Survival

Chapter 20

We kept walking further into the dense forest. Joe was murmuring something inaudible. Probably on the situation we found ourselves in. My heart was beating furiously. What if they were taken away? What surprised me was that we were together one minute, and the next they were nowhere to be found. Did they move away when we weren't looking? Or maybe they were taken off-guard. We were together few minutes ago. Ya Allah, wherever they are save them. You are our saviour, our only hope. Save them, Ya Allah. Save us. I couldn't take the dread I was feeling off my mind. I wondered why it was both of them that were nowhere to be seen. Were they talking and lost track of us, and maybe got lost? Recently, I had seen them together everywhere. I noticed Nat furious, but didn't dare ask her. I knew she had seen them too. Nat and Ryan were getting along pretty well when we arrived, and I even teased her that they would soon be together. But since the events happening in this dreadful camp, I noticed Ryan distanced himself from Nat... from all of his friends actually. He didn't sit with them or even us anyone, instead he would be with Carrie laughing. CARRIE. That was another discussion. Why did Carrie act like she didn't know me... us anymore? I stepped on a few hard wood, crunching them beneath the weight of my sole, angrily. Where were they? I was praying intensely in my heart, when I heard names being called. I turned quickly, my heart slapping in my chest. I saw that Joe had also turned, frightened. Nat came towards us, running, panting for breath.

"Thank God I found you. I was almost worried you disappeared. We found them." Nat informed us.

And that was it. A huge wave of relief flooded through my whole body. Alhamdulillah, I said. Joe laughed, now that we were happy. If only I knew that that was the start of it all.

~~~~~

The three of us walked back to  the others. I spotted them both, looking haggard. What on earth? Carries' eyes looked huger than they already were. She was shivering, head turning frantically about. Her eyes were red, showing that she had been crying. Ryan, on the other hand had his hands over her shoulder, and looking freaked out, told us not to say anything and return back to the camp fast. We ran back to camp. Thoughts ran through my mind. What happened? Did they see whoever was behind these disappearances? Who was it? The run was very discomforting. Tweaks of tree branches got caught in our clothes, and we had to stay and remove them. At one point, Nats' beige dress was torn by the branches. Trees swayed back and forth, making it more difficult to run. Joe was lagging behind, due to the heavy bag of spears he carried. When we almost reached camp, the weather automatically changed to a dark brown. I was surprised. The change was so sudden, so dramatic... kind of scary. When we reached, breeze had taken over. Dust, empty cans, leather, and other weightless objects were flying about everywhere. No one was in sight, probably because Mr Cameron told them all to get back inside. He usually did that when there was signs of rain.

Immediately we arrived, Ryan and Carrie rushed to the main room. We followed them, inquisitively.

"W-w-we s-aw them," Carrie began speaking hysterically.
Nat looked at her angrily and hissed, "what the hell is going on here? Tell us already."

Ryan began explaining what really happened. "We were in the forest..."

Nat cut him, "you were? Why did you leave us? We should stick together. Don't you get it? I don't even get why you two..."

I understood why Nat was furious. She couldn't take it. I knew she was angry at Ryan. She loved him, since I could remember. The only problem was that she never told him. She was of the opinion that he should tell her first, if he ever did. Now, seeing Ryan with Carrie just made her blood boil. She couldn't stand seeing him with any girl. I wouldn't if I were her too. But we needed to calm down and be united now more than ever. I lowered my voice to speak to her. "Nat? I think it's best if we listen to what they have to say."
Nat simply shook her head and crossed her arm across her chest, blowing air.