Rebel

River

I stare down at Jackie's face, with his closed, round eyes and sharp nose and freckles. He's unconscious. As soon as Mark had hauled him behind the crates, Keira had begun checking his wound; "It came from a knife." She says, pointing to the bloody slash right below Jackie's rib. "Not too deep, thankfully... It can be cured. But we need to get back fast, 'cause he also sprained his ankle. If we don't move fast enough, he'll lose too much blood."

I nod, looking out from behind the crates. There's a lot of noise coming from the soldier camp, but none of them have come out on the street yet.

"We'd better get going before they come out here and start searching all over the place." I say to the others. I look around and see a small street crossing the one we are on right now. I point that way, "Looks like it could be a short cut. Let's go that way to avoid the Main Road. Connor, can you help Mark with supporting Jackie?" I look at Connor, who is standing at the edge of the crates. He nods.

I peek back and forth down the road, but there is no-one there, so I step out and start running toward the corner of the short cut street, keeping my head low and towing the cart I'd previously obtained behind me. Somehow, it doesn't slow me down too much, even though it's full of weapons and food. As I turn the corner, I turn back to watch the others. Next come Connor and Mark, who are each holding one of Jackie's arms. They are able to make it quite fast, even though they sometimes stumble over Jackie's feet, so I have faith that we'll be able to get home quite fast. Diana and Keira come last and we continue down the small street, with me keeping my eyes open as I hear soldiers shouting in the distance. There is a small, crumbled house on the opposite side of the street, and when I look through a window with no glass in it, I can see that there is a back door that leads onto another street. I tell the others to follow me, and walk over to the house. Kicking open the door, I let Connor, Mark and Jackie go in first. Then, I step in, wriggling the cart through the door. When we all are inside, we take a short break, panting. A few minutes later, however, Jackie begins to cough, so we decide to hurry on. The street on the other side of the house is one I recognize. It's about fifteen minutes away from our camp.
"What luck! That really was a short cut, after all! A great one, at that." Diana whispers, looking relieved. I can no longer hear the sounds of soldiers running around or shouting. We move onto the street, which is quite well-lit. There is a small market going on further down the street, and there are merchants shouting, trying to advertise their products. We all look around, trying to find the alley which we're supposed to take next. Keira points at one that's located behind a market stall. Earlier, when we came this way, there hadn't been a market which was why it was harder for us to spot the alley. We walk as fast and casually as we can, crossing the street and passing the merchant working at the stall, who shouts, "Carrots! Buy fresh carrots! Only twenty crescents per kilo!" Crescents is the currency we, rebels, use. If I remember correctly, the currency inside the walls is called Union Eyes (because the Union has its eyes on what you do with your money. Literally. If you use it illegally, the government will know). We pass behind the merchant, and he eyes us slightly angrily, probably because we didn't come to buy his carrots.

After around ten minutes of making our way home, without problems, we emerge onto a long road with broken lampposts on either side of it. I smile as I see our camp opening, hidden behind a large, overturned truck. We hurry down the street and Keira gets to the opening first. She holds back the curtain for Connor and Mark, in order for them to pull in Jackie. As I get inside, I roll the cart over to a corner and hurry towards where Jackie has been laid across a few pillows. Diana is already getting out her medical kit, and I remember that I had also stolen a few medical supplies from the camp, so I go and fetch them from a sack in the cart. Diana looks grateful to have more stuff to work with, and she orders us to move away as she sets to work on healing Jackie.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for not uploading new chapters often enough... I'm a big procrastinator. I really, really hope you're enjoying my story up till now! Please vote for this chapter and stay tuned for the next one! Also, feel free to comment - I love reading comments! And I also take constructive criticism, but please don't do it in a rude way ^^ See you next chapter!