Unwelcomed

Chapter 4

***
"Psh, Kendall?" I heard a hushed tone say.

Too lazy to open my eyes or provide a proper answer, I mumbled a lazy "mhm" and continued to lay in the same position.

"Come on Kendall, it's morning." The voice said, only a bit louder than the last time it spoke.

I unhurriedly sat up and put my hands in front of my eyes, then rubbed them before opening them, only to be greeted by a faded morning light.

Then as my mind became a functioning part of the body, I remembered that me and this boy, whose name is Elliot, found shelter in this cave last night when the sky began to darken.

    "Good god, you are not a sound sleeper." He said, shaking his head while doing so.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, him stifling a laugh in response.

"You kept yelling in your sleep and halfway through the night you were sobbing. I tried to wake you but it didn't suffice." He explained, a shy smile saying "whoops" playing onto his lips.

"Oh," I paused. "Sorry, did I attract any of the, ya know, others?"

"No, but a squirrel did decide to pay a visit a little before you woke up." He smiled and for some reason, so did I.

I stood up quickly and made sure I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulders before walking out of the cave, the light shining much brighter than it was in the alcove.

I blinked multiple times, before turning back to meet eyes with Elliot.

"We've gotta keep moving." I admitted, along a map of the woods in my head.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Which way?" Elliot asked, turning to face each direction we could head.

I reached into my bag and grabbed a notebook with directions to the Air Base, then gripped the compass that sat on the very bottom, pulling it out and examining it. I tried turning, but the arrows didn't move, making the object useless. I placed it back in the bag with a sigh, running my free hand through my tangled hair.

Putting the bag back on my shoulders, I turned back to Elliot with a shy smile.

"Sun rises in the east." He suggested, spinning around to face a large rock.

I gave him a questioning look, but he was too enveloped in staring at the horizon to notice. We sat in silence for a moment before he spoke over his shoulder, "I was up earlier, the sun was rising right over this rock, so this direction," he pointed in front of him, "is East."

I smiled slightly and slowly walked next to him, looking down at my notebook and back up to the horizon.

"Then on we go."

                                ***

   About two hours into our journey, Elliot shoved his arm against my torso, stopping me in my tracks. With his free hand, he pointed to his left, where a drone floated off in the opposite direction.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a tree trunk, shoving me behind him as he took a protective stance.

   Quickly dropping my arm, he slowly turned his head around the edge of the tree, making sure the drone was gone before walking and putting his finger to his lips, signaling for me to stay quiet, while motioning for me to walk his way.

    I took soft steps as I followed him, peering over his shoulder at the thick woods ahead of us.

    "Are you sure this is the right way?" I whispered as he glanced around another tree.

    "Oh come on, don't you trust me?" He softly responded, glancing over his shoulder.

    "Trust is a strong word."

    "So that's a no?" He playfully asked, but my lack of laughing made his expression change.

    "Sorry. But I understand. The world we live in is a place where "trust" must be earned. Let's just hope I get there eventually." He flashed a slight smile, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

    "We'll see," I blatantly said, "but honestly, are we going the right way?"

    "First rule of learning how to trust someone; let them do some of the work. You'll never know if they can be trusted if you don't let them do anything important."

    "Fair enough." I said, placing my hand on his shoulder as a scream echoed in the distance.

    In one quick motion, one of his large hands covered my mouth as his arm wrapped around my torso, pulling me down on top of him in the coverage of a tree.

    "What the hell?" I whisper yelled as he removed his hand.

    "Oh, you're right.  How dare I try to save your life. What about 'are you okay Elliot? Because I know that you got shot and now my selfish ass is directly on your wound but you're obviously not in pain." He said sarcastically, glancing towards his stomach.

    "I can fend for myself."

    "And I believe that. But just because you fight back doesn't mean you won't get hurt. And I sort of owe you." He reasoned as I tried to move off of him.

    After a moment of laying on the ground, I quickly stood up and turned to face Elliot, who was lifting his shirt, examining the thick bandaging on his torso, eyebrows creased together. After staring at the white gauze for a minute, he snatched his shirt back down and pushed up his sleeves, turning away from me.

    "Where to next?" I asked harshly, making sure to clear my hair of leaves.

    "Just stay behind me." He said with a serious expression, looking around at the surrounding woods.

    He started walking and I waited for a second, until he turned and stared at me.

    "You coming?" He exclaimed, taking a few steps backwards.

    "You coming?" I said to myself in a mocking tone.

    "Okay then." He quietly responded, turning around and walking away.

    I stayed behind for a second before rolling my eyes and walking to catch up with him. The problem was; he was long gone.

"Shoot." I mumbled to myself, running my hand through my tangled hair with a sigh, glancing around frantically for a sign of Elliot.

I rushed down the small path he took, but still saw no sign of him; not even a light footprint left in the soft ground. There was nothing; he was gone, meaning I was alone.

Great job, Kendall.

***
(A/N... wow! So it's been a crazy long since I've updated and I'm so sorry for such a delay! Thanks to those of you that decided to stay with this story, even though you've had to wait about a year for a -pretty bad- chapter. But thank you to my lovely readers who support this story with their views, likes, and comments. Love you guys!!)

~Katie