The Runaways

Chapter Forty-One - The Pond

Corban

We all woke up early to get moving and out of the dangerous area. Cleveland walked with Elias as he let Elias put his arm around his shoulders so he didn't have to walk on his injured leg. We didn't walk for to far before we came across a decent sized pond. Warren suggested we sit down there for a second so Elias could clean out his wound.

I walked down to the edge of the pond with Elias and Warren so I could help and watch. Elias sat there at the edge of the small pond next to the tall grass and cattails, he gingerly unwrapping the bandages on his leg that we made with my under shirt.

"How does it feel?" I asked.

"It still hurts. A lot." Elias said.

"Cleaning it out may sting so be ready Elias." Warren said as he washed his hands out in the pond water.

"Warren are you sure this water is clean enough?" I asked, I was worried about just using regular old water, it has tons of bacteria and flesh eating amoeba inside.

"Yes it will be fine." Warren reassured as he walked back over to Elias and put a hand on his shoulder, "I need you to scoot forward and just dip your leg in."

"Dip it in?"

"Yes that's what I just said." Warren remarked. He seemed to be in a bad mood today, I felt bad for him. So to help I started pushing Elias further to the ponds edge. He started to protest but eventually complied. Elias slowly dipped his leg in making sure to take all the time in the world to keep the water from going into his wound, "Corban I am very tired do you think you can clean his leg out properly?" Warren asked as he rubbed on of his eyes.

"Oh yeah totally, I can do that." I said smiling at him.

Warren just muttered a thank you as he stood up and began walking up the small hill. He stopped halfway to yell at Remington who was apparently stripping down into his boxers right in front of everyone. Remington's defense was that he was going to go swimming.

"Okay were going to do this fast so Remington doesn't contaminate the water." I said as I took off my socks and shoes and rolled up my pants. I stepped into the water and put my hand on Elias's knee and began rubbing off the dried up blood on the front and sides of his legs slowly making my way around to the back of his calf being very careful when introducing it to the water.

"OW! FUCK! Corban be careful!" Elias exclaimed in pain as he jerked his leg.

"I barely splashed it!" I retorted, "You know what will help?" I grabbed his leg and pulled him farther into the water and then quickly set it back down before Elias could reach out in protest.

As soon as Elias's calf went underwater he screamed and kicked water at me, "OW CORBAN! FUCK— FUCK— OH MY GOD IT STINGS SO BAD!"

"I don't know what to tell you it has to be washed out well." I said as I kept splashing water into Elias's leg while holding it down. Underwater I moved my hand around in a swirling motion trying to get all the flowing water into Elias's leg to really clean it out. The whole time he just sat there and squirmed.

"Please Corban just stop already! I'm done I want to be done!" Elias exclaimed as he winced in pain.

"Alright, alright," I said as I lifted my hands up and let him pull his leg out of the water, "Good job."

"Don't patronize me." Elias hissed.

I stepped back onto the grass and wiped off my legs with my jacket sleeves as I watched Remington and Reece hop into the pond water and swim around. I wouldn't want to go in, you never know what's at the bottom of ponds. My dad told me about a story of when he was a little kid and went fishing with his family, they weren't getting any bites so my dad and his sister went out to play in the water. My dad said while he was swimming he cut his foot open on a glass bottle that had been thrown to the bottom of the bond. It was so bad he needed stitches and still had the scar to prove it.

I looked over my shoulder to see Cleveland sitting down next to Warren who had laid down in the grass with his arms over his eyes blocking out the sun. I felt bad. All he's been trying to do is find his daughter and all he gets is Remingtons attitude and finding out one of his own family members is apart of the organization that stole his daughter from him. I can't imagine what he must be going through right now.

"Do you hear that?" Elias asked.

"Hear what?"

"Screaming." Elias said.

I stayed silent for a moment to listen. All I could hear was splashing around from Remington and Reece.

Then, a very faint scream for help. It was faint but it was there. It sounded like a woman. I shot up immediately.

"Did you guys hear that too?" Blame asked as she walked over to us.

Me and Elias both nodded.

"Did you guys hear that?" Cleveland asked as he stood up.

"Yeah we did." Blake said, "Elias, we'll be back, Corban, Cleveland, lets find out what this screaming is all about."

Blake began leading the way around the pond and me and Cleveland shrugged and decided to follow her. Blake walked at a very fast and rushed pace as we headed into another thick of woods. As we got closer the screaming got louder, and soon enough we could hear other voices. Even more disturbing is when we got close enough we heard a baby crying.

In the wooded area we finally saw some figures we all crouched down and listened, not daring to breath.

"I'm asking you one more time before a bullet ends up in your head you dumb whore." The voice of one of the Syndicates that had helped imprison us demanded, "Tell us where did those seven people go?"

"I don't know..." The woman's voice sobbed, "I told you already I n-never saw anyone out here last night o-or t-today... please... I'm telling the truth..."

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"NO! NO I'm not I swear—"

A single gunshot was fired followed by a thud.

"Stupid bitch." The voice said angrily.

"Shit this is bad..." Another voice said, this one I recognized as Barron's, "Harloff is going to tell the unity chief we lost them."

"YOU LOST THEM IDIOT! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

"Did they kill the lady..?" Cleveland breathed in a very quiet and sad voice.

"I DID NOT!"

"IT WAS YOUR IDEA TO SPLIT EVERYONE UP! NOW MY ASS IS UNDER FIRE TOO!"

"I— FINE! Just, c'mon, yelling wont fix this, lets keep heading eastbound. They couldn't have gone far one of them was injured." Barron said as he raised his voice over the sound of the crying baby.

"This damn thing won't shut THE FUCK UP!"

"JULIAN DON'T—"

The baby then started crying harder.

"C'mon leave it alone. It's gonna die anyways. Let's just go." Barron urged, "The more we sit and argue the more ground they make."

The three of us sat there holding our breath listening to the two men leave as the baby kept screaming. Cleveland raised his hands up and covered his ears. After awhile it started to get to me as well, I didn't want to think of what just happened.

"That's it, I can't just sit here anymore." Blake muttered as she broke away and ran over to where the altercation had occurred.

"Blake wait!" I whisper yelled as I stood up after her, "Cleveland wait here." I said as I carefully followed Blake's path, past a good dozen trees and down a small dip I saw it. The woman who was screaming was lying in the grass with her brains splattered around her from getting shot in the head. I turned away and covered her with my hand. I looked striaght ahead watching as Blake slowly stood up with the screaming baby in her arms.

"Is it okay?" I asked.

Blake didn't respond.

"Blake?"

"That fucking monster kicked a baby in its fucking head."