Don't Look Back

*Don't Look Back - By Anna Singh*

Zoe

I used to stay in the crowd, afraid to show my true thoughts about how we were living life in Hill Valley. About how they lie to the people that live in Hill Valley. But now the government is trying hard to find me and my friends. Now that I definitely know the truth about the government, I don't care if I stand out anymore. I realized how I feel about the government the day Jade, Kobe, and I fled from the Police when we protested against the President and the Senators. It was the week after I figured out what happened to my cousin, Kyle, he went missing a month ago, to be specific March. I found out what happened to Kyle the day before the protest, that government officials had kidnapped him, they kidnapped Kyle because he was one of the first to show an act of rebellion against the government. As I remembered bits of my past I realized that my parents protected me from carrying on the act of rebellion. But after they died of an attack by the other side (our country was at war at the time), they weren't there to keep me from the government's secrets. Since I was still young when my parents died and I only had my Mom's brother's side of the family left, therefore I went to live with them. There I grew to favor and live up to my 16 year old cousin, Kyle. It was kind of fun working with them on the farm. But now I'm in the streets with Jade and Kobe, my two pals. Jade is Kyle's sister, and Kobe is my best friend, and we were the closest ever. As I look around to see how everyone's doing so far I just study how they look for the first time without a brush or a comb, Jade has long dirty blonde hair with short bangs, and Kobe has light brown hair that is long enough that it covers his ears and bangs that are long enough that it almost covers his eyes. My hair is dark brown and is as usual braided. I reach up and touch the braid on my shoulder, I run my fingers along the braid, and play with the end of it absently. It's uncomfortably silent, besides the fact that it's raining right now and that we are all shivering and wet.

Suddenly I feel like I need to break the silence so I say, "Thank you guys so much for doing this with me.

Kobe gives me a playful smirk and says, "You're welcome, though you could've just said I need your help and we would've came with you right away, instead of acting like a weird crazy person asking their best pals for their help."

"Thanks for the tip, but it's a little too late," I say with a small smile.

Jade rolls her eyes at Kobe then says, "What he's saying is of course we would come with you. Besides Kyle's my brother, your cousin, and Kobe's best friend." We all smile, and it reminds me why we make such a good group, Kobe is the reckless and adventurous one, I'm the brains and brave one, and Jade is the calm and optimistic one. I'm so glad that they came with me to help rescue Kyle.

"We should all rest, we have a long way ahead of us," I say, "Also one of us should stay awake to keep watch, then wake the other person if you're tired. I'll take first watch." We all settle down and take the blankets that we found on the street and cover our heads. I silently watch them fall asleep. It is uncomfortably quiet again, and I'm left with myself. Well, I guess that I can just silently make a plan to find Kyle. But right now it's so hard to keep my eyes open, and I don't want to disturb Kobe or Jade, since they need sleep too. I fight to stay awake, but I'm too exhausted from the run, before I know it I'm asleep before I can even nudge either of them awake.

Kobe

I know that Zoe won't be able to keep her eyes open for an hour, so I let Jade fall asleep, and pretend that I'm asleep and wait for Zoe to fall asleep, and before I know it I feel a little weight go against me I open one eye. There she is leaning slightly against me. Her breathing is deeper so I know that she is probably asleep, but I stay still to make sure that I'm right. After a minute or two I slowly scoot to the side, and with my arm supporting her back I slowly ease her down. I'm surprised at how peaceful she looks in her sleep. She doesn't look as fierce as she did during the protest. I know that Jade and Zoe are tired from our escape from the Police. I'm not that tired from the run because I play soccer. I'm forward (well obviously not anymore since we're running from the government). My eyes drift towards the streets. There is nothing really going on. So I let my mind wander. Even though were all fifteen were still distracted very easily. My mind goes to Kyle, he was like the brother I never had. I remember we would ride horses together. Kyle is a great guy, and I know that he has a reason to rebel against the government. A lot of things changed the year Louie Jackson became president. The schools went down, less jobs, and more riots. Suddenly my mind drifts towards my older sister, Lily, she was killed in a riot. What's bad about it is that she wasn't even a part of it, she was walking home from work and ran into a riot. Police thought that she was with the group of people, and I never saw her again. She was only twenty, and I was twelve. Suddenly a light catches my eye, I study the surroundings of it. The more I look through the rain I realize it is three police cars.I quickly wake up Zoe, then Jade. They rub their eyes. I really wish they had more time to rest. How long was it? An hour? Two?