The Scream of Tribulation

Chapter 21

-Day 18
(Elliette Morgan)

    I'm on the brink of ripping my stringy hair directly out of my sweaty scalp. The temptation grows stronger every passionate sniff of a flower she smells, every orgasmic breath she takes, and every comment Kandel makes on how "beautiful Mother Nature is!" Her gleeful and naive personality drives me nuts and I will be the first to make sure that us two are never left alone because I may just kill her. Anything to stop that combination of Stevie Nicks and Snow White from breathing, because that seems to be the source of all her annoying ticks.
    "Oh, oh look Elliette! I see a beach! I see a beach! I believe we are here!" She squeaks so passionately. I wince, covering my ears from her annoying voice.
    "You know, I have eyes as well. If you give me two extra seconds, I will also know that there is in fact a beach. At least this means we are at the halfway point." I bitterly add.
    "Oh such a journey this is, it seems to have gone by so fast." She says with her breathy voice, beginning to tread on the beach like a fool, with her plastic bottle sandals.
    "It's been 24 hours!" I add, flabbergasted by her comment. I catch up to her, forced to listen to her painful humming. If I didn't have such great willpower, I'd take this gun and leave one of us headless. By this time, we can finally see the supply drop from a distance, the same place I woke up eight days ago.
        The most atrociously frightening gasp comes from Kandel. I jump from her sudden act of randomness. "Oh look, what a treat! More than two have arrived today! It looks almost like, like six people!" She says entirely too loud.
    "Shit," I mutter, coming to the realization. "Those aren't new people. They're from the other camp. Quick! Into the trees!" I command, dragging her with me into the trees, undetected by them. "Do not say a word!" I hiss to Kandel.
    "Okay!" She says a little to loud, not bothering to make a whisper.
    In a bundle of rage, a sprinkle of saliva showers onto Kandel's neck as I hiss "SHHHH!"
    I gain my sanity, or at least what's left of it around her, and calmly tell Kandel, "You stay right where you are. Don't move, don't talk and don't do anything stupid. I'm going to get a closer look." Without any confirmation, I leave Kandel where she is, and carefully inch my way closer to the beacon of bags and boxes. The closer I get, the better I can detect their faces. I of course don't recognize any of them, but it seems that the most vulnerable and weaponless people is the scrawny African girl, and the towering, hairy man in the white thawb. The girls legs tremor as the man in the thawb puts his hand over her shoulder. I hold back all my will from shooting him right there.
    "Ah yes, she is very close with me, isn't that right?" The man in the thawb says through his scruffy mustache. I see his hand around her shoulder squeeze. The girl whimpers and nods her head as she looks up at him in fear.
    The others with weapons wrap up to them what the scenario is and what all they know, which seems to be the same of what we know. This must be some of the people Garret told me about. The people that we were running from. From what I see, is a young man, with blonde hair, but with a very messy cut of hair, almost as if a five year old had cut his hair. A dark skinned man stands next to him, with short black hair and a strong build. He fits very closely to the man that La'Shawna describes as Jaydon, I wonder if that's the guy. But who knows how many people are at that camp, there could be ten other people that have that same description at the camp. The one that seems to be leading the whole group, is an oddly dressed man. Pale skin, dark clothes, multiple piercings and rings in his septum and his ears, and seems to be fidgeting with a large throwing knife.
    "Well enough chatting, you two seem exhausted. Why don't you both come with us and we will help you find a more... suitable place to settle in." The pale man greets them. They start grabbing an assortment of bags and boxes, and just as they are ready to leave, a voice is heard echoing from the right of me, further down the beach.
    I twist my neck towards the voice to see Kandel with her arms swaying in the wind and her head cocked back. "Greetings fellow tree inhabitants! I welcome you all with a warm hello!" She approaches them with no fear in her eyes.
    "She's from the other camp. This will be great leverage." Adrian says to Kurt, not too loud for Kandel to hear.
    My heart is beating quickly, regretting not strapping that girl to a tree while I was gone. It's my fault she is stuck in this situation now.
    "Kandel, what a treat seeing you here! It's been quite too long." He grabs her hand and kisses it.
    "Hello Adrian, and hello to you as well Jaydon! And a warm hello again to everyone, old and new friends!" She says.
    "Well Kandel it's an honor seeing you here, but so many of us back at our camp miss you and the others dearly. It would be so sweet if you came but to say hello to Eugene, Jannette, Esmarelda and plenty of new people for you to meet."
    "Well, I'm not too big of a fan on Eugenes vibes, but I'd love to come by anyway!" Kandel happily obliges.
    "Wonderful, but by no chance you came here alone correct? Someone must've come with you, yes?" Adrian manipulates Kandel cleverly, even though he doesn't need to, for it doesn't take much to fool that girl.
    My heart goes from a rapid rate, to a sudden stop, unsure of what Kandel will say. Just nothing to keep my cover sealed, please, just lie!
    "Why yes I did! I don't think you have met Elliette, but she's just a title shy, so she's hiding in the trees."
    "Dammit!" I whisper. I never thought that I'd regret this, but I do regret having to run off and leave Kandel, but she left me no choice. An obvious shuffle of sticks, leaves and bushes make a chaotically loud noise from my trail.
    "Tell your friends to stop by our place madam!" Adrian says to me, hopefully not bothering to chase me down. I ran, and I didn't stop running until I reached our trail, and even then I jogged for a few miles. I collapsed, exhausted from the mental and physical endurance from the past two days. I almost cry, but I keep it together enough for the pool of tears in my eyes to stay at bay.

It was exactly just as the sun falling down that I arrived back at our camp. No supplies, one less person rather than two extra, and a great loss in energy. "They took Kandel." Is all I manage to escape my lips before passing out in a deep, black swirl. Relaxation succumbs my body and I'm out cold. All my worries for Kandel and the safety for our camp is gone, and I lay in a blanket of warmth, just like Kandel is all the time.