As the sun rose and began to heat up the tents, I awoke with a groan. I looked over to the spot next to me to see Bastion had left the tent already. I pulled off my clothes from the previous day which I had slept in and pulled on my plain black cropped tank top and a pair of dark wash blue jean shorts.
Most people would probably say a girl my size, not to mention someone as pale as I am, should not be wearing a crop top and shorts, but I'm very happy with my body. I am a curvy or what some people would call chubby girl, but I thought I looked damn good with some skin showing.
I gave myself a once over, looking at my hundreds of freckles on my arms and legs. I could thank my mother for the freckles, as she too had many covering her body. I fixed my shoulder length chocolate brown hair and straightened myself out before leaving the tent.
I stepped out and looked around. Bastion was stretching out by a tree while everyone except Maddie and Lizzy were sitting on the blanket circle. "Where's Liz and Maddie?" I asked looking towards John who was trying to flatten his naturally spiky brown hair and Dylan who was fluffing his brown slightly curly hair.
John and Dylan had similar body types, Dillon being a bit shorter standing around five feet eleven inches and a bit beefier too. They both sported blue eyes but they were completely different in color. John had medium blue eyes with a strange halo of brown between the blue of his iris and the black of his pupil, while Dillon sported all blue eyes with a darker shade of blue around the outside of his iris. John's lips were more full and a slightly darker shade of pink, as his skin was an olive like tan and Dylan was lighter skinned. They both had light brunette hair but that was the limit to the similarities they shared. Their face shapes were very different, John's being more square and sharp and Dylan's being softer on the edges.
"They decided that sleep wasn't something they could give up even on a nice hiking trip in the middle of the woods," John said looking at Dylan. They both laughed and went about their talking.
I stretched my arms up and bent backwards causing my spine to make a crunching sound. Letting out a satisfied sigh, I looked down to see Kaylee's brown eyes.
Kaylee had a rounded face with cheeks most would call chubby, but they suited her well. Her lips were not as full as my own, making her mouth appear smaller. Kaylee only stood around five foot and one inch, making her the shortest of the group with an average weighted shape.
"Ew," Kaylee said while looking at me in disgust. I could help but laugh at her disgust over a simple spine crack.
After another thirty minutes Lizzy and Maddie came crawling out of their tents. They were very funny to see standing next to each other, because other than a few freckles on their faces they looked completely opposite.
Maddie was thin with long blonde hair and very lightly tanned skin. Lizzy, like myself, was curvy and pale. Some people even thought we were sisters before. Lizzy stood an inch taller than my own five feet four inches, and Maddie stood an inch taller than her. Lizzy's long hair was dark, almost black, and always straight and shiny. Maddie's face was thin and oval shaped while Lizzy had a heart shaped face with chubby, high cheekbones. As I said, the two girls next to each were the epitome of opposites.
We began to pack up camp and began our trek once again. It must have been around ten in the morning based on where the sun was, shining down through the treetops.
One rule we all agreed that there would be no phone use outside of the tents at nights, even if we wanted to know the time. It made the hike and the wilderness that much more wild and adventurous to us.
We hiked for a few hours, chattering and whining all along the way. The group was still hiking when we heard fast footsteps approaching us. We all froze in our spots and looked around, trying to see who or what the incoming footsteps belonged to.
Rushing out of the forest was Kaylee's brother, Grayson. He was out of breath and completely red. His blue tee shirt looked torn as if it was snagged on a branch, and he had a scrape on his leg. His blonde hair was sweaty and completely messed up. I saw Kaylee's naturally tan face go pale and I knew she was extremely concerned for her older brother. She ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder.
"Grayson? What the hell are you doing? How did you even catch up to us?" She said frantically. He was so out of breath he couldn't even speak properly. Gasping for air, he finally managed to get a sentence out.
"Something attacked us. There's something attacking us. The towns," he said panting. We all looked at each other, eyebrows furrowed, before Lizzy stepped forward.
"What do you mean something is attacking the towns?" She asked seriously. Lizzy was by far the most serious of us when it came to potentially important situations, such as the one we were now thrown into.
"I swear if this is some kind of jo-," she was cut off by Grayson.
"It's not a joke! We have to keep moving! We have to get as far into the forest as we can!" he yelled, panic evident in his voice.
Kaylee looked scared out of her mind as she ran her hand through her dark purple hair. Everyone else was more confused than scared, but I suppose nobody knew what type of serious person Grayson was aside from Kaylee herself.
After some talking, we decided it was best to follow Grayson's warning, being we were going to continue hiking regardless. A few miles ahead was a split in the trail, one leading closer to open areas, the other leading deeper into the thick wooded forest. We concluded that going deeper, even if it meant a longer hike that we should take that route. I believe some of the group thought it would be more fun anyway, not taking the whole attack thing seriously.
Before we resumed hiking, Kaylee grabbed Grayson's arm.
"Gray. Where is everyone else? What happened to them?" She asked with a hint of fear in her big brown eyes. He looked down and tears began to form in his ocean blue eyes. He looked up as a tear fell onto his cheek and down his face.
"They're gone. Anyone who didn't make it out of the town is dead as far as I know. I don't know what else would've happened to them," he said. I saw the panic and terror in Kaylee's eyes as she watched him explain.
As I turned to look at the rest of the group, my chest tightened. I realized why they looked as horrified and afraid as Kaylee did. What Grayson was saying meant everyone was gone. If Grayson was right, and they all died, everyone we loved was dead. The only people who even stood a chance were my parents and family because we lived so far away from everyone else and the town. I felt my throat tighten as I began to think about not having a family that I loved so dearly anymore. I looked at my friends and I am positive the rest of the group was going through the same emotions as I was.
"Guys," I said slowly. "We have to keep moving. We have to go. If everyone else is gone, or whatever happened to them, we have to stay alive and hidden. We can't let whatever attacked them get to us too," I said with my strongest face and voice I could make in the situation.
I got some nods, some mumbles I couldn't hear. I saw Lizzy and Bex wipe their tears away too. I knew I was right, and I had to keep these people moving and safe. Between myself and Bastion, we were the best at keeping our heads on straight in trying times.
We hiked the two and a half miles before the split put us deeper into the forest. The trees were so big and thick that it made the walk darker even before the sun began to set and we only made it a hand full of miles more before it began to become dark. We set up our tents and our campfire similarly to how our camp was set the previous night.
Everyone was more silent these few hours than I have ever heard them be. We were not sure what was going on or who was alive or not, and I know that frightened and hurt all of us.We sat around the campfire, mostly silently until Maddie spoke up.
"Grayson?" She asked, which was answered by Grayson looking up at her giving her a hm.
"What happened out there? What attacked the town?" She asked. He looked down for a second before answering.
"It was around early morning. I noticed it wasn't sunny as it should have been, like there was something blocking the sun. When I looked out the window, I saw them. The," he paused thinking of what to call them. "Aliens I guess," he continued.
"They all had black or white hair. And their eyes... they were purple. There was something in the sky too, but I didn't really pay attention because when I looked out the window and saw them dragging people out and incinerating them. I climbed out the back window and ran to Morgan's house. When I got there, nobody was there either, but it didn't look like anyone had been attacked or the aliens had been there," I signed in relief at that statement.
"Then I remembered you guys were going on your hike today so I ran as fast as I could until I found you," He said looking down again. We all fell silent again, unsure of what to say next. After a few moments Bastion broke the silence.
"I'm not usually the one who's serious or makes reasonable statements, but this hike has become a survival mission. We need to leave early in the morning. We need to get as deep as we can get into the forest. Hey Bex, isn't there a cave system around here?" He asked, looking towards Bex who was wrapped up in Garret's arms, her long mousy brown hair sprawled across his arms. She nodded her chubby cheeked face at him before speaking.
"Yeah there is, I'm not sure how far from where we are it is though," she said with an apologetic look on her face.He nodded before looking towards the rest of us again.
"What do you guys think? Caves or deeper into the forest or something else?" He asked, looking around.
"I think we should give the caves a shot. I mean, what alien would think to look in the middle of the woods in a cave for a human to turn into pixie dust?" Lizzy said as she pulled her brown almost black hair into a ponytail. Everyone nodded in agreement with a slight chatter.
We did not stay out very long that night and we packed our blankets into the tents after shaking them off. Grayson joined Bastion and I in our tent because we brought the biggest one, which neither of us minded. Everyone went into thier respective tents after saying a round of goodnights.
Bastion and I both gave Grayson our extra blanket because we had our own sleeping bags to sleep in. He thanked us repeatedly before settling into the blankets. I am sure everyone tried to sleep but the terrorizing thoughts would keep them awake as they had myself. We had another long hike tomorrow, and now our lives were in danger. Who would have known our annual, carefree hiking trip would turn into a possible fight for survival?