, do we really need to keep him on site?’
‘I’m afraid so. He has no actual command here, though, so don’t let him order anyone around.’
‘Right, sir.’
‘I think it’s time we got everything prepared now, don’t you think?’
‘Sir,’ agreed the deep voice. There was the sound of more footsteps as the soldiers walked away.
Leo let out a breath of air, and let his muscles relax. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted to reveal himself to the soldiers or not, but he knew he didn’t want to be caught spying on them. He peered through the bush again, to double check that all the soldiers had moved away. All three had.
What now? Do I show myself or not? Leo wondered. He knelt and glanced over the top of the bush. He could see six soldiers; four marching somewhere, the other two stood talking. Three of them had guns on them, he couldn’t help but notice. Surely that wasn’t a good sign.
From this position, he could see a strange structure he hadn’t noticed before. It looked almost like a metallic, leafless tree, with a thick, perfectly smooth trunk, and several shiny branches growing on the top, all growing off one another in an almost organic manner. It sat there, in the middle of all these temporary buildings, unmoving.
The soldiers he had overheard had talked about readings and radiation. The metal tree must be test equipment, Leo figured, being used in some sort of experiment. He looked away from it, and too late realised that one of the soldiers was looking at him.
Swearing, he ducked down again. Had the soldier really seen him, or had he just been looking in Leo’s general direction? Leo couldn’t help hoping - just a little - that the soldier had seen him. At least then he wouldn’t have to make the decision about whether or not to reveal himself; it will have already been made for him.
He shifted his body, and glanced around the side of the bush this time, slowly edging his head out. The soldier was pointing towards Leo’s position, and a several other soldiers were jogging over towards him. Well, that settles it, he thought. They’ve seen me. Let’s just hope they’re friendly.
He stood, holding up his hands and feeling stupid. The bush he’d been using as his hiding place preserved his modesty a little while longer. The soldiers that had been jogging towards him sped up. Behind them, Leo saw one of the armed soldiers raise his gun and aim at him. ‘Crap,’ Leo said, realising that the soldiers weren’t friendly after all. He turned and sprinted back towards the woods.
The gunshot boomed behind him, even louder than the frantic beating of his heart. He wasn’t sure where he was running too, exactly, he just ran, his bare feet slapping the earth. Trees and branches flew past him at dangerous speeds. At any moment, he was expecting to hear a second gunshot and to feel a bullet tearing through his body. Maybe the bullet would even kill him before he realised a second shot had been made.
A soldier appeared in front of Leo, charging out the trees, making a grab for him. How did he get in front of me? Leo wondered numbly. The soldier managed to get hold of Leo’s wrist, pulling him to a halt. In his panic, Leo balled up a fist and smashed the khaki clad man in the face. His assailant loosened his grip with a pained grunted, and Leo slipped free.
He started running again. Breathing was painful. He was slowing down too. I’m so out of shape, he thought. Two more khaki shapes materialised from out the trees. Leo managed to avoid one, ducking under his grasping hands, but the second soldier grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the ground. Whilst Leo struggled to get to his feet again, a second man jumped on top of him, and then another, both pinning him. Held like that, he couldn’t even punch or kick.
They’d got him. There was no way he could struggle free.
He closed his eyes, waiting to hear a gunshot and then nothing.
------------------
Author notes:
-- Well, this is the opening to my novel. If any of this is familiar to you, it may be because you read the first chapter of my last attempt at this novel. In fact, this is my third attempt at this novel. What makes me think I'll achieve this time what I failed the last two times? Why, this time I've written out a plan. =)
-- The 'Traitor Colonel' subtitle in the name is because I've split the novel into four different sections. 'Traitor Colonel' is one of these sections. And whilst these different sections are all mixed up in the actual novel depending on chronological order and the characters present (for example: the first three chapters are from 'Traitor Colonel', whereas the fourth chapter is from 'A Tragic Revolution', then we're back to 'TC' with the fifth chapter), I've decided to write each section seperately.
-- The above is only a first draft. It's just under 2,200 words long, with 800 word written in one day, and 1,400 in another. Any advice y'all can give me will be taken into consideration when I come back to edit this.
-- In particular, I'd like to hear about: a) pacing, and b) your thoughts on the main character (Leo). But of course, all advice is equally welcome. =)
------------------
