Two simple choices. Survie or die. However they aren't so simple when the group splits up and the Flesh Eaters are out. Disgusting things that'll kill you for the mere pleasure of it. Dead, decaying, yet alive and out.
Celia is a teenage girl with...
About two days. That's how long it takes to reach the perfect 'base camp' as people have been calling it. It's in the jungle which is obviously handy but looks as if an old city was once here. There is a huge, old, crumbling building in the centre and a few small, cement houses scattered around it. Vines climb up the sides of the buildings and wrap their way around old debris. It has a kind of creepy yet magical feel. We take a vote and everyone but Hayden want to stay here so we get started right away. I find myself ordering people around and basically turning into the reason I came out here. Whatever we want, whenever we want, echoes bitterly in my mind. I find that the Flesh Eater from a few days ago is somehow still alive so I order him be kept locked away in an old, eerie basement to one of the houses. We store the very little food we still have in the upper floor of the house and hold a few extra guns. I tell two of the strongest guys to guard the entrance and, surprisingly, they obey. I guess everyone really does want a leader. I find myself in the centre building examining one of the less ruined rooms. All of them are the same. Large, a window on all of the cement walls (except obviously the one that holds the door or is linked to another room), and most have a wall or two that has been bashed in. Not to mention the countless flights of stairs. "Hey button," Jay says, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. "Hey," I say briskly, trying to concentrate. He suddenly pulls back and gives me an odd look. "What's wrong?" "I'm practically a queen right? Yet I'm not... What am I called, again?" I ask, avoiding his questions. He grins and turns me to face him. "Heda," he suddenly says with perfect certainty. I nod my head slowly. "Heda," I say quietly, rolling the name on my tongue then give a satisfied nod. "Heda." He laughs. His laugh is happy. Too happy for our current situation. "You're really planning on rolling this whole 'ruler' thing out, are you?" He laughs. I shrug. "They said it themselves." I smile, the first real smile in a while. "So now tell me what's wrong?" Then the smile is gone. I give an indifferent shrug. "Besides having close to no food, a raving Flesh Eater in our midst, a control freak who'll probably kill me the first chance he gets, and thirty teenagers that are all fully armed with guns and knives, I'm fine." I give my best I'm-going-crazy smile and he laughs. "We can find some more food and you can always let the Flesh Eater go. You know, you can exile Hayden whenever you want but about the heavily armed teenagers... dunno," he grins. "Aria," some guy breathes, sprinting into the room. He bends over to catch his breath. "Heda," Jay corrects, shooting me an amused glance. I purse my lips to stop myself from laughing while the guy gives Jay an odd look. "Heda," he says with discomfort. "We have some trouble down at the camp. Some guy has started a fight. It's pretty bad," he says with genuine concern in his eyes before turning to leave. "What's your name?" I ask suddenly, surprising Jay and even myself. "Collin," he answers, slightly confused. "Well then, Collin, how would you like a promotion?" I honestly have no idea where all of this is coming from. "I... eh... well... ah..." He stutters. Obviously confused, and I have to admit that it's pretty funny. "To what, exactly?" The idea comes straight to mind. "Head of my... guards. Security. Soldiers. Whatever you want to call them. You can... get extra food for your work. What do you say?" I offer, making it all up as I go. I do want this guy on the security team though. His crystal blue eyes sparkle with longing and I know his mind is made up. "Of course, Heda," he says, obviously stunned by this massive turn of events. The he seems to regain his senses. "As I was saying before, you should really check it out." I nod. "Thanks Collin." He looks like he wants to say more but instead he rushes from the room. I take Jays hand and we go down, down, down, the flights of stairs until we finally make it to the ground. I can hear the yelling and arguing before I can see it. A few houses away is a very scratched Hayden throwing punches at an even more busted up guy. I think his name is Andrew. They have attracted quite a crowd too. And by that, I mean all twenty-eight of them. Only twenty-eight because Jay and I were upstairs. Some of the faces in the crowd are concerned while most are chanting for who they think will win. I stand there for a while before stopping it. Hayden seems to be winning, but not without Hayden getting a few times too. And, frankly, he deserves it. I sigh, getting bored. "Stop this!" I yell and they actually do. Everyone freezes and goes silent. I try to straighten up and show some kind of superiority. "What is this about?" I demand. I feel Jay squeeze my hand but I ignore it and shake him off. I give both guys a death glare but neither step up. "Andrew, what happened?" I demand. I don't ask Hayden because who knows what kind of lie he could come up with. Andrew steps up while his head low and his eyes darting anywhere but me. "It wasn't me," he starts. I roll my eyes and wait for him to continue. "Honest. Hayden here was trying to up and leave with half of Gonplei and the weapons so I stopped him." I look as coldly as I can into his dark brown eyes and find he's telling the truth. You pick up a think or two when your job is to distinguish and kill bad guys. All eyes shoot to Hayden who doesn't look fazed at all. Why is he even here? His sister is that snotty nose Celia. "Why?" I ask with a glare. "I came here not to follow any stupid rules. But we seem to be in the same place as them only with less food," He snaps. His own glare is so full of loathing and hatred that I have to look away. "You can leave at any time you want just leave the people and weapons here." "Why would I do that?" He sneers. This time I hold his glare. "Take him to the basement and keep him there," I order to no one in particular but Collin seems to take the lead, ordering people about. "Andrew, come here," I sigh when Hayden is out of sight. He hesitantly steps forward and I get a good look at him. He has at least four splits on his bottom lip and two on his top. There is a large gash above his eyebrow but the blood seems mostly dried into a dark red and black. A bruise is already forming on the opposite cheek to his eyebrow gash and his forehead. Basically, he looks pretty bashed up. I go to the weapon house, where I can hear Haydens yells from the basement, and grab the medic kit. Luckily I had that Flesh Eater still in a rusty cage we found in all the debris. It's large enough that the monster won't be crammed but can't escape. I take Andrew outside where the sun has already set and the moon is only a few millimetres over the horizon. The moon offers enough light that I can see what I'm doing as I clean, stitch, and bandage his wounds. When I'm done I lead him safely to one of the houses with only one other designated to it. I hand him over to Kayla who appears to have experience. She takes him with a straight face that shows absolutely no emotion and makes me squirm. "Hey, Andrew. You kinda saved my butt out there," I say before he officially leaves. By stopping Hayden he managed to save my ass. I would've lost most of my tribe and weapons if he hadn't stepped in. "What do you say about a promotion? Become a guard thing. Work and Collin and get free food?" He takes the offer gratefully and I leave. I get back to the tenth floor of the huge building where Jay and I decided to stay. He is laying on a bunch of rolled up material and clothes but looks far from comfortable. "What happened out there?" He yawns. "I don't know what you mean," I reply curtly, laying down my own 'bed'. "You went all tough and it was weird. Freaky, freaky actually." I shrug as if it's nothing. "I am a leader," I giggle. "Aria, I'm serious. What was that? Ordering people around and stuff?" "I guess it's my leader instincts or something. I was on my own before you showed up, you know. I can take care of myself and others." I roll over with my back facing him, signifying end of discussion. He sighs and rolls over the same.
I really have become a leader. I stand, facing Hayden, with two 'guards' on either side of me and two on either side of him. Collin and some random guy stand next to me and two random guys stand next to Hayden, all of which hold guns. Some people are fixing the houses while the rest are out looking for food. Jay stands behind me with his judgmental gaze on my back. "So you really thought you could just steal all the guns, my people and my food and get away with it?" I ask again. He still refuses to answer. "You really have nothing to say?" I ask doubtfully. "Nope," he says. I sigh and turn around to Jay where he pretends that he wasn't just staring me down. "Now what?" I ask. He shrugs. "You're the leader. Do whatever you want. Hey, here's an idea! How about we get him executed. Or better yet, we exile him!" He says with mock enthusiasm. I roll my eyes. Execution is a bit much, but exile... I spin around to face Hayden again who looks more and more bored with the second. "I chose exile from the Gonplei tribe," I say. I watch as his eyes, that were bored and dreary a minute ago, widen with shock. "Aria!" Jay gasps, obviously shocked too. "I didn't mean it. We can't possibly-" "We allow you a knife and half a loaf of bread but that is all." Now even I can hear the superiority dripping from my voice. I can feel Collin and the other guy stiffen beside me but they don't object. "You leave at midday." I say coldly. Which gives him approximately an hour. I give a simple nod and a gaping Hayden is marched away. Then Jay bolts up to me. "Midday? You can't possibly think of banishing him!" He hisses. I try to make my face as cold and indifferent as possible and I can feel it working when his eyes search my face for some kind of emotion but find none. "What happened?" He gasps, desperately trying to convince me to somehow keep Hayden when I could be dead in a week. "I can't take any chances." I even manage to make my voice hard. Then Jay's face goes cold, but not indifferent, and it feels like a small jab to the stomach. His features are normally filled with happiness or sadness but now they are empty. Is this really how I look to him? "I don't know who you are, but you're not the person I fell in love with," he sneers, his voice so full of venom that I flinch. Then he turns on his heels and strides the other way. "Ouch," the guy next to me says. "Shut up," I mutter and march to the building.
An hour passes quickly enough and soon I'm a half an hour deeper into the jungle with four guards and Hayden. "Aria, no. Don't don't do this," he begs. "I hereby condemn you, Hayden, to banishment and exile for as long as the Gonplei Tribe thrives," I say, pretending not to hear his please. "Aria, please," he begs as he is tied to the tree. He isn't tied too tightly, plus he has a knife, so he'll be fine. I hope. Collin gives me the good to go and we turn swiftly to leave to leave the trees. "Aria!" Is Haydens last cry. It tears at my heart but I don't show it. I'm a cold hearted bitch. As we walk I realise something. I bend down and scoop up some dark, thick mud type stuff.
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I smear the stuff in a kind of war paint fashion and watch as recognition dawns on their faces. They both hesitantly bend down and scoop the stuff up. They whisper something into each others ear before smearing the thick mud . We are no longer a Tribe. We are the Gonplei Nation. And we will win this war by any means necessary. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello readers! I'm really, really sorry for not updating and the super short chapter! You guys probably don't care, but my Mum is pregnant and has been having some trouble with it. I'm also moving states in a few days so I've been super busy. Also, thank you ArabellaAshton for making Arias war paint, it looks awesome. Really sorry but I'll try to update more often from now on :) Love you guys! Bye and sorry again xxx
