A Snake's Game

Day 5 - Wild Card

Kay so I gave up on a schedule. Next chapter and so on will come out when it comes out because I already have more than half of it in my drafts.

Tony continued to look in the direction where she left when Echo, Cisco, and Frostee appeared behind him with some dead animals in Echo's hand.

"Where is Layla?"

Tony turned around when Echo began to talk, startled. "Oh. Um, she left."

"She left?"

"She left."

"Wait..." Cisco began, "She's awake?"

Frostee stood quietly, listening outside the conversation between Tony and Echo before quietly speaking up. "Why did she leave? Did we do something wrong?"

Tony and Echo looked at each other for a minute before Cisco spoke up for them. "No. We didn't do anything wrong."

Tony stepped in before Cisco could continue, "She wanted to be alone for a little while. She'll come back!"

"Is that what she told you? She is going to come back?"

"Well...no..." He looked down and picked up the jacket he previously dropped. "No. She wanted to know if you were safe and when I told her you were, she was going to leave."

Frostee looked off into the distance, "Where did she go?"

Tony lifted his head and threw his jacket over his shoulder, "Um...she went deeper into the forest and trees and such."

"Oh...but she's okay, right?"

"Well, we can look for her if you-"

"No." Echo shot him down. "She wanted to leave and went deeper into the forest where the fight was. We can't go back for her. None of us even have weapons-" she looked at Tony, "At least not ones we know how to use."

That reminded him of the bow Layla shoved into his hands moments earlier. "Oh yeah. Layla told me to give to you."

Echo stared at the bow and arrows he tried to give to her and stepped back, "No, no, I can't take that."

"Take it, Echo. It's a 'thank you' for giving her your throwing knives."

Echo hesitantly took the weapon from him and examined it, "I...I didn't expect anything in return...I mean she- well, I didn't- what did she say to- when did she give this to you?"

"Right before she left." He walked over to Frostee and put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry bro, we'll find her."

This time he received no kind of retort or objection from Echo.

She nodded slowly, looking at the arrows, "Yeah, it's been a little bit, she's probably long gone by now. We know she went in deeper so we should split up to find her."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! Let's go find somebody who doesn't want to be found!"

"Tony, you are being a little loud."

"Sorry."

He turned to a whisper and leaned in, "Let's go find somebody who doesn't want to be found!"

Frostee and Cisco whooped in agreement until Echo stopped them and gave them all directions on where to go.

Everything was set, almost. "So what happens if we find her and she doesn't want to come back?"

Echo looked at Frostee without an answer when Tony spoke up for her, "You have to let her go if she doesn't want to stay. The most we can do is try."

Frostee nodded and turned in the direction that Echo pointed him to before he had another question for her, "How do we signal you guys when we find her?"