CHAPTER 6

The Gang's all here

Robert's POV

When I found Rebecca, she was sitting on a rock, just staring into the distance.

"Hey? You okay?" I asked, sitting next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I'm fine," she muttered. Finally, she sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. "I hate this."

"Hate what?"

"Having to live up here for who knows how long."

"I do too. But at least I have friends up here with me. Right?" I grinned at her and she smiled back. I stood up and took her hand. "C'mon. Let's go back to camp." She stood up and we walked off together...

When we got back to camp, we were shocked to see Emily, Elizabeth, Jamy, Chelsea, Billy, and Ben sitting around the campfire.

"Rae!" Emily exclaimed, giving her best friend a hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rebecca asked.

"We were wondering around, living in the woods. Then, we stumbled upon Jed and Matt, looking for you," Emily replied.

"Oh my god. It's good to see you people!" Rebecca exclaimed.

"So. What have you guys been up to?" Billy asked.

"We've been trying to survive...Have you been to the town lately?" Jed asked.

"Ya...About three days ago. We just got out. We met up with Mr. Mason...He told us where you people were...So. We came back up here and tried finding you guys. And guess what! We found you!" Ben stated.

"I'm really happy to see you people. We've been walking for practically ten days...Okay maybe just one day. But it felt like ten days!" Emily laughed.

&

Rebecca's POV

That evening, we all sat around the campfire, bored out of our minds.

"I say we play a game," Danny stated.

"What game is there to play?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Truth or dare," Danny stated.

"That is the most retarded thing you could ever suggest Danny. You know that right?" Elizabeth snapped sarcastically.

"Hey. Why not. There's nothing else to do," Matt said jokingly.

"Mattie? Are you okay?" I asked him.

"C'mon. There's nothing else to do and we can't keep secrets from each other, can we?" Matt questioned all of us.

"Ya. Why don't we...Just for fun," Daryl stated.

"Daryl? Fun? Oh my god," I gasped. He glared at me.

"Wow! Calumet student body president wants to have fun! That's a first!" I went on.

"It's not that funny," Daryl stated as I broke out in laughter. Elizabeth and Jamy also found the situation funny...Well. At least I think they did because they started laughing. Finally, we all went silent. I went to take a drink of water when Elizabeth started laughing, which caused me to laugh and I got water up my nose. Jamy and Emily started laughing too, so did Ben, Robert, and Billy, because of Daryl's facial expression. It was so funny.

"I think I'm gonna go take a walk," I managed to state in between fits of laughter. I got up and walked off, trying to calm myself down. Finally, I noticed Robert following me.

"Wow. Those people are so random," he laughed.

"Ya...Elizabeth can barely keep a straight face. And when she does, it makes everyone else laugh," I said, definitely noticing that the distance between us was getting tinier each second. Finally, I placed my hands on his shoulders, leant up, and kissed him. He placed his hands on my waist. Next thing I knew, I heard someone cough. Standing there was Danny.

"What do you want Danny?" I asked, pulling away of Robert's embrace and I placed my hands on my hips.

"Jed wants to talk to Robert," Danny stated. "And he sent me to find you two."

"Listen Danny. If you say even one word or even mention what you saw, I'll hand you over to the enemy. Remember that," I stated as we headed back to camp.

"I promise I won't say a word," Danny stated.

"You better not," I heard Robert mutter as we got back to camp. Meanwhile, Jed and Chelsea were talking. Yes, they are going out people! It is true! And Matt was sitting with Emily and they were talking to Arturo about the last game at the school.

"Ya Jed? Danny said you wanted to talk to me," Robert said. Jed looked at me as if shooing me away. I stuck my tongue out at him and went to sit with Elizabeth, Ben, Billy, and Jamy.

"Rae? How ya been?" Ben asked.

"I've been 'Hayden' this place," I joked. It took them like five minutes to get it.

"Oh I get it! My last name is 'Hayden'! Ain't you the jokester of the bunch," Ben laughed. I shook my head at them and looked over to Jed and Robert who were having a long chat. I watched as Jed nodded at me and then Robert quickly glanced, both of them noticing that I was watching them. Finally, after dinner, I pulled Robert aside. "What'd he say to you?"

"Nothing much. Any way. I'm not supposed to tell you," Robert said, with a slight smirk.

"Odio tu!" I sneered and I walked off to catch some sleep.

&

Robert's POV

Daryl and Danny had went off to check for any one coming up when they came running back.

"They're coming back! We need to hide," Daryl stated. We hid right under rocks that over hung an incline. Well...We were all hiding from the Russian or Cuban soldiers that I guess were taking pictures or something like that when Toni slipped. They spotted us! Shit! I took off, dragging Rebecca behind me by the wrist. She ran to keep up. I slipped, but quickly got up, pulled Rebecca behind a tree and shoved her against it before stepping out to shoot one of the Russian (or Cuban) soldiers that followed us. Just then, we heard a really high pitch shriek. Arturo and the others shot at the Russian (or Cuban) until we were sure he was dead. When we finally regrouped after killing the three Russians (or Cubans), we noticed there was one person missing: Chelsea.

"I'm gonna go look for her," Jed stated before walking off.

"C'mon. Let's head back to the camp," Matt said, and we all headed back. Rebecca kept looking over her shoulder and we all sat down for dinner...Well. If that's what you want to call it.

&

Rebecca's POV

About 25 minutes later, Jed wondered back into camp. His eyes weren't puffy but I could tell he was crying.

"She got shot...She didn't make it," Jed stated simply, answering our questioning faces. He sat down in between me and Danny and reached for dinner. I couldn't believe it. One of my good friends gone and all everyone could do was eat. Emily was starting to cry but no one else seemed upset.

"Si miente uno schiaffo!" I snapped at Jed.

"Say what?" Jed gave me a puzzled look along with everyone else. I started rumbling on in Italian. Chelsea had taken it as a second course and she taught me everything she learned.

"Non è la tua amica? Non lei è il tua girlfriend?" I turned to everyone else. "Che c'è con voi?" I then faced Jed again. "Tu ami lei? Si miente uno schiaffo!" I faced everyone, fighting back tears. "Odio voi!" Everyone sat there, staring at me because they didn't know what I was saying...Well maybe Arturo did coz Spanish is like Italian.

"Si miente uno schiaffo!" I repeated it once more before walking off. Finally, I sat down near the tree, resting my head in my hands, taking deep breaths, trying hard to fight back tears. Just then, someone tapped my shoulder. I looked to see Emily as she sat next to me.

"Are you okay?" she questioned.

"No. Chelsea è morto!" Emily looked at me and I turned slightly red. "Sorry," I muttered. "I mean, no. I mean Chelsea's dead! How can I be okay? How can they act like nothing's going on?"

"Rebecca. I know we lost someone. I mean, we've already lost so many people we care about. But you gotta fight past it. I mean, Jed's ready to ball his eyes out. I haven't seen you cry in ages," Emily stated.

"I don't cry anymore," I whispered.

Meanwhile at camp...

Jamy's POV

"They were people," Danny stated.

"Yeah, well so was my dad...And Chelsea," Robert stated.

"What was it like?" Arturo asked.

"It was good," Robert replied.

"One thing's for sure now. No one can ever go home again. Never," Jed stated, staring at the fire. Matt shoved a pot at Erica.

"Why don't you make yourself useful?" he suggested rudely.

"You wash it. We ain't ever doin' your washing again. Me and her is as good as any of you. Same with Emily, Lizzie, Jamy, and Rebecca!" Erica said, throwing the pot back at him.

"So. What's up your ass?" Matt questioned.

"Shut up! Don't you ever say that again!" Erica said, standing up and hitting Matt. "Hear me? You say that again, I'll kill you. Hear me? I'll kill you!" Erica sat back down as Emily and Rebecca walked back into camp.

"So what did I do?" Matt asked everyone.

"What you said was wrong," Toni replied. Matt shoved the pots towards Rebecca.

"You don't have to listen to them!" Erica said to Rebecca.

"If you lived with these guys your whole life, you'd understand that they need someone to keep them in line," Rebecca mumbled, cleaning out the pots before chucking them back at Matt. We sat there in silence for about fifteen minutes before Rebecca broke it.

"Well. I don't know about you people but I'm heading to bed. I gotta get some rest," she headed for her sleeping bag and silence flowed back into the group.

I know it seems like we're never coming back. I know it feels like we're never coming back. You tried you best and you knew it wouldn't last. They were the words that she placed on her casket. Between the sadness and the smile lies the flicker of the fire you always said this never hurt you, I always said you were a liar. with all the towers and the wires, there still lies a little silence. two hearts and one connection. one voice lacks emotion now.