Tom suddenly stopped and Angie bumped into him. She staggered back and managed to regain her balance. Tom dropped his rifle and kneeled on the ground next to Gina. She lay motionless, her limbs spread at a rather odd angle.
Tom took her pulse. "She's not dead."
Angie rolled her eyes. Of course she wasn't dead. She'd just screamed, and since there was no puddle of blood under her, Angie half-suspected Gina was faking.
Tom picked Gina up and glanced around. He wheeled to face Angie and reached out his hands, as if he wanted to pass Gina to her, but thought better of it. Angie frowned, not understanding why he looked so torn up.
"Could you... you know, go check the surroundings?" he said tentatively. Angie snapped out of it. Of course they had to check for intruders. If Gina wasn't faking, someone had been in camp.
Angie tightened her grip on the rifle and set off between the bushes. She turned up her headlamp and analyzed the ground. It was still moist and muddy after all the rain, so she could easily distinguish a footprint. She stepped carefully, searching for more clues until she reached the trap on this side of camp. The strings and the cover leafs were untouched. She checked the pins, but there appeared to be nothing out of place. Angie shone the light in front to see the footsteps disappearing into the bushes.
The rustling of tree branches coming from behind had Angie turning around, gun pointing. Tom appeared from the vegetation, his own rifle clenched in his hand.
"Find anything?" he asked. She pointed to the ground and Tom crouched to see better. "Wait here." He took her headlamp and followed the footprints out of sight.
Angie remained rooted to the spot, plunged in complete darkness. Her heart beat against her ribs and she got a sudden urge to knock her head against the nearest tree. She was worried about him.
She was supposed to hope he got killed, but he had managed to turn everything around in just a couple of minutes. What made matters worse was that she couldn't even convince herself to hate him anymore. The relief she felt once seeing him coming back was disconcerting.
"They're gone. Let's go back." He walked back to the clearing, picked Gina up again and headed for her tent. Angie followed, holding Tom's rifle as well as hers.
Once inside Gina's tent, Tom gave Angie the headlamp back and started prodding Gina. Angie looked around the tent. Being a new comer, Gina had a tent all to herself and she'd made sure to fill it with what looked like the entire content of her rucksack. Angie used the rifle to remove a pair of pants from the top of a lantern and busied herself to turn it on.
"Angie, what are you doing? I need the light," Tom said, turning Gina on her back.
"No you don't. It's not like she's dying. I'll be done in a minute."
"What are you doing anyway?"
"Turning this thing on." A low light filled the tent and Angie drew back from the lantern, trying to avoid touching anything. She felt as if she was standing in a nest. "There, now you can go back to prodding her. I bet she loves it."
"I doubt she feels it," Tom mumbled, his attention back on Gina, checking every joint.
"I doubt she's not faking," Angie said to herself.
Tom turned away from Gina. "Why do you have to do this?"
Angie shrugged. "Do what?"
"She hasn't done anything to gain this hostility."
Angie put one finger under her chin. "Except being a spy who will get us all killed or captured."
"We've already had this conversation." Tom turned away from her, though he didn't seem to be paying attention to Gina either.
"Yes, and even after our conversation, you still defend her. Even if you knew how she was, you still went out with her." Angie clenched her fists, trying not to raise her voice.
"You know what?" Tom snapped. "At least she was being honest with me."
Angie narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Tom gave up on Gina completely and turned to Angie, his jaw set. "You, unlike her came all wrapped up in a pretty package... You know what? Never mind. It's not worth getting into."
"You wanna talk pretty packages, Tom?" Angie's voice shook, but she didn't care. The pain struck with bone-crushing intensity. "You seemed so perfect, seemed to get me, knew exactly what to say to make me feel special, not alone... You two-faced bastard! You pretended to care about me, when all you wanted was a piece of ass!" Her voice cracked and she tried to hold back her tears.
"I never wanted a piece of ass!" Tom shouted back, his fists balled. "I want the whole ass. Wanted. You were never just a body to me. But you're one to talk! All you wanted was someone to mooch off, and as sure as hell didn't qualify."
"Money?" Angie asked disgusted. "You think this is about money?"
"It's not stupider than you thinking I wanted to take you for a test drive. I thought you knew me!" Tom fired back.
Angie's blood turned to chips of ice. She thought she knew him too, and he'd never actually done something to change her mind except... "Why did you break up with me, then?"
"I was pissed! You had it all wrong to begin with. And I didn't break up with you. I'm not even sure we were together."
"You didn't even talk to me—"
"Talk? You ran away!"
Angie cringed. It felt as if he'd punched her in the stomach. "I didn't run away." Yes, she had. She'd run to Kay who'd given her the best relationship advice, or so she'd thought then. Run. Don't let anyone hurt you because love isn't real. Now that she knew about Kay and Kyle, Kay's words made sense then. Her heart was broken.
"Yes, you did." Tom's voice was merciless and it hurt. "Instead of facing stupid high school rumors, you ran away. I don't think I've been more disappointed with someone in my life."
That really hurt. Angie turned away from him, hugging herself. Had it been nothing but high school rumors? She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She'd tried so hard to get over him, but it had all backfired. All the insults, the anger, felt like a giant boulder tied around her neck. It only made her as guilty as him.
"I'm sorry." Tom came behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't cry."
"Don't apologize!" She tried to be angry, but couldn't pull it off anymore. She had no right to be angry. She was nothing but a silly teenage girl, as much as she tried not to be.
"You've always been strong." He turned her around and wiped her tears. "Everything's gonna be alright."
Angie nodded, unable to decide if she felt happy or miserable. It seemed like a bit of both. She wished she knew how he felt, if he still hated her, but he was unreadable. He stepped closer, put his arms around her waist, but didn't squeeze her against his chest, though she so desperately needed it. She wondered if he expected her to push him away. Did she want to push him away? She bit her lip. No.
Tom tightened his grip and leaned his forehead against hers. Shivers ran through her body like electricity.
Gina moaned and Tom immediately let Angie go and rushed to her side. Angie crinkled her nose. She had a feeling Gina wasn't as unconscious as she seemed.
Tom shook her, but she didn't wake up. His shoulders slouched and he sighed deeply before standing again.
"I'll go tell Sam about the intruder. And check on Clive while I'm on it." Tom took one of the rifles and left the tent before Angie could say anything.
Fighting back disappointment, Angie picked up her gun and looked around the mounds of clothes and toiletries. How could Gina find anything in that mess? Angie's grip on the gun loosened.
The notebook. She took the tent in, but there were so many things lying around, she couldn't tell where it might be.
She checked next to Gina's sleeping bag first, then around the lantern, but came up empty. Praying it would be there, Angie crouched and rummaged inside Gina's seemingly empty rucksack. She took the booklet out victoriously and opened it. There was nothing written inside. Almost all the pages were ripped out.
"Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?" Gina's voice rang in her ear and Angie felt something steely and cold against her neck. "Foolish of you to suspect me. There's nothing in there."
"Of course there's nothing in there. You ripped out the pages and gave them to Snitch Gravel's men. That's why you were out, isn't it?" Angie tried to stay as still as possible, but her legs trembled under her.
"Maybe I just tore the pages myself and threw them away."
"Threw them away where? It's not like this place is filled with wastepaper bins. Tom was right, you're not very bright."
Gina pressed the blade harder against Angie's neck. "You're the stupid one; mocking me when I could kill you with one single move."
"Please!" Angie snorted. "I know you. You're a normal girl I went to high school with. You're not going to kill me. You have no idea what killing means."
Gina's grip on the knife loosened and Angie seized the opportunity. She elbowed Gina in the stomach and dived for her rifle. Gina scrambled to her feet and raised the knife. Angie turned on the floor, pointing the gun at her.
Gina froze, the knife high in her hand. "You're not going to kill me either."
Angie stood and aimed her rifle properly. "What makes you so sure?"
"You're just angry because Tom chose me. And we both know you used to have a crush on him."
Angie felt like hitting her over the head with the rifle, but contained herself. "I actually have a reason to do it. I know you're the traitor."
"You'll have a hard time proving it when you're dead." Gina raised the blade.
Angie cocked the rifle. "Drop it!"
For a second, they stood in silence, then footsteps approached. Gina dropped the knife. Her chin quivered and tears appeared in her eyes. Tom entered the tent, but froze in mid step, seeing Angie pointing her gun at Gina.
"Oh, Tom!" Gina yelled throwing herself in his arms. "I woke up and she was pointing that gun at me. She was going to kill me. She thinks I'm the spy."
Tom looked from Gina to the rifle in Angie's hands and frowned. "You're taking this too far."
"What?" Angie asked, lowering her gun. "She tried to cut me open. She is the spy!"
"That's not true! She wanted to shoot me. I bet she's the one Snitch Gravel sent over." Gina was positively weeping now, her head on Tom's shoulder.
"You can't believe all her crap!" Angie said trying to keep her voice steady, but her own teeth clattered and she couldn't tell if because of the anger or the frustration.
"I don't believe what either of you are saying," Tom said roughly. "I only believe what I see." He nodded toward the rifle.
"This means nothing." Angie shook her head. "I can't believe I fell for it again! And I can't believe how much I hate you." She marched past him, out of the tent and as far away as possible. Her insides squirmed worse than ever and it felt as if a concrete block pressed her heart, trying to break it into pieces. She should've never lowered her defenses. Now he'd done it. He'd crawled back in and destroyed everything again, just like she knew would happen.
Over the horizon, the sun was rising. Perfect. She dropped the gun and went straight for her tent. She felt the pathetic need to cry her eyes out.
*
"One of Snitch Gravel's men attacked Gina, but ran away when she screamed," Sam said skeptically.
"Yeah, I know, bullshit." Tom pressed his hand to his forehead. "Why would he run away? And Snitch Gravel's never sent less than a dozen goons at us."
"And do you really believe Angie wanted to shoot Gina?"
Tom sighed. "No. Maybe she just wanted to scare her. But it was a stupid move either way. She could have unloaded by mistake."
"Tom, look..." Sam hesitated, trying to come up with the least hurtful way to say this. "Have you...you know... considered that Angie might be right? I know Gina is your girlfriend and everything, but this whole thing last night gets me thinking."
"Gina's not my girlfriend," Tom said exasperated. "Why doesn't anyone believe me when I say it?"
Sam frowned, temporarily distracted. "She's not? Then why do you let her cling on to you like that?"
"Because she won't get it through her head that it's over. It's easier to just let her be."
"Angie..." Sam said, thoughtfully. She was the key out of this mess. "Go train, or whatever. I've got work to do!" he called out and rushed away from his twin.
He ran into Angie just as she stepped out of her tent. Sam opened his mouth to wish her good morning, but the words got stuck in his throat. He'd never seen her looking so down and beaten. Her face was chalk-white and her eyes red and puffy, as if she'd been staring into a computer screen for days. Dark rings stood out on her light skin.
"Angie, what happened? You look awful!" Sam said before he could help himself. And even if he should feel like a socially awkward moron, he didn't.
Angie smiled weakly. "Gee, thanks."
"I shouldn't have let you take over guard duty." Sam wrung his hands, feeling extremely guilty.
"Oh, no. I liked guard duty. I actually want to do it more often." Angie turned her head to look at canopy of leaves above. The light stressed the tearstains on her cheeks.
"Is this because of Tom? Because I can—" Sam stopped as Angie raised her hand.
"Let's not talk about Tom, okay? I just want to take it slow today. If you need me, I'll be hanging out with Christine."
"With Christine?" Sam asked, taken aback.
"Yes. We get along quite well, in case you haven't noticed." Angie forced another smile. "See you around." She waved at him and walked away.
Sam got the distinct feeling she wanted to spend as little time around him as possible. He wondered why. He also wondered how come he hadn't noticed that Angie and Christine were friends. But Angie's attitude was disconcerting. Why would she want to get away from him so badly?
Because you look like Tom, idiot! Anyway, he could do this without Angie. He didn't feel like forcing her to be around people she'd rather avoid.
So Sam spent the rest of the day in Gina's company, filling her in on their progress with the traps, complaining about how they'd run out of materials and had to leave the western side uncovered. Gina listened raptly. Sam was also careful to share his worries on Tom's crush on Angie. This particular part of the conversation didn't fall well with Gina. She didn't speak to Tom and left for bed very early.
"I think I hit a nerve with that one," Sam told his brothers late that evening, when only they were left around the campfire.
"You told Gina that I have a crush on Angie? Are you mad?" Tom asked, clenching his fists.
"You should've told her yourself. That'd get her even angrier," Kyle said amused.
"Yeah, whatever," Sam said before Tom could retaliate. "I got her angry enough to do something stupid. Like call her boss and get him here. Through the western side."
"The western side?" Jimmy snorted with laughter. "I'm taking you're into a bit of fishing, then."
"I actually am," Sam said brightly. "Let's leave that side unguarded tonight to make it easier for them."
"Okay, I'll go tell JT about it," Kyle said, getting up.
"Wait a minute! You really think Gina is a spy?" Tom asked as though begging all of them to say 'no'.
"Sorry Tom, but after last night, I'm pretty sure she is." Sam shrugged. "Don't worry. If nothing happens tomorrow, it means she's innocent. Then you can get back with her or whatever and continue messing Angie up."
"I don't want to mess Angie up. This is not my fault," Tom said and stalked away from them.
Jerry stared after him, bewildered. "What's gotten into him?"
"Something that should have a long time ago," Kyle answered seeming strangely pleased."Let's call it a night. We have some fish to fry tomorrow."
🔷🔷🔷
Anyone surprised by the outcome of this? Do you think Sam's plan will work or horribly backfire?
Also, oh, no, the Tangie is sinking! Grab your life vests!
Predictions?
Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to vote and comment!