Caught Between Our Worlds

Chapter 9

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"It is not in doing what you like,

But in liking what you do,

That is the secret of

Happiness."

~ J.M Barrie ; Taken from Peter Pan

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Alex's P.O.V

The heat was unbearable and my muscles were slowly starting to cramp, but I could not be brought to move from my post on the tree at the entrance of the village.

My eyes and ears were on full alert as I waited for the arrival of the injured troops, hoping and praying that my dad was not among those injured.

I shifted on the branch to take some of the strain off my muscles, which resulted in leaves raining down.

Thankfully there weren't any people around or I would have definitely get some curious looks. I leaned against the trunk of the tall Sycamore tree and let out a sigh as I look up to the sky.

I've been waiting here since seven in the morning, to say I was anxious would be an understatement. I don't know what I would do if he was injured.

If this was a normal day I would have dozed off pretty quickly, the breeze and the branches the perfect place to catch a nap.

But today there were two really big things on my mind. The first one being my dad and the second thought was about the contest.

Honestly speaking, I tried to push the thought out of my mind, I really did, but my family could really do with that prize money.

Archery, scavenger hunt and hand to hand combat.

They weren't foreign concepts to me. I knew how to shoot a bow and arrow, I could use my brains very well and my father at a very young age had taught me how to move with my dagger so now it felt like it was a part of me.

I was sure I would be able to win the contest against the rest of the men in the village, especially the men from The Regalia, because for one thing, I did way more manual labour than them.

I had a lot of stamina and I actually knew how to do the events of the contest.

Now the only problem was, how to get to participate in the contest.

But my thoughts were cut off by the sound of the arriving troops, and suddenly I was on full alert. I stood up on the branch as I looked to see the approaching fleet.

I could see the fleet of trucks and vans, there must have been just one or two of those vans that were assigned to our sector, since only a few families from The Shambles had members in the army.

There were 20 sectors throughout which the surviving human population was distributed. Each sector had their own village, and that village was further divided into parts.

We lived in sector 18 and were the closest to the war zone. So I knew that the trucks with the injured troops would be here first, that's why I was waiting for them so early.

As the trucks approached closer to the entrance of the village I climbed down the tree and moved to where I knew the fleet would stop. I reached the building just as the first truck pulled up.