The Wilderness

Chapter Ten

Stephan awoke with a start. Had I been sleeping? He wondered curiously to himself. He was still walking behind Ally, who hadn't seemed to notice anything amiss. Was I sleeping and walking? Man, I must've been tired.

"Ally?" Stephan asked. She glanced behind at him. "I think I was sleeping just now."

"Oh...you was sleeping?" Ally asked confused. Stephan nodded.

"Yeah, I saw my Dad. He said my name..." Stephan paused and looked across the river. There was no sign of his father, or of anyone actually.

"Well...I haven't heard anything...so I guess you were sleeping," Ally replied. Stephan shook his head. He was tired, but he knew it was more because of a lack of food rather than a lack of sleep. He and Ally had to eat soon. How long had it been since they eaten? Stephan tried to count out the days, but the effort soon gave him a headache.

A trickle of rain fell from the heavens onto the tip of Ally's nose. She wiped it off with her finger, but the small raindrop was quickly followed by more and more. Soon it was a torrent of rain.

Ally glanced back and forth before spotting the large, fallen tree nearby.

"Over there!" She told Stephan, as she started running toward the tree. He followed after her, and the two teens ducked underneath the tree's trunk, seeking shelter from the downpour. The pitter-patter of rain against the trunk was oddly comforting, despite the delay to the pair's journey it caused.

"So..." Ally started, "I kinda miss school." Wow, could you say something lamer?

"Yeah, me too," Stephan replied, apparently uninterested.

"I miss Sky too," Ally added, watching Stephan's face for a reaction.

"If you're trying to make me feel better, than you're doing a horrible job," Stephan replied, his face impassive. Ally let out a small, nervous chuckle.

"I was just trying to make conversation," Ally said. Stephan sighed.

"I miss Sky too," Stephan said at length.

"But you miss...Alex...more."

"Well, yeah. He was my best friend...and I miss Lola too. And Jake Winston. And Trevell and Andy..."

"And Chloe. And Jackson. And Joe and Chris...and Jason."

"We can go on and on huh?"

"Yep, and I won't forget a single one of them." Stephan nodded in agreement. "What do you think it'll be like when we get home?"

"Everyone will want to talk to us and interview us. Maybe even the President will meet us. And we'll get paid a lot of money once we sue the ATF. But, there'll probably be some people who hate us..."

"Hate us?"

"Yeah, the parents of the kids who've died. They'll be mad at us cause we lived and their kid didn't."

"Oh, yeah. That's true...but it's not our fault they died."

"It's my fault."

"No, it's not. You can't blame yourself."

"But it is my fault. There were so many times when I could've done something that would've prevented the deaths of others. I should've tried harder on the mountain to convince Chris to stay with the plane, but I didn't. I should've kept an eye on Joe to make sure he wasn't left behind, but I didn't. I should've-"

"You should've not blamed yourself for everything," Ally snapped.

"How can I? I was the leader!"