Casey held tightly onto Sydney's hand as they raced through the field and back to his house. The sputtering sound of many gunshots made his heart clench with every step he took. Are they here just to kill us?
Slowing their footsteps to keep quiet, they approached the back door of Casey's home. His many years of hunting aided his ability to move with stealth, and he was impressed that Sydney was able to easily follow his lead. The back door creaked as he opened it, causing them to freeze in the doorway.
"You picked the wrong house, ya' dirty leeches!"
The sudden sight of Gordon running toward them with a knife caught Casey by surprise, but relief immediately fell upon him when he realized who it was.
"Gordon, it's us!" Casey shouted, getting him to stop.
"Boy! Don't go sneaking up on me like that! I almost killed ya'," Gordon scolded, putting the knife down.
Yeah, I'm sure you almost did.
Walking further inside, Casey saw Marcus around the corner holding two heavy pans in his hands. It's a good thing we weren't actually mercenaries.
"Is it what I think it is?" Casey hated to have to ask him that.
"I'm afraid so," Marcus replied with a sympathetic look.
"I outta kill 'em!" Gordon shouted, frustratingly kicking the wall. "Bloody easterners don't know how to leave us the hell alone!"
Casey nodded his head, not realizing he was still holding Sydney's hand until he felt it stiffen and unweave itself from his. When he turned to face her, her skin looked pale and her eyes seemed distant, like she had seen a ghost.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, pulling her close, but she responded by pushing herself away. "What is it, Sydney? What's wrong?"
She refused to look at Casey, which only made him worry more.
"Is it the mercenaries? Are they who's after you? Did they take you from your village and that's why you're on the run? Because you somehow escaped them?"
Casey spewed out all the questions he kept himself from asking, not wanting to see her in pain again from the memories they would bring back up, but now he couldn't help himself.
"No, Casey," Sydney said, tightly closing her eyes as she shook her head.
A tear fell, and instinctively Casey wiped it away.
"What is it?" he pleaded, needing to know what was going on so he could find a way to help her. "You can tell me anything, Sydney."
She opened her big blue eyes and all Casey saw was fear. What is she so afraid of?
"There's something you need to know about me, Casey," she began, and the way she spoke seemed like it was a struggle. "I should have told you sooner, but-"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
The sudden shriek of a girl cut Sydney off, and as much as Casey needed to hear what she was going to say, he couldn't ignore the scream; not when it was coming from next door.
Casey quickly ran out the door, grabbing his bow and arrow as he left; it was the only weapon he was skilled with. The sound of gunshots going off so close to him made him stumble, but he quickly recovered. Again, a girl screamed, raising the hairs on Casey's body as he ran into his neighbors house just in time to see Carli being hauled out the back door by a group of mercenaries. They struggled to keep her still as she cried and squirmed in their grasp.
"Mama! Mama, please get up!" Carli begged, holding onto the door frame. "Casey, help her!"
That was the last thing she said before one of the men punched her in the face, causing her to lose consciousness. Casey started moving toward her, but one of the mercenaries shot his gun in his direction, and Casey had to take cover.
He slipped as he made his way into the kitchen he'd brought so many meals to. Looking down, his eyes widened in horror at the sight of so much red. Never in his life did Casey expect to slip in the blood of his dying neighbor.
"Miss Bonnie!" Casey gasped, just now noticing her on the floor, bleeding out.
"Casey..." she whimpered in pain as her hands covered the gaping hole in her stomach. "Carli...save Carli..."
Her voice trailed off and her eyes stilled as he heard her final breath give out. Bonnie was dead, and there was nothing Casey could have done to help her. Shakily standing up, he wished Charlie was there to say goodbye to his wife, but if he was, he probably would be dead too.
"Save Carli..." were her last words, and Casey intended to fulfill them.
Rushing out their back door, he could still see the knocked out redheaded girl being carried away in the distance. He ran as fast as he could, in pursuit of them, wanting nothing more than to do what his father died trying to do; save at least one of them.
Loading his bow with an arrow, Casey steadied his leg on the ground and aimed at the man holding Carli. He trusted his aim, but all his focus had to be there or he could shoot her instead. Right as he was about to release his arrow, Casey heard a gun click, and his heart froze. That's too close not to be aimed at me.
Wanting to see the face of the person that would kill him, Casey turned around. The moment he did, a gun went off, and Casey's hands immediately went to his chest, expecting to feel the warmth of his blood spilling out of it, but it wasn't. Confused, he looked up and saw the eyes of the mercenary roll to the back of his head as he fell to the ground, dead.
In the distance, Casey saw the familiar face of the blonde girl he knew he'd never regret meeting. She ran up to him, her face filled with worry.
"Casey! Casey, are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked, frantically checking him for any wounds.
"I'm okay, thanks to you," he said. Where did she learn to shoot a gun like that?
"Case, mate, are you okay?!"
The familiar sound of his best friend filled Casey with relief, not even realizing how worried he was about Reid.
"I'm fine. It's good to see you are too, Reid."
The rare sound of motors and engines made Casey cock his head in their direction. Turning around, Casey saw red lights pulling away from LeHorn. He knew it was one of the inventions the East liked to keep to themselves. His heart sank as he realized Carli was with the mercenaries, along with others from his village, he was certain; he failed. The lack of gunshots assured Casey that anyone they had left behind was dead, much like the lifeless man before him, but then he thought of Bonnie, and then her husband. Charlie would be devastated to find out both his girls were gone.
"Come on, let's go get Gordon and Marcus. The elders are surely going to hold a meeting immediately," Casey sighed with a heavy heart.
As they walked into his house, Gordon and Marcus stood up, relief filling their faces.
"Oh, kid," Marcus said, pulling him into an embrace. "I was worried they'd gotten you, too. I'd never be able to forgive myself. If there's one thing Fletcher would have wanted of me, it'd be to make sure you grew old and grey."
"Don't worry, I will," Casey said. "We're headed into town. The elders will want to talk to us about what happened."
The four men exchanged glances of agreement, and then Casey looked at Sydney, who's hands were shaking as she looked at them.
"What is it?" he asked, immediately going to her side.
"I've never...never kill-"
The front door to Casey's home burst open, alerting everyone inside. His mind first thought the mercenaries came back, but when the source of the interruption walked in, he realized it wasn't.
"Elder Maggie, Elder Brock, and Elder Luther," Casey said, startled to see them. "We were just headed to the mess hall where we expected to see you."
Casey's eyes focused in on the newest presence entering his house. Victor Martin. What's he doing here?
"That's her!" he shouted, pointing at Sydney. "That's the girl I was telling you about!"
Feeling a need to protect her, Casey stepped in front of Sydney and was grateful when Reid, Marcus, and Gordon did the same.
"There have been some serious accusations against you, girl," Elder Maggie spoke, ignoring their sudden formation. "Due to...very recent events...we can no longer ignore them."
What accusations?
"She's one of them!" Victor claimed. "I'm certain of it! I knew it from the moment I saw her. She looked too much like-"
"Hush, Victor," Elder Maggie ordered, glaring back at him. "The only reason we're bothering to entertain your suspicions is because of your previous fraternization with that woman all those years ago."
What she said caused Victor's mouth to clamp shut, pleasing Casey. Looking back at Sydney, he noticed how much her face was sweating as her eyes locked onto his.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
What does she have to be sorry about?
"Don't be fooled by our old age," Elder Maggie continued. "We are very wise, and have ways to find out what we want to know. Make it easy for us, girl, and tell us the truth. Are you from the Eastern Region?"
"What?!" Casey scoffed. "That's what this is all about? That's crazy. Sydney's not from there."
He waited for her to jump in and deny it as well, but she never did. She just stood there, silent, with her head hung low.
The three other men surrounding her turned and looked at her with disbelief.
"Is that true, Sydney?" Reid asked, the only one who hadn't stepped away from her; Casey now stood closer to the elders, along with Gordon and Marcus.
Tears fell from her eyes as she slowly nodded her head, and when her eyes latched onto Casey's, she spoke up.
"I am, but it's not what it seems."
"It's not what it seems?!" Casey exclaimed, raising his hands. "Really?! Then what is it? Because it seems like you've been lying to me this whole time!"
"I was going to tell you!" Sydney tried to explain, but Casey kept talking.
"Bonnie's dead, you know," he spat, glaring at her. "Your people killed her, and then they took Carli. Yeah, your people did that, too!"
In frustration, Casey kicked one of the side tables in the living room. He thought of the mutilated body he had to bury three years ago. Her people did that, too.
"Hey, that's my bag! Don't mess with it!" Sydney protested when she noticed Elder Brock going through it with Victor. Casey hadn't even realized they went into his mother's room.
Victor's eyes seemed to light up when Elder Brock held up a red metal triangle with a blinking light.
"You ever seen something like this, before?" Elder Brock questioned.
"I sure have," Victor smiled.
"What is it?!" Casey asked, rushing over to them.
"It's a tracker," Victor answered with a smug smirk. "And they only come from the East, just like her."
Casey's mind flickered back to the moments he noticed Sydney seem so protective over her bag. It had to be because of that; she didn't want anyone to find it. Casey felt played, tricked, and betrayed all at once, and when he turned to look at her, he knew she could see it all over his face.
"It's not what it seems," she said, tears falling from her eyes. "I didn't-"
"I don't want to hear what you have to say," Casey interrupted, his tone void of any kindness.
"Casey, I can explain everything if you would just give me a chance!" she cried.
"Don't you get it!?" Casey questioned. "I don't trust your people!"
"I'm not asking you to trust them! I'm asking you to trust me!"
The pleading look on her face pulled at something deep inside Casey, but he didn't allow it to break through. She's been lying to me this whole time. How could I ever trust her again?
"You should leave LeHorn, at once," Elder Maggie suggested to Sydney. "We can't force you to go, but we will not keep this a secret. I promise you, the villagers won't take kindly to your lingering presence if you do choose to stay."
Sydney's eyes didn't move off of Casey's, and he could tell she was waiting to see if he would say anything, but he kept his mouth shut. Let her go.
As if she got his message, Sydney wiped her face of any tears that remained, straightened her back so her posture was respectable, and grabbed her bag and tracker out of Victor and Elder Brock's hands. Taking a glance back, she uttered one last thing to Casey.
"I'm happy you found me, Casey; even if you regret it."
Then, she walked out the door.
Casey tried to ignore the sudden emptiness he felt when she was no longer in sight. He struggled the most when he remembered what he'd said to her less than an hour before everything happened.
We weren't supposed to say goodbye.