TAKEN

~Chapter 2~

Gwen was woken to another scream. She immediately sat upright and pushed the blanket off her. She messily folded them and threw them up onto the shelf. She grabbed her biggest basket and grabbed her key. She unbolted the front door and locked it up as she left. The desert She closed her eyes and said, "I have to get water."
"Talking to yourself, eh?" a familiar voice said.

Gwen opened her eyes and saw it was Jordan, the guy she had met a week ago at the waterhole. He was wearing a dirty white tee and knee-length khaki shorts. There was no doubt about it, he was cute, but she hardly even knew him.

"I was just - I was.." Gwen stuttered. Jordan laughed and said, "Don't worry, I do it too when I'm worried!" You have nothing to worry about, Gwen thought, do you have machines picking off your own gender every night, dreading that it would be you next? Noticing that Gwen wasn't going to say anything back, Jordan said gesturing towards her basket, "Are you going to the waterhole?"

Gwen snapped out of her thoughts, "Um.. yeah. If I can make it before nightfall."
Jordan looked down. "Is that where you live?" He said, pointing to the failure of a house.
"I think so... yeah it is, it is," she replied.
"I didn't knew you lived here!" Jordan replied. "Where are your parents?"
"My mother was Taken and my father ran away after..." a tear trickled down Gwen's cheek, but she quickly wiped it away.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't think it was like that," Jordan said, "I just-"
Gwen put her hands up. "Don't worry, it's fine. Are you going to the waterhole now?"
"Yes, I am, I suppose you are too?"
"Yeah."
"Race you!" Jordan said, and bolted in the direction of the waterhole. No way could Gwen beat Jordan! He had long, muscular legs, and the distance to the waterhole was 10 kilometres! But today, she needed water, so she bolted after Jordan in the incredible heat.

Gwen quickly gained on Jordan. She flicked up the sand as she ran, not knowing she could catch up to such an incredible athlete. Jordan looked behind and almost tripped as he saw how close she was to overlapping him. "Whoa!" He said, and in a sudden burst of energy he sprinted faster. Gwen was already losing her breath. She hadn't had water in two days and the fact that she was trying to sprint 10 kilometres was outrageous. "Wait up!" Gwen yelled out to Jordan. He immediately turned around.
"What's wrong?" He yelled back.
"I'm okay, I'm uh... just a bit - really thirsty,"
"I you want I can run up with both our baskets and fill them up at the waterhole. I'll wait for you while you walk up there and then we can do a slow jog back. Okay?" Jordan said. He ran his hand through his light brown hair.
"Are you sure?" Gwen asked. He nodded, and she gave him her basket. "Thank you," she said.
"You are very welcome, try not to get Taken while you are on your own!" He teased.
Gwen laughed lightly, and Jordan started up his amazing running pace again. Taken. The word rung in her head as the boy bolted ahead. Gwen then realised. She had forgotten about Zara, she was supposed to meet up with her this morning to make sure she was ok. Then she remembered the scream last night that sounded an awful lot like Zara's.

The sun beat down on Gwen's freckled, tanned and weathered skin. Her long, brown hair was thick with sweat and her throat, she didn't even want to go there. Something glistened in the sunlight ahead. It must be the waterhole! Finally! She thought. She jogged the last 500 meters to where Jordan was standing. "I thought you were never gonna come!" He teased. She ignored him and ran straight for the water. She swallowed it in large gulps, but her throat still pleaded for more. She drank so much she thought her stomach would explode. Gwen looked up and realised Jordan was staring at her, but he quickly looked away. There weren't many people at the waterhole today. Why? She
thought.

"I filled up your basket," he said, still not looking at her.
"Thank you!" Gwen said, and grabbed her basket. "I think we better get going," she said, looking up at where the sun was positioned.
"Why?" He said.
"The Takers and the curfew!" Gwen explained.
"Ahh I forgot! Quickly, we should go now!" Jordan broke off into a moderate jogging pace which wasn't hard for Gwen to keep up with.

Within a couple of hours, they arrived at the front of Gwen's house.
"Can we hang tomorrow?" Jordan asked, running his hands through his hair (it was a habit).
"Sure! I would love to!" Gwen replied. Jordan grinned and said, "Meet you back here at... 4 am?" He asked, glancing down at his watch.
"Yeah, ok," Gwen replied, "well, see you then!"
"Bye," he replied. She watched as he walked through the burning sand. Where does he live? she wondered.

She slowly walked inside her hut. It wasn't much cooler than it was outside, but some of the chill air from the night before was still trapped inside. She looked down at her sandy watch and saw that it was only 5 pm. Wow! She thought, I got back early! She leaned the full basket against one of the wooden columns that supported the house. She then walked over to her homemade wooden cupboards and opened the little door. Gwen pulled out a tray of sour berries and sat down on one of the woven rugs on the floor. She picked at them for a while, then just sat, her mind buzzing with questions. Where is Zara? Is she okay? Is it too late to visit her? Will I get Taken? The last question rung in her mind.