The White Games

10) Chapter Ten

#5 Justine Leonard – Day 3 - 6:15 AM

"Felix...wake up!" I gently nudge my brother's shoulder, keeping a close eye out for the others as they lie around the large tree, sleeping quietly. 

I've spent a good amount of time thinking on this—the entirety of last night actually—and have decided that it's time we upped and left this alliance.

"Umm? What...what's happening?" My brother mutters as he rolls over onto his side, ignoring my gentle prodding. "Five...Five more minutes..."

"No!" I whisper a bit louder, shaking him now. "No more minutes! Why are you still sleeping?" And how much longer will the others stay that way? I'm currently supposed to be on guard, ensuring Nero stays put in his tree, but who knows when the others will wake? I bet they already would have if the sun wasn't hidden behind a thick blanket of dark gray clouds.

"Don't wanna...wanna sleep..." Felix tries to roll away again, but this time I pinch his arms and his green eyes shoot open immediately. "Ouch! Justine! What are—"

My hands shoot out and cover his mouth. "Be quiet!" I snap at him, throwing a glance over my shoulder to make sure the others are still asleep. Nic scratches at himself and mumbles, but the others remain steady. I turn my frosty glare back to Felix. "Do you want us to get killed?"

He blinks sleepily. "I don't understand."

I sigh. "No, of course you don't."

I get to my feet, shivering slightly in the chilly morning. The grass around us sparkles with dew, and the gray horizon brings the promise of rain. A risky proposition considering our lack of shelter. "Get your stuff," I tell Felix quietly.

"Umm...Why?" He yawns as he sits up, stretching much louder then necessary. I swear, sometimes my brother is a moron. "And what are you doing?"

I've begun creeping towards the sleeping forms of our "allies". Ditching them and taking just our own supplies wouldn't work. I mean, well, it would work, but why just take our own stuff when we can take theirs too?

I stop just in the center of the clearing, before the big tree. Which one should I rob? Nic, being the greedy pig that he is, has already eaten most of his food. Empty wrappers and discarded cans litter the grass around his head. So not him. Tristan is tempting, but he's lying asleep atop his bag, making it nigh impossible to take without waking him. Chris, meanwhile, has his own bag less than a foot away from himself, and he still has food.

So Chris it is.

"Seriously, Justine. What're you doing?" Felix's loud voice carries over from where he's begun collecting his stuff. I resist the urge to yell at him. Apparently this is too discreet for him to figure out, at least, this early in the morning.

"Just. Shut. Up." I tiptoe across the grass, bending over and looping my fingers around the straps of Chris' bag. Please don't wake up I find myself thinking as I tug it away from the sleeping boy. Please don't wake up.

It gets pulled away from his side and I smile as I throw it around my shoulder. Chris is going to be pissed when he wakes up!

I trot back to Felix, whose sitting on a rock grinding his spear tip into the dirt. "You gonna explain why we're ditching?" He asks as I join him.

"So you figured it out!"

He raises an eyebrow. "I'm not stupid. Only when I'm not half-asleep."

I shrug. "Sometimes you make it hard to know what you know, if you know what I mean."