Otherworldly

Chapter 4

    What the fuck is on my nose? My fingers violently scratched at my nose and I groggily opened my eyes to see my hair shielding my entire face. Stupid fucking hair. At this moment I wanted to chop all of it off.
I slowly sat up and took in my surroundings. I was still in my corner, but the room was empty besides me. The sun streamed in through the window. Everybody's bags were still where they left them. They're probably eating. With that thought, my stomach growled loudly.
I pushed myself up and stretched my arms over my head. I sighed in bliss and headed towards the doorway. When I stepped into the hallway I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I hurried my steps as I thought about another can of food.
My eyes focused on Vee as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. "Any ravioli left," I asked when she smiled at me.
My lips stretched into a goofy grin when she pulled a can of ravioli out of her pocket. "Of course I saved you one. It's the last one."
"Thank you, Vee. You know it's my favorite."
"That's exactly why I saved it for you."
I rushed her and engulfed her in a quick hug while quickly grabbing the can. I dug my knife out of my pocket and stabbed it through the top of the can. I made a hole and started to use my knife as a fork.
"I think we're gonna head into the forest and start to go south."
I looked at Vee, but didn't stop eating. "That's really risky."
"Yeah but we're running out of places to scavenge. We can't keep going from canned food and expired goods. We need to start hunting our own food or at the least stay out of places that used to be populated."
My heart skipped a beat and the low murmurs of conversation from the dining room fell away from my focus. "Why do we need to stay out of towns?"
Vee sighed. "Tim said he saw a Leften squad last week close to the last town we were in."
"What do you mean he saw a squad? We haven't sent a squad in months. They only stay near the settlements."
"I don't know, Scar. He said he saw them when he was searching out that gas station. It looks like they're starting to search farther out."
I tried to remember the gas station she was talking about, but couldn't think of it. "What gas station are you talking about. And why are you just now telling me?"
"He went off to search for it himself one night. He didn't tell me about it until he got back. He said he wanted to see if he could find some cigarettes."
"What the fuck? What if that squad saw him and followed us back and killed us all. What the fuck was he thinking?" I interrupted her before she could answer my question of why she hadn't told me and winced when I realized how loud I was.
"Scarlett, I can't control Tim. He's free to do as he wishes. Just like you and everybody else in this group. The Leftens could be going from town to town hunting people that haven't been caught yet. We need to get out of sight and stay away from places they might look."
They might be just down the street. They could be right outside this house waiting for the right moment to strike. I knew I was starting to panic. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing thoughts. "Alright when are we leaving," I asked to distract myself.
Vee looked at me and I could see the worry in her expression. "Half an hour. I already told everyone else." I nodded and finished off the can of ravioli. I set it on the counter I was leaning on. It's just going to rot with the rest of this house. The rush and anger overwhelmed me. We're always going to have to hide. They've taken everything. With that last thought, I set off to get ready for a long day of walking.
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I groaned when Vee finally said we should take a break. We've been hiking for hours and I was ready to collapse. After we left the house we set off towards the forest. Vee said it was a national forest but I didn't pay too much attention to which national forest it was.
I found a nice spot to rest for a bit and let my back rest against the rough bark of the tree I collapsed by. I watched as everybody did the same thing and settled into the comfortable silence. I guess nobody is very chatty today. Truth is, I think everybody is just trying to stay as quiet as possible. Nobody here wants to run into a squad.
None of us know much about the Leftens. I didn't know how good their hearing was or their sense of smell. They are a different species, so they must be different from us in more than just appearance. When Vee first introduced me to everyone, I had tried to find out if they knew more about the Leftens than me, but they didn't. All we really know is that they like to stay in groups of five. And it's obvious they are all male. I haven't seen any female Leftens.
There's probably a big possibility there are female Leftens in the settlements they made, but none of us know how many settlements that have been stationed around the world or where they are all located.
I jumped when I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder. I looked toward the owner of the hand and saw Vee sitting beside me. I didn't even notice her sit down from being so lost in my thoughts.
"I think we're going to eventually get caught," I croaked out. "We can't always run. What if they send more squads from their planet?"
Vee sighed. It took her a minute to respond. "Maybe we will. Or maybe we won't. I don't really know Scar. We just have to keep away from them and we should be fine."
"Do you think they made some of the humans slaves?"
Vee must've been surprised by my question because she looked extremely troubled. Before she could respond I added, "I've seen them load humans onto ships. The day they invaded."
"For some reason that surprises me, even though it shouldn't."
I let out a small exhale and glanced at everybody resting. "Call me a pessimist, but I don't think we can just hide forever."
I grimaced when Vee nodded and closed my eyes to the expression on her face. She was just as scared as I was.

A/N- I would've updated earlier, but I've been sick all week from the second dose of the COVID vaccine. I'm going on vacation for the next couple weeks so I will work on the next few chapters within the next couple days and upload the chapters before I go on vacation.
    Also please vote if you're enjoying the story! Thank you!
-T.N. Jewell