A Time To Rise

Chapter 7

I wake up to find Catherine further up the tree swinging jumping from branch to branch. I rub my eyes to rid the sleep that collected there last night and to wipe the tears from my face.

"Uh Catherine, what are you doing?"

"Practicing. Why?"

"You are kind of drawing attention to yourself."

Catherine drops down next to me.

She tilts her head to one side.

"They are coming."

I look at her, feeling the alarm stretch across my face. I start to climb the tree higher, deciding she wasn't joking. I etch across a branch and peer through the leaves at the end. Nothing. The forest is in absolute silence. I sit back on the branch.

"Catherine, get up here."

She climbs up and sits next to me on the branch.

"What?"

"Who is coming? THERE IS NO ONE IN SIGHT"

"Wait."

I start to calm down. Then I see her arm.

"How is your arm?"

"Fine, I think. It has been a week you know."

I pull the vine away from Catherine's arm. She doesn't even wince. I coil the vine beside me and put the stick ontop. I turn my attention to the dressing. Slowly and carefully I pull the leaves away from her skin and prepare for another horrible image. I almost fall of the branch in shock. The wound is just tiny scar.

"Catherine, bend your arm and then lift yourself up to the next tree branch with your right arm only."

She bends it without difficulty and then lifts herself up.

"What was that for?" She asks dropping down next to me again.

"Well, ok. How do I say this. You are aware what a broken arm is right?"

"Ummm, yeah."

"It is not normal for a person to umm......heal a broken arm in under a week or for a deep, infected cut to suddenly be healed with no other problems."

I glance over at Catherine, who looks troubled. A tree branch snaps and jolts me into alert mode. I peer into down the tree. Soldiers, at least 5 battalions. We are so in trouble.

"Move!" I shove Catherine out of the way as a shower of bullets pelts the tree branch. We rush across the tree branch.

"Climb up the tree! Stay close to the trunk, it has the most cover. Don't look down!"

Catherine climbs the tree at an alarming rate, it looks like she is bouncing up it. I climb after her, my water bottle bumping against my hip. A bullet whizzes past my ear, startling me. I look down.

The a group of special op soldiers are at the base of the tree. At least they have too much armour and footwear to climb the tree. Oops. The special op soldiers kick the tree in perfect sync. Steel spikes pop out of the armour around the hands and they start to climb. I am so dumb!

"Catherine, we have to hurry up. There are soldiers climbing the tree too. We have to get off this tree."

"Follow me."

She launches herself off the tree.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

This Chapter is dedicated to Creepella13 for 'motivating' me to get this chapter finally published.

Enjoy!

:)