Shielded

--- Another start of a short story. Comment as to whether you would like me to continue it. ---
Part 1-

The ground was wet with rain and water was dripping down from the tree's leaves, an everlasting drone of 'plops' on the forest floor.

Autumn stood at the edge of the wood. She'd finally made an escape from the camp, and now it was time choose whether she was to leave for good. She'd dreamed of this moment, and planned it for weeks; noting down almost the whole communities duties and schedules, pinpointing down to the last second, the duration of their work stations - all this to make her escape possible.

She wouldn't miss her mother, that's for sure. Autumn's mother didn't go to any strength to hide what a nuisance she'd caused her and the rest of the family. It was as if she completely despised her, but loved Thorn - Autumn's older sister - to pieces. The pair often formed an alliance against Autumn, bullying her into stealing an extra bag of grain or bar of soap every so often. And if she were to be caught by the Chief: they would say they hadn't known a thing about it. They would even be gleeful when Autumn was taken to the camp's youth jail for the night.

Autumn knew that escaping was the only option. She hoisted the backpack - which had once been her fathers - up onto her back, the bread loaves and fruit she'd stolen thumping against one another. She closed her eyes just before taking the life changing step out of the wood's border, and into a meadow of lush green grass. Her toes tangled in the soft grass, an instant treat from walking barefoot on the sharp, uncomfortable forest floor all day. She had truly done it. There was no way back into the wood now. She'd just have to find a place to settle down before nightfall.

As she walked through the meadow, Autumn couldn't help but notice how life was greener on this side of the woods. There were clusters of little wild flowers, and honey bees hopping from flower to flower, collecting pollen. She breathed in the fresher air and looked up at the blue sky.

There had been no blue sky in her old home. The camp was surrounded by an electric force barrier, which typically didn't let people in, or out. But Autumn had studied the barrier, and had found a break; the spot where she'd exited. A search party would be sent eventually, but once the reality had been discovered (that she'd escaped) they would most likely give up. After all, we're talking about The Chief here. He was terrified of the outside world, just as his father had been, and all generations before. The Chief would never risk one of his guards out here in the open, not for a worthless sixteen year old girl.

A loud rumbling sound pierced through the meadow, and Autumn fled to the ground, burring her body into the long grass. She remained motionless, her hands over her head in a defensive state, for a moment, and then stood when the noise faded. She resumed walking, her eyes scanning the meadow consciously, in fear of a predator. The noise stirred again, but this time Autumn stayed standing, cocking her head to try and make sense of where this loud disruption of sound was coming from. Again, when the noise faded, she continued walking.

Eventually, she was met by a thin border of trees, which beyond stood a black, flat stretch of road, made out of some form of man-made substance. Autumn had never seen such a thing, the paths back at the camp were simply made of mud and gravel.

To her horror, the rumbling sounded again, excessively louder this time. Autumn, feeling week and defenceless, rushed to hide behind a twig-like, poor excuse for a tree, and wrapped her arms tightly around her torso. She bit down on the inside of her cheeks to prevent a scream escaping her mouth.

Suddenly, a large vehicle came into view, pulling a large trailer full of logs. It looked almost like a motor car - which Autumn had only seen in books, when books had been allowed for schooling - but much larger. It seemed this was the source of these awful rumbling noises. Autumn felt terribly stupid. If she was to last on the outside world, she would have to get used to things much more strange and terrifying to her unorthodox way of life.