The Revolution

Chapter Twelve

Ok so only one person is really reading/commenting on this book (thankyou Frances ^_^) so I'm just going to update, without waiting for any number of reads.  I apologise in advance for this chapter - it is a little sad :(

Chapter Twelve

As we walked, Zayne kept looking back at me, smiling hopefully.  Every time he did this, I looked the other way - what was wrong with him?  Couldn't he take a hint?  Luckily, Aaron didn't see Zayne looking at me, otherwise I'm sure he would have done something about it - and I doubt it would've gone down very well.  After walking for another two or so hours, Joel stopped, and signalled everyone else to stay still.  He raised a finger to his lips, indicating that we needed to be silent.  We all nodded our heads, and strained to hear whatever Joel had heard.  Not very far away, I could make out the sound of heavy machinery, and when I looked up, I could see a column of smoke rising into the sky, like the kind you see in photographs of old factories.  The ones with multiple chimneys that constantly emitted smoke.  I frowned, how hadn't I heard this before?  It couldn't be very far away, in fact I bet we could see it from here, if it wasn't for the trees and bushes.  Joel went forwards on his own, until he was crouching about ten metres in front of us, peering through the foliage.  We all stayed put, well, all except for Zayne.  He sauntered over to his dad and crouched next to him, making him jump in fright.

"GET BACK OVER THERE!"  Joel hissed, pointing to the group.  Zayne rolled his eyes.

"What's the big-" He began to question Joel, speaking not in a hushed whisper like his father, but in his normal voice - which was quite loud.  Joel smacked his hand over his son's mouth, but the damage had been done.  The sound of multiple feet pounding the earth came towards this way, and Joel jumped up, dragging Zayne with him.  He ran back to us quickly.

"RUN!"  He hissed, taking off in a random direction.  We all followed quickly.  I swung Louisa onto my back, and held Marnie's hand and I forced my feet to run faster.  Aaron and Rachel ran beside us, with Belle clinging onto Aaron's back.  We were nearer the front of the group, so we picked up our pace, encouraging everyone else to do the same.  Someone pushed past me, knocking me off balance, sending me and my sisters to the ground.  I pushed my hands out so I didn't hurt me or my sisters, and quickly ran after the group, who was now quite far ahead of us.  Behind me, the footsteps were louder, and were interspersed with the sounds of gunshots.  I ran faster, slowly getting closer to the group, but the chasers were getting closer to me.  Another gunshot was fired, and I quickly pulled Louisa around me, so she was clinging to my chest, rather than my back where she was an easier target.  Just as I'd done this, a searing pain spread from my hip and up my back.  I'd been hit.  I gritted my teeth, willing my body to ignore the pain and keep going, but it was hard with Louisa hanging onto me.   Someone grabbed my other hand, and dragged me forwards, back to the group.  I looked up too see Aaron looking back down at me, smiling softly.  We made it back to the group, and kept running until Joel decided we had lost them.  When everyone stopped running, the pain in my hip became too much and I collapsed.  Blurry faces leant over me, talking worriedly, before everything went black.

When I woke, I was under the cover of a large tree, and it was slowly getting dark....how long was I out for?

"Charlie?"  A familiar voice came from beside me.  I gently moved my head and saw Aaron sitting next to me, holding my hand tightly.  His face was creased with worry as he gently stroked my cheek, making my skin tingle.  I forced a weak smile and went to sit up, when pain seared in my hip.

"No, don't sit up."  Aaron told me gently. 

"What happened?"  I asked hazily, not quite remembering anything.  Aaron lifted my shirt slightly at the base, to show me a large white bandage, with a bit of blood in the centre.

"You got shot."  He said quietly, almost painfully, as if it hurt him to say it.  I squeezed his hand slightly, to let him know I was OK.  This made him smile slightly, as he helped me sit up properly.  I leant against the tree trunk and sighed deeply.

"Was anyone else hurt?"  I asked, my mind drifting to my sisters.  I was holding Louisa, so there was a god chance that she was hurt.  Oh god I hope she wasn't.  Aaron shook his head slowly.

"No, everyone's fine.  Your sisters were worried about you though."  He said, stroking my hand gently, making it tingle. 

"Where are they?"  I asked weakly.  Aaron looked up at Rachel who was standing a few metres away and nodded.  When he did so, Rachel walked away, and returned about a minute later with my sisters.  Louisa ran straight at me, her arms outstretched, but Aaron caught her before she jumped on me.

"Whoa, easy there, your sister has a sore hip, so you need to be gentle."  He said slowly, and Louisa nodded sheepishly.

"Sorrys."  Aaron put her down and, very gently, Louisa hugged me.  I forced my tired arms around her and hugged her back.  Marnie came and sat next to me, her eyes fixed on my bandage.

"Does it hurt?"  She asked quietly, obviously scared of seeing a proper wound.  I forced a smile and shook my head.

"It did before, but not much now." I lied.  Truth be told, I was in a hell of a lot of pain right now, but I wasn't going to show it in front of my sisters.  After a few minutes, Rachel took the girls away so I could get some sleep.  They were tired too, so I doubt it would be long before they were fast asleep too.  Aaron helped me lie back down, and within a few minutes, I fell asleep in his arms.

I woke up to the sound of a scream, followed by the sound of footsteps and shouting.  The scream sent chills down my back, as I recognised it: a child's scream.  I couldn't tell if it was my sisters, or Belle, or even little Tom.  Aaron jumped up from beside me, told me to stay were I was and ran off in the direction of the scream.  My heart pounded against my chest at the thought that one of the children could be hurt.  What on earth could make them scream like that?  I gripped the tree branch, and forced myself to my feet, as I was overcome by pain and dizziness.  I pushed past this though, and focused on moving my feet to the sound of the screams.  Reluctantly, my feet obeyed and, using trees for support, I walked as fast as I could.  The first people I saw were Rose and Devon: Devon was holding Rose as she cried her heart out.  She glanced up at me and met my gaze, before quivering and breaking down again.  Devon tried to calm her down but to no avail.  I looked around to see that Tom, Rose's two year old son was nowhere to be seen.  Was it his scream that I heard?  I didn't think so, it sounded more like a little girl than a boy.  I kept walking, but Devon shouted after me.

"You shouldn't be up!  You'll mess your hip up!" I ignored her completely, no way was I going back until I knew that my girls were safe.  Even more determined now, I hobbled further into the forest, but the shouts had died down.  Virtually everyone was gone!  Joel, Aaron, Zayne, Rachel, Caoimhe, Louisa, Marnie, Belle, Melissa and Jack were all gone.  I hobbled back to Devon and collapsed on the floor beside her.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, gritting my teeth against the pain in my hip, that had now spread to my legs as well.  Tears welled up in Devon's eyes but she blinked them away. 

"They're gone."  She croaked. 

"ALL OF THEM?  GONE WHERE?!" I asked, exasperated.

"No, some other people came to the camp and they took-" Devon was cut of by Rose's distressed cries, so I left her to calm Rose down.  When I stood up again, Aaron walked back, followed by Zayne, Jack and Caoimhe.  Aaron frowned at me.

"I told you to stay where you were."  He said quietly, pulling me into a gentle hug.  I pushed him away and frowned back.

"What the hell is happening?" I demanded to know.  Aaron sighed, and reluctantly told me.

"The camp was stormed by others, who took the children.  We ran after them, but didn't manage to catch them and somehow got separated from Joel, Melissa and mum," I didn't hear anything else after that.  My legs buckled and I remember being caught by Aaron.  I remember him lying me down gently.  I remember him saying something about getting them back. 

And I remember seeing unfamiliar faces walk into the camp.