Borders

"The New World" Chapter 2

The freezing cold air slaps me across the face as I step out of the subway train. Chills run up and down my spine like they're in a marathon. Small rain drops plop on everyone's heads. None touching the ground because of the sea of tense people.

With an eye roll, I scan the crowd for the Patricksons. A light tap on my shoulder causes me to jump up in surprise. Spinning around, I see Loretta holding Rosemary and Simon next to them both. Relief floods through my system.

"Are you ready to go?" Loretta says, obviously tired. She must've just woken up from a nap like I.

"Oh yeah, I was just looking for you all actually." I admit with a shrug, Loretta just laughs.

"Lets go." Simon says, motioning us to follow him into the bustling crowd. Others shove past us as we do the same to them. It's like a race to the finish line, though really it's just the start. I bet from above we look like a hoard of ants. Going off to help each other gather a large crumb someone left behind from lunch. The thought is ironic because we're supposed to be going against each other.

When the crowd starts to settle down, I try and see what's happening, where we are. But all the bobbing heads block my view. With a groan, I try pushing a few people out of my way. But sadly I still can't see considering there are hundreds people in front of me.

"Listen up! Please get prepared, your challenge will begin in 10 minutes." A large hologram appears out of nowhere in the sky, counting down. A few people screech and others shout.

A chorus of "Get out of my way!" and "Move it!" fill my ears. I can hear the sound of weapons being released. Panic and tension fills the air, almost suffocatingly. Almost reflexively I take out my dagger, warning anyone who tries to come near Ava and I.

People swirl around in hurry and panic. It's all confusion. The movement makes me dizzy, and I slightly stumble. I'm able to look up at the sky towards the monotone sounding hologram.

five, four, three...

I mentally stop, trying to climb out of the panic. But before I can do anything, the buzzer blasts out. And all I hear is warrior cries. I myself am about to scream, I don't know how to control myself. I feel frozen. But when the sight of blood come sinto view, it finally clicks.

"We need to go!" I scream to the Patricksons. But they are already being sucked into the crowd and commotion. I silently curse under my breath before running in no particular direction. Just letting the sound take me. Wherever the less screams are, the better.

People rush past me in a blur, everyone heading in directions. The image of blood spilling rattles me to the core. It's just like when The Chaos Period happened. Except I'm right in the middle of it. The rain thickens and I feel myself getting drenched in water.

Suddenly a strong force pulls me towards the ground. Clumps of dirt splat on my face and a bit enters my mouth. The mushed grass tickles the side s of my face. Ava screams and starts kicking my lower back. I hear a low growl and then excruciating pain erupts in my thigh. I let out a ear shattering scream as I feel liquid running down my leg. It starts to spread and it soaks my bottoms. The man laughs and then gets ready to crush my ankle, when another shadowy figure comes and tackles him like a bull.

Grunts are followed and I see them twisted together, wrestling on the ground. I take this as my chance to leave. Ava is still crying, the screaming and shouting probably scaring her to death. I try to stand up, getting in a crawling position. But the pain in my leg is too much. I collapse unwillingly to the ground.

I have to do this. Or Ava will die, and she can live a long life. I'm not letting my own pain take down others, including myself.

I push myself up again, taking a sharp intake of breath. Tears sting my eyes as I crawl forward. While I take the steps, tears roll down my face and onto the ground. With only about 15 steps into my journey, I see black spots dotting my vision. No, no, no!

But without a choice, I slip into unconsciousness.

~*~

The sound of crunching fills my ears as I painfully force my eyes open. Everything is blurry at first, but the sunlight is clearly visible. My tearducts react quickly by sending tears in my eyes. I squint and turn my head around. Ava is close by me, sitting against large, thick, dark tree bark. She's munching on some Lays potato chips. Her legs sprawled our across the ground.

Her jeans are damp with wtaer and her shirt has a couple large wet spots. Her hair is also wet and stuck to her face, shaping her oval like head. Ava's eyes are closed and her facial expression seems pretty happy. Despite the fact we just went through a bloodbath.

"Ava, when your done with the potato chip bag give it to me so I can put it away. Okay?" A deep male voice says from the other side of the tree. I immediately use all my might to push myself upwards. Ava's head snaps towards me and I silence her with a keep quiet sign.

"Mr. Adam my sissy is up!" Of course she says something. I mentally facepalm myself and crawl towards her. My head aches, my bones and muscles are sore. But I'm dertermined to make sure Ava is safe. I have no idea who this man is. Or what he wants with us.

A head full of dar blonde hair peeps from behind the tree. It's a man that's for sure. He has chocolate brown eyes and a muscular build. A white t-shirt presses against his chest, revealing his six pack. He is either a sports star or in the military most likely. He reaches his hands out but I have other plans.

"Who are you?" I interrupt, hardening my stare.

"I just saved your life, carried you for a few miles, and I get that look? So nice of you." He raises his eyebrow, swinging his legs into a cross cross position in front of me.

"What do you mean you 'saved' me?" I question, my own eyebrow raised now.

"When that guy stabbed your leg? And you passed out? I was the one who saved you and Ava here." He replies as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then I remember, he's that random man who tackled that insane guy.

"But that still doesn't mean I can trust you. What if you just wanted a good kill and then you're trying to gain our trust? There are a million possibilities you know." I try and regain my eyesight, it keeps getting blurred and pixelated.

"But then I would've killed you by now. You were unconcious and she's only like what, three?" The boy, or Adam states. I give him a long, sharp glare as I look into his eyes. He wasn't effected by it at all, he seemed perfectly calm.

"Fine." I mutter, my lips forming a small frown. Ava squeals in happiness and wriggles out of her tight spot behind me.

"We must have an escape plan, right?" I question thoughtfully, testing his skills. He has muscle, but he also needs brain. I'm not going to have some dumb jock stereotype traveling with us.

"Yeah, I'm thinking Florida." He shrugs, leaning back and unzipping his own black, grey, and navy blue backpack.

"Why is that? Wouldn't it be a much easier trip to Arizona or Washington?" I fold my arms across my chest as he takes out a piece of yarn.

"Do you know how to play Cat's Cradle?" Adam turns to Ava, handing her the piece of yarn. Ava nds quickly and takes the yarn gratefully, immediately trying out differnet complex patterns. He looks back at me with a look that says the answer is obvious.

"We aren't even facing the same direction towards Washington, plus it's the closest so it'd be filled up quickly. Same thing for Arizona. The path we'll be taking will have less people. I thought you at least would've known that. You probably would've die dalready if it weren't for me." Adam replies after sticking his finger mindlessly through one of the holes Ava created.

"Haha you got trapped." Ava giggles, unraveling his fingers from the hole.

"Ah, but I'll get you next time!" Adam smiles, making a tsk tsk tsk sound. She just gives him a competitive look and starts creating another pattern.

"Don't get too cocky." I shake my head, but he just smiles. As he turn shis head to play with Ava, I secretly smile myself. Crossing my legs, I look up at the sky. Pink, purple, yellow, orange and red gracefully enter my vision. The sun rises slowly, signaling a fresh new day. I allow myself to get mesmerized into the colors.

Hopefully everything would be alright.

For now.