Taken

Chapter 15

A whimper sounded out and I looked at the rest of our group. Everyone had damp hair, some were shivering from the water. Others- especially the sick were becoming faint and ghostly pale. Then I looked back to where Dana was dragged away. Her dragged feet imprints were still visible on the pebbled rocks next to the river.

I looked back to Beef with a defeated sadness in my eyes. She nodded and seemed to understand my desire and wordlessly reached for Felicity, carrying her on her back once more. I did the same with Hazel, nodding to the rest of the group to follow.

Beef and I shared a tense knowing look to each other briefly as we led the girls with George and his companions away from the river.

The forest brush became thicker the deeper we trailed into it. I spotted barefooted human tracks as well as large animal prints. I recognized them immediately, my paranoia rising.

"How safe from wild animals are you and your... colony?" I asked George as he carried one of our younger girls- the one with the knife wound on her leg.

"Very safe." He smiled gently, his eyes twinkling with honesty and tenderness. "We've never even had an attack before and we've lived here for generations."

I blinked realizing his colony must have been more like an extended family or some sort of Amish group. Possibly even a cult. I saw Beef's fingers twitch as her knuckles turned white. She must have had the same realization as me.

Tension and paranoia reminded me of our surroundings and that gut feeling worsened. Perhaps we weren't as safe as we thought.

The sun was almost completely set when we reached George's colony members. Some of them came out to greet us and help us to their site. Men and women of all ages welcomed us with kindness in their eyes and gentle smiles stretched on their faces. A few small children even ran about with their mothers, eager to catch a glimpse of the large group of strangers before them.

A middle aged woman with graying hair and wrinkles at the eyes came up to me. "Hello, my dear. My name is Teela, I'm George's wife. Why don't I carry that girl for you? You look worn out." She reached out to hold Hazel who flinched back and held onto me tighter.

"It's alright Hazel. I'll be right next to you." I said with a relieved sigh. Teela carried Hazel on her back who held my hand tightly so I was always within her grasp. I noticed several of George's colony members had followed suit and carried some of our injured as well.

A round faced, tall, and burly looking young man with curly dark brown hair ran up to Beef with a goofy smile on his face. "I can carry her for you." He smiled, trying to be helpful. She peered up at him for a moment before continuing to walk without even a regard to the thoughtful boy in front of her. That didn't stop him, however. "You must be tired, let me help." He said as he reached for Felicity. Beef snapped her head back to him and grabbed the collar of his shirt threateningly, hostility scorching in her eyes.

"Don't touch her." She threatened in a low voice. The boy's eyes grew wide for a moment but an even goofier smile overtook it. He nodded and walked beside Beef with a skip in his step, which was amusing to look at because he was several inches taller than her and twice as muscular. Beef pretended not to notice his presence but I could feel her protectiveness for Felicity growing by the second. She tried to widen the distance between them but he followed along anyways like a faithful dog.

The colony site came into view a few minutes later. In a small clearing, a set of small cottages with smoke puffing out of their cobblestone chimneys broke from the trees. Ivy grew up the walls and the delicious smell of warm food cooking made my mouth water.