Meet Me Halfway (EDITING)

Chapter 17: The Second Time

They had continued walking during the day, hardly any words spoken and hardly any notice that the route they were taking was leading them to nowhere. They had all skipped lunch, and were doomed of the fact that Chuck had passed away less than a few hours before. The walk was dead silent – the only noises were the branches of the trees swaying against the light wind and their feet shuffling in the dirt and leaves.  

Their stomachs churned whenever they had thoughts of Chuck lying in the woods alone at least a few kilometres away, not breathing. The colours in the sky had contrasted to a decent blue, just a tad in between night and day. The clouds had disappeared and a few stars aligned in the centre of their view of the sky. They were all completely exhausted and felt as though they had no more energy or strength built up inside of their bodies.

“Umh, did you want to stop?” Sarah turned, facing the pack as she stood at the front of their group. Their faces were blunt red and puffy, and they felt as if someone had been tracking their every move.

“Yes please! I’m like, dying here...aren’t yo-“ Nate stopped when realising what he had just said. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped halfway and shut it again. He looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet innocently with his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, we should eat...and rest,” Vince started moving twigs and branches out of his way to make a seat for himself on the ground. He punched his fist in the air, in hope to make his watch move to a perfect spot on his wrist to see the face of the clock, although he realised he didn’t have it on.

“No point going back to get it,” Jay protested, watching Vince’s face evolve as he realised what had happened. Their minds were too set on Chuck at that moment to even remember how the kidnapper found a lead to get to them.

“You know, if I hadn’t have left my watch there...then he wouldn’t have found us...it’s actually my fault that Chuck is...” Vince said ignoring Jay’s previous comment. He trailed off his sentence, knowing not to risk an argument if he finished the sentence. None of them wanted to hear the word ‘dead’ or ‘kidnapper’ right about now.

“Vince, stop. It’s no one’s fault about what happened, ok? You’ve got to remember that,” Jay interrupted, throwing a blanket on the floor in front of himself.

“Yeah, so can we please drop this for now?” Sarah made her way around to Vince, grabbed his hands and clutched them in hers. She tightened her grip for a second, and smiled after her question.

“Yeah, I guess...” Vince nodded, clasping his hands over hers. He pursed his lips and pulled up his pants before sitting in his arranged spot on the ground. Jay had started to collect some random branches around them, brushing them together to start a fire just like Chuck had done. The others prepared some of the food that they had packed as extra, although they felt as though they weren’t hungry enough to eat.

“You know, our families would be freaking out right about now, too...I mean, we would probably be on the news along with you,” Nate nodded, looking up at Sarah and giving her a decent, patronizing smile - not that it was the best news they had heard all day.

By then, it had turned completely dark. Jay had lit a small fire in the middle of their circle, surrounded by a few rocks to decorate the outside. They ate while watching the sparks bounce off the tips of the fire, dancing hysterically in their sights. The warmth had started to spread around all four of them. Sarah glanced at the boys after ten minutes of silence, watching to see if they were asleep, awake or relaxing.

“Guys,” she whispered, her voice turning hush. She tried nudging the one closest to her, Nate, although he didn’t budge at all. She threw the nearest stick she could see, over the fire almost next to Jay’s head. It bounced on the ground at least twice, hitting a few rocks and then landing to an appropriate spot. Jay lifted his head immediately, a condescending expression on his face.