Argenian

-8-

Turns out that using a dart gun is a lot harder than I thought. 

"Hey, Eve, why don't I hang onto that for you. I might be better at it." Jules reaches for the dart gun in my hand. Jenna snorts.

"Anybody can be better at using that thing than Eve. I mean seriously, she was trying to hit the official but instead she hit Marcus, and he wasn't even standing close to them!" My face heats up and I hand the gun to Jules, who pockets it.

The group laughs and my face gets even hotter. I walk faster, leaving the pack behind me.

Someone taps my shoulder and I jump, whipping around to see who it is. One of Jules' friends stands behind me.

She grimaces away from the harsh stare I give her, "I was just wondering, do you even know where we're going? Do you have any ideas for safe places?"

I stare at her. Of course, me being the dumbass that I am, had absolutely no plan of where to go or what to do.

"Um, Eve? Did you hear me?" Jules' friend waves a hand in front of my face.

"Oh, yeah. I heard you. And I hate to break it to you, but I don't know where we're headed." I scratch the back of my head, embarrassed. 

"Wait," a shorter boy steps out of the squad. "So you're telling me we've just been wandering in the woods for the past six hours and you have no idea where the hell we're going?"

A chorus of 'yeah's' comes from the group. I watch as a few people separate from the pack, the short boy being the leader.

"Come on guys. Let's go find a place to hide out." He motions for his little pack to follow him. I watch as they walk away, biting my lip.

Jenna steps forward, "I think I might have a plan. Do any of you have any non-Pure friends? Ones that you can trust?" 

As soon as she says that a lightbulb goes off in my brain. Autumn and Melody. I know Melody lives out in the woods, so her house won't be one on the government's radar.

"I have a friend that lives out in the woods, so her house won't be somewhere that the government would suspect us to be at, plus it's huge, so it'll fit all of us." I look over to Jenna, who seems deep in thought.

"It seems like a pretty good hideout. Do you know how to get there?"

I take a look around, trying to find anything similar to the woods that surround Melody's house. A small creek catches my eye. I jog over and walk along its edge, looking for the small log that we used to fill with dead leaves and twigs.

Before I had gotten into this mess Melody was my best friend. We had made up a secret code for when we were in danger, wanted to hang out, and for a bunch of other random things. Right now what I need is three wild berries, the signal for 'I need help.'

I spot the log in the same place it's been for my whole life. Mel and I cleared it out when school started, before all of this shit happened, but now it has a few red leaves, the signal for 'where are you?' She's been here recently.

"All of you spread out and look for a berry bush!" I yell. Nobody reacts, they all just stand there staring blankly at me. 

"Just do it guys, no need to ask questions," Jenna winks at me and I feel a flood of relief. 

They listen to Jenna, no questions asked. The group spreads out, some in pairs, some alone, and it's peaceful to watch. Even after all of the crap that's happened to us all, the government trying to take us hostage, officials attacking us in the middle of the woods, it's crazy that we can all still act like normal teenagers. Gossiping, laughing, making friends. I have a feeling that after all of this is over it's not going to be that way.

I turn to go look for berries by myself, closing my eyes and breathing in the piny smell of the forest. I relax for the first time in what feels like a century.

My foot slams into something and I fall, sprawling into a thorny bush.

"Ow," I groan in unison with someone else. I look down and find Marcus holding his side.

"You know," he winces. "It's not nice to kick people." 

I roll my eyes at him, "Sorry." 

I stand up, pulling thorns from my fingers. Marcus laughs.

"What's so funny?"

"You've got berry juice all over your ass," he snorts, staring at my now purple underwear.

My face gets hot and I yank down my dress. "I wouldn't have stood up if I knew I would flash everyone. Why were you staring at my butt anyway, hm?"

He scowls, ignoring my question. "What is everyone looking for?"

"Berries."

"Looks like the search is over then," he says, gesturing towards the thorny bush I fell into.

"Yep, it looks like it is." I yank my dress down a little more, making sure that my butt's covered, and snatch a handful of berries from the bush. I fast walk away, trying to get as far from Marcus as possible. "I found some!"

"Well, what are you going to do with them?" One girl asks, a wary expression on her face.

"When we were kids, Melody and I made up a secret code. If you put three berries into the little log it meant that you were in trouble and needed help. That's why I needed berries, to alert her that I'm not dead, but I will be soon if she doesn't let us stay here."

"That's actually pretty smart," Marcus says. I can see the taunting smirk without even having to look at him.

"Mhm, and what did you do with your friends when you were little? Shove sticks in each other's ears?" 

"Close, we actually shoved them up each other's bu-"

I interrupt him, "I'll be back. Nobody do anything stupid, okay? And try to stay away from the house, they've got motion sensors." I walk away from the group, glad to be by myself for a few minutes.

I step over the little creek that Melody and I used to pretend was magical when we were younger and then follow it as it flows upriver. I follow it for a few minutes until I spot the log. I jog over and place the three berries inside.

"What do we do now?" Jenna asks as soon as I get back.

"Now we wait."

~

A/N

Hello wonderful people! I'm so glad that you've decided to read this far. Thank you for sticking with me! 

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