The Monster Hero

Chapter 15 - On the Run

We have been running for hours. Elliott keeps telling me to keep running. Never stop. Now it is morning.

"We can stop here. We are pretty far from the village," Elliott says from in front of me.

I come over to where he is, hidden in a big hollow tree. I plop down on the ground. I feel like my limbs are going to fall off. I pull out my phone. Elliott stops what he's doing.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Seeing how far away from the village we are."

I put away my phone.

"Now that we are on the run, shouldn't we have a main shelter?" I ask.

Elliott swallows and says, "Sure. This can be the main shelter."

I frown. Then I get a idea. I get up and start walking out the entrance.

"Where are you going?" Elliott asks.

I smile.

"No where," I answer.

I look up at our tree. It has tons of thick sturdy branches, all of them close enough to be good climbing branches. I start climbing the branches, when Elliott comes out of the tree. He stares at me, inquisitively. When I get to a suitable branch, I strip off some leaves and start weaving them together.

While I work, Elliott sneaks up behind me. He watches me work.

"What are you making?" Elliott finally asks.

"A wall," I answer.

He raises his eyebrow at me. I keep working until mid-afternoon. At mid-afternoon, I shimmy down the tree for some lunch.

Elliott got out the water bottles and offered me one. I, of course, took the other one. We have beans and chips for lunch. After lunch, I go back up in the tree. Before I go back to work, I look down to see what Elliott is doing.

He was going to trees around ours and tearing off limbs and bark. When he gets a decent amount he goes back into the tree. I look up at the sky. So clear and blue.

I shake my head. I had finished my first wall before lunch, and started on the second. I get more leaves and start working again. By the time it's dark, I've finished three walls and have started on the fourth. I yawn.

"Hey, sleepy head!" Elliott yells from the ground, "You might want to get down here and go to sleep before you fall to your death!"

I stick out my tongue. I know Elliott is right. I gather my walls and toss them down to Elliott, who catches them. As I climb down, it starts to rain.

"Hurry!" Elliott says, from the safety of the tree.

I run into the tree, right as it starts pouring.

"Well, you're wet," Elliott says.

"Ya think?" I answer, glaring at Elliott.

Elliott laughs as he pulls some blankets from his bag. He lays them down and we get on them. Elliott falls asleep almost immediately. I stay up looking at the top of the tree, preparing myself for tomorrow.