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Chapter ??? - No, no, no...

Chapter ??? - No, no, no…

Day 137

 

We sat outside an utterly destroyed hut on the outskirts of the town, just at the point where the cobble turns into grass and the buildings into the huge gnarling trees I spent my first hundred days living within. Flames from a large campfire lit up the small area around us as the sky darkened above. Soon it would be night time.

As we ate our roasted scraps of meat, I reflected.

It’s peaceful now. The same old routine. Half of us go into town to bargain with some of the gold and trinkets I found, finding tools and weapons, and different sorts of foods. The other half, led by me apparently, go into the forest to check respawns and sites where bloody murder happened.

To be honest, most of these guys are saint-like. They have good intentions, a conscience, that kind of sh*t that half of the teens taken here seemed to have lost within a week.

That demon dog scares the hell out of me though. He’s always staring with these creepily human eyes. He’s affectionate and all, and is useful at times, but his bark is horrendous. I practically sh*t myself every time he does. I’d say his bark is worse than his bite, but this crazy hound practically tore a spinner limb from limb.

I’ve gotten to know these guys pretty well over the last month or so. Zyten is a total sci-fi geek. So much so, that it’s almost as if he’s from another planet, and he definitely has the hots for Talin. It’s funny to watch, really, he’s so awkward, although he’s older than me. Talin herself is really nice, I like her a lot.

I haven’t really learned much about Jason, apart from burgers, and Char is crazy about this dragon. I reckon it’s off a fantasy game, but she loves it to bits.

Fire has some strange sh*t in her bag. It’s really strange, because she can fit so much in it, it’s like the bag never ends. Day gets exhausted at night. Like, really, really tired. It’s hard to keep her safe, sometimes, because she practically collapses.

Daggar is very badass. He can fight extremely well. Better than me, and he hasn’t been here nearly as long. It’s quite embarrassing, really. I just tell him where to hit and boom, they’re all dead. Kyeran is… I don’t know, but kind of sticks to the back and doesn’t say much.

Avery is freaking insane, let’s just leave it at that.

The demon girl and Jamie are always fighting, and they’re both crazy. The thing that gets me about Jamie, though, is her purple hair. Sofia had purple hair. She’d always tuck it behind her ear and smile as she did it. I don’t know why I remember it so well, but I do. I can even see the tiny, very faint freckles on her nose and her slightly crooked teeth.

I’ve learned that Avery only recently lost her eyesight, and doesn’t really know how to cope. While I can’t help her emotionally, I can help her physically. I won’t let James happen again, I’ll protect her. I’ll save her, I will.

I understand that the others don’t have the energy or the willpower to protect her. They’re too busy protecting each other and themselves, worrying about their sanity and how they’ll survive. And in Medina and Jamie’s case, fighting with each other. They don’t need to worry. As long as they eat and manage to keep the Spinners away, then they’ll be fine. There’s less of a chance of being massacred by other teens in this huge group.

There’s something that bothers me, though. Sometimes they say things like ‘become like Kieran’. Becoming like me? You mean abandoned for a hundred days? Learning to survive like I have? Or meaning insane? Because I am sane. I am.