The Dark Side

Chapter 27 - Rocks & Arrows

I line up the gasoline canisters with Zachary and Vincent, while Conner and Drew both make sure the explosives are set, so that with the flick of a switch they'll go off a couple seconds later. Jamie is still in the same place and is currently putting together a bow and arrows.

Later on I'll be helping out with setting the detonators, because we decided it could work if we tie a few to trees to take out the Horde the Stranglers will have. But, we'll only use three for that and two to shoot at the IX.

I line up the canisters neatly as Vincent hands them to me from the pile with Zachary. We stand up once complete and I walk over to Jamie, while the other two talk to each other about the possibilities of this working. Who knows who could die?

I sit down beside Jamie, "Can I help at all?" I ask him. He stops what he's doing and looks up at me, a smile is barely present on his face.

"That's the thing about you. You always want to help." He smiles, "I'm not saying it's a bad thing."

I give him a small smile, before he hands me a long stick and some string. I straight away begin tying the string onto one end. I clear my throat, "Who exactly was Sara? To you I mean." I ask a little quietly out of curiosity.

He sighs and looks down at his hands as he ties some string for a second bow. "She was my cousin. We were very close. I was even closer to her than I was to my parents." He explains quietly.

"I'm sorry." I mutter, "For bringing her up."

He stays silent for a moment and seems to be staring into nothing, before he sits up against the tree straighter. "I can't stay in the past forever though." He mumbles, "It's safer to move on and to understand that I will never see her again. Ever."

A silence settles upon us as I tighten the string on the end and turn the stick over to tie it on to the other side. A strange tension seems to fall between us after what he said. I fiddle with the frayed string as I tie it to the other side of the stick tight. He looks over at me and smirks as he rests his hands in his lap, still holding the stick and string. "What?" I ask as I look up at him, continuing to tie the string on the end of the stick.

"Conner told me that you and Drew kissed before you came for me and Vincent." He simply says. I roll my eyes and drop the string and stick, standing up.

"We are not talking about this right now." I say sternly and place my hands on my hips, looking down at him.

"Okay, okay, but I still need your help." He says, gesturing to the unfinished bow that I left on the ground. I sigh and sit back down with my legs crossed.

"Why does everyone keep focusing on me and Drew when we have an IX and Stranglers on our tail?" I ask irritably.

"Well, do we have anything else to do?" He answers my own question with a question.

"Yes." I answer simply.

"Like what?" He questions.

"Like surviving." I reply, looking back down at the stick and string, before grabbing it and continuing to tie it.

"Surviving isn't living, Jessica." Jamie sighs, "We have to have something to talk about other than infection and death." He pauses, "And, a teenage relationship is that something."

"Oh, shut up!" I let my hair hang in front of my face to hide my reddened cheeks. "How old are you again?" I ask sarcastically. He laughs.

I roughly tighten the last knot in the string, before I place it in front of me. "Looks pretty good." He says with approval as he glances over at it. "Now, can you go find some sharp rocks or something?" He asks.