At All Costs

Forbidden

The girl crept to the closest tent and peered around the side of it. Seeing the group in the near - distance, she noticed her captor arguing with a young boy - a teenager, seemingly around her age. Not long had passed before he flicked his eyes over in her direction, sending her scuttling back to her blanket. What she hadn't noticed, however, was that the group whom were having the debate had looked over to her before quitening down by quite a substantial amount, knowing that she had been watching.

'I'm just saying don't be too harsh on her, she's got a kid with her for Gods' sake. Plus, she looks my age, so she could need help, a - and a place to call home and a group to be with and...' Gabes' voice trailed off as he ran out of things to say in protest.

'Gabe,' reasoned Javi.' We don't know if she can be trusted of if she's one of... them. Until we find out more about her and her backstory, you don't go near her under any circumstances. Clear?'

'But -'

'No Gabe. No ifs', no buts'. You're forbidden from making any kind of contact with her. Understand?' came the firm reply.

The teenage male reluctantly nodded, and slumped off to his tent. Upon reaching it, his eyes glanced over to where AJ and the girl were sat, apparently playing some sort of game. He put his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a deck of playing cards.

'Hmm,' he thought to himself as he put them away again and crawled into his tent.

Time passed, and with its' continual marching it brought darkness. The girl was sat on her own with AJ on the log she'd found, whilst (unsuccessfully) trying to build up some sort of fire with items she had sourced from around the camp.

'What's wrong Gabe? You're picking at your food,' a womans voice asked.

Gabe just looked glum. 'I don't know Kate - I'm just not hungry tonight.'

'Makes a change,' smirked Javi. This look was quickly wiped off of his face when Gabe shot his Uncle an icy glare from across the campfire.

The group sat around their roaring fire for a little while, making conversation and small talk about other matters that weren't all too important. Before too long, Javi went out on the first watch for the night and the others slowly turned in for the night, retiring to their respective tents. All except Gabe. He had said he was going to tend to the fire, but he had other ideas on how to spend his time...

When he was sure that nobody else was about, he snuck over to the still - awake girl and child with the food ration that he hadn't touched, never mind eaten. He didn't care what Javi had said, he was determined to do the right thing.

'Room for one more?' he whispered.

The girl jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and looked up at him. She then broke a small smile and shuffled across.

Gabe held out the food. 'Here, I saw that no - one offered either of you anything to eat, all I can do is apologise for them really. They're quite nice when you get to know them, honest.'

'Are you sure about this? I hear the conversation, you'll get into trouble.'

'I'm absolutely sure, and they won't find out if I can help it. I'm Gabe, by the way.'

'Thank you, you're very kind. Don't worry about apologising - I can't blame them for acting this way towards a stranger,' the girl smiled and took the food gratefully, then split it between herself and AJ. Gabe didn't want to, but couldn't help being captivated by her smile. It made him feel different, something that he hadn't felt before, but he couldn't tell what it was.

'Wow, she's really beautiful when she smiles,' he thought to himself as she ate her share of the meal.

He was about to start talking, when voices broke out of the darkened distance, making both of the teenagers imminently nervous.

'Shit, I have to go,' he said quickly. The girl pulled a sad face.

'I'm sorry, I would stay but Javi would kill me,' he explained.

'Ahh I see. It's fine, you better come back and talk to me at some point before tomorrow night though,' she replied.

'You know I will,' Gabe grinned, and he got up to leave. 'Before I do go though, what's your name? You never said what it was.'

The girl looked surprised. 'Really? Sorry about that Gabe, I'm Clementine.'