“No!” I screamed but Jasper kept pulling me. I tried to go with him but fell. I couldn’t see straight but I know I saw Jasper run into the trees. I couldn’t do anything to help myself as I felt strong hands on my arms pulling me away from him. I had tears running down my face I never intended for this to happen. I turned and punched my attacker in the face as hard as I could. My mind was still a blurry mess as I turned to face Maya. Her body lay still on the ground and blood pooled around her head. I ran to her, grabbed her gun and pass, apologized to her and ran after Jasper into the trees.
I ran for ten minutes before I realized I was totally lost. I found the nearest tree, sat down and cried. I had no idea what to do. Maya was dead and Jasper was god knows where and I couldn’t go back home. They would ban me for getting Maya killed. That would piss my mom off and she’d probably try to defend me and get us both shot. They were very strict and unfriendly back home. I was still crying when I felt someone touch my shoulder. I jumped a little and turned to face whatever was there. I didn’t care anymore.
“Allison?” Jasper asked. I didn’t respond but I didn’t need to Jasper was already hugging me. I turned into the embrace and cried harder.
“We can’t go back.” He said.
“I know.” I cried.
“So now what?” he asked.
“I don’t know Jasper.” I replied honestly.
“The cabin?” he suggested.
“No its too close to the camp… They’ll find us…” I started.
“Maybe we could make a life in the city. You know just pretend to be a citizen.” Jasper said.
“That would be awful.” I said.
“I know but we could find out some valuable information to bring back to camp. They would let us back in.” he explained. I nodded slowly absorbing the idea. It might work.
“Or” I said “We can just start a bunch of riots and mess them up until they find us and kill us.”
“You’re crazy Allison. Let’s do it.” He said. I just smiled. We were going to fuck them up or die trying.
We decided to set up camp for the night and go to the city the next day. We needed time to process things.
“I’m sorry about Maya.” Jasper told me.
“Why?” I asked. “You were the one that was in love with her.” I said a little more hostile than expected.
“Allison I didn’t love her. We dated for a few weeks. She broke up with me… Anyways we were all still close friends.” Jasper said.
“Well she loved you.” I told him.
“What?” he asked.
“She told me right after that night you kissed her that she thought she was in love.” I said. I thought she had told him.
“Why did she break up with me then?” he asked.
“She thought you loved somebody else.” I stated. He didn’t ask anything else. I decided to try to sleep. I closed my eyes and instantly fell into dreamland. I saw Maya, Jasper and I down by the lake. Jasper had his arm around her and she was laughing about something. I was laying a few feet away. We had been allowed to visit this lake once a year with our training group. Usually we just went off on our own.
Maya looked gorgeous as always with her brown curly hair pulled into a high ponytail. She had bright green eyes and freckles across her nose. She was the only girl I had ever been close with. She and Jasper dated for six weeks before she broke up with him. She told me it was because he loved somebody else but she wouldn’t tell me who. Just that I should already know.
Jasper looked awkward around her. His blue eyes always seemed so distant when he was with her. His dark brown hair almost seemed black in the sunlight. He was surprisingly tan because they barely let us outside. I had known him since birth and could tell him anything. When I questioned him about loving someone else though he stayed silent.
Then there was me.
