Us Against The World

Chapter 39

"There they are!" one of the soldiers yell and Jexton and I freeze. They run to us and I once again go into trance. "Farrah, come on!" Jexton's muffled voice echoes. I turn my head to him and he yanks me up from the ground. "Come on!" he yells again, his voice clears up and I'm pulled back into reality.

I follow Jexton away from the men accelerating toward us. Once again, we have made the mistake of hiding somewhere too obvious. We should have ran away instead of hiding and waiting for them to find us again: metaphorically speaking.

"Here!" a young girl yells. At first I believe it's a figment of my imagination, but then I see her. "Come with me!" she yells. With the girl is a boy who looks just a lot younger than her. The two split up and the boy calls for Jexton. "Follow me!" the boy says and Jexton and I look at each other. We turn around and find the Consilium soldiers close behind. "Come on!" the girl yells at me again. "We'll meet up!"

None of us have time to object against the orders of the two strangers, so we have no choice but to split up. Neither Jexton nor I were thinking about if these kids are up to something and why we're agreeing to split up again, but she said we'd meet up, and I'm trusting her on that because we have no other choice.

"This way!" the girl turns and runs into the wooded area of the small neighborhood and I follow her. She looks to be younger than me, but I cannot tell. 

We stop running and she looks around for any sign of the soldiers behind us. "Up here." she says quietly and points up at a tree. I look up and find a crooked tree house being held by the long, thick branches of the old tree. "Hurry!" she urges and I find myself climbing the tree before us.

When I enter through the small door of the tree house, the girl squeezes in behind me. We sit cross legged on the wooden floor across from one another, breathing heavily from the marathon we had just run. I take this time to admire her looks.

The girl in front of me is young; maybe my age or a little younger, and has dark skin. Her hair is short and crimped, her eyes narrow and face clear. She smiles a beautiful white smile and I return the kind gesture. 

"I'm Renken. But you can just call me Ren for short." she says and I nod. "Farrah." I say and she smiles again and holds her hand out to me. Just as I raise my arm, Jexton and the boy who had been with Ren pile in one after the other. 

Jexton slumps himself against the wooded wall and the other boy plops himself down next to Ren. 

The boys breathe heavily for a few moments before one decides to speak. "Why are they after you?" he breathes and looks between Jexton and I. "Don't," Ren warns the boy and nudges him. "I think they'll talk when they're ready."

"What's your names?" the boy asks, looking at me first. I glance up at Jexton and he gives me a look of warning. I blink multiple times and lick my lips before answering. It's not like I haven't been screwed over before and if these kids were with the Consilium, they wouldn't have helped us get away from them. 

That's how I see it at least. 

But then again, that's what Jexton did at first. I push the sensitive thoughts to the back of my mind, and try my hardest to believe that these kids only have good intentions for us.

"Farrah," I say and press my lips into a straight line. I look between the boy, Ren and Jexton before keeping my focus on the boy only. "and you are?" "Halten." the boys says and I nod. "Cool name." I compliment and he attempts a smile but fails.

"And who are you?" Ren turns around and looks at Jexton. Halten follows her and I can feel the pressure Jexton is being given. "That's Jexton." I answer when he stays silent for almost too long. The two turn around again and look at me. 

"So, where did you guys come from? I mean, it was just out of the blue. It's like we were given guardian angels." I say and Ren laughs. "We live in this neighborhood." she says and Jexton's eyes widen and given his facial expression, he is mentally telling me 'I told you.' 

"Where are you guys from? I've never seen you around here before." Ren says and I try to keep my eyes off of Jexton. As his facial expression changes I can tell he's only trying to make me regret my past decisions, and if I say something wrong he'll become angry.

"I'm from Tresole. Down the block." I point at the wall hoping that it is the right direction to my now burned down house. Ren and Halten nod. "We know where Tresole is," Halten says. "Yeah, we used to go there for school." Ren says and I nod and smile. "I see." 

"So what are you guys doing here then? Are you related?" Halten asks and I shake my head. "No, Jexton and I aren't related in any way, shape or form." I answer the last question. What Jexton and I are doing here is something I'm not sure I'm comfortable with answering right now. Especially with strangers. "We're brother and sister." Ren says and Halten scrunches his nose at her. I laugh and begin to wonder what having a decent sibling would be like. I guess Jexton is the closest thing to closure I will ever get.

"We didn't think anyone lived here." Jexton finally speaks up and everyone turns to him. "Nobody does." Ren says and Jexton tilts his head in confusion. "But you just said you..." 

"We live here by ourselves. This neighborhood is abandoned if you didn't notice." Halten interrupts. 

"Where are your parents?" I ask and the two turn around to face me again. "Where are your parents?" Halten asks and Ren glares at him. I can tell this young boy is quite stubborn. He reminds me of myself.

"Dead." I say and each of their faces fall, even Jexton's. "Same here." Ren says. "Seconded." Jexton says and we all look at him, then down at the dirty, dusty wooden floor. It's interesting to come across more people around our age who have had somewhat the same experiences as Jexton and I. 

"Would it be weird to ask how?" Ren slowly looks up and I stare at her for a moment before shaking my head. "You know about the disease going aound that kills anyone who gets it?" I ask and her and her little brother nod. "Well, my dad died from it. And my mom... she got shot trying to save me." Ren gapes and I stare at the floor again. I don't even have to look at Jexton to know his facial expression. 

"What was she trying to save you from?" Halten asks and Ren grabs his arm. He looks at her and she shakes her head. "Small steps." she says and he rolls his eyes. "I'm sorry." she says to me and I shake my head. "It's okay. Kids are curious and I'm sure you are, too." I say and she nods. The small room falls silent and I'm glad the topic on parents has settled. I don't really want to talk about my parents anyway.

"So did you guys build this yourselves?" Jexton asks and looks around the neatly set up tree house. Wind blows in from the small cracks making me shiver. 

"Yeah. We built it a few summers ago. It's for when we need to hide out..." Ren slowly trails off and I get the vibe that she wasn't supposed to reveal that. "Hide out?" I ask and she shakes her head. Halten's eyes widen and she looks everywhere but our faces. "Nothing. Nevermind." she says. 

"It's okay... we're all on the same side now." I say and place my hand on her forearm. She slowly looks up at me. "Jexton and I have been to so many places and each of them we've either been forced out or burned out." I admit and Jexton's sigh fills the room. 

Ren smiles a small smile when she sees mine. "We've been chased and nearly killed my more soldiers than you can count on your hands. We've been on the run for, like, two weeks now." Ren sighs and stares at the dusty floor. "We're on the run, too."