The Rebels

we need a plan

"Ju!"

My eyes snapped open. Katie was shaking me.

"I'm up," I mutter, climbing out of the hammock clumsily.

"Do you know where Harry is?" asked Sam.

"Should I know?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and going to the ladder.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no," said Sidra.

"He went by himself!" cried Sadie, so close to throwing a full-fledged tantrum.

"I'll kill him," grumbled Melissa.

"I'm half asleep and I have no idea what you're talking about," I said, climbing down the ladder to go to the pond.

"Harry went to save Nicole,"

I almost fell off the last few rungs of the ladder. I looked up to see if they were serious. How was Harry going to break into the most heavily guarded building in the country to save someone who may or may not be alive!?

"Okay, we don't know that. He's probably here somewhere." I said after a pause.

"He isn't," raged Sadie.

"How do you know?" I asked my hands on my hips.

"We've been up since six, unlike you. We looked everywhere," said Melissa, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Wait, what time is it?" I asked, frowning.

"Ten,"

I swore loudly and Sadie winced.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I demanded.

"We figured you needed sleep," shrugged Katie.

"Mission save Nicole just turned into Mission save Harry," grumbled Sidra.

"No need," said Melissa, staring through the thick trees.

"What do you mean?" asked Veronica.

Melissa pointed at the horizon. All heads turned towards that direction, squinting to see what Melissa saw.

A limping blonde figure came into view, covered in blood, bruises, and cuts.

"Harry!" I cried, running forward to help him, Sadie right behind me. We took an arm each and helped him to the makeshift elevator we made a few days ago. We hauled him into a small bed on the treehouse.

"What is wrong with you?" cried Veronica. Harry didn't say anything but only let out a groan and clutched his stomach.

"I told you not to go. I told you," said Sidra, half angry and half scared.

"Maybe let the guy breath before you interrogate him?" snapped Katie, noticing how beat up Harry was.

His leg which twisted yesterday hadn't healed and it was swollen. There was a huge cut on the side of his head and many bruises on his arms. Noticing his wet shirt, Sam pulled it off despite Harry's protest. A gash on his stomach stared at us.

"Oh my – "I whispered.

"Okay, Sidra and Sam stay with me. The rest of you, give us some space. Julie, you can get us some water from the pond" ordered Veronica. We obeyed instantly. Katie and I both went to the pond with two large buckets. We walked together in silence, neither of us willing to talk about what we just witnessed.

We reached the pond. It wasn't exactly a pond. Just a small pool of water which is suitable for washing and stuff.

"Did he really go to save Nicole?" asked Katie as I bent to fill the bucket.