The Vagrants

Chapter 11

MARNIE

I was awoken at around 8:30 (I'm guessing) by an angry shriek. I sat up groggily and turned around looking for where the sound had come from. Everything was still blurry from last nights sleep. It was much better than the last one. Thanks to Maikki I got another layer to sleep on. It may have seemed selfish but I gotta get my beauty sleep. I rubbed my eyes to get a clearer view of what was surrounding me and broke out into laughter.

Jefferson, Maikki, and Cameron were running away from what seemed to be a wet Evelyn carrying her water bottle. At first I was kinda disappointed that I missed out on the fun. But then I realised it wasn't your average friendly fun. The three were being chased around and around the wood where the fire used to be. Their situation was unenviable. Cameron threw his head back, laughing, even though we all knew they were going to get it.

Soon enough, we were all laughing. All but Evelyn who's hair was dripping with water and who's clothes were soaked. At once, I understood what had happened. I couldn't blame the girl for being angry because SOMEONE tipped water all over her while she was sleeping.

Evelyn finally caught up and kicked each of their shins hard, causing them to fall to the ground, still laughing anyway. I could tell it really hurt but the expression in Evelyn's face was hilarious. I thought she would've beat them all up, instead she dunked the last of her bottle contents onto their heads. Now I was the only one left giggling.

They all turned to me at once, and I went silent. "Hello, Marnie." I looked at them confused as they walked slowly towards me. I put up my hands in surrender, having no affect on whatever was going on inside their heads. "What are you doing?" I asked. I stood up and backed away slowly. But not fast enough before they all enveloped me in a wet hug.

I gave a loud scream, attempting to push them all away. Attempting.We all erupted in laughter and tipped whatever water was left on each other. Once we were done with this water fight, we collapsed in a circle, just watching the clouds move in by. My mouth went dry, so I reached for my bottle. Which I found empty.

"Oh gosh." I mumbled. They looked at me all confused. "We better find a river fast or we're gonna die of thirst." I told them. Everyone rushed up, packing what we had. Once someone was finished, they helped someone else. We got a move on and trudged on the trail leading to unknown places.

I picked up a long stick I found to help me walk without collapsing in dehydration. We were around 20 metres away from the last camp we had when I heard a roar. " Sssshhh!" Everyone stopped in their tracks and waited for me to continue. "Do you hear that? It's the sound of a raging river."

Jefferson lead the way towards the water, everyone following closely. "Here!" He screamed when he finally found it. I ran my fingers through the clear liquid, soon filling up my bottle. Evelyn came after me, doing the same, then Cameron, then Maikki, then Jefferson.

Cameron crept up behind Maikki, positioned to make a quick movement. "Maikki, watch out!" I hurriedly screamed. But it was too late. She was in the river already. It was nearly a minute and Maikki still hadn't surfaced yet. Panicking, Jefferson leaned in close to the water.

Just then, the soaking wet girl emerged from the blue, suddenly grabbing his arm and yanking him down as well. Jefferson spread his lips wide and let out a very high-pitched scream, only to have water run into his mouth.

Cameron laughed before I shoved him hard, into the river as well. He spat out water and stuck his tongue out at me. I decided to jump in because I know Evelyn wouldn't push me. I landed in it with a big splash, soaking the combatant girl beside me only a little.

"Come on!" We pleaded. Evelyn stood there, arms crossed, left eyebrow raised, and shaking her head. "That's enough water for today." She said, walking off with her bags. We stared after her for a few minutes before throwing water at each other.

Moments later Evelyn came back in different clothes as she was wearing before. Last time she was with us, she was wearing a beige sleeveless top that had a belt around the top of her waist and black leggings. Now she was wearing a white shirt, a brown leather jacket that had pockets all over it, and grey leggings. Her hair was all down apart from a lock of hair that was braided around her head.

"I took the advantage of you being not there to get changed into different clothes." I grabbed onto the edge of the piece of land she was standing on and dragged myself up. I ringed the water out of my hair and clothes then helped everyone else up. They did the same then one at a time, went to get changed.

Cameron was wearing a navy blue T-shirt and dark pants. He carried a jacket around that rattled with the different medical equipment he always had.He had dark sandals. His hair was still the same dirty blonde tangled mess it always was. He threw his bag down and started eating.

Next Maikki came back. She wore a mint green button up shirt that was tucked into her brown skirt that came a couple of centimetres above her knees. She wore green sneakers and white ankle socks on her feet. Her black hair remained braided on the side of her head, tied together by a black hair tie.

Jefferson wore a white collared shirt with a green and yellow sweater vest. He had grey pants that went down to his white running shoes, blocking the sight of his socks. His hair was towel dried and combed over to one side. He had glasses with a big frame that I never knew he had.

They both went to eat while I went up and changed. I rolled my wet clothes up in a pile and chose a loose shirt and slightly ripped (for effect) shorts. The shirt had a camouflage pattern but didn't look too rough. On my feet I had black sandals. I combed down my hair and re-tied the peacock feathers into the ends.Satisfied with my final choice, I went back to them.

I sat down in the circle of eating teens. "Hey," I said, getting all of their attention "we're pretty stylish, you know, for a bunch of people living in the wild."