if we survive

n i n e t e e n

r o r y

I taught the kids alongside Jade but I wasn't obligated to be there. I could leave and take a bathroom break whenever I wanted. So as I took my first bathroom break today, I spotted someone in the trees. As soon as they saw me they'd duck down behind a huge tree trunk but occasionally peak back up to see if I was still there. So, I unholstered my gun and approached them. I cocked my gun and pointed it directly at the trunk the person would duck behind.

"Come out with your hands raised." I called. After a few seconds of silence a girl finally stood with her hands raised up in surrender watching me with pure fear. She was a kid, probably about sixteen with short brownish hair. Her eyes were so green you couldn't look past them.

"Don't shoot me. I'm a good guy." She mumbled and slowing started creeping towards me.

"I don't believe in good guys. What's your name?" I slid my finger down to the trigger.

"Maven." With that, the girl skirted around me causing me to instinctively pull the trigger of my pistol only to pierce a hole through the tree trunk.

"Ashton!" The girl screamed. I ran after her and grabbed her arm right as she stepped into the clearing. I jerked her back towards me and pointed the gun back at her forehead. The fact that she'd called out my brother's name didn't even cross my mind until I heard a very angry, familiar voice.

"Holden! If you don't release her right now I swear to god I will cut off your head!" When I turned, my eyes met the tip of a sword being held only inches away from my left eye. Behind the sword I saw a very clean version of my brother. I hadn't seen him look this good since his fourteenth birthday. I didn't drop my gun, but I stared at my brother in shock. The sword stayed at the corner of my left eye.

"You're alive." I mumbled, trying to break myself from the pure shock that'd crept into my brain.

"Let go of her!" He screamed. Behind him I could see a familiar boy gripping a screwdriver tightly in his left hand. The tip of Ash's sword touched the corner of my eye but I still couldn't move.

"Holden, I'm going to give you one more chance to drop your gun." Ash glared without dropping his sword an inch. Finally, I let my arm fall to my side but my grip didn't leave the girl's wrist. Ash pulled the sword away a few inches but didn't put it back by his side.

"You. . . How are you here?" I mumbled. There was a crowd surrounding us now, watching closely, hungry for the entertainment.

"Get your hand off of her and we'll talk." Ash glanced down at my hand that was still holding onto the girl's wrist. I tightened my grip and she squirmed.

"They told you about me, you were with them and now you think I'm the bad guy." I watched him try to switch the grip he held on the sword as his hand was beginning to sweat.

"I won't tell you anything until you let go of her." Ash glared daggers at me. He started to say something to the kid with the screwdriver behind him but as soon as his eyes left me I grabbed the blade of his sword and twisted it out of his grip. Blood dropped from my hand but I wasn't going to have enough leverage over him while the tip of a sword was blocking half of my vision. Ash didn't attack, he just watched me closely with fury burning through his eyes. I threw his sword into the field of trees behind me. We watched one another, until finally, Ash made the first move. He lifted his foot high enough to stomp down on my arm that held his friend but before his shoe could make contact with my arm, I released the girl and grabbed his ankle causing him to fall to the ground onto his back. I watched the girl run to the kid with the screwdriver's side, he checked where I held her wrist, it was very obviously red and irritated.

"You're still my little brother, you think with your heart and it automatically gives me the advantage." I said, holding out my hand to help him stand. He grabbed it but as soon as he was back on his feet, he clocked me right on the nose. A few of the survivors watching us cheered for him but others just cringed. Blood dropped from my nose.

"It was your choice, I could either stay and tell you what happened to me or I could take Colman and go back to my friends. You made your choice." Ashton glared and turned to walk away. In the heat of the moment, without thinking twice I brought my pistol up and hit the side of his head with the metal weapon. He fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the screwdriver kid lift his puny weapon and try to stab it directly into my neck. I grabbed his wrist and twisted until I heard the crack. He fell to the ground wailing. The girl, Maven, was backing away visibly trying to decide if she should run. I lifted my gun, certain that I wanted to shoot her but I saw Colman slide in front of her.

"You've gone completely insane. You can't just pistol whip people and expect everything to come out fine. They did nothing to harm us. Your brother didn't even want to see you, you don't have even the slightest concern about that?" Colman slowly pulled out the gun she'd stolen from the man in the woods and pointed it at my chest.

"I don't want him to look at me like I'm the bad guy, if he left I wouldn't have had a chance to explain." I told her and carelessly dropped my gun by my feet.

"You are the bad guy!" Colman screamed. I didn't want to believe her, so I didn't. I disregarded her remark like it never happened. That's what I saw was best for me. I looked down at my brother and screwdriver kid. Ash looked peaceful, like he'd just drifted off on the grass. While the kid beside him was whimpering like a sick dog. I pulled the kid to his feet and held him by his shoulders.

"You can stay here or you can flee. I don't care, but Ashton stays with me." I said. The kid nodded. I leaned down to pick up his screwdriver and shoved it into his good hand. Without even thinking twice, the kid took the screwdriver and shoved it into my shoulder as deep as he could, pulled it back out, and spit into my eyes. I was taken back, I felt someone rush to my side while I wiped the spit out of my eyes. When I could finally open my eyes after a few minutes, he was gone and so was Ash, Maven, and Colman. I cursed under my breath and pushed the survivor that'd ran to me away. I pushed through the crowd that was eagerly waiting for me to scream out in rage or something of that sort and made my way up towards Anon's cabin deep in the forest.