Worlds Between Us

Chapter 8.

The sun rises on a new day in the encampment.

I roll onto my side in my borrowed tent in my borrowed sleep clothes and watch the light under the hut flap begin to get brighter and brighter. I still miss the sounds of the forest waking up around me. Everything here is strange and different. Instead of the birds I get to wake up to the soft snoring of a sleeping Liza and the rustling and rumblings of things going on outside of our hut as the world around us sets up for the new day that's come.

I roll onto my back and look at the ceiling hanging above me.

I don't know how the others sleep so soundly after what had happened yesterday.

I felt like every time I closed my eyes I saw blood and heard the screams of that girl I'd seen get shot in the back. Then when I'd let my mind wander I'd see Demetri, strong muscled body running and jumping between me and an arrow meant for my heart. I saw the way he rolled onto his attacker, lips pulled back in a sneer and long blonde locks whipping around his beautiful face as he delivered the fatal blow to his enemy. There was definitely something about that visual. It was visceral.

I didn't want to focus on that or him or any of it right now. I just wanted to enjoy the few moments of peace I was allowed right now. The spare moments when I'm awake before everyone else and I can just be me, not putting on a show for anyone else here.

When everyone fell asleep around me last night, all exhausted from the commotion of the day, I'd allowed myself a few tears. The day has been horrific. People had died in the attack. Not people I knew, but still, lives were viciously taken. Liza's father, Marcus, had explained to me that the encampment had been attacked by 'noncons' as he put it. I didn't want to believe it, but I'd seen it with my own eyes. The men I'd encountered and the other's who's bodies I saw littering the grounds after the attack had been neutralized, it was obvious they weren't like the well kempt people I'm here with now. They were wild, savage, and brutal. It took too much for my mind to wrap around the fact that though my family and the people we had been around in the beginning had been peaceful people, there were still other factions of the people like me who were choosing violence and revenge instead of personal preservation and living in solitude.

It made me feel even more like an outsider. Like I'm different even among what I consider my own people.I don't fit in with these people here, but I certainly wouldn't fit in with what others would call 'my kind' either.

The worst part of the whole ordeal though had been walking into that jail and not finding Macie. She should have been there. It's what made the most sense. If she had been captured and brought here, they'd have had to have brought her here because it was the only encampment in this region. Taking her to another one would have been a few weeks to a month's journey.

The prospect of that actually being what happened brought the pit of my stomach even lower. Maybe she'd never been here to begin with. Maybe...maybe my best friend was dead. Maybe I'd have to accept that.

I don't hear Liza wake or know that I'm crying until I feel her hand on my shoulder. "You were very close?" She whispers and I quickly wipe the stray tears from my wet cheeks.

"You have no idea." I decide to tell her. I appreciate that Liza didn't turn me in after she realized I was here with ulterior motives, but that didn't mean I trusted her now. She'd still not elaborated on her comments yesterday about there being people who didn't like the way things are run right now. I'd already showed her most of my cards here, there was no reason to let her see the full hand  before I knew for a fact she could be trusted.

"What did she look like?" Liza's voice is soft, not pressing.

I sigh, closing my eyes. Our parents' photos were gone, and the realization that it wasn't just their faces I'd forgotten now settled heavy in my chest. I tried my best to conjure Macie's face in my head, but all I could make was that last look she'd given me. When she'd been warning me she had a bad feeling and I'd ignored her. I could only see the look of terror on her face now when I pictured her.