Hiding From the Unknown

Part 4

I widened my eyes. It was Aiden, Lyla's brother. I couldn't believe he had survived the attack! Hadn't Mr. Avario said that he had captured everyone else and that I was the last one? How did he not know about Aiden? He looked scrawnier than I had ever seen him. His usually bright face was pale, and dull, his football-trained muscles were all flab, and his sparkling brown eyes had sunk in, making them look grey.

"Aiden!" I screamed, and dove at him, giving him a hug. He was always the brother I never had.
"Chlo-Bear!" He smiled weakly before wrapping his arms around me.
"What happened?!" I looked at his jutting cheekbones.
"I haven't eaten anything in twenty-four hours."

My heart immediately stopped in sympathy. I stared at him for a few minutes before tearing the zipper on my backpack down and grabbing the first thing I had, which happened to be saltines, and thrust them at him, along with a full water bottle. I was suddenly confused. What had happened to the maple syrup I had smelt, and how had he found me? I must have hallucinated the smell, because we were in the middle of nowhere.

My mind started to wander as I thought about what I would do next.  I lost my city, I didn't know where I was, I had a limited amount of food, and I didn't know why we had been attacked.  I realized the intensity of the situation.  I had no idea what was going on.  I turned back to Aiden, who had devoured the saltines.
"Aid, how'd you know where to find me?"
He shrugged. "I just saw someone sleeping and I walked over and it was you."

What he said just didn't add up, but he was basically my brother, and he would never lie to me, so I waved it off. We couldn't stay in the field forever, so grabbing my backpack, I got up and started walking. I heard a faint "wait!" and I turned around to see Aiden waving his arms at me. In my thinking, I had totally forgotten about Aiden. He jogged to catch up with me, and we both started walking. If only I had my cellphone, but I had dropped it in the classroom as I had walked out. As if reading my mind, Aiden said,"I left my phone at home before I went to school." His voice sounded almost robotic, as if it wasn't him at all. I eyed him carefully as we walked across the dry ground. 

"So, Aiden how have you been?"
"My life's been crazy, Chlo.  I was issued onto the football team, I just had seven tests in three days, and my city's being attacked by freaking war machines!"
"I get you. Just this morning I was thinking about how to find my dad, and now I'm walking across who knows where with my best friend's brother."
"Just promise me that we'll stick together, Mm-kay, Chlo?"
"Yeah, Aid.  I promise."

My worries were lifted talking to Aiden.  He was this carefree, amazing guy who I could always count on.  He was the stereotypical popular high schooler.  Lots of friends, football quarterback, gorgeous girlfriend, designer clothes, and all that was torn from him as the attack happened.  It didn't affect me that much, though.  I hadn't had time for popularity when I was looking for my Dad.  My only best friend just happened to be sisters with Aiden.  The only thing the attack disrupted me from was being with my mom. 

My eyes slowly saw a clearing in which there were little cottages, all made of wood, with the same amount of windows and identical mailboxes.  They were all lined up in three straight rows.  In the far end of it, there was a small stream with bushes and trees surrounding it.  I walked into the village, looking around at the houses.  A small group of small children were outside of the first row, playing a small game of hopscotch, while a group of girls in the corner were jumping rope.  I made my way to the clean looking stream, and grabbing Aiden's empty water bottle that he had finished earlier, I dunked it in, filling it to the top.  As soon as the water reached the top, I heard a loud bang, followed by another bang. My heart pounded in my chest as I looked around, trying to make out the scene.  It was the Variater, surrounded by about twenty men in uniforms.

I scowled at the sight of no women, but it it was not a time for feminism when my life was at risk.  Careful as to not make the same mistake as before, I grabbed my backpack and stuffed it under some shrubs before diving into the water.  I sank to the bottom, holding onto some algae to keep me down, and stayed as quiet as possible, only coming up for air when it was absolutely necessary. 

As I came up for air for about the fifth time, I saw a horrifying sight.  The entire village was on fire, the people running, trying to get out before realizing all exits were blocked, and they were trapped.  I saw some men hiding their wives and children in holes in the ground, or bushes,  and kissing them one last time before running into a flaming house.  It was depressing. 

I went back under the water as I heard two people talking silently, saying to check everywhere for living beings.  I silently clutched the algae, praying that the water was translucent enough for them not to see me under it.  Adrenaline skyrocketed through my body, my heart still pounding like a gong. I heard the water splashing around and someone talking again, but it was muffled by the water. It sounded like he knew someone was in this area, but couldn't find anyone.

I felt my lungs start to enlarge, struggling to find air as I kept my mouth closed, and my breath held. I wasn't suffocating...yet...but I had to get some air, and fast. The stream was small, and there was no bridge, so slowly hoisting myself up, I silently broke the surface of the water, and took a large, much needed breath of air. I slowly saw the back of a blond head rummaging through the trees, and talking into a device in his hand. I gulped for more air and sank back down, into the depths of the stream. Could he see me? I hoped not.