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

Chapter Sixteen

Over the next few days we woke up, got water, found food, ate, drank, and went back to sleep. There was nothing exciting that happened at all. The tree house was mostly quiet, with nothing to talk about except how many people died every day. 

On the fifth day in July, though, we came across the weirdest thing. We were trekking through the woods on our way to get water, when Gwen called us over to a bush. 

"What do you want us to see? We come this way every day it can't be that different," I complained, not wanting to walk any more than I had to. My legs and feet were hurting and I felt like I was on autopilot a lot lately. The three of us had become pretty numb. 

"Shh!" She whispered, making me roll my eyes a bit. I walked towards her and picked up the leaf she was looking at. Carved onto it were the words "No more violence. Fighting should be stopped. Let's be peaceful in the Strip."

My eyes opened wide. Was somebody really trying to rebel against the Strip? I completely agreed with them, but they could die for even thinking about rebelling. There was a huge chance that they were dead already. 

"Flip it over. Does it say anything else?" Brynn asked, probably asking herself all the same questions as me. 

"No, that was it. But I wonder how many people have decided to do that," Gwen answered. 

"There's about twenty of us so far," we heard a voice say from the tree. "We are creating the biggest mob the Strip has ever seen. We don't fight each other, only others."

"So you like fighting?" Brynn complained, giving up on the happiness she probably had planned in her head. 

"Well, we are in the Strip." He winked at us and mouth something that looked like, "Cameras."

Brynn’s mouth formed a small O and she smiled.

"So, do you guys wanna join our force or be killed by our force?" He asked, making the girls flinch. They knew he was acting, but the seriousness in his voice still scared us a little. 

"We'll join!" I jumped in. "Where are we going?"

"You can follow me, c'mon!" He began walking and Gwen and I followed him, but Brynn stopped us. 

"What if its a trick? What if we're walking into our death?" she asked. 

"Then it's better than sitting in that treehouse and watching everyone else die," Gwen answered. 

"What about our stuff in the treehouse? Like the weapons?" Brynn persisted, obviously not trusting in this guy. 

"C'mon, Brynn, it's a mob. They'll have stuff for us," I answered, using—and rather enjoying—the cover up story. 

"You guys coming?" The boy asked, making me and Gwen look at Brynn. 

"Fine," she answered and walked toward the boy, following him into the trees. 

After a half hour of walking, we found ourselves at a cave with mossy curtains covering the entrance. "Here we are!" He called, smiling. "Behind the curtain is a tunnel. This looks like the end of the Strip, but in reality there's another hundred acres behind the cave. Not many people know about it, and this is where we train. We have houses built for everyone and it’s coming along real nice. Anyway, don't be surprised by how much our little space is like civilization. We even have a mayor."

My mouth had dropped in the first sentence. They have a town in the Strip? With a mayor? And civilization? I had to see it for myself. 

"The mayor will want to talk to you in town hall when we get in, to assign you a house and talk about everything to expect," he informed us and then walked into the cave.