Tracker

After an uncomfortable night's sleep, Penny sluggishly walked downstairs to the kitchen, followed closely by Emma. Children talked excitedly as they got ready for breakfast.

Penny glanced around and saw Mom standing there, smiling and laughing as if nothing ever happened last night. Penny glanced at Emma and saw she was shaking, fear over her eyes.

Hearing footsteps, Penny looked up to see Norman being led by two children. He glanced up at the girls and smiled cheerfully. "Hi, Emma. Good morning."

Emma whimpered, and Norman walked over, patting her shoulder gently, whispering a few words of comfort, also adding, "C'mon, smile."

Ray had also noticed that Penny had been acting off, and he walked over to the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She jumped a bit, but smiled weakly at him, and he returned it.

"Listen, guys, we have to act like nothing happened. Sure we broke the rules by going to the gate last night, but that doesn't mean we saw anything."

"How's that possible..." Penny squeaked out.

"That's right." Emma said in agreement. "We left Little Bunny there..."

"That's right." Norman said in agreement. "And we have to assume Mom found it. But that doesn't tell her anything about who left it behind."

"Mom was laughing at breakfast...." Emma winced. "She doesn't show it on her face at all..."

"How can we smile after something like that...." Penny said softly, hugging herself.

Norman glanced seriously at the girls. "That's what we have to do. Otherwise she'll notice that something is wrong." His serious expression turned into a gentle smile. "We can't let that happen, so smile."

Penny and Emma glanced at each other. They closed their eyes, and then smiled. It was a weak smile, but it'll have to do.

Emma glanced out the window. "The delicious food...the white clothes that she doesn't want dirty...our regulated lives..." she shuddered as she lowered her collar to reveal her identity number on her neck. "All of it is to keep up our quality of life as merchandise. The only thing left for us to do is wait until we get shipped out randomly...."

"But the demon confirmed that it wasn't random." Norman said. "He said another six year old have all been averaged lately."

"What's it mean?" Penny asked.

Norman glanced down thoughtfully. "Based on what the demons said, our ages determine their grades of meat. And if I remember correctly, the siblings who were shipped out before, were all between six and twelve. And if six years old is ranked as normal, then the highest quality must be..."

Emma and Penny gasped.

"Twelve years old..." Emma gasped.

"But what about our scores?" Penny asked.

"Penny's right." Emma said. "Meat won't start tasting better because of how well we did on some test, will it?"

"True." Norman said. "The results weren't announced unless we received full marks. Which means..."

"The shipping order?!" Emma interrupted with a gasp.

"Yeah." Norman said. "When we turn six, we're harvested in order lowest test scores up. And once we reach the age of twelve, it seems we get shipped out no matter what."

"So..." Penny frowned.

"We were excused from it because we got perfect scores on our tests?" Emma finished.

"But I still don't get it," Norman frowned. "Why do our scores dictate the order?"

Penny walked up to a box and placed it on Norman's cart. "And why do you think being between six and twelve is what matters?"

"Is it the size of our bodies?" Emma frowned, shaking her head. "It can't be, or else we would be a factor."

Norman thought, and then gasped in horror. "It's our brains."

Penny's eyes shrunk and she began stuttering.

"Then that means..." Emma gasped.

"That the brain must taste the best." Norman said. "And the more developed it is, the better."

"They eat...brains?!" Emma gasped in pure horror.

"Seems so." Norman said. "And they'll spend a lot for them. Which makes us valuable merchandise. Remember the order? Connie was shipped most recently. Before her was Howl. Then Ceddy before him. Following the cycle of the views so far, the next shipment should be two months from now. Which means you, Penny, and I have to come up with a way to escape with all of us to escape from here before then."

Emma narrowed her eyes.

Penny stared at the ground, too shocked about this news.

During their free time, Penny, Norman, and Emma walked in the woods together. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Even though it was raining, they still walked. When they made it to the fence, Norman drew a map on the ground. "We'll start by making a map of the sight. The house is in the middle, lined up with the gate. And the forest encircles the rest of the property. So which exit do we choose for our escape? The gate or the forest?"

"I would say the forest will be our best choice." Penny said, pointing the outside of the sketch.

"That's correct." Emma said. "The gates' always closed except when they're shipping, and when it's open..."

"Those demons are there." Norman frowned. "So when do we escape...during free time when we're able to go out of the house freely....or during shipping when Mom-"

"We can't leave during shipping!" Emma cried suddenly, startling Penny. "That means someone we love dies!"

"You're right." Norman sighed. "And I'm also worried that the younger ones won't be able to stay awake during the night. It's decided." He stood up and glanced at the gate, followed by Penny and Emma. "We'll escape during the day, through the forest. If that's possible."

"But that depends on what life is like in the forest." Penny said. "Just to be safe, we should scout it out and make sure what it's like before we actually use it."

"That's a good idea." Emma said. "Let's."

The three hopped over the gate and ran until they came to a thick wall. Hearing grunting, Norman and Emma turned to see Penny climbing the tree. Emma panicked. "What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Penny asked, glancing down at them. "I'm gonna try and scout over the wall!"

"Be careful!" Norman yelled, his blue eyes wide. "You know that you're not strong like the rest of us!"

"I will!" Penny called. She turned back to her climbing and accidentally put her weight on a loose limb. The ten year old let out a yelp of fright as she fell to the ground. Norman and Emma panicked and ran over to her. "Penny!" they exclaimed, helping her up. "Are you okay?!"

Penny chuckled sheepishly. "Guess I was still shaken up by last night, my brain's pretty fogged..." she moaned a little, rubbing her head and squeezing her eyes tight. Norman only sighed in relief, relieved that the girl wasn't seriously injured.

Emma chuckled, standing to her feet. "All right. Guess it's up to me. Norman, stay with her." The eleven year old turned to the tree and climbed up to the top. Norman and Penny glanced up at Emma when she was done. "So, is something there?"

"Nothing. The wall looks about....two or three meters thick. The top of it is pretty high up."

"I don't here anything, either." Penny added. "Just quiet. Only birds, nothing else."

Norman walked up to the wall and carefully listened. "But there are no guards. You're right, Penny. It's quiet. Emma, what do you think?"

Emma placed a hand on it. "It was built sturdy...I don't see any rough edges or seems, and the surface is smooth."

"So that's problematic..." Penny frowned.

"There's no way someone could climb this..." Emma continued.

Norman glanced at the girls. "Then... should we just give up?"

"That's what it's meant to make us think, but..." Emma grinned at Norman and Penny. "If it was you two or me, climbing this wouldn't be a problem with a rope!"

"A rope! Brilliant!" Penny grinned.

Norman chuckled lightly. "I don't sense any demons. Only moms watching us. So there's no need to be scared."

Emma nodded.

The bell rang.

It took a lot of running, but they managed to get back to the house. Gilda frowned as she glanced among the children. "There's two missing..."

"MOOOM!"

Penny glanced up to see Mark running up, his eyes red from crying. He sniffed as more tears pooled out of his eyes, and Mom's eyes widened and she softly bent down near him. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I'm sorry, I lost Nyla when we were playing in the forest!" Mark wailed. "I looked but I can't find her..."

Mom frowned gently, pulling something out from her pocket and checking it.

Norman narrowed his eyes.

Mom smiled and closed the lid, patting Mark's head. "No need to worry." She stood up and turned to the rest of the siblings. "Everyone, stay here until I get back. I won't be long."

She walked off.

"I'm sorry..." Mark sniffed.

After what seemed forever, Penny finally saw Mom walk up with her little sister in the woman's arms.

"NYLA!" Mark wailed, running up to Mom.

Mom smiled at the children, holding a sleeping Nyla. "She got tired and fell asleep. See? She's perfectly fine."

"I was worried!" Mark smiled in relief, followed by the other kids laughing.

Penny watched the whole thing with wide eyes. "But...how..."

"How did she do that?!" Norman hissed. "It's almost like she knew exactly where Nyla was!"

"Well, actually," Emma said, narrowing her eyes. "Now that you mentioned it, Mom's always been really good at finding us. she found us quickly no matter where we hid."

"Wait." Norma said. "That's not a watch. It's a tracker."

"A tracker?!" Penny gasped, turning to Norman. "What's it mean?!"

Norman turned to her. "It means that we have a chip inside us. She did that on purpose, pulled out her watch, so that she would see. And figure it out. That must be Mom's way of telling us...

Ņ̵̫͕͍̗͕̘̪͎̾̀ơ̸̩̤̄̊̅̈́̃̾̈́̊͋͐̈ ̴͖̥̬̱̯̥͍̰̥͙̪͆͊́ṃ̷̧̼̝̯͍̗̺̊̑ả̸̛͙̭̗͕͈͎̜̩͖͖̮̺͕̗̑̇̏̎̃͗̊͑͝͝ț̸̨̯̰͚͈̘͉̖̭̝̞̦̪̅͋̃͒̀̅͑̊͘t̷̢̢̡̛̮͔̩̤̯̫͉̪͋̿͊͂̋̑̀̀̅͊̚͝͝͝e̶̢͚̯̱̼̦̳͍͕̮̿͗̎̊͗̀̀̂͘͠r̵̖̆̇͑̾̍̈́͌̄͘͘̚ ̸̣̬͓̜̥́̽̌͆̚͘͝w̷̢͙̜͕͎͙̗̼̚͜h̴͖̝͂̅̓̍̀̀͒̎́͑̿̀̀̊͂ó̵̡̠̜͍̪̻̻̻̌̓̋̄̈́͆̌̅͑̀͝ͅ ̸̡̨̬̝̹̯͓̌̀̄͐ý̴̡̻́̂͑͂́̈́͠ǫ̵̱͙̙̳͋́̀̐̊̈̈́̀̀́̕ú̶̪̱̂̔̋̽̏ ̸̫̱̮͋͆̔̍́̃̕͠ắ̸̛͙͇̩̰͎̱͍̊̏̌̈͂ͅr̴̡̛̮̺͓̣̬̰͎̪̫͓̯̩̞̐͑̆̂̓͘ẻ̵͈̖͉̹̰̼͚̉̐́͜͝ͅ,̶͚̫̬̣̞͉̙͖̺͉͉̊̊̍̀̀̈́̽̕ ̸̺͍̗͚͊̂I̴̧͙̱̮̳͊̽̌́͘̚ ̵̧̙͇̬̈́͒͆̏̍͝w̵̢͓̺͓̠̥͚͈͗̃͛̒̒̈́̄̽͆̀͘͝ǫ̵͕̺̜͖̹̳̣̲̖̑̉̓̈̉̍͠͝ṅ̶̢̙͚͕̋̉̋̂̊͂ͅ'̶͉̣͈̟͙͕̳͋͐̄̔̽̂͒́̈́̈̋͘̕t̷̤̘̪̿̑̈͌̓̔͋͂͋̿̽̋͠ ̷̧̳̞̲̗͕̥͉̠̘͍̬̾̍͜ĺ̸̨͇͖̝̤͉̺̖̣͉̙͍͙̘̪͂̄̀̀e̴̡̨̛̗̣͓̯̳̲̪̩̤̭͇̒̇̅̓̅͑̾̌͜͝t̴̢̧͙̙͇͎̾̐̿̄͗́͑͛̓̎̓̄͛̃ ̷̢̢̛̻͕̰̩̳̻̺̠̟̩̋͛̀͜͝y̸̛̫͊̀̃͛̓̐̿͛͂̒͛̕͝͝o̸̳̫̗̼͇̺̎͂͑̈̆̓̐̏̈́̀̒͘̕͝͠u̶̯̼̤̰̭̜̣̗͕̓̿̏̾̆͆͂̿̇̑̄́̚ ̸̽̓̽͆̌͐̓͗̐̕͜͝͠͠e̴̢̡̧̝͔͙̗̞̳̭͚̳̮̞͊̀̉̈͊̒̉̌ş̸̡̛̬͇͈̟͉̹͚̟̦̞͓̱̇́́̌̂̽̔͑̋́͘ͅc̴͈̬͐́̏ả̷̛̹̜͖̾̃̈̓̋p̴̨̗͍̝̙̠̐̏̿̔̂̕e̷̫͋́̇̓.̵̢̢̛̛͖̼̤̱̏́̾͋̇̽̈́̍͗̚͘̚̚"̸̢̖͚͛

The group walked past the three older siblings, and once they were alone, Norman spoke. "So Mom is...."

"Our enemy." Penny and Emma finished