The Hunting

Chapter 35

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"Yeah, I finally won!" Don cheered as a defeated looking Calum sighs.

Pietra spoke, "Don, that's not winning if you kept challenging him to arm wrestles until you win."

Don spoke flexing his muscles valiantly, "A win is a win to me. Don't you agree Nate?"

I looked between Don and Calum. Alright, who's heart am I going to break? I walked over to Don as I threw an arm around him, "Well, Don a win is a win. However, it took you ten tries to get it right."

Don paused and looked at me, "I'll take that."

Pietra groaned, "Don't encourage him!"

Don and I both laughed at Pietra's anguish. We have been following the others trail for two days now and there is no sign of them. Calum told me that the scavengers were most likely to be in the middle of the canyons so that they are hard to track. Luckily, if it wasn't for the trail of strategically placed rocks and twigs left by Arden and Jaiver, I bet we would've been lost a long time ago. It was in the middle of the day and it was scorching hot. My face and my arms were red because of the sun. Normally, back in the Burrow people don't get sunburns that often because we're mostly in the shade. Unfortunately, here in the canyons, there is little to zero shelter. I'm really glad Arden doesn't have to see me like this. She would probably think I'm ugly. I wonder if she is getting sunburned as well.

Pietra interrupted my thoughts, "Listen!"

I looked around towards Pietra standing and pointing towards the part of the canyon that rounds off. I closed my eyes to concentrate on the sound. I hear footsteps. It sounds like someone is running. It seemed like everyone else heard it too. We all whipped our weapons out as we prepared ourselves for what was coming our way. Calum muttered a quiet, get ready. We were in for a surprise because around the corner came a heaving, pale-faced Jaiver. He came to a stop in front of us as everyone lowered their weapons. He started gasping for air as Pietra ran over to him to give him some water. He took it feverishly as he started to drink it slowly. "What happened?" Calum questioned.

I took a step forward as I looked at Jaiver, "And more importantly, where's Arden?"

The group fell silent. Jaiver looked away from me and shook his head without a word. I couldn't hold back my anger. I walked over to him. Nobody even tried to stop me. I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close to me. I didn't try to be quiet, "You asshole! You promised me you would keep her safe! You promised."

I started shaking him. He didn't put up a fight or say anything, which made me even angrier. This ass, he's not saying anything. I stopped shaking him and looked at him. He looked at me, eyes filled with guilt. I pushed him away from me. The last thing that I need to do is kill him. Even though part of me wants to kill him, I know that Arden wouldn't want that. I took a couple of steps back. I just glared at him, "I can't believe you."

Pietra and Calum walked over to Jaiver and started consoling him. Of course they are. They probably would be in my shoes if it was Arden to come back instead. Luckily, I had at least Don to comfort me. He patted me on the back. Don looked over to Jaiver and questioned, "Can you tell us what happened?"

Jaiver took a deep breath. "It happened so fast. We found a small cave to rest in. Arden was taking a nap while I was watching out. I heard footsteps and woke her up. All of a sudden, there was a scavenger. It was one around our age, he saw me and ran. I was trying to get to him to kill before he made it back to anyone else. Arden wasn't too far behind me. We chased him through the canyons until we bumped into another one of his buddies. Luckily, Arden acted fast and shot the younger one in the leg. I think that's one of the reasons I was able to get out of there. The old guy grabbed Arden and held his sword to her throat. She told me to run. I didn't want to, but I had no other choice. If I stayed, we both probably would've been captured or dead."

We all stayed silent for a moment. Calum clapped him on the back, "Well, at least you're both not dead."

Jaiver nodded, "Yeah, but I think we need a plan."

Pietra spoke, "Agreed, but you need to regain your strength. You probably didn't stop running until you saw us."

Jaiver gave a nod of acknowledgment. He laid down on the grass and closed his eyes. We all watched him, he seemed exhausted. It wasn't long until he fell asleep. Part of me wanted to wake his sorry ass up and make him apologize, but I knew that he needed it. I sat down and put one of my hands to my head. I started rubbing my forehead. I felt someone sit down next to me, it was Don. I looked at him despairingly. He looked at me with an apologetic look. The look didn't last long though, he put a hand on my shoulder.

"If you continue to worry like that, you'll get forehead wrinkles and that will ruin your pretty face."

I couldn't help but laugh, "Thanks for the concern man. I just hope that Arden isn't dead. I'm trying my best to not think about it, but I -" my voice cracked, "I just don't want to lose her. You know?"

He spoke softly, "Listen dude, I know you're scared. The scavengers most likely captured her and took her to their base. They won't have any pleasure of killing her without an audience. I know that's not the best news to hear, but she's probably not dead."

I wanted to get angry, but I knew that Don was trying to cheer me up. He's been like a best friend to me for this whole journey. I hope that I can introduce him to Tatum someday. What would Tatum think about me letting Arden go off and get herself killed? He would probably kill me. Hell, I would have a whole line of people waiting to kill me for letting Arden get in danger. Shelby, Connor, her mom Beth, literally the whole village. But, if what Don is speaking the truth and Arden is still alive, shes's probably scared shitless right now.