Surviving the S.T.R.I.P. (ON HOLD)

Chapter Fourteen

Gwen

Drew and I walked silently through the woods. We had just fetched water for the group and were almost back to the treehouse. We were silent not only because we didn't want to be attacked, but also because we had nothing to talk about. Living with someone for almost a month meant that we're gonna get to know each other pretty well.

Both of us jumped as we heard the familiar sound of fighting just a few feet away. I nodded at Drew and we walked closer and watched from behind a tree. I immediately recognized the big guy named Micah as he slit a girl's neck and quickly finished off some other boy. Even though I was used to the murders now, I still shivered slightly when I heard him laugh to himself.

"Micah!" Drew called and I followed him into the clearing. Micah looked angry and I watched his face soften only slightly when he saw us. "Nice job, dude!" He continued. "That was awesome!

Micah grinned and said, "Thanks. Good for stress relief."

I laughed half heartedly. Murders for stress relief? I know it's good for survival, but this was absolutely sick. I wished that I lived back when people got arrested for murdering, no matter what.

"See you later then?" Micah asked and started to turn away.

"Yeah. Hey, can you bring some food on your way home?" Micah turned back and nodded, making Drew grin. "Sweet. See ya dude!"

We picked up our water bucket and started walking away.

"What do you think about Daniel?" I asked unexpectedly. We hadn't really talked about him much. It seemed like no one in the group cared for him to stay- except for Brynn of course.

"He's nice and all, but let's just say that if he died I wouldn't miss him much," Drew laughed humorlessly.

"What's so funny?" I asked, knowing it wasn't gonna be very funny, but more like Drew complaining. I didn't care, though- it was much better than the silence that we had going on before.

"This was my group to begin with, right?" he asked, making me agree. He and Brynn were the first to meet and find the treehouse. If it weren't for him saving Brynn on the very first day, I'd probably be dead along with Beverly.

"Well then why does Brynn get to pick who gets in our group? When I saved her, I wanted it to just be the two of us. I wanted to kill and I wanted her to have my back. Then you followed your stupid friend up here and right when I was about to kill you, there's a 'no!' coming from none other than Brynn. I mean, now I like it because I can rant about this stuff to you and not have to keep it all in, but-"

"Yeah, I get it, you wish all of us were dead and you were by yourself. No point in expanding," I told him harshly.

"No, that wasn't the point. I just think that I should get a say in who stays with us," he said quietly, realizing that it was, in fact, offensive.

As soon as I caught sight of the treehouse, I sprinted to it and started climbing as fast as I could. I had to get away from the 'I wish I picked if you stayed alive' vibe.

I had to carefully balance the water buckets on a tree branch before I pulled myself along too. The group would probably kill me if I dropped the water. Literally and figuratively.

When I finally climbed to the top, I walked inside to only find Brynn and Daniel. They were making dinner together. How romantic?

"Micah's not back yet?" I asked. I knew that we saw him, but I never thought about why he was there.

"Nope," Brynn answered in a rather shaky tone.

I scrunched up my eyebrows and walked toward them. "Did you know where he was going? What he was doing? Anywhere special?"