The Saviors

Chapter 4

       February 13

       Today was Friday the thirteenth. Normally, I wouldn't take any special notice of that, but looking back on the luck I had today, it makes sense that people call it unlucky.

       We woke up about eight in the morning. It probably took me and Declan another ten minutes to wake Henry up. You know how he's stubborn? Sadly, he's never had to wake up early before, so he's also stubborn about staying asleep. After about five of those ten minutes, I was already regretting my decision to let him come.

       When we eventually woke him up, we ate our breakfast, which consisted of berries that me and Declan had picked yesterday on our walk. It had been a good opportunity to teach Henry about how to find out if berries were poisonous without eating them and seeing if you dropped dead like he so helpfully suggested.

       We packed up our campsite and hit the trail. I was still concerned that this exploration would be more dangerous than we had previously thought. Declan had brought two guns he had found God knows where, and I had my slingshot and some of the special ammo for it that I had saved in case of emergency, but Henry was unarmed.

       I pulled Declan aside. "Do you think I should have told him to bring a weapon or something?" I asked him.

       "Why?" he responded. "Since we set up camp last night you've been acting like this will be more dangerous than we think. I'm worried about you Isla. What's wrong?"

       I told him about the packs that were left behind and how they had been gone. He swore under his breath.

        "That means that their camp can't be too far from here. Why didn't you tell me before?"

       "I thought I was just being paranoid," I told him. "I never thought too much into it."

       "Is there any other possibly vital information that you didn't tell me?"

       "There is something that you should know," I relented. "But I don't think it's vital."

      "What is it?" he demanded.

       "The boy that I told you about? His name was Hugh. That's not a common name. It can't be a coincidence."

       He paled visibly. "You're right. That can't be a coincidence. I'll show Henry how to work a gun, you keep an eye out for trouble. Deal?"

       I nodded. He took a deep breath and went over to Henry. I saw him take out one of his guns and start gesturing, showing him how it worked. I walked slightly ahead of them, deep in thought about why the boy's name was Hugh. Surely there was a connection that I was missing. I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice when I wandered into a huge clearing filled with people and tents.

       "Isla!" I heard Declan yell and jolted back to reality to see a bullet racing towards me in what seemed like slow motion.

       I braced for the pain I knew that I would feel. But I never felt that pain, because my brother, my brave idiot of a brother, leapt in front of me. I gasped in horror and fell to my knees beside where he shuddered and shook with pain on the ground. There was a deep red welt in his chest, and a red stain was quickly spreading on his shirt. That shirt that had been my father's so many years ago. I forgot all about the fact that another bullet could hit me at any minute, I simply threw my arms around him, feeling like a scared child again for the second time that week.

       "Did I do good sis?" his voice was weak and raspy.

       "You did great Henry," I told him, my voice shaking. "You're going to come home and tell dad how awesome you were. Right?"

       "I think you'll have to tell him."

       "No! You're going to tell him! You're not leaving me! I'm not losing anyone else!"

       "Sorry sis," he told me, and my heart broke.

       "Oh, Henry," I whispered.

       "Goodbye, Iz," he drew his final breath.

        And for the third time that week, I found myself sobbing uncontrollably.  My brother was gone.

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A/N:

Sorry for the sad chapter! Poor Henry. :(

Two chapters to go! Comment what you think will happen. Will they rescue Kazemi? Will they get captured? Find out next chapter!

Thanks for reading,

Heather