Surviving

Chapter 17

We were assigned jobs, and I heard Hayden and Ingrid get assigned to weapon packing. Ingrid was closest, so I went up to her with my plan.

"Ingrid," I whispered, only loud enough for the two of us to hear. I barely moved my lips, not wanting to give anyone else any idea of what I was saying. "We need to try to fight back."

"How do we do that? We're all disarmed." I could hear the fear in her quaking voice. "Everyone except Travis."

"When you're packing the weapons hide three guns and ammo somewhere you'll remember. When we start moving we'll double back and get them and fight back. Tell Hayden, too." After she nodded, I walked away, trying not to draw attention to myself.

"You," one of the guys directing pointed at me. "Go put together clothes."

I narrowed my eyes at him and went towards the hut where we stored clothing. There were already several bags waiting to be filled. I  grabbed and and began folding clothes, neatly placing them inside.

I heard footsteps and spun around to face whoever was approaching. To my disgust, it was Travis.

"What do you want?" I balled my fists.

"Well, look who's sour. What I did was for the best." He smiled slightly, fueling my anger.

"The best for you. You just wanted power."

"And now I have it. So you should get over it."

"You aren't in charge of me." I raised my fist, about to let it fly. He grabbed my wrist. Hard.

"Maybe you should listen to my. I'm pretty sure I'm in charge of you now." His smile got wider, and he let me go.

"Go away, traitor."

"One day you'll see that what I did was for the best. And then you'll owe me." He turned and left, which was probably a good thing.

I finished packing up all of the clothes, filling up six bags, and brought them to the center of the village. I threw the bags to the ground and crossed my arms, looking angrily at the men holding the guns. Other people were finishing, also bringing out bags filled with supplies.

Within a few hours everything had been packed together. I looked towards Hayden and Ingrid, and Ingrid gave me a slight nod.

"Alright everybody, listen up!" one of the men holding a gun called out. "Everybody get a bag and let's go. We're moving out!"

Somehow, Billy fought through the crowd to me and grabbed my hand, trembling slightly. I helped him find a lighter bag to carry and I grabbed a heavier one. We followed the rest of our group into the woods.