The Blade in the City

The Rebels

Alex had been walking in the jungle for hours, the waterfall never seemed closer. Her skin was scratched up from the protruding greenery. Sweat trickled down her back, the lack of water made her head throb, her wounds hadn't healed and they needed medical attention. The boys looked tired and had a few scratches on their faces, the three walked in a straight line with Jordon at the front then Alex and Ben followed behind. Jordon had told them not to talk, they didn't need to waste energy talking. This Jungle was very strange, Alex hadn't heard a single bird or bug, she couldn't see the sky but she thought the sun was too hot and bright, there should be cooler shade being covered in plants but it was like a sauna instead. The only things she could hear were her foot falls and heavy breathing, yet again the guards didn't seem to make noise as they walked, though she could hear their heavy breathing. Her stomach began to rumble reminding her the last thing she ate was breakfast. It was strange to think that just yesterday she was dancing with Josh.

A couple hours later they came to the top of the waterfall. Alex rushed forward to the water intending to gulp down mouthfuls of water but she was pulled back by Ben who whispered, "Let Jordon check the water first, we don't want to be vomiting for the next couple of hours."

The two of them sat down on a nearby rock and watched as Jordon checked the water then gulped down a few mouthfuls before turning to them.

"I think it's okay" he yelled back to them.

The two of them walked over to the river and began gulping down water. Alex had never thought water could taste so good, it was cool and rushed down her throat. She splashed herself with it then began to scrub away some of the blood from the cuts, Jordon came over to her and said, "you need to clean that wound on the back of your head"

Alex sighed knowing that would hurt a lot, "yeah I guess"

"Here lay down on the edge, on your stomach, we'll attend to your wound" Ben said.

Alex laid down as she was told and rested her head on her arms, the boys took a look at her wound then began to clean the dried blood off. It turns out their suits had some medication in it that they rubbed on her wound so it wouldn't get infected. They told her it probably was a mild concussion and she might have a bad headache for a while and a killer bruise, they then attended to her gash on her face, this one they said as they lathered on the cream, was worse because it may have gotten infected by the jungle climate and the dirt that fell into the wound. Alex couldn't care less; she felt like she had been chucked into a tumble dryer then spun around for hours on end before being flung into an oven.

"I feel like trash," she said.

"Well" Jordon said, "you look like trash" Alex just chuckled, that may have been rude but she couldn't have agreed more, they all looked bad in some way.

"Hey Jordon, you look like someone sat on your face with a cheesegrater" Ben said, it was true Jordon had scratches and cuts all over his face, Alex laughed and smiled for the first time today.

"Well you look like someone pooped out glass and rubbed it all over your face" Jordon said, and yet again he wasn't entirely wrong, Ben's face was so dirty and had small cuts here and there. The two of them washed their faces up, while they did that Alex walked to the edge of the waterfall. She looked out over the jungle, if she wasn't in so much pain she would've thought that it was the most beautiful thing she had seen. The sun had begun to set causing the sky to turn pink, the jungle had turned golden in the glow. Alex looked down and nearly jumped out of her skin, below them was another of those clear shields, this time it looked more like water floating halfway down the waterfall. Beyond the shield Alex could see a darkness, it was like the waterfall ended in a pitch black pond.