The Chase [Watty's2018]

Five

Liam

It took a few hours before we could start moving again. While we were waiting, Louis fell back asleep.

"Why do I get the feeling he stayed up?" I asked, looking over at Louis curled in s ball.

"He had to of. He's usually the last one to wake up. But just let it go," Niall said, smiling.

I nodded. Even though I know that people, like Niall, are going to come around, but I'm afraid that if they leave, Louis is going to take it hardly.

Okay, so I may take it hardly. Either way, I don't want Louis to get attached to anyone who won't always be there.

"I think it's safe to move," Niall said.

I looked over at him. He was standing, his hands in his pockets. He was looking around, making sure it would be okay to leave.

"Let's go, then," I said. Instead of waking Louis up, I pulled him onto my back and walked with him that way.

We walked for a while, trying to get out of these woods. With the amount of people that have been in here, there has to be someway out. Louis woke up not to long after, but he didn't say anything. We paused, so Louis started to get off my back. I held onto his legs to let him know he didn't have to, and he stayed.

"What're we doing?" Louis asked tiredly.

"Trying to get out of here."

I felt him nod before he rested his chin on my shoulder.

"I'm guessing that we should just keep going this way. Any other way and we're not making progress," Niall said. I agreed, so we kept walking.

Louis's breaths evened back out after a while of walking. Niall paused and stuck his arm out to stop me.

We listened and heard lots of sticks breaking as voices got louder.

"If he doesn't want to be found, he won't. That's just how it works."

"I don't care! He's valuable and fun to hit. I want him found now!"

I looked over at Niall who was already looking at me.

"Are those the same people from earlier?" Niall asked.

I nodded my head. "Sounds like them at least."

Louis made a whining noise in his sleep. I looked back at the guys.

"Do you think we could pull off being lost in the woods?" Niall asked and I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Maybe if we didn't have on these uniforms," I replied.

Niall sighed. "Yeah, I get that."

Louis's grip got tighter on me and he whined again.

"Shit. I think Louis is having a nightmare. And we can't wake him up from it," I said, looking at Niall.

"What do you mean? Why can't we wake him up?" Niall asked.

I turned around and started heading away from the voices. "It's just never been a good idea. Last time his abilities went out of control just because he freaked out." I bit my lip so that I wouldn't tell Niall I didn't see him for a week after that.

"So what do we do?"

"I'm going to try to pull him out of the dream slowly, that won't freak him out."

We walked for a bit and I set Louis down with Niall's help.

I picked up his head and set it in my lap, running my hand through his hair.

"Lou-Lou," I said gently. "Let's wake up. It's okay, it's just me and Niall. Lou."

His eyes shot open as he sat up, taking jagged breaths.

"Louis, it's okay," I said, moving to grab his arm.

He pulled away and turned to look at me. He looked scared, but as he realized it was me, his guard fell.

He fell into me and started crying.

"D-don't... Leave please."

I looked up at Niall. He looked just as lost as I did.

"I'm not leaving, Louis. I never will. I'm always going to be there if you need me." I rubbed his back softly, resting my head on his.

He kept crying for a few minutes. He pulled away reluctantly and sniffed a few times. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're fine." He never acted like that.

"You left, Niall left, I was alone. You said you weren't coming back for me, and I just... I don't know." He looked up at me and tears filled his eyes again. "You can't leave me."

"I'm not going to leave."

"I'm not going to either," Niall said. "Unless... Unless you want me to."

Niall shifted his weight before Louis stood up and hugged him.

Niall looked shocked and looked to me before wrapping his arms around Louis.

Louis pulled away and smiled. "I'm sorry for freaking out," he said.

"You're fine. Its fine," Niall said, a smile on his lips.

Louis got distracted by something flying by. "What's that?" He asked, pointing to it.

"A butterfly. Kids usually chase them around." He shrugged, but smiled at Louis's enthusiasm.

"Can I chase it?" Louis asked, looking at me.

I nodded. "But I'm following you."

He didn't hesitate before running after it. I followed him, with Niall behind us.

Louis chased it to a small clearing where he paused abruptly.

"What's-" I started to ask, when I saw that Louis was looking at.

It was a kid, about twenty or so, who had bruises and cuts on every visably part of his body. His dark hair was matted to his head, and he had some things on his arms.

Niall looked at me. "Could he be the one those guys were looking for?"

"I think so. What do we do?" I asked.

Louis moved closer to him. "We can't just leave him here. He could die."

I looked over to Niall, who shrugged and moved closer to him. I moved along with him, picking him up while Niall focused on healing him.

As Niall healed him, we moved along to a better place where we wouldn't be seen as easily.

I looked to Niall, who was focused on the kid, while Louis held onto my arm tightly.

"Could he be like us?" Louis asked.

"I think he is," I answered quietly.