Surviving

Chapter 15

At was nearly evening, and dinner had been prepared. Everybody was just hanging out and almost having a good time, ignoring the crisis going on around us for just a bit.

"Hey, Adira!" Billy came running up to me. "You're still wearing that hat I gave you!"

"Yeah. That okay with you?" I smiled at him.

"Yes, it's okay." He ran off again, going off to a group of kids his age. I was glad to see him playing with some other kids. They hadn't forgotten how to be kids, and were actually getting a chance now.

Travis came up to me, grinning slightly.

"Everything good with you?" he asked.

"Right now everything is great. Probably the best it's been in a while." I returned the smile.

"I'm gonna go get everyone together now. I'll tell them about the food and supplies we got." He took off towards the center of the village.

"Okay." That was odd. We didn't ever really make announcements about food and supplies. We didn't ever really make announcements at all.

Travis fathered everyone together, circling around him. I stood at the edge of the small circle, not really interested in what he was going to say. Roland was soon beside me, crossing his arms.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"This is weird." He left it at that, saying not another word. I didn't ask him about it, knowing he was not in the mood.

"Thanks to shared efforts, we now have a brand new supply of everything we probably need," Travis addressed the crowd. "Anybody who needs new clothes; we now have that. We have canned foods, enough first aid to run our own mini clinic, and even some bottled water. We won't have to drink from the stream for a bit." Some people in the crowd cheered, and others hooted.

I heard a twig snap, and turned my head to look for the source. Roland must have heard it too, because he also seemed to be on edge. I slowly pulled out my dagger, and Roland pulled the machete from his belt.

Suddenly, a figure came into view, holding something up. A rifle. Roland and I spun around in unison, holding up our weapons. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw more people coming, all brandishing similar rifles. The noise of our group died down as the realization of us being surrounded spread. I tried to angle my body to block as many people as I could at once, looking at the guy straight in front of me.

"What do y'all want?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"We want to help you. Just lay down your weapons and come with us," the guy said, not showing any signs of lowering his gun.

"Why?" I asked, not lowering my dagger.

"Because we are trying to be decent human beings. If we want to protect the human race we need to stick together. If you aren't hostile, we have no need for these weapons." The man's voice never faltered, and still there was no sign of them putting the guns down.

"We outnumber you," I said. We almost had thirty people. They appeared to have only fifteen to twenty.

"Yeah but our weapons are better," a voice from beside me argues, and I turned my head to see the source. Travis was standing beside me, holding a handgun just inches from my face. "Give me your knife."

Reluctantly, I handed it to him, glaring with hatred. He then held out his hand to Roland expectantly.

"Be reasonable. Hand it over." Roland gave him the machete, face stone cold.

Travis backed up so he was standing with the man in front of me, lowering his gun.

"I can't believe you," I said.

"I just wanted to be important." Travis shrugged.

"No, you wanted power. You wanted control of people." I ground my teeth together.

"Well, sometimes earning power means you have to do something bold. So, I went to another group and told them about a group of children hiding in the mountains, trying to survive. I was promised I could work with them, be important if I helped them find you." He smiled, and all I felt was loathing.

"You should have asked us. You put everyone here in danger. We were just fine on our own.," I said, taking a step towards him. The man in front of me trained his gun at my head, but I paid him no mind. Travis walked back up to me.

"What? Did you have something else to say to me?" He asked, almost teasing.

I almost didn't, but I decided at that moment it was worth the risk. Before anyone could see it coming, fast enough that nobody could stop me, I slapped Travis. He stumbled back a little, taken by surprise. I couldn't help but smile a bit, and a few people behind me gasped in surprise.

"You b—"

"Don't curse! There are children!" I snapped.

"Screw you!" He narrowed his eyes. "Isn't there something y'all need to do?"

"Listen up kids!" the man in front of me said. "Y'all need to pack everything up. Grab all the bags you can find and pack everything you have in this camp. We'll assign jobs, and work quickly. We want to move out by evening."

The men began assigning jobs while Travis and I glared at each other. All of the kids were disarmed, but the guns seemed to never be lowered.