As Ethan ran down the road all he could think of was his shattered home life. His drunken father, his depressed mother, and all the kids. He took these runs to get away from it all. The wind in his face, the gravel under foot, it was all so liberating. He knew these hills like the back of his hand. From his rundown house to the pits where the four wheelers played.

  He loved running to the pits, as long as no one was there. The solitude, the serenity, it gave him the best feeling ever. Back at the house it was so loud. Between his three sisters, his mother’s yelling, and his father’s drunken rage he could barely think. At the pits, he was free to think, to ponder his life, his past and his future.

  He was lucky today. Not a sign of a quad to be seen. It was just him, the pits, and peace and quiet. It was times like these he was glad to live in rural West Virginia. Most of the times, however, he longed for the big city. He wanted the money. There was no money to be had in farming. He dreamed of creating the games he loved so much to play. The kind where you were off hunting dragons with your friends, slaying orcs and battling evil mages.

  This is the farthest he had ever been into the pits. The landscape was starting to change, only mildly, the dirt was starting to get green with the low growing grass, the trees were becoming less sparse, and the animal life was returning. The terrain was leveling out, the pits were becoming fewer and far between.

  He continued running, knowing if his father found out he would be grounded, or worse. Today he did not care. Today he was free, for the time being anyway. The trees were getting thick, too thick to continue his fevered pace. As he slowed down, he started noticing that the woods were getting quieter the farther in he went, like the animals had left this part of the forest. As he continued to run in silence, he started hearing familiar but out of place noises. It sounded like chainsaws, hammering, and people yelling.

  Then he saw it. Saw the fence. Why was there a fence out here? No one lived this far out. This was an old mining establishment. A now defunct coal company used to own this property. Last Ethan had heard, the county had taken ownership and was going to auction it off. Why would the county need a fence out here, let alone a fence like this one? It was at least ten feet tall, with barbwire all around the top. This looked like the type of fence you would see at a prison.

  He began following the fence. It led off to the north and south. His house lay to the west. He decided to go north for no other reason than it was towards the road to town. The noises he was hearing was coming from the other side of the fence and they were getting loader the farther he went. He walked for about fifteen minutes when he saw the gate. From where he stood it appeared to be guarded. He could make out four guards. They were all dressed in military garb. Figuring he had pushed his luck as far as he dared, he started the long run back home.

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  All he could think about on the way home was the fence. He could not wait to get home and let Noah, his best friend, know of the fence and the gate. Maybe Noah had some idea about what the fence was there for. Why was the fence so tall and why were there guards at the gate?

  He got back home just after supper was ready. Luckily, his dad was passed-out on the couch. He would never know he had been out so long. His mom had already gone to bed and his oldest sister, Madison, had made dinner. It was not much, Ramen noodles and chicken, which was fine. Ethan loved Ramen noodles.

  As soon as dinner was done Ethan called Noah. “Noah, you won’t believe what I found out past the pits.”

  “There is nothing past the pits. I was just out there two days ago.”

  “How far out did you go? Did you go past the pits? I must’ve run for like thirty minutes after I passed the pits. I ran into a fence. It had to have been at least ten foot or so.”

  “Are you crazy? Your dad will kill you if he finds out you went that far. He gets mad enough when you just go to the pits.”

  “Noah, did you not hear me? There is a giant fence in the middle of the woods, and to top it all off, the gate into the fenced area is guarded. I don’t mean the rent-a-cops at the mall. These guards looked like military.”

  “Why are you pulling my leg like this, Ethan? There is no way there is a heavily guarded, fenced in area, in the woods up here. All that is out there is abandoned coal pits and trees. Why would anybody put a fence around that?”

  “I’m not pulling your leg, man. Come with me and check it out tomorrow. You’ll see”

  “OK, I’ll go. What time do you want to head out?”

  “Well, dad doesn’t leave for work till seven, and I have chores to do after that. How about ten tomorrow morning?”

  “Sounds like a plan. I got to go, mom’s yelling for me.”

  “Ok, Noah. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  As Ethan hung up the phone Madison walked in his room. “Out past the coal pits, huh? I bet dad would love to know that.”

  “You wouldn’t Maddie. You remember what happened last time? I couldn’t sit for a week.”

  Madison just shrugged.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means, maybe I will, maybe I won’t. It all depends on if I can go see this big ole fence you told Noah about.”

  “You were eavesdropping on me!”

  “I sure was. What are you going to do, tell mom and dad?”

  “Okay, what’s it going to take to keep you quiet?”

  “Were you not listening? I want to go with you and Noah tomorrow. You already told me you were going to talk Mom into letting me go with you next time you went running, or did you forget that?”

  “Absolutely not! It’s too dangerous. We don’t even know what’s going on out there. I said that before I knew there was something going on out there. Besides, you couldn’t even sneak up on a blind, deaf man.”

  “That’s fine, I’ll be sure to let dad know where you’ve gone when he gets home tomorrow. Of course, it’ll be an innocent mistake. How does this sound? How was your run today, Ethan? You and Noah sure were gone a long time.” Whenever their father wasn’t drunk Madison could get him to do what she wanted. Madison had always had him wrapped around her little finger.

  Ethan’s face began to turn red; he knew she had him. He had to either take Madison or not go. “Alright, I’ll talk to mom about it. We need to get or story straight though. Mom knows I don't like taking you girls with me.”

  “Ok, I’ll be ready by ten.”