The Impossible War

Chapter Three

"Do you think Ekon made it back?" came a voice from behind the curtain. I was still half asleep when I heard that. Suddenly I jumped up realizing that I had a so-called enemy sleeping in my bed. If the others find her, who knows what they'll do. I thought. So I stood up, but nearly fell right back down. I looked at my legs and saw that I had a nasty cut in my left calf. The rush of adrenaline must've blocked the pain when I jumped. I decided. Eventually I staggered out from behind my curtains just to be mauled by my three friends. "Are you okay? When did you get back? How did you survive?" all three of them shouted at once. "Yes, I'm fine," I said as I hid my calf. They didn't need to know about that, "I got back just before the trumpets had sounded." I finished. Hero looked as though he was gonna hug me again, while the twins looked relieved. "You look terrible." Raine said after a moment. You should go rest. We'll come back for when it's time for dinner." Armor added. "Okay. Thanks guys." With that, Armor, Hero and Raine walked out of the tent.

There was no way I was gonna sleep. I had to keep watch over the girl. I sat in a chair across from the bed and watched. She'd be awake within the next half hour or so. What is your name? I wondered. Eventually she stirred. She sat up looking frightened. I just watched. Then she saw me and almost screamed but I motioned her to stay calm and quiet. To my surprise, she listened. Slowly, I limped over beside her and sat on the edge of the bed. "Where am I?" She quietly asked. "The camp of the Montusko Outsiders." I responded, "You're safe as of right now." She continued to look scared. "What's your name?" She paused before she finally answered, "Jewel, or at least for the past few years it has been. I don't remember my real name." The look in her eyes went from scared to sad. "What's your name?" "I'm Ekon as of the start of the war. I don't remember my name either." Then she stared at me, "You were the soccer captain, right?" I was surprised that she remembered.

"Yeah. You came up and hugged me after the game. Why?" I knew she remembered what I was talking about from the look in her eyes. "Oh...um, I don't know. It kinda just felt like I had known you forever and you were really great during that game." It was as though she was hiding something but I decided not to push it, I mean I did basically just kidnap her. Maybe I'd learn more behind that hug eventually, but it was just too soon for her.

"So who was the boy you were with?" I decided to ask after a brief moment of silence. "Oh, that was just some guy from Jaunty. I didn't really know him. Is he okay?" I guess the look on my face had said the words I didn't want to because she had said, "Oh...okay. I see." Then she continued, "Why? Why did you save me?" The question took me by surprise, I had to think about it for a moment. "I...don't know. I just felt like I had to. It was as though I'd never forgive myself if I had let you die." She was about to say something but from the outside of the tent came, "Hey Ekon, dinner time. Let's move!" It was Hero. I looked back at Jewel and she nodded letting me know that she'd stay hidden until I got back. I decided to trust her. "I'll be right out Hero!" I called back. As I got up to leave Jewel grabbed my hand. I looked at her confused as to why she did that. She looked as though she wanted to say something but decided against it and said, "Thank you for saving me." I nodded, and with that I left.

•••••••

What the hell are you doing? Are you out of your mind? She is your enemy. What would the others think? What are they gonna do if they find out? Are you gonna tell them? I limped to dinner as these thoughts raced around my head as if it were a race track. Especially the last question; Am I gonna tell them? As I approached the table my group sat at I decided I wasn't gonna tell them. Not yet at least.

Dinner was steak for the first time in awhile. That could mean only one thing, we had won the battle. Now it's just a matter of surviving until the next battle. Tomorrow we'd have to go and clean up the battle field and worry about Jaunty's Outsiders attempting to kill us while cleaning up as well.

"Whatcha thinking about there, Ekon?" someone asked. It took a second to come back to reality. Hero had asked the question. I guess the fact that I was quiet gave away something being on my mind. "Oh, it's nothing." I lied, "I'm just tired, it's been a long day." Raine glanced at each other and shared a silent thought together before looking back at me. Armor had kept his eyes on me though. No one bought the lie but decided against questioning it. We just sat there awkwardly quiet instead.

Armor eventually broke the silence after we had all finished eating. "I'm glad we survived another day. We've been lucky." In unison the rest of us nodded. "Nothing will come between us because we are family." Raine pitched in. "Except maybe death, probably not though because if I die I will haunt all y'all." joked Armor. We laughed together. It had been awhile since that's happened. The feeling was nice.