Survival of the Fittest

Chapter Eleven

I stared in shock and happiness that Liam had spoken and remembered Niall’s name. Everyone else was shocked too but overjoyed. “Ow” Liam said as he sat up and held his head. “Liam, oh my gosh, I’m so happy that you’re okay!” Niall cried. “I’m glad too but can someone tell me what happened?” He asked once more. “You don’t remember?” Harry asked. “No, why does my head hurt and why is it bandaged up?” Liam asked. “You slipped when you were climbing down the cliff and you hit your head” I said. “Oh, well I’m sorry if I caused you guys any pain” He said looking at my legs. “No Liam, don’t be sorry, we’re just happy you’re okay!” I exclaimed. He smiled and rested his head on Niall’s shoulder. “I hope we didn’t lose any time looking for Ivy because of me” He sighed.  “No” Louis said, “We are going to go look for her in the morning” Louis half smiled as he got up and walked over to the tent. “I’m with Lou” Zayn said as he stood up and offered his hand to Kate. “We’re off to bed” Kate smiled as she hopped along with Zayn to their room.

Liam moved in closer to the fire to warm his hands and then said he was going to bed as well. “This is nice” Niall smiled as he wrapped his arms around Rachel. He was sitting behind her and resting his chin on her shoulder while gazing at the fire. Rachel was glowing and blushing at the same time. She was too cute I thought. Harry looked at me and smirked, he then laid his head on my lap and sprawled his body out on the ground. He stared up at me and gazed into my eyes. “Hello sweetie” He said jokingly. “Hello Darling” I joked back. He laughed and then shut his eyes. I twirled my fingers in his hair and looked at the stars. I saw Harry smiling out the corner of my eye and knew he was enjoying this.  “So” Niall said as he looked at Rachel. “So what?” Rachel asked him. This made me think of the conversation I had with Rachel earlier, she must have thought the same thing because she gave me a quick look but then went back to Niall. “Are we..” He paused, “a couple?” Harry opened his eyes and turned towards them seeming very interested. Rachel appeared to be taken off guard but smiled and said “Well I think we are.” Niall smiled and said “Good I was just making sure” He kissed Rachel’s lips and they began to have a tickle fight.

“If they have children, those kids will have one hell of a laugh” Harry said as he looked back up at me. “I totally agree” I laughed. “So, what about us?” Harry questioned. I knew he was referring to us being a couple, but I played dumb and said “What about us?” “Are WE a couple?” He smiled leaning up to kiss me. “I like to believe we are” I said between kisses. We were both lying on the ground now intensely kissing each other. I peered over and saw that Rachel and Niall were doing the same thing. Harry’s lips were soft and inviting, he would sneak a kiss on my neck and cheek at times, but we kept it pretty PG, as did Niall and Rachel.

Harry began yawning and we decided we should go get some sleep for the long day ahead. Niall and Rachel were still going at it when we stood up to leave. Harry being the mischievous person he is, picked up an empty supply bag and shot it their way. “OW! Haz!” Niall said startled. “Go to bed” Harry winked. Rachel just laughed and said “We probably should go get some sleep.” Niall nodded but didn’t seem amused. We all walked back to the tent and escorted ourselves to our rooms.

I was very lazy waking up the next morning and hadn’t moved all night in fear I would irritate my legs. I sat up and looked them over, the swelling of the bites seemed to have gone down and they didn’t itch anymore. I carefully pulled down my pant legs and exited the tent. Everyone was awake and sitting outside except for Kate and Zayn. I heard movement in their tent so I assume they are probably making out or something. I strolled over to Harry and took a seat next to him. “I’m so hungry” Niall whined. “We know Niall, you’ve said it about 15 times already” Louis said sounding annoyed.  “Well can we at least go and find something to eat?” Niall asked. “We’ll pack up first and head out, if we find anything on the way, we’ll stop and eat it” Liam said as he grabbed some supply bags and walked over to the tent. He seemed to be doing a lot better, but I hope he doesn’t over exert himself.

“Stop your dilly dallying and get out here” Liam laughed as he shook the section of the tent that Zayn and Kate were in. “ughhhhh, Liam!” Zayn sighed. I could picture him rolling his eyes inside the tent. Kate unzipped the door and stepped out, her hair was messy but she quickly fixed it. Zayn followed after her looking very tired. “Now let’s take this baby down” Liam said. “That’s our queue” Harry laughed as he and Niall got up to go and help. Kate took a seat next to Rachel and continued to fix her hair. Rachel and I both began to giggle, “Oh, like you guys haven’t done anything” Kate laughed as she finished fiddling with her hair. “Seems like you had a good time this morning” Rachel said as she finished giggling. Kate just gave her a playful smirk. “You guys had your fair share last night” She winked at us. “You saw that?” Rachel and I asked in synch. “No, but now I know I’m not the only one” Kate laughed as she rolled onto her back. “Okay, we have to promise right now, that when we all get out of this, because I know we will, that we will still be friends and always keep in contact” I said putting my hand out. “Promise” Kate and Rachel said as they placed their hands over mine.

“Come on girls” Louis called. I looked over and they were already done. That was fast I thought, but I guess they have gotten used to it now. We skipped over to the boys and helped carry some bags. “Do you know where we’re going Lou?” Harry asked. “Well I have an idea” Louis answered, “When Zayn, Kate and I went out yesterday I saw some footprints in the mud a little further in from where we are now, I assume it was the shadowed figures who took Ivy and it’s the only real evidence we have” He sighed. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her” Liam said placing his hand on Louis’ shoulder. “I hope so” He responded.

We walked the whole morning and still hadn’t reached the footprints Louis’ had spoken about. “We’re getting close” He assured us. Zayn and Kate nodded to let everyone know he was right. My legs began to burn again from all the walking and the rubbing my pant legs were doing so I had to stop. “I’m sorry guys, I need to take a breather, my legs are killing, is there any ointment left?” I asked. “Yeah its right here Harry said, pulling it out of his pocket. “I figured you might need it.” He smiled. I gratefully took the bottle and spread the ointment all over my legs. It soothed them immensely and I stood up. “You going to be okay?” Rachel asked, looking a little worried. “Yeah I’ll be fine, let’s keep going” I assured her.

After a morning of walking we finally reached the footprints. One set was quite large and clearly came from a boy and the other pair was pretty small, most likely from a girl. “How far do the tracks go?” I asked Louis. “Well I guess they go as far as the mud” He said, carefully walking through it. I held onto Harry’s arm as we walked through, it reminded me of the quicksand and I really didn’t want to start sinking. I looked over at Zayn who must have been remembering the quicksand as well because he looked really nervous. “DAMMIT” Louis yelled, “The tracks stop here!” Kate made her way over to Louis and began to calm him down. “Louis, please relax, look” She said pointing to the grass “there are mud tracks leading onto the grass.” Louis blushed looking very embarrassed. “Sorry guys,” He said, “let’s head this way.”

We were all about to step out onto the grass, but the sound of people talking stopped us. “Do you hear that?” Niall whispered. He quietly followed the noise. “Guys, I can see them” He whispered. Louis jumped to Niall’s side and looked in the direction Niall was. “She’s there, Ivy is there!” He shouted. “Loueh! Hush up!” Zayn whispered at him. “I’m going in” Louis said as he ducked behind trees and made his way closer to the figures who took Ivy. We all jumped out of the mud and followed him as quietly as possible. I ducked behind a tree that was directly in front of the two figures who took Ivy. I still didn’t know who they were because their backs were turned. Ivy was still passed out on the ground near them. That’s impossible, I thought, she should have woken up by now. They had to of drugged her so she wouldn’t try to run.

I looked over to the tree opposite me and saw Louis’ head poking out from behind it. He was standing in front of the two figures and could see their faces, where as I could only see their backs. Louis didn’t look like he knew who they were and shifted his eyes over to Ivy. A look of defeat crossed his face when he noticed she was still asleep. I tucked my head back behind my tree and noticed a spider crawling up my leg. Naturally I jumped to shake it off, this wasn’t a good idea. I broke a branch that was on the ground beneath my shoe and created a very loud cracking noise. “Fuck” I said under my breath. Both the figures turned around and I was shocked at whose faces I saw before me.