Jess' Words

Chapter One

       "Jess, you're on border patrol, cabin 11 of the inside circle!" called out Ziney.
       "Again!" I whispered to Charlotte, as Ziney called out assignments. "I was there last week too!"
       "It just means that you're good there! Don't complain." Charlotte whispered back.
       "Your just happy that you got nurse duty." I said rolling my eyes. "Sorry, didn't mean to ruin a good job for you."
       The crowd dispersed as Ziney called out the last assignment; Willow, on captive guard. We poured from the old summer camp that served as our group's base. Bows pushed against arrows, hands against sides. It was a mad house.

5 Minutes Later

The inner circle was a ring of 12 rotting cabins, circling the main building. The main building was where prisoners were kept, meetings were held, and our make-shift hospital was set up. We slept in the tents out back.
Inside each cabin of the inner circle, an oak column kept a square foot of wood in place on the roof I case the original roof caved. To reach the platform, one climbed the jutting out planks at the corner of the cabin. I was stuck on cabin 11, on that square foot of wood, for the next 24 hours.
I knew nothing was going to happen, we had 778 other patrols on the outer rings, only 13 people in the last 100 days had penetrated us through to the inner circle. Only 0.13 percent of the attackers. [Insert heavy sigh here.] To make it worse, this was the same spot I had been assigned to for the last 24 days. This being the 24th. I hadn't had a need to draw an arrow in forever.

3 Hours Later

I was settled down for a loooooooong night. 21 hours to go! I was carving a flowering vine into my bow when a fire was lit in a sentry tree, just across the river from cabin 10 of the inner circle.
       The sentry trees were a ring of taller trees circling the camp. In them, bunches of sentry posts were built around the trunk. Each one had a torch facing in to the camp. If enemies breached them, they lit it, giving the camp a warning.
I notched an arrow and stood. For several seconds, a battle waged at cabin 10. Then cries of "Retreat! Retreat!" rang out. I relaxed my bow, silently cheering for whoever was at cabin 10, and thanking the sentry who had lit the warning torch.
Crunch. Crunch. I raised my bow as a person stepped into view. It was a boy. Enemy. I aimed my bow, taking in his slumped form. He hadn't seen me yet.
       He had blonde hair, dirty from the fight. His quiver was torn and empty, and he had lost possession of his bow. By the way he walked, I guessed that something had hit him hard on his right shin. And he clutched his shoulder, red staining his shirt.
       He collapsed against a thick tree at the edge of the clearing. His clothes were torn from prickers and briars. He was barefoot. I could take him, no problem. Finally, I'd be responsible for a prisoner. At last.
       Why was I unable to shoot? I could hit his right leg, he wouldn't be able to walk. I could march right down and take him. But I couldn't bring myself to release the arrow. He looked almost... familiar.
The platform creaked beneath my feet. The boy looked up. And then I knew. Knew why he looked familiar. Knew why I couldn't shoot him. Because I did know him. But I hadn't seen him sence the world takeover. The boy I had dreamed of every time I slept.
My friend, who had become even more than a friend. My love. William Lister.
He looked up at me. "Jess?"