until the very end

part 22

I had told Aria I would go to Perdido Beach, so that’s what I did. But since I obviously wasn’t going to do what she thought I was going there for, I had decided I might as well use the opportunity to catch up with a friend I had not seen in weeks.

Carl and I were sitting next to eachother on a low branche of one of the trees on the plaza, our feet dangling down. We watched the children beneath us argue about small, meaningless things, like who ate whose cat. There weren’t a lot of children at the plaza: most of the kids were at the fields, or fishing since the system was actually started to work a little bit due to Albert’s introduction of ‘Berto’s’, the new currency in the FAYZ. I couldn’t believe it took them this long to find out that maybe, an actual currency was needed to motivate the kids to actually give a damn. However, the kids that were there, were all armed in some way. More and more kids were starting to carry small hand guns with them. The situation was getting grimlier with the growing threat of Gaia attacking, the escalating conflict between humans and moofs and the new heights of the brotherly twist between Sam and Caine. Big changes were coming. We all felt it in the air.

I was wearing a hoodie that covered most of my face, but today, I had left the sunglasses for what they were.
“Aren’t you afraid people will recognize you?” Carl cast me a sideways glance.

“As if I care.” I shrugged. “I’m on Gaia’s side and I’m getting better at controlling my shockwaves. I’m practically invincible.” I threw my head back, smiling at the sunbeams stroking my face. “Feels nice, being on top of the world.”
Carl chuckled. “Calm down, Julius Ceasar. I don’t think Caine or Sam will care about any of that when they find out you’re here. In fact, I think they’ll throw you in their dungeon without a second thought.”
“You must be fun at parties, Carl.” I sighed. “I’ve broken out of their ‘dungeon’ once, so if no improvements have been made, I’m not too worried.”
“Didn’t Aria help you with that?”
“She offered me some unnecessary assistance,” I said relunctantly. So much for catching up, the boy was already getting on my nerves.
“How’s your sister?” I asked in an attempt to change the topic.
“She’s doing okay. Same old.” Carl flashed a half smile. “She’s wondering why Brend and Lucie aren’t coming to the fields anymore. She thinks they might have gotten bored of her.”
I sighed.

“I told her that Brend is living with you at Coates now.” He added, a hopeful undertone in his voice: “And that she’s probably welcome to come visit if she wants to.”
“Great.” I rolled my eyes. “Then you can come with her to babysit the both of them, because I don’t have time for this.”
“Are you saying you’ve missed me?” He nudged me playfully.
I looked at him for a couple of seconds. “Carl, sweetheart,” I finally said. “You’ve been very helpful with the gun stuff and all that, my skills have greatly improved when I needed a way to defend myself. So thank you for that. But I’m afraid that won’t be necessary anymore. So neither is this chit-chat.”
The boy started at me, dumbfounded.
I sighed impatiently. “You’re getting on my nerves. That’s what I’m saying. This ‘friendship’ or whatever you’re telling yourself it is? Not going to work.”
He blinked a couple times. Then a grin broke through his round face.
“Are you saying you’re afraid you’re falling for me, Gwen?”
I rolled my eyes. “Bye, Carl.”
With those words, I jumped out of the tree, landing smoothly with bent knees on the ground, despite my high heels.

“You!” A furious growl behind me made my hairs stand on ends.
I spun around, reaching for my knife in one swift movement. “Hope.”
The girl was even more of a mess than usual. She slowly took a few steps towards me, shaking with anger, her hand on the machete in her belt. Big black bags under her squeezed brown eyes made her face look even skinnier.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Gwen?” she hissed.
“Oh, what have I done now?” I crossed my arms, biting back another sarcastic comment, cautiously waiting for her to ellaborate herself as I fervently tried to figure out what this could be about. I heard a loud thud behind me, followed by a stifled curse, as Carl not-so-elegantly launched himself out of the tree as well.