Survive Or Die

Chapter 6- Home Sweet Home

Celia's POV

"Are we there yet?" The annoying little twelve year old groans yet again.
"No closer then we were five minutes ago " I mutter under my breath.
"Now?" He drags on behind me. I get that being a kid right now is tough, but really?
"Listen-" I spin around to face him, making him jump a bit.
"Archer," He says meekly, looking at the ground.
"Listen, Archer, I get that it's a boring and a long trip but you're what? Twelve? Start acting like it. If you wanted to be babied you should've gone with Aria." I hiss then turn and keep walking. I hear a few sniffs from behind me but I ignore them.
"That was kind of harsh, don't you think?" Carl says, coming up next to me.
I shake my head. "The only thing harsh was how much he was complaining."
"But he's only a kid-" he starts but I immediately cut him off.
"But I'm only a teenager. He may be a kid but look around? Do you see any other children? No. Because he's made it this far proves that he isn't  'just a kid' anymore. So I'm sorry if I don't have time for complaining, snotty nose, brats." I find my voice has risen higher with frustration. Why should this kid get a free pass when no one else can?
"Maybe try easing up on them. Not everyone has a hard shell like you." I shoot him a glance. His jaw is locked but he is looking straight ahead. Obviously pissed.
"Well maybe they should get one," I mutter.
He grabs my arm, stopping me and spinning me around to face him. "What's your problem? One minute you're actually kinda fun, the next you're... this." He raises an eyebrow in question.
I shake him off. "'This is me. I let myself stray off target and people got killed. You don't have to like it but it's me." I snap, turning away and signalling end of discussion.
He hangs his head and trails behind me.
"It wouldn't hurt to be a bit nicer to Carl and Archer. They're just trying to help," Izzy says, coming up next to me. She almost has to jog to catch up.
I sigh. "How much further should we go?" I ask, looking ahead.
She pulls out a tightly folded map and begins to examine it, twisting it this way and that. "There's a nice little place about... one day from here. It's not that cool but it has a few mini houses, a lake, a-"
"Thanks Izzy. I think we'll stop there. Go spread the word." I say turning my head to the right. She doesn't seem to mind my interruption and grins before blending into the crowd.
A few hours later and everyone is murmuring about the magical safe haven that awaits us. Typical Isabella, exaggerate a story just because she can. "Are we there yet?" Judith yawns from next to me. I grip her tiny hand in my, dirt caked, one.
"Not yet," I sigh and scoop her up. "Have you heard the stories? It's going to be amazing," I say with fake excitement in my hoarse voice. Normally I wouldn't lie to her, she's way too smart for that, but I can't help it. One look in her large, hopeful eyes and I would tell her I bought a Unicorn.
She rests her head on my collarbone. "I'm not stupid, you know." She yawns. A minute later I can feel her soft body rise and fall with sleeping breaths.
We stop briefly and everyone sleeps for about three hours, then we walk again. I'm still carrying Judith although I'm struggling a bit since I'm pretty damn exhausted from lack of sleep. "Want me to carry her?" Evie asks suddenly walking next to me. I almost forgot about her.
"I'll be fine," I lie.
She smiles. "Just give her to me."
I do as Evie says and hesitantly hand Judith over. Immediately it feels like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders. "Thanks," I mumble.
"So, the rumours about this place we're going to... are they true?" She sounds sweet yet demanding, as if she doesn't care for lies.
"I guess. It's only as bad as we make it." I decide to tell her, offering a small smile which she returns. Something about Evelyn makes her instantly likeable.
We travel for the rest of the day, only resting once, with the scorching hot sun beating down on us. We manage to find a small town with only a few survivors which we mostly ignore. There are about six people that ask to come. Once they do, everyone seems to direct them to me. So we gain six people that I didn't catch their names. We raid the vacant houses, picking up some snacks and bottled water. We barely see any Flesh Eaters the whole way to our little 'Safe Haven' as people have started to call it. It's only once we arrive that I realise why. I can already hear their wicked sneers as we grow closer. I force everyone to stop and grab any weapons we have. Judith and Archer are shoved into the centre where they'll be mostly protected. Isabella was right about this place. It is ideal. Everything except the massive coven of Flesh Eaters. The new guys are weaponless except for the daggers and knives a few people donated. Not me. I need mine. I can hear everyones soft murmurs. "How long do you think we'll last?" I hear one person say. "I bet you ten bucks we won't make it past the first forty," someone else whispers. "See you in hell," Someone close to me mutters. I spin around and address them.
"Listen up!" I call and everyone immediately falls silent. "I don't want to hear any more of this death talk! We are survivors, start acting like it!" I call, shooting daggers at anyone looking guilty. "Here's the plan. We split into two groups of eighteen. Judith will be with me while Archer will be on the other group." Everyone starts to sort out who goes where and soon I have two perfect groups. "My group will go left while the other group goes right. Got it?" I call. There are a few unsure 'got it' so I repeat myself. "Got it?!" I say louder and more determined. "This is not how we die!" I get more determined shouts and cheers before we break off. We go charging towards the brain dead monsters with our weapons raised. They let out a perfectly synchronised cry and charge toward us. I make sure to keep Judith hidden but she even ends up killing a few Flesh Eaters herself. I find myself swelling with pride at my seven year old sister. As I'm watching her I'm suddenly shoved to the ground, feeling like the air has been sucked out of my lungs. I quickly recover to find a crazed Flesh Eater pinning me down, spit flying everywhere. I throw a punch at it's face but it doesn't react. It slashes it's claws wildly at my face. Bright red blood starts to flow from a gash above my eyebrow. It rushes into my eye, temporarily blinding me on one side. I raise my knees and throw my feet into its chest with all the force I can muster. I pull myself up but it's on me immediately. It clings onto my back and starts slashing randomly. I feel a sharp stinging in the middle of my back and let out a short cry before diving, back first, onto the ground. I wrangle the Flesh Eater off me and swiftly raise my gun, putting a bullet through its head. I turn and see a girl wrestling with a Flesh Eater on the ground, her knife is just out of reach. I sprint to her side, picking up the knife and stabbing the creature through the back. It lets out a sharp cry and turns to me, freeing the girl. I shoot it quickly in between its eyes and watch as it falls to the ground. I'm then on the ground with a Flesh Eater crawling towards me. It appears to be missing its legs but doesn't seem to mind. I reach for my gun but it's about two meters away. I try to get up but find my leg buckle underneath me. One of them has a giant claw like gash on the calf. Damnit! Now the thing is on top of me, throwing uncoordinated punches in every direction, only a few actually hit. One lands right on my jaw and the other, on my eye. I go to throw one back but suddenly it falls limply. Standing behind it with a bloody dagger stands Judith. She grins and I grin back at her, before she is shoved to the ground roughly by a Flesh Eater. She lets out a small scream and struggles for her dagger. The Flesh Eater doesn't seem as far gone as the others. It keeps mumbling something to its self. "My babies, my babies," it repeats over and over. I pull myself over to my gun and put a bullet straight throw its temple. Judith runs up to me and throws her arms around my neck. Most of the fighting seems to have stopped. "Are you okay?" I ask, my voice dripping with concern as I check her over.
She smiles and rolls her eyes. "I'm fine, you know." Then her face goes serious. "But you're not." She's right. My whole body aches and stings. I have a few cuts on my back and a large gash above my eyebrow. Not to mention my leg.
"Celia!" Izzy exclaims, coming to my side. She has a large scratch on her arm and her shirt is torn in places but other than that she seems fine. "You really took a beating," she mumbles to herself as she examines me.
"Is everyone okay?" I ask, dreading the answer.
She smiles sadly. "Eight are dead and everyone else seems relatively okay. Archer has disappeared, some people said they thought they saw him run away. And five of the new guys are gone," she informs me with a large frown.
She helps me stand so I can get a good look of the place and the retreating Flesh Eaters in the distance. They could've won but they aren't the smartest creatures. They would take flight over fight any day.
Isabella wasn't lying about the lake. It curves around into a large U and runs the same way in both directions before one goes left and the other goes right. There are a few tiny huts scattered around the side of the lake and a lot of debris. Home sweet home, I think bitterly. Most of the group let out big victory cheers and start to populate the small 'town'. Then I get the first real glance at hope. Not false hope, but actual hope. And it's amazing.
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Yello readers!
I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while (have I? I don't know) but here it is.
Also, for most of the people who don't know, Gonplei means fight in Grounder language. (The 100)
I need a name for Celia's group that references something more about survival or whatever so if you have ANY suggestions please tell me!
I realised that I've messed some things up in the way of calculations so... sorry about that but I'm keeping track now so it's all good.
Aria- 30
Celia- 28
Please vote, share and comment so I know what you guys think! I love hearing from you all!
Byebye and I love you all! Please enjoy XD Xxx