The Wilderness

Chapter Nine

"Where is he?" Stephan asked a nervous Ally. "Huh? Where is he?!"

​"Why you think she would know?" Alex asked the tense leader.

​"Because he was always talking to her," Stephan explained, "Therefore if someone knows where he is, it's her." He looked back to Ally. "So, where is he?"

​"Where do you think he is?" Ally asked back. Stephan was about to exclaim, 'I don't know!', when he remembered something Jason had said the previous day...​"I'll go alone, I can find the city and bring the people back to you guys..."

​"He went back to the river to look for the city," Stephan answered. Ally didn't nod, but he knew he was right. He sighed and looked around. He knew he had no choice but to go after Jason, and than the four of them would cross the river together and look for the city.

​"If he dies, it's his fault," Alex said.

​"We're going to go back to the river," Stephan decided aloud, "Hopefully, we'll be able to catch up with him. Than we'll all look for the city together."

​Ally immediately remembered the mission Jason gave to her: to keep Alex and Stephan on the mountain with her.

​"We-we can't go," Ally told the two boys. They both looked at her confused.

​"Why not?" Alex asked.

​"...Jason told me to tell you guys to stay," the girl answered.

​"See? I told you he talked to her," Stephan reminded Alex. "And sorry Ally, but we're not staying up here. It's way to cold, especially at night. And as much as I don't want to say it, but I don't think Jason can survive a journey to the city by himself."

​"Yes he can," Ally politely retorted, "And he promised he would."

​"That is just sad that he would make a promise like that," Alex told Ally.

​"Yeah," Stephan agreed, "Sorry Ally but we aren't staying. It's not even nice of Jason to put you in charge of keeping us up here. If he wanted us to stay here he should've told us, not make you think it's your fault if we don't."

​"He didn't make me promise," Ally replied. "He just wanted me to do my best to keep you guys up here."

​"Well sorry, but even you're best won't be enough," Stephan told her, "We aren't staying up here and that's final." Ally looked at him imploringly, but she knew it was no use. She had failed within a matter of minutes to do what Jason had told her to do, to keep herself and Stephan and Alex at the plane crash.

​Poor Ally, Stephan thought sadly to himself, she looks so upset, so defeated. She must be blaming herself for not completing the task Jason has given her. Then again, Jason's a jerk for giving her a job like that. Surely he knew Ally wouldn't have been able to keep me and Alex up here. What kind of guy does he think he is to make Ally feel bad for not being able to do something she can't?

​"Come on," Stephan said after a while. "Let's get going." Alex followed him without hesitation. Ally looked at him, to the plane, back at him, than back to the plane, before following suit. Stephan could see the tracks Jason had left behind, and decided to follow them. From the looks of the footprints, he could tell Jason was hurrying to reach the river and city.

​"See ya soon Jason," Stephan said to himself as he led his band of two down the mountain slope.

The journey down was tiring and slow. Stephan thought that since they were advancing downward, they would be going faster. Instead, he found the going even slower than it was going upward. He realized it was because, without Jason's chatter and teasing, the time was spent in silence, making the traveling seem slower.