The Hunting

Chapter 39

I woke up with a start. I looked to my left to see Remmington snoring. My head was still on his shoulder. He comforted me. When-when... No. I'm not going to think about it. I want to get out of here and far away from that man. Now think Arden, what can you do? They took my bow and arrows, they took my knife strapped to my back. Is there anything – oh my, I'm an idiot! I instantly started to squirm, jostling Remmington awake who woke up with a jerk. He moved away from me. He spoke still half asleep, "What are you doing hun?"

I looked at him intently and whispered, "I am getting us out of here."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I've tried that Arden. Unless we can get out of the tent unnoticed and get some weapons we'll be useless. Do you have any weapons? Have you been holding out on me?"

I nodded my head, "Everything happened so fast when I was brought into camp. I thought that they have taken all my weapons, but I have a knife in my boot. I forgot it was there until now."

"Brilliant Arden, what can I do to help?"

"Well, my boot is tied pretty tight so we can start untying it. It's in the right one."

We started to work on getting my boot untied. It took a minute because both of our wrists were bound. He was able to pull out the knife as soon as we got it loosened. The knife that my friends had gotten me was in a sheath. He pulled it out and the sheath dropped to the ground. I haven't seen the knife for so long. The dark wood with the vine details made me nostalgic. I quickly shook off the feeling. I need to focus. I extended my wrists to Remmington who started cutting away at the ropes. Luckily, the knife was still sharp, so it cut way easily. I took a sigh of relief as the rope fell to the ground. I grabbed the knife from Remmington and started to do the same thing. Once he was free, he rubbed his wrists. There were bruises on his wrists. He's been a captive of them for so long. Without a word, we slowly stalked to the tent's entrance. Remmington motioned for me to give him the knife, which I did without question. He held three fingers up, then two, then one. Before we could jump out of the tent, I heard screams.

Remmington and I jumped out of the tent to see chaos. Scavengers were running around. I looked to see what all the commotion was about and then I saw them. The hunters. They're here! It was still dark out, but the sky was getting brighter. The sun was rising. Calum and Pietra were at the entrance of the camp, where I was when I first got here. Calum was shooting arrows at scavengers while Pietra was using her sword to fight off one of the guards. Don and Nate were by the bonfire which glowed brightly in contrast to the dark surroundings. They were back to back as they dodged a couple of scavengers that were surrounding them. Jaiver was alone by the small stream running through the camp. He was fighting Mike. I shivered at the sight of him. I heard the clanging of swords and smelled the stench of blood. I saw a couple of scavenger's bodies lying on the ground, already dead.

I tried to move, but all I could do is watch the chaos. I have no weapons. That didn't phase Remmington however. My knife in hand, he ran to one of the scavengers that were near Jaiver and plunged it into his neck. I need to find a weapon. I started running towards the dead bodies to see if they had dropped a weapon. Luckily, when I got to them, there was a sword on the ground. I tried not to look at the bodies as I picked the sword off the ground. I hear the sound of running steps from behind me. I swung my sword around to meet another person's blade. It was Pete. He already had a couple of gashes on his body. He looked furious as he yelled, "You bitch, you killed Quinn!"

As we traded blows, I yelled, "I didn't want to kill him. I was only defending myself and my friend!"

Before I could think, Pete shoved me to the ground. My sword flew out of my hand as I was falling towards the ground. I felt a rock stab my lower back as my head hit the ground. My vision was hazy as I gasped for air. Looking up through blurry vision, I saw Pete with an arrow in his shoulder. Blood was rushing his wound, he looked at me with spite and ran. I took a couple more of ragged breaths as I struggled to my feet. I saw someone's hand reaching out to help me up, it was Remmington. He pulled me to my feet. "Come on sweetie I got you. It's almost over."

He handed me the sword I dropped. I shook my head as I tried to concentrate. I heard a scream. It was Pietra's. I whipped my head around to see her charge at a scavenger and stab him in the gut, as he fell to the ground, I saw what she was screaming about. On the ground, I saw Don with a sword sticking out of his chest. I gasped. I ran over to where Don was. I couldn't help but shout, "No!"

I stood there watching Don as his chest slowly rise and fall. I felt someone stand beside me, it was Remmington. He spoke in a rushed and impatient tone. "Pietra and Arden, run to see if you any medical supplies! Calum and Jaiver, help me get Don to a better spot. Whatever you do, don't take the sword out until we have supplies!"

Pietra and I ran scrambling and searching through all of the tents. All I could think was Don dying. No, he'll be alright! I heard Pietra yell, which means that she must've found something. I went back out to where everyone else was. Pietra's arms were filled with various supplies as she set them down at Don's feet. Remmington immediately kneeled down. He spoke softly, "Everyone, search the bodies and make sure we got everyone. I'll try my best to save him."