Hide and seek

No place for fear

"Are they part of your gang too?" I ask, trying to hide my fear. As I peek up again at the people, fog begins to cloak the small hill.

"It's not a gang, we can all come and go as we please." David shakes his head slightly, looking at my face.

He has a strange look in his eyes, he continues to stare back at me so I turn away.

"David? We didn't expect to see you until tomorrow." A person asks, walking towards us.

It's a woman, who has straight red hair pinned back into a ponytail. She eyes me up suspiciously as we get closer.

"Who are they?" She raises her eyebrow, noticing the knife David has pointing into my back.

"Some kids we found hiding in the trees, there was another one but she was injured so I told James to take her to Duncan." David says, looking utterly bored by having to talk to her.

He confirms my suspicions as he quickly side steps her and pulls me with him. "Ex-girlfriend?" I laugh.

He looks at me with surprise then grins. "She wishes, she is the most dullest person you will ever meet trust me."

"I'll take your word for it." I smile, I remember the situation and look away from him again. I look over my shoulder and catch Riley staring, he quickly turns away before I can say anything.

We reach their small camp and the fog is so thick around us I can no longer see the woods behind us anymore. They have a few tattered looking tents set up and a fire in the middle. Two older boys who are twins chat away to each other, another boy lies across the ground snoring rather loudly.

"Why did we have to come with you?" Jennifer asks, looking back the way we came.

"Well you all clearly do not know how to look after yourselves so being the kind, responsible person I am, i'm giving you the opportunity to join us." David smiles, finally letting me go and sitting by the fire.

"We don't need your help, if we could stay with you tonight we will leave in the morning." Riley spits, not looking at David.

"Well that's what you want. What about the rest of you?" David laughs, ignoring Riley and staring straight at me again.

Eli and Jennifer turn to look at each other, "We would need to know more about you first." Eli says, surprising me completely.

David grins. "Well we basically try and kill the mutant scum on a daily basis. Besides that we move from area and area and find others when some of us leave the group."

"So what do you think?" One of the twins asks, looking only at Eli.

"Uhm.. I'm in." Eli says, seeming quite excited.

"So am I then." Jennifer mumbles, not looking too pleased.

"What about you sweet heart?" David asks, staring at me. The red glow of the fire on his face that also reflects in his eyes.

"Do I have to decide right now?" I laugh, never have I been good at making decisions. Plus I need to speak to Riley who currently is staring at me intensely. 

David looks down but I can see he was hoping I would decide straight away. "Fine, you can decide in the morning."

David starts to poke the fire and everyone goes about their business. Eli sits down next to the twins and they chat together, Jennifer reluctantly sits down next to them too. Riley sits next to the boy asleep and stares into the fog, his back against us all. I slowly sit down beside him, unsure of why he is so upset.

"Are you ok?" I ask, cautiously.

Riley doesn't smile or even look at me. "Fine." He snaps.

"I don't understand, I haven't agreed to anything yet. Why are you angry at me?" I ask, hurt by his accusing tone.

Riley turns, not looking me in the eyes. "Exactly YET! You are and it doesn't matter anyway. Eli and Jennifer have decided to stay with them, Olivia won't be able to walk again for a long time. So my family have been broken apart so I can't leave now can I? I'm fucking stuck now!" He snarls, turning his back to me again.

I stand up, not knowing what to say. I walk over to the fire and stare into the flames, again I glance up and notice David staring at me. "Care to join me?" He asks.

"No. I wan't to go to sleep, what tent can I sleep in?" I say, turning away from his strange stare.

He points to one and the red haired girl snorts. "Great, you're sharing with me then." She says, sarcastically.

"Thank you." I mumble to David as I crawl into the tent. The thin tents floor holds no comfort and I can feel each stone and uncomfortable rock beneath me. I try and fall asleep, I hear the others go into their tents after a while too.

Before I drift off I hear the red haired girl speak to David. "Aren't you going to tell them what we plan to do in a couple of days?" She asks.

David pauses for a moment. "No, they don't need to find out yet."

Authors note:

Happy New Year Everyone! :) Hope you all have an amazing 2013. Thank you so much for following Hide and Seek. Please comment! :D