The Mistake

"It was a mistake,"

"I know, but I want to tell them the truth of what happened," a young woman said.

"No, we have to protect them, they must not know the truth," a man's voice replied.

"They have a right to know, this is their lives on the line too. It's just not ours. If it was just ours then it would be fine, but it's not. They deserve the truth,"

"If we tell the truth, where do you think that will leave us? We need to keep everyone together. Not telling them the truth will save their lives, you don't know what out there. I have an inkling of what is out there and it will not be kind to us if we try to leave,"

"It really shouldn't matter. This is our lives; they had no right to not tell us the whole truth. Being stuck here isn't where I want to be, if I was out there with the others and not where I am right now; I can tell you I would want to know the truth. We are sending them to die if we keep them in the dark. Every single person who we selected to at the time they choose they die within a few days after leaving," her raised voice said.

"What do you think it would accomplish if we tell them the truth? You know there would be many who will try and escape and go out there without the protection. If that happens, then our forces will decrease. We are fighting a war not a battle, we need everyone here to fight. If most of them get killed then what?"

"We will figure it out. What happens when the truth comes out. They will be looking for blood. Once they find out that we lied to them."

"Then I will carry that burden,"

"You know I am not going to let you carry the burden yourself,"

"Liz you have to let me do this. How is this if Jordan loses both his parents in one day? I don't want that to happen to him. I can't let you take that risk."

"But,"

"No, but. This is my mistake, so I will not let you carry any of the burdens. You have to be there for our daughter if things go sideway and I die,"

"Jonathan, you know I am not going to let them blame you for this mistake," Liz told him as she bit her bottom lip.

“There’s nothing that can be done right now. What is done is done, we can not go back and change it, no matter how much we want to change it.”

Liz looked out into the distance as far as she could see. The makeshift home they may or may not be leaving soon sat there as if they were saying yes we are here so deal with it. There were many makeshifts homes out there. It was a miracle they were caught yet. The sentinels hadn’t found them yet, she was thankful for that.

The light was getting dimmer, it would soon be time for all the kids to come inside.

The darkness made it harder for the sentinels to find them. When night comes there is a wind storm which is created and the dust or sand or whatever it’s called which was in the air ends up poisoning anything which is outside at night, even the sentinels were protected from it. It was great that the nights were safe for them and they could rest easy.

“Mommy, mommy,” a voice cried out. A small boy hugged her legs. Liz picked up the boy.

“What’s wrong my little prince,”

“Sonya is being mean to me, she said you don’t love me and you are going away because I am bad,”

“Jordan, my sweet little prince, you don’t need to listen to her. Mommy loves you very much. I am not going anywhere. You're not bad. I love you so much,” Liz told the young boy in her arms.

“I love you, mommy,” Jordan said as he hugged his mother.

“I love you too, my little prince,” Liz said as she hugged her son.

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Liz looked around the room, all the adults were there for the meeting. A week has gone by since the mistake was made. All the adults knew of the mistake and wanted to have a meeting. The children were being watched by the teenagers to distract them from what was going on in one of the makeshift home where the adults were holding a meeting.

"This has gone on far enough, I say we leave and find a way out on our own," a voice said.

"I agree with them," another voice rang out.

"No, we should listen to them. They have keep us safe so far," another woman voice called out.

A whistle was heard and everyone stopped talking and looked at Liz since she was the one who whistles.

"I do understand everyone is upset, a mistake was made and the way we got out the first time is no more. It was not meant to be told, but it happened. Everyone makes mistake. We must learn from this, not blame one another. If we do not stick together then we will lose." Liz told them.

There were a few people who nodded their heads in agreement. Others grumbled at what Liz said.

Liz looked at each person in the room; she needed an ally. She did have one, all she needed to do was to let them know she needed help. Her ally would step up and diffuse the situation.

Liz's eyes caught a young man who stood in the back. Liz gave a slight nodded. He gave her a slight nodded back to let her know he understood. The young man cleared his throat, it was then everyone turned to look at him. 

"Everyone I know a mistake was made, but who here has not made a mistake in their life?" the young man started as he looked at everyone in the room. Everyone looked at one another. He then made his way to where Jonathan stood. When he stood beside Jonathan he placed a hand on his shoulder. Jonathan placed a hand on his hand. Their eyes connected and Jonathan gave him a slight nodded in thanks. "Right now, we need to stick together and not fall apart. If any of you guys want to leave you can come see us, we will help you to see if you want to survive on your own out there."

At the end of the day, there were only a few people who wanted to leave. Jonathan, Liz, and the young man helped those who wanted to leave. They wished them the best of luck out there. Not long after, those who left the camp, their bodies were found they had died in the elements.

In the end, mistakes are made, it is the way you deal with what happens afterward that matters.