C.R.A.N.E (Strange Editing WiP)

Chapter Twenty Five: Capture

For three days we travelled along the icy floor of the ocean. We pushed ourselves through harsh snowstorms,strong wind and the absolute freezing temperatures of the night and day. Each day was more difficult than the one before. We became weaker and tired, and what was even worse was that we were running out of supplies. We nearly gave up all hope. The snowy field seemed like it was infinite. We thought we would never reach the end.

Luckily, we finally made it to another wooded area infested by wild pine trees in every acre of land. We were glad that everyone had made it without injury.

After a long journey, we decided to camp out for a while, resupply and prepare to continue on.

Trevor and Aatu insisted to hunt for the group and surprisingly, Joe tagged along, followed by Blair. Serena and Susan set up tents and the campsite. So, Apollo, Jake and I were left to gather wood for the fire.

We strolled around the forest, doing a cross between picking up wood and exploring the area. After about an hour, we decided to sit on a fallen oak log and Jake decided to explore more and roll in thick layers of snow. Jake really did not give two shits about anything.

"Sure is great to be out of that dreadful ice desert. I thought that was the end of us." Apollo said.

"Me too. Let's just hope we don't have to do something like that again." I said, relieved.

"Well, it would've been worse if it was unfrozen. It's much harder surviving at sea that way. And plus, I would probably get seasick."

"Seasick? But aren't you used to motion from...you know, planes?"

"Funny isn't it? A pilot who gets motion sickness." He said with a chuckle, which made me chuckle.

Apollo was a great guy to have around. He could make you laugh even in the worse scenarios. Even if your pet got hit by a car he could probably somehow make you laugh right after. Wait...now that I think about it, maybe it was sometimes a not so great ability.

I placed my hand in my pocket and took out my wallet. I opened up and checked everything that was in there; a few coins, expired coupons, ID, damaged credit cards an two very important things. Gary's note and the photo.

I inspected the envelope carefully. Gary said that only his brother can open it, but it was driving me insane. Who knows what Gary had written. Why wouldn't he let anyone see it? Could he have been hiding something? These thoughts gave me a quite of fear. If this note was putting us in danger...

I put the envelope back in the wallet and took out the photo for the billionth time.

The photo was my escape from the real, cruel world. It was a paradise that I deeply wanted. A paradise where no one lived in fear. Where everyone did what they loved and they could spend time with their family.

The photo also helped me remember what Rylie looked like. I never wanted to forget her beautiful face. I didn't want to forget Accalia's too. But she was so little when we took that photo. I just hope I remember what she looked like.

I turned around and saw Apollo also looking at some sort of photo. I couldn't see what it was exactly, but it made him smile.

He quickly looked up and saw that I was looking at him.

"Oh, sorry! I just didn't want to disrupt you." He cheerfully said.

"Oh no, I was just...thinking back."

Surprisingly, for the first time he looked at me with a glum look. It was an awful thing to see. It was like stealing ice-cream from a child.

"You've lost someone important in your life, haven't you?" He simply said.