War Zone ღ✦

19. Night Stalkers

"Xavier, hurry up. You are walking too slowly," Wednesday whisper-shouted at the boy who was trotting behind her.

"This was your plan, Wednesday, not mine!" Xavier huffed back in return.

Wednesday twirled around in a swift movement to face him. "That is why you need to pick up your pace. We will not get there in time if you keep pretending to be a slug."

"Where are we even going?" Xavier asked breathily.

"To the woods. I will share more information when we get there," Wednesday replied.

Xavier sighed and shouted over the howling wind. "Can't you share now?! I mean won't it go quicker if you just tell me what we're doing?!"

"Only if you pick up your pace!" Wednesday shouted back.

"Okay, fine! Let's jog there then!" Xavier thought out loud.

Wednesday glanced over at him as he caught up to her and said, "Finally, you come up with something useful."

"Okay, so what are we doing?" Xavier asked as they jogged together through the woods.

Wednesday glanced over at him again. "We are going to a bonfire near Flame Street."

"Why? That's where all the druggies get together," Xavier muttered.

Wednesday found that comment annoying. "We are not attending the bonfire, Xavier. The founding families of Jericho are holding their next meeting there. We are going to get there before any of them and use the supplies Thing is bringing."

"Where is Thing? Won't he show up after the families if he's still at the school?!" Xavier asked.

Wednesday shook her head as she continued running. "No! He is already at the fire. We are meeting him there and setting up our supplies."

"What did you bring?" Xavier asked.

A small, almost smile flashed upon Wednesday's face. "Security cameras, voice recorders, matches, and the regular breaking-in tools."

"Breaking in?!" Xavier asked with concern.

"Just in case. We may spend more than a few hours stalking the families tonight. We must be aware of the Andersons. Zachary said they are the most outlandish of the five families," Wednesday replied.

...

Once Wednesday and Xavier arrived at the location of the bonfire, they assisted Thing in setting up cameras and voice recorders almost everywhere. They made sure to not make them obvious to the eye.

Then the families started arriving.

First the Camerons, then the Chapmans, the Andersons, the Bensons, and finally, the Stingers.

The Cameron family was small- Mrs. and Mr. Cameron, seventeen-year-old Jeremy, and nine-year-old Mary.

The Chapman family was larger- Mrs. and Mr. Chapman, Mila, Zachary, and eight-year-old twins- Sarah and Eleanor.

The Andersons only had one child- fifteen-year-old Marina.

The Bensons only had one child as well- sixteen-year-old Andrew.

Marina and Andrew were secretly dating and hadn't told their parents about it, even though the rest of the town and most of Nevermore knew.

Finally, there was the Stinger family. They had four children as well- eighteen-year-old Savannah, fourteen-year-old Jemma, nine-year-old Zane, and six-year-old Maren.

"Ah, James! It's wonderful to see you again!" Mr. Anderson shouted, walking over to Mr. Chapman. They hugged and began chatting it up.

Xavier immediately spotted Mila talking to some guy about his age. "Who's that?" He whispered to Wednesday.