The Wilder-ness

Chapter Six

Burst and flares immediately follow and I rush to duck and cover my head. Bangs accompanied by screams carry through the air, ringing in my ears. Eventually, there is silence.

Cautiously, I lift up my head and survey the damage. There is so much red and crimson. There are people lying on the ground. Spotting Charlie, I move to run off the stairs but freeze when the masked people wheel their blasters at me. Throwing my hands into the air, I make sure they know I am unarmed before continuing to race over to where Charlie stands, his hands also in the air.

Reaching his side, I quickly look over him to make sure he's not hurt. Because that's what friends do. "Heather, I'm fine," he tells me softly. I just shake my head. I don't care. Only once I find him to be completely unscathed do I turn and find Lucy kneeling nearby, tears streaming down her face. I walk towards her.

Next to Lucy lies a girl about five years old. She looks like the younger version of Lucy, so I assume this is her sister.

Crouching down, I put my arm around Lucy and give her a hug, hoping this will comfort her. Instead, it only makes her cry harder. Then I notice the growing puddle of blood next to her sister. Right where her hand should be.

I hear footsteps crunch through the dirt but I can't look away from the blood soaking into the ground. It's only when the person clears their throat that I slowly lift my head.

Sapphire blue eyes meet mine and I can't breathe.

Hands suddenly wave in front of my eyes. I blink. Shake my head. "Sorry, what?" I ask, turning back to Lucy.

She just gives me a hard look and points back at the mystery boy. I sigh and look back at him. He still hasn't moved so all I could see were his eyes of sapphire. I can't think straight.

Looking down, I stare at the ground, but there's so much blood. With nowhere else to look, I have no choice but to drown in the blue.

His hands move forward and I flinch. He stops, and when he sees that I'm not going to be startled again, continues to reach up. Then he pulls off his mask and hood.

I finally have a face to put the eyes on.

With his ruffled chocolate brown hair and blue eyes, my brain immediately wanders off to think about practically every other love interest in a book. I've read way too much.

I shake my head again, mentally smacking myself. Why do I have to think everything has to do with books?

I sigh and rub my head. With my other hand, I stick it out. "Hi, sorry," I say hastily. "I'm Heather."

He nods. "I know."

Deciding to not just let my hand hang there, I clasp my hands together and start wringing them so that I have something to do.

"Okay then." I slowly nod my head and look to the side.

After a while, I feel like we're just going to stay squatting here silently forever. My legs are starting to go numb. I blow out a huff and move to get up, but he grabs my hand, holding me in place, before also moving to stand.

"I'm Basil."

I can't help myself. I double over laughing. But he glares at me and I quickly try to stop. Holding my stomach, I raise a hand and gasp out, "I'm sorry, it's a book character."

He doesn't respond. Finally, I take in a breath to calm down, then quickly ask, "But can I call you Baz?"

He just stares at me and I quickly take back my question. "Nevermind."

Staring at the ground, I poke a hole in the dirt nervously. Then he chuckles and reaches out his hand. "Sure. If you want, you can call me Baz."

Cautiously, I extend my hand to meet his. His grip is surprisingly strong and he gives my hand a firm shake.

"Come with us."

From the original seventy-four of us, now there are only forty-eight. We can't blame these people for the deaths. After all, it was in self-defence after one of our men set off the first shot.

Following him, he leads us to their camp and residency. Faces pop out of windows and doorways, watching us as we pass by. Baz had sent Lucy and her sister ahead with two of his people. Hopefully, they could help with her sister's hand. I didn't even get to ask Lucy what her name was. I make a mental note to do that as soon as I see her.

At one point, we split up. Everyone is led to find where they will be staying and to meet the rest of these people. A boy named Samuel and a girl named Sam, who I think are twins, stay with me and Charlie as we continue to follow Baz.

Arriving at a building, it seems like this acts as their main headquarters. As I walk through the entrance, I expect to see a room with a main desk and cubicles on the sides. And I see exactly that. But that's not where Baz takes us. Instead, we go through a door in the back, where there's a staircase. And we go down.

Down.

Down.

And down.

After what feels like fifty-six years, but was actually only about fifteen minutes later, we finally reach the bottom of the stairs. "Welcome to headquarters," announces Baz. We pause at the entrance of the room while Baz continues to the middle of the large, circular room.

Then he stops.

With his back still to us, he spreads his arms wide as if showing off the entire room.

"We are the Underscorers."