The Sherwood Facility

A thin, crescent moon hung above the Sherwood Facility, scarcely helping to illuminate the dark, mysterious forest that lay beyond. Deep in the night, five teens disappeared into the darkness hoping to escape-hoping to live.

They were not meant to run, the were not meant to leave. Another five sets out afoot after them, The Trackers, and are told to bring the five teens back alive. Now the hunt begins...who will prevail, the Trackers or the Runaways?
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"Five of them have escaped. You have been ordered to assemble the others and capture these Runaways. Alive. Over." Sebastian's radio repeated itself for the second time in a row. His boss' voice was ominous over the small speaker. He pulled it from his side, responding. "Yes, I'll alert the other Trackers. The kids couldn't have gotten far. Over." Sebastian switched channels, hoping the other trackers were tuning in. "Victoria, Grace, Brooke, Jake? The boss wants us to go after the Runaways. Get you're weapons and meet me outside the Facility. We're going hunting. Over."

Sebastian went through the never ending maze of halls of the Sherwood facility, ending in front of a small door at the end of a corridor. Cautiously he opened it and switched the light on to reveal a large room full of weapons. Rows of blades glinted almost painfully against the floresent lights. Bottles of poisons and electrical tips for arrows sat in disarray behind a large silver crossbow. Shelves stacked high with armor and gear looked almost ready to tip over. He ignored all of these, however, and instead made his way to the back of the room where a large wall completely covered by guns behind glass waited for him. He took a minute to browse, before selecting two small pistols and a shotgun. He put the smaller of the three guns in his inside-jacket pockets, leaving the Shotgun slung over his back.

...Capture the runaways. Alive...

The head of sherwood facility's voice sounded in his head again. "Bring them back alive? With guns? No problem. No one said, 'No wounding' " Sebastian thought jokingly. He decided to bring some tranquilizing-darts, and a taser, just in case. Once equipped, he returned to his radio, and spoke to the other Trackers. "I'm ready. Get outside, quickly. Over."

The hunt had just began.

"Victoria, Grace, Brooke, Jake? The boss wants us to go after the Runaways. Get you're weapons and meet me outside the Facility. We're going hunting. Over." Grace heard this message from Sebastian. She responded "I will, over." Immediately she felt a weird twisting in her stomach. Mostly she tried to distance, or rather completely avoid Sebastian, as they had never seemed to see eye-to-eye. Well, at least he didn't; he seemed to despise her, just because he saw her as weak.

She rolled her eyes and continued down the hall to the weapon department. Inside, bountiful weapons lay on shelves and the walls, ready for the taking. Raking her eyes across the room, noticing quickly that Sebastians special precious wall of guns was missing-he was here earlier. Grace continued along until she found the wall of crossbows and accessories. With a slight squeel of delight, she picked the best crossbow; a black one and it's matching black arrows. She also got a few poisonous ones. As she left the room, she grabbed some first aid things. The second she pushed the door open, she was met with the chilling wind. No one was out yet. She decided to lean against a wall and wait. God, was she tired...

She heard the slightest twig snap, and clouds rolled in suddenly. Then, for a second, she saw Sebastian's face, than a flash followed by a BANG! She felt the bullet wound and the warm blood pouring from it...Sebastian shot her... then he came over, knife in hand and-

Grace's eyes snapped open. She had fallen asleep, and apparently had a nightmare... She didn't trust Sebastian, not at all. Honestly, Grace would rather have him...gone-dead. She wouldn't do it herself, though, as she knew the consequences. She would watch her back though, as her nightmare seemed horrifically possible. Suddenly she heard a voice, "Grace?" and it caused her to jump.

She spun around "What?" She pointed her crossbow-and saw Sebastian on the other end. "Oh, sorry..." He rolled his eyes, "Surprised you came at all, I though you might have helped them escape." He said sharply, in his English accent

Grace pursed her lips. "Showing a little mercy doesn't mean I'm weak...or a traitor." she growled. Please let someone come so he will leave me the hell alone she silently begged as she she stared off into the dark, impending forest, wondering where the Runaways had gone...

Running. Running is good. Just keep running.... The same mantra replayed in Cole's head as his feet pounded against the damp forest floor. His legs ached in protest from his frantic running, and he began to feel lightheaded. He shot a gaze behind him, taking in full view his fellow Runaways. Surprisingly, none of them-not even the youngest-seemed to tire. His eyes also wandered to a far off break in the trees, where a barely seeable glimpse of the Facility came through. Slowly, it began to get smaller as they made distance between it and them.

Freedom.... It felt weird to think of the word, like he would jinx himself by imagining the possibility of it. He sighed mid-run, knowing the unimaginable road that still lay ahead of them. The Facility would undoubtably send someone after them, if they hadn't already.

He chuckled a bit at the logic of this. Sending someone would be a miracle. But he knew they would send multiple, most likely the most elite; the trackers. Cole'd seen them only a few times before, but mainly heard about them from rumors from other children in the facility.

'I heard that one of the Trackers shot one of our own clear through the head,' and 'Their ruthless; you'd best stay out of their path.' were things he'd heard before from the other Supernaturals. But that seemed a far cry from the truth. Shot? A child? It seemed so barbaric and coldhearted.

He returned his attention to the oncoming forest. Flashes of green and brown flew past as he ran, creating a wild blur around him. It almost made him wish he could slow down and enjoy it for a second. Too bad we're being hunted by psychos, he thought wistfully.

Eventually, the soreness forced him to stop. The others did the same. He turned to face them, and asked, "What next?" He thought they were well enough out of range of their hunters, or at least long enough to catch his breath and make a game plan.

Brooke was half asleep, in that place right between dream and reality. Her mind replayed the images of her last nightterror, causing Brooke to shiver with fear. It just seemed so real. Every night, it was always the same. A barrel of a gun, her sister's death...

She shook the images away, took a deep breath, and stood up. Her shakily legs were unstable as she made her way out of her room. Suddenly a sound broke the silence. "Victoria, Grace, Brooke, Jake? The boss wants us to go after the runaways. Get your weapons and meet me outside the facility. We're going hunting. Over." She recognized Sebastian's voice over the radio on her hip. She didn't respond, just began to instinctively head outside.

She didn't use weapons. Her fame came from her excellent martial arts ability. It was something that she was proud of, even if she hardly got respected for it. Sebastian always saw it as a weakness. Brooke rolled her eyes as she walked past the weapon room, trying as hard as she could not to look at the guns, and bring her sisters death back again...

When she pushed through the exit, the smell of the forest wafted toward her. It was much relief to get fresh air, but she had to keep focused. She turned to see Grace and Sebastian glaring at eachother, the tension between them could be cut with a knife. A bit of fear washed over her as she noticed the gun on his back. "Just like the one that killed my sister..." she thought, taken aback.

"Victoria, Grace, Brooke, Jake? The boss wants us to go after the Runaways. Get you're weapons and meet me outside the Facility. We're going hunting. Over." Sebastian said through the walkie talkie. "Copy that. Over." She replied before putting on her gear. She slipped on black skinny jeans and knee high black boots. Then her white shirt and black leather jacket. She was going for the dark and mysterious look but her hair wasn't cooperating so she ties it in a ponytail.

Grabbing her blades she made her way outside the facility. Brooke, Sebastian, and Grace. Grace and Sebastian were glaring at each other. Vicky grabbed her blades and sliced the air a couple of times. "Can't even cut the tension with a blade." She said stuffing it back at her hip. They were always at it with each other. "Anyways, are we going now?"

Sebastian turned away from Grace. "Once Jake arrives, then we-" almost right on cue, Jake entered the group. Sebastian nodded. "We are ready then, everyone fully equipped?" He ran his gaze over the group. He of course had his guns, Jake had a pistol, Grace had her crossbow, Victoria couldn't possibly carry more knives, and Brooke of course carried nothing. He felt it rather unintelligent to carry no weapons, and only rely on your moves.

He shook his head and faced his team. "Currently, it is unknown the direction they ran, but I believe Jake could help us there?" Jake quietly nodded and began checking the ground. He looked up at them and said "Sebastian, do you know where they escaped from?" Sebastian nodded and led them to a slightly ajar piece of metal wall. Jake immediately turned to the ground; his mouth turned up in a smile. "I found a few prints leading south, but they aren't too obvious..." After a few seconds of examination, he said "It appears that they ran straight, and fast."

Sebastian took in the evidence. "Well I can assure you we can outrun them, and they ran blindly in a straight line..." His voice dripped with resentment. Jake looked up at him. "I wouldn't think it wise to just take off after them... we need to consider where they would go..."

"It's good I have that figured out then, isn't it?" Sebastian gave a small smile. "If they ran straight South, than it appears that they would either continue that way or go East or West; not coming back this way." He waited a moment, then continued. "We will divide and conquer. Two teams will run slightly to the West or East, so will still follow their path, but can be ready if they turn. And-" he said motioning to his radio "we can communicate."

Sebastian pointed to Jake. "Jake, I want to send you alone. Keep following their path, since you're such a great tracker, and radio us if their path changes." Next he pointed to Vicky. "You and I will go towards the west." Then he motioned to Brooke and Grace "You two go east." He smiled at how clever he was Perfect, I send the two people I dislike the most in this group away from me.

He pulled out one of his tranquilizer guns and ran into the forest, Vicky on his heels. For now, they would keep running until they found a sign or received word about the Runaways.