The Differents | ✓

N I N E T E E N

Before I could react, Sniper was shoving my backpack into my arms and picking up our stuff. He shoved another gun into my hands and took the other two in his own. "They're coming. We need to move. Now."

I slung the backpack over my shoulders and set off. The planes were coming from behind us, so I veered right and tried to keep myself low. I managed to secure the little gun into my belt as I ran, and was thankful that the big one wasn't too heavy. Coming to a clearing, I dug my heels into the soft ground and swiveled left to go around it.

From behind me came Sniper's voice, panting. "Do they know where we are, do you think?"

"I don't know," I replied. "But I bet they've found the plane. It's only a matter of time until they find us, unless we get somewhere safe."

"We can't keep running," he wheezed. "We'll run out of energy. They have planes, we're on foot. Who do you think is faster?"

I slowed to a jog. "You're right. And because they have planes they'll find it harder to land, won't they?" An idea was forming in my head. I looked around. We were past the clearing now so I veered right again. "If we find somewhere safe to hide, they won't be able to see us from the air. And if they come on foot, we will have enough energy to keep running."

"Plus we have the guns," Sniper added.

I smiled as best as I could in my drained state and looked around for somewhere good to hide. Spotting a large collection of rocks ahead of us, I angled my feet toward them. We ran past trees dangling their leaves into our paths, past plants I had never seen before, over soil and grass and moss and other things I couldn't name. And as we ran, I started to feel light. I started smiling. My feet felt lighter and I ran faster, somehow overcome with a strange sense of freedom. The sounds of the planes died out and all I could hear was my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I was no longer trying to outrun my pursuers, I was letting them chase me. I laughed to myself a little. Funny how in what should've been one of the scariest moments of my short life, I was feeling freer than I had ever felt.

We reached the rocks and I jumped onto them, feeling lighter than air. Soft moss covered parts of the rough surface which slowed me down a little but I managed to climb up until I was a good five or so metres above the ground. Sniper followed close by, and I held out a hand to help him up the last bit. We were right in the middle of the collection of the rocks, them ranging from as small as my hand to well past my head even if I stood. We were concealed partly from the outside yet with a few adjustments, would have a good view of people on the ground.

"Is this where we stop?" Sniper panted, slumping against a rock to catch his breath.

"Yep. And we could maybe even stay for a while."

The sound of planes got louder, coming from off to our left, the way we had been going before they had come looking.

Sniper looked around nervously. "Are you sure we should stay here? It's a bit close to where we were, don't you think?"

"We're concealed. Partly. Hopefully it's enough," I replied.

"I guess, but what if--"

"Would you rather keep running and pass out on the forest floor from exhaustion?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. "Because that can be arranged."

"Fine."

We settled down under a big rock that stuck out and formed a shelter of sorts. I didn't dare unpack any of our bags for fear of having to get up and run again, but I allowed myself a few sips of water. The planes didn't get any quieter and, in fact, they seemed to get louder.

And after a moment, they came into view. In the distance, two silver ones that looked like the one we had crashed in, and one bigger, black one. They flew in a perfect formation, the ever-growing screech of whatever powered them consuming my ears. I slipped further under the rock, hoping for the planes to pass without noticing us.