Searching for Paradise

Chapter Eight

I pressed the already blodied shirt to my ear. In my other hand sat the chip we had just finished getting out. It was about the size of a pea, and had three prongs sticking out of it. "Let me see." Collin said pushing away my hand. I let him take the shirt and wipe away at the blood. "Looks like a clean cut. It should heal in a few days." He said putting pressure on the cut. I took the shirt back and continued applying pressure. I looked at Reeve who looked ready to throw up. "Your turn." Cade said watching him. Reeve moved to sit down in front of Collin and Collin started hacking away Reeves hair. "You look kind of badass with no hair." Collin joked as he cut. "Shutup." I stuck my tongue out at him. Cade reheated the blade and handed it back to Collin. "Its not as bad as it looks." I said trying to reassure Reeve. He gulped and nodded. "Ready?" Collin asked positioning the knife. Reeve nodded and the blade touched Reeves skin. He grunted as Collin made the cut. Blood poured from Reeves head as Collin made the cut wider. "I wish I could say this wouldnt hurt, but its gonna hurt like hell." Collin said and dug the blade in deeper. Reeve gasped loudly and I felt horrible for him. I sat down in front of him and took his hand, getting me a dirty look from Collin. Reeve squeezed my hand and shut his eyes tightly. "Alright, I got it." Collin said popping out the small chip. He held it up for Reeve to see but he wasnt paying attention. His face had gone deathly white and he was swaying back and forth. "Reeve?" I said shaking him. He fell sideways onto the ground his eyes still shut. "What happened!" I yelled still shaking him. "Hes lost to much blood. You made the cut too deep." Cade said quickly applying pressure to the wound. "I thought you said you knew what you were doing!" I yelled at Collin. "I said I sort of knew. I dont have control it just happens." He said stitting there calmly. A dark thought crossed over my mind. Did Collin make the cut too deep on purpose? I shook the thought from my head turning my attention back to Reeve. "What do we do?" I said to Cade. "We just have to apply pressure and hope the bleeding stops on its own." He said doubt crossing over his face.

We had got the bleeding to stop, but Reeve was still deathly pale and unconscious. I sighed wiping blood off my hands. I grabbed my pack and pulled a sweater from it and propped up Reeves head carefully. "Ill be right back." Cade said picking up the knife and his pack from the log and then walked into the mass of trees. I laid back against a log and watched as Collin poked the fire. He looked up at me. "What." He said. "Nothing." I said averting my eyes. "You think I did it on purpose didnt you." He said gesturing to Reeve. I shrugged. "Did you?" I asked. "What if I did." Collin said his face serious, his normally blue eyes looked black. We stared at eachother for a long time before Cade came back into the camp sporting two glass jugs filled with water. My throat was suddenly dry and I ached for the water. "We need to boil it before use." He said. "Why." I said. "Radiation. Dont wanna get poisened with it." Cade said sticking the jugs over the fire. "Whats radiation?" I asked confused. "It just makes you really sick. Trust me you dont want it." Cade said. I watched as the water began to bubble slightly. Cade let it sit for a few minutes before removing the jugs and setting them on the ground. "Can we drink it now?" I said my tongue feeling like the Gobi desert. "Gotta let it cool." He said shaking the water. After a few minutes Cade decided it was cool enough to drink. "Here." He said pulling out a small tin cup from his pack. "We need to get fluids into his system." He said gesturing to Reeve. I watched as he took in a shaky breath and nodded filling the cup with water. "Lift his head up so he doesnt choke." Collin said watching us. I glanced at him and propped Reeve up and put the cup to his lips and tried to make him drink but it spilled out the sides of his mouth.  "Please drink." I whispered tears coming to my eyes. It was almost as if he heard me because in the next second he was drinking the water, and the color was returning to his face. His eyes slowly fluttered open and I let out a small laugh. "Hey." He weakly smiled. "Here." I said pouring the rest of the water in his mouth. "What happened?" He asked finishing the water. He tried to sit up but started shaking. "Don't strain yourself. You lost a lot of blood." I said helping him into a sitting position. "Did he get it out?" Cade said reaching to feel behind his ear. His hands came back sticky with blood. "Yeah. He got it." I said shooting Collin a glare. "I don't mean to push you after you went all comatose on us, but we need to move." Cade said snuffing the fire. "Can you walk?" I asked Reeve and he nodded and slowly stood up. He was shaky but could walk. "Here. Drink up. After you do Im gonna go refill them quick." Cade said handing me and Collin each a jug. I gulped it down grateful for the instant relief. "Here." I said handing the rest to Reeve. He took a few big gulps and handed it back to me and I smiled handing Cade the jug. While he went to refill them I started packing up. Reeve tried to help but he was still shaky. "Go sit down." I ordered and he laughed. "Yes mam." He sat down across from Collin who was staring at me. "What." I snapped. He shrugged. I felt a small prickle of fear. If Collin really had made the cut too deep on purpose, why did he do it, and were any of us really safe with him around? I dwelled on it for a few minutes before Cade reappeared. "Ready?" He asked slinging his pack over his shoulder. "Yeah." We all said in unison. I picked up my pack and helped Reeve into a standing position. "We need to move fast." Cade said peering up. "We don't have much daylight left." He said and started walking. We followed closely behind him as he led us through the woods.

"We should reach the end of the woods soon." Cade yelled back at us. "You said that over an hour ago." I snapped. Cade threw me a look. "Sorry," I said. "Im just hungry. And tired." I said my stomach letting out a low rumble. "Speak for yourself." Reeve joked as he staggered behind me. "Do you want to stop?" Cade asked. "No, were fine." Collin said his eyes on Reeve. "Up there." Cade pointed ahead. I looked closer and saw the trees thinned out. "Finally." I said as we reached the end. I looked around. "Theres... Nothing." I said. In front of us was a giant wasteland of hard packed dirt, nothing was growing, and there was no water anywhere that I could see. In the distance we could see the mountains. "This is the hard part. Its a three day walk and we only have the two jugs of water and whatever food we brought." Cade said frowning. "Seems a little impossible." I said a sliver of doubt crossing my mind. Cade threw me a grim smile. "For some, yes." He started walking and we all followed suit. "Why doesn't anything grow here?" I asked observing the ground. "Chemicals in the dirt. All the water is poisoned. Makes it hard for plants to grow." Cade said grimacing. "Then how did the woods grow." I said glancing back at the now disappearing trees. "Its too close to the Union. They wouldn't destroy it because they feared the poison would somehow get inside the walls." Cade said. I glanced up, the sun glaring down harshly. I felt myself start to sweat and get sticky. I wiped my brow and pulled my hair back, well, what was left of it anyways. "Can I have some of that water?" I said my throat getting scratchy from the dirt kicking up. "We need to save it for when we really need it." Cade said as he threw me a sad smile. I nodded. "Here," He said stopping. "Try this." He handed me a small silver rectangle. I took it and peered at it. It gleamed in the sunlight. "What is it?" I asked not sure what to do with it. "Its gum" Cade laughed. He took it and unwrapped the silver part leaving a small pink rectangle. "You chew it." He smiled handing it back to me. I stared at it for a few minutes before slowly putting it in my mouth. A strange flavor exploded in my mouth and I almost moaned. "What is this!" I exclaimed. Cade laughed. "Its called pineapple. Here." He said handing Reeve and Collin a piece before popping one in his mouth. "How come Ive never heard of pineapple?" I asked as my mouth moistened. "Its a fruit and its not around anymore." I was shocked. "Why would anyone want to get rid of this?!" I exclaimed. Cade shrugged. "Maybe you can ask them one day." He said and we continued walking. As I chewed I thought deeply about this.

What other amazing things had the Union gotten rid of?