Escape The Night

Chapter 10

A/D : Sorry for the long, long wait, but since it's almost the end of the school year, I have been studying for finals and such. My music teacher is actually retiring, so that makes me slightly sad, but I only knew him for about a year. 

Carmin hopped down the bus steps, her backpack slung over her shoulder, her eyes inspecting the nearby faces for any sign of Blake. He didn't seemto be anywhere, not with his group of friends, not in the bus and not hanging among the trees. Carmin sighed and sat down on the ground under one of the many trees that the bus had stopped by, for bathroom breaks. She shifted where she sat, her legs going numb slightly. 

She coudn't find Blake in all the confusion going on ; she had to wait until some of the kids calmed down and got organized. Carmin smiled slightly when she saw Merie with a group of little kids, probably about 7 or 8. They were all sitting in a circle, talking quietly among themselves. 

After a moment of consideration, Carmin stood up and dusted off the back of here pants. She grabbed her backpack by one of the straps and slowly, cautiously walked over to the group of kids. Merie spotted her and smiled, a big toothy smile. Carmin smiled back and sat down next to her, her backpack propped in her lap. 

"Ok, guys, this is my almost - best friend and godmother, Carmin," Merie chirped, a happy expression on her delicate face. Carmin made a face at the word "godmother." She didn't even know Merie's family that long, she knew them for about a day or two, but when Merie's parents, Micheal and Sheela Hesting were caught and wounded by the monsters, the last thing they wanted for their beloved daughter was for Carmin always to be by her side. And it had been like that for about a year before they both found a large group of survivors and decided to stay with them, instead of staying solitary and most likely die. 

Carmin shook her head, clearing the oncoming thoughts that were very likel;y to come. Instead she smiled a sheepish smile and waved shyly at the younger children. There were only 3 kids that were Merie's age ; there used to be about 10. But they were all eaten or died of infection. 

The kids smiled and waved back. One of them, a little boy with sandy blond hair, actually got up and hugged Carmin. It was a short hug, but it took Carmin by suprise. The little boy let go and grinned at Carmin, taking his place back in the middle of the group. 

Carmin shook her head, confused but pleased. She glanced sideways at Merie, who to her suprise, was laughing. Carmin frowned at her and shook her head. "So, what happened back on the bus," one of the kids asked. She had ginger hair and a few scattered freckles on her nose and cheeks. Carmin's smile immediately vanished, replaced by a deep scowl. She bit her lip and readjusted her sitting position, so she didn't have to look at any of the childrens' concerned and worried faces. 

Merie gave the ginger a dirty " I hope you end up dead in a ditch" look, then scooted over to sit next to Carmin, her  grimy hands in her lap. The group of kids looked at Carmin expectantly, as if she would actually tell them what really happened. Carmin picked at her nails, her head down and her eyes trained on a tiny pebble near her bruised and battered sneaker. After a moment of complete silence, Merie spoke to the group of kids," She wouldn't be able to tell us anyway.... I mean what would she do, write it down on a piece of paper." 

Carmin knew Merie didn't mean for it to sound so insensitive, she was just trying to get Carmin out of answering, but it stung never the less. Carmin frowned and glanced at Merie, who was silently drawing in the dirt. Carmin tapped her on the shoulder and pointed toward the bus, where kids were still squeezing to get out of. She made a face when Merie shook her head in confusion. Carmin grunted and then slowly started drawing letters in the dry, dusty dirt that was underneath them. 

This is what she wrote, Have you seen Blake. He asked me to talk to him when we were off the bus. Carmin wiped the dirt off on her pants, waiting for Merie to finish reading. Merie had never been a good reader, especially sence she hadn't had very much practice for the passed year. After a moment of decifering the exceedingly complicated message, Merie frowned and shook her head. "I haven't seen him since we were on the bus....... I think he might have been one of the first off the bus," Merie said, her little face scrunched up in concern. 

Carmin blinked and nodded her thanks, then got up and quickly aved goodbye to Merie and her friends. Merie looked sad that her godmother was leaving, bt she waved a goobye anyway. "Ok. Can you come by later, so we can just hang out?"

Carmin nodded with a small smile, then turned and walked back toward the bus, where she was hoping she would find the illusive Blake. 

******

It took Carmin about ten minutes to track down Blake, who was, suprisingly, sitting UNDER a tree, not in it. Of course, Blake made it hard to find him, since the tree was hidden at the very back of the other trees and quite a few shrubs.  "Hey, what took you so long? I was about to go looking for you," Blake said, a playful smile on his face. Carmin grinned, but her heart wasn't in it. She was nervous about what Blake wanted to tell her. She sat dwon next to Blake, her arms folded in front of her and her eyes trained on Blake's easy going face. 

Blake's smiled faded faintly as he looked at Carmin. "Are you ok? You look worried." His face was strained now, as if he was trying desperately to keep smiling. Carmin shook her head and pointed toward where the bus would be if they could see through the trees and bushes. 

Blake nodded, his face completly the opposite of how it was just a second ago. It was serious. Dead serious. 

He sighed and ran a hand roughly through his dirty hair. "Ok. I'll tell you. I think I know why Mrs. Herts exploded."

 

A/N : Sorry, this chapter wasn't very good, but I've mostly been working on new stories. I've also been thinking of a new character for this story. the video will show you what I think he should be like. Please watch it.