Six
The man spoke, in an oddly familiar voice as he shouted something outside, "Everything's fine! False alarm, I thought there was a bomb. It was just my imagination. Stress of a new guy I guess."
He was covering for me. He wasn't shooting, and he seemed to be lowering the gun. He was protecting me.
"Jared?"
The figure in black nodded his head and took four huge steps and filled in the space between us. He yanked off his mask and under it was the face of my friend.
"Did you miss me?"
And then he kissed me. Jared Freeman was kissing me.
***
When I woke up the next morning two things occurred to me:
I was not in my bed
A guys arm was over my waist
I could feel the man's breath against my neck, and hear his deep snoring pattern. I stirred in bed a little and the strangers arm pulled me closer to him.
I pulled away quickly and sat up, then winced in pain. I glanced down to see Kyle looking up at me. His eyes were sparkling and his expression read worried.
His eyes seamed to follow me as I stood up, gripping for something to rest my weight on.
"Oh!" I cried out as I feel the fire in my leg racing upwards and spreading through my bloodstream.
Kyle jumps up instantly and is at my side in seconds. He wraps his muscular arms around me as he helps me lower myself to the ground.
Confusion wraps itself around my brain and holds on tight as I look around us. We are sitting in the middle the woods. My back aches and I realize we must have slept on the ground. Kyle's shirt sleeve is ripped at the shoulder and now wrapped tightly around my thigh. Blood covers my flannel boxer shorts, and my jacket is stained with grass.
Then I take note of Kyle. He is also covered in my blood. His brand new sneakers are now coated in mud, and his blonde hair is sticking all out to the sides.
"I was worried about you, so I thought if we slept closer together you would be safer," he explained out loud.
"I don't mind."
Kyle blushes for the second time in twenty-four hours. He is so cute when he's embarrassed.
"I, I'm so sorry," he starts, "I know everything is entirely my fault. I feel horrible. You don't know how bad I feel, I can't even explain it. It's just... I don't know."
I put up my hand to stop him. I do understand where he is coming from. He came for me, and The Marchers came for him. I don't remember a lot though. I just remember my mom and Jared were there too.
I quickly look around the dense woods for any other sign of life. Maybe Jared and my mom were in a different part of the forest. Maybe we split up so we could take turns looking out. Maybe it was our turn.
"They're gone. I saw Kyle leave with them. And your mother was shot. I called the police using your cell phone to tip them off about her body," he says calmly.
Her body.
Kyle said, "her body," because all that was left was a body. There was a body in my house, and it was my mom's body. My mom. My mom was dead.
I screamed.
There was crying then.
Kyle wrapped me in his arms, and I had snot dripping out of my nose. We sat there in the woods for I don't know how long. We just sat there and I cried. I'm sure if you saw the incident from afar you would assume it was just two high school students saying goodbye, because one was moving or going off to college, or both. But, what you wouldn't even think of is that one of them had lost a brother, and the other had lost a friend and her mother. You wouldn't think they were suffering from pain and grieving; not only for themselves but one another. No, that thought wouldn't even cross your mind.
