Rising Hope

The Woods

I wake up the next morning and Rikki is still asleep. The sun is trying to shine though the sheets and curtains, so I pull the duct tape off. The sky is covered by something I've only seen as a child: a helicarrier.

"Rikki, get up. We have to leave, and we have to leave now." I say, shaking her. She slowly gets up, tiredly rubbing her eyes. I already have two backpacks out, and I'm filling them with clothes, individually wrapped snacks, and water bottles. She helps me pack, realizing my sense of urgency.

"I don't understand. Why are they doing this?" She asks as she zips her bag closed. I see her texting in a group chat. She's using a code, but I know what it means. She's telling them that we need help.

I unlock the door and follow Rikki down the stairwell. We run through the alleyways, and I can hear shouts from the streets. We dive through broken fences and climb over dumpsters.

"We're almost there!" I call to her as we reach a suburb. She nods, and we leave the cityscape behind.

I climb fences enclosing backyards, and soon we reach some woodlands. I take the knife from my pocket, and mark a tree with an arrowhead. I cut the bark out from inside the outline, and pick up some sticks. I pull a string out of something in a trash can.

"This should work." I tell her.

I start carving a bow out of the stick. I tie the string in between rough parts, and start carving a wooden stake for an arrow.

"How did you learn this?" She asks. I look up from my work.

"That fall I swam back here, I met two girls. They taught me how this can be made, and I have kept that idea with me for years. That was twelve years ago, but I still remember how they showed me." I tell her as I wrap some extra string around the middle to make a grip.

I shoot a small pigeon, and start plucking it for it's feathers. I use a larger stick to dig a pit, and I make a fire. I throw the pigeon into the fire, and as it burns, it emits a foul odor. I stomp out the fire and take out a compass that I had taken from that house's recycling bin.

"That way is north, and that's where we need to go." I tell Rikki. She nods as we run. My bow is in one hand, and the compass is in another.

We've been running all day, and I'm getting tired. I open up a little package of cookies, and eat those. We stop after running for a while, and rest. I carve arrows using the feathers from earlier and sticks laying around. Rikki is laying on the ground, her hair in a bun, and she's using her backpack as a pillow.

"Will they help us?" I ask. I know she was texting the others. The mermaids from the pods, and Cleo and Emma.

"I doubt it. They can't risk our extinction." She answers. I stare at the stars. Rikki falls asleep, and I keep staring at the stars.

"Will they come?" I whisper to the stars.

No, but you can stop the Avengers and SHIELD on your own. They seem to answer.

I hear a twig snap nearby. I arm my bow, and walk closer. The arrowhead is a carved stone, and it's attached using tree sap and twine. The feathers are loosely attached in the back of the arrow. When I see who it is, I almost let the arrow fly.

"Woah! Alessa, put the bow down. I would hate to have to arm my own." He says. It was Hawkeye.

"How did you find me?" I ask, "Are you alone?"

"I found you thanks to your friend's phone, and no, I came alone. Unless they followed me, we're alone." He answers.

"She left her phone. Tell me the truth, Barton." I snap.

"Fine. I have been following you for a while. I stopped outside the woods." He answers. I lower my bow. I have my knife in the back pocket of my jeans, but I refuse to use it in combat.

"Now, we need to get you out of here. I bet Cap did something to find you. I bet he has a tracker on my arrows or something." He says as he looks at our camp. I climb the tree where my backpack is hanging, and cut that part of the branch off.

Rikki shoots up, wide awake. I see a jet hover above the camp. The bottom opens. I cut the fabric holding the backpack to the branch and pull the backpack on. Rikki is ready, too.

"Traitor." I hiss as Rikki and I run off. I can hear more footsteps behind us. I reach a dead end, and I can hear the footsteps draw closer.

I arm myself, and as the first soldier is in my sights, I shoot. I take another arrow, and shoot the next. Soon, all of my arrows are gone, and so are the soldiers. All that is left is Hawkeye. I turn to the riverbank, and look for where it ends. The water is too shallow to swim in, so it's more of a creek.

"Jump the creek!" I yell to Rikki. She jumps to the other side, and I keep my eyes on Hawkeye.

"Kid, just stop running. You can't escape." He says. I ignore his words and turn to the creek.

I take two steps backwards, and then I run towards the creek. I jump at the last minute, and land on the other side, breaking into a sprint. I see Rikki in front of me, and a clearing is up ahead.

"Split up!" I call to her, "He can only chase one of us." She runs left, and I run right.

I climb up a nearby tree, and I watch him stop below it. It is just like that movie I watched called The Hunger Games where that girl archer gets cornered by some other tributes and climbs a tree. I bet he will try to climb it and fall, and then shoot some arrows at me.

"Up here, Birdie!" I laugh. He looks up, and I laugh again.

Like I expected, he tries to climb up. As he climbs, the places where he can hold on get smaller and smaller. Soon, he grabs one that's too small and falls. As I thought earlier, he tries to shoot me next. The arrows are lodged near me, and I grab them. Suddenly, I think they are explosive arrows, and I drop them. As night falls, I heard him sit against the tree.

"Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men." I sing, "It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again." I sing it by memory. It's from an old book and play and movie called Les Misérables. The song was called "Do You Hear the People Sing?" and it's one of the more memorable songs in my opinion.

"You know that song?" Hawkeye asks from below.

"Yeah." I answer, "I also know that you and your team want to make us mermaids slaves to SHIELD, so the song is somewhat accurate."

"Huh." He says before leaning against the tree.

"When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes." I sing, "Will you join in our crusade, who will be strong and stand with me? Beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free."

I sing the rest of the song, and then check to see if he's asleep. He is still awake, just listening.

"You have a voice like your sister's, Alessa. It's a shame she died that day. She could have raised you." He says.

I ignore him for a few more hours, and soon, I can hear him snoring. I look down, and he's fast asleep. I slowly climb down, and run. I take out my flashlight, and retrace my steps.

"Rikki? Rikki where are you?" I call into the woods.

"Alessa? Alessa, over here!" She calls, and I see her in the clearing. She points to a river, and we run there.

I can hear arrows whistle past us, and then we step into the deep water. I can feel it run through my shoes, and when our tails appear, we swim.

Call it fear or call it an adrenaline rush, but I don't think I've ever swam faster.