Being Butch Green || ✓

Chapter 36 - A Soggy Wet Plan

Jack slowly unfurled his arms off me.

"How-how?" I asked, turning around to a smiling familiar face.

"Jokes, it's Joe!" He held his arms open for a hug, a wide grin dawning his cheeks. My face fell and my hand instinctively reached up to swiftly slap him. He didn't move, letting my palm smack him red in the cheek.

"Why the fuck would you do that!?" I screamed at him, fuming as I brushed the last of the ants off me and stood. "That's not funny."

He sighed, clearly disappointed his joke hadn't worked. "God. Loosen up."

I frowned, placing my hands on my hips. "What was that bang?"

"Helicopter blew up," he said plainly. "Come on, the others are waiting."

"Helicopter?"

"Yep," he said, beginning to walk away.

"It just blew up?"

"Malfunctioned."

I frowned. "Attack helicopters don't just malfunction."

"Nope, that they do not."

"I need details here, Joe."

He continued to walk away from me as the lightheadedness I'd felt before came crashing back. I grabbed onto a tree, steadying myself.

"Joe!"

"I don't know what happened, kid. One minute it was in the sky, the next it wasn't. Okay?"

I nodded, trying to clear my head. "Where is everyone else?"

"Waiting for you."

Confused and unsure whether to believe him or not, I gathered my strength and followed him through the woods. A secret dirt path, overrun with large ferns, grabbed at my ankles as I moved past them. The air was getting thick again, as though the sky had filled up a large bucket and was waiting for the perfect moment to tip it on our heads. A few birds fluttered by, playing between the trees like nothing had ever happened.

I didn't like where this was going. It felt like a trap. Trust wasn't something I gave out in one smooth go; it had to be earned. And Joe certainly hadn't earned it.

"Where are we headed?"

He didn't need to answer, however, as he soon crouched down behind a rock, waving for me to do the same. Curious, I did as he requested, slinking closer to him in a hunched position. I leaned in next to him, feeling the grass ping back into place like catapults beneath my feet.

"What the hell?"

"Shhhh!" he whispered, pointing to the right of him and pulling me in closer to the rock. I followed his finger. Huddled behind another rock was Hailey, watching us intently. She smiled when she saw me. I peered past her where Janet the bin chicken was pruning herself on the next rock. Henry desperately tried to grab her down as Constance urgently tried to keep a grip on the man to stop him from exposing us.

I relaxed a little, smiling unsurely back at Hailey as she attentively eyed me off. It unnerved me slightly. I'd never had someone care so much about me before. I liked it to a degree.

"Over there," Joe whispered, shifting his finger slightly.

"What are we waiting for?" I hissed back, eyeing the back of the grey building.

"We're waiting for backup."

I glanced at Joe. His eyebrows were furrowed in deep thought and he squinted his eyes.