RADIO

chapter 33

She pulled the trigger and the bullet shot through the woman’s head. The woman dressed in black fell to the ground lifelessly and the man beside her immediately became alarmed.

“Jessie!” he yelped.

He aimed his gun at the trees where the bullet came from.

The bullets sprayed out and Haze quickly hid behind a tree, Duchess doing the same. The bark crumbled as the bullets hit the trees in attempts to shoot the teens. “Show yourself!” He yelled.

“No!” Duchess yelled out in attempts to spark some humor.

She turned around the tree, her gun revealing itself first. She shot at him and hit his shoulder. The sudden impact made him stumble back after an attempt to shoot back. Though he broke off into a sprint, running away with blood leaving a trail the teens had no intent to follow.

Haze revealed himself with his sword in hand and Duchess still had her gun aimed for him as he ran. Rocky barked from afar and immediately Nico jumped and hid behind the tree that he was shot at from.

“Chill rocky” duchess said, grabbing his collar before he could sniff anything out and chase after the man. She pet his fluffy multicolored fur and he sniffed the body on the ground.

“There he goes” Haze commented.

“He’ll be fine” she scoffed.

“You killed her” Nico gasped.

“What was I supposed to do?! Let them kill your girlfriend?” Duchess squeaked. They looked down at the lifeless woman whos blood pooled beneath her head. It made the dirt beneath the grass become wet and Duchess looked away in disgust. “You okay?” Haze asked, now noticing the woman who sat there in shock.

She looked up at the teens in fear and rocky sniffed her, his tail wagging intensely.

Nico helped her to her feet.

“I told you id come back” Nico said, pulling her into a hug. Duchess looked over and noticed in the girls arms was a blanket. “I thought you took off!” She squeaked, her yells mixed with sobs.

“Im sorry Alexa” Nico said, holding her tightly.

“Whats going on over here?” Monty approached the teens out of nowhere. “Nothing, just taking care of something for a friend” Duchess shrugged, glancing down at the dead body that lay face down in the grass before looking away. 

“Lets go” she said, her accent peeking through her voice again.

They lead the two newcomers to the barn where the fire sat. The rest of them sitting around it. “Are you guys alright?” Jane perked up, getting up from her seat.

”all good” Haze spoke, setting his things down and sitting in the dirt beside it. ”whos this?” She pointed out Nico and Alexa’s presence. “You remember Nico dont you?” Duchess frowned a bit, sitting beside the fire.

“Oh yeah from Spanish” she gasped in realization.

“Nice to see yall again” Nico nodded at them, finding a spot on the ground around the fire to sit. His features were more noticeable now. He had some weight to him, his round face and green eyes completing them. He had blonde hair and a yellow hoodie on with some cargo pants.

His skin was a peach color much like Duchess’s except his were a bit lighter. “How’s it been? We haven’t seen you in like 2 months” Monty spoke up.

“Well, long story short, we found a safe spot for us, nice community, good neighborhood until they started doing freaky rituals with sacrifices and shit and we booked it but they sent people after us and then you found us” he explained briefly.

Duchess kept looking at the blanket that shifted from time to time in Alexa’s lap. Her brows furrowed slightly and Tris noticed. “That’s freaky, are they around here?” Jane asked.

“Yeah, we came here on the train about 5 miles down from here” he explained.

“Whats wrong Duchess?” She asked, not trying to be too loud.

Duchess perked up and looked over at her. Only then did she take in what condition Tris was in. A new bandage and gauze pad was over her ear and her cheek had been bruised from her fall. “Nothing Tris, just take it easy” she told her.

Tris hummed in response and continued to study Duchess from afar. Alexa’s featured had become more noticeable in the light rather than the shadow she was hiding in. She had black straight hair with box cut bangs. Her eyes were blue and her lips were red. She wore a black tanktop over a white long sleeved shirt. She also had high shorts on with converse sneakers, a few cuts and scratches scattered on her legs. She cradled the grey blanket in her lap and curiosity got the best of Duchess.

“Hey Alexa” Duchess spoke up, “whats in the blanket?” She asked, gesturing to the grey cloth in her arms.

“Oh, it’s Oliver” she pulled the blanket down to reveal the face of a child who looked as if they werent even a year old yet. He had black hair like her own and seemed asleep.

Duchess gasped dramatically, “you have a baby?!” She squeaked with awe.

“Oh he’s not mine, hes my friends, im getting him back home in florida where she took the vacation when this shit came up” she huffed.

“How old are you?! How can you take care of a baby in this condition?!” Rider squeaked. “Hey! Ive been taking care of kids since i was ten it shouldn’t be that hard” Duchess corrected her.

“Im 17 im more than capable of taking care of Oliver” Alexa chuckled.

“ damn only a year older than most of us here” Haze scoffed.

“Hes adorable!” Tris cooed.

Duchess peered over into Alexa’s lap and smiled at the child. “Can i see him?” She asked. Alexa looked over at Nico before answering her and he gave her a small nod of encouragement. “Yeah” she smiled softly.

She picked the kid up out of her lap and handed him over to Duchess. She took him carefully into her arms, “hey little guy” she grinned.

She held him comfortably in her arms, using muscle memory from her past to hold Oliver. “Hes so cute” she commented, “how old?” She looked up at Alexa.

“5 months” she smiled.

“Awe” the teens cooed, they all peered over into Duchess’s lap. “We can let you stay for a little bit if it’d help” Haze offered, looking over at Nico.

“Well we cant waste much time, we’re trying to get to florida” Nico said with a breath.

“We’re heading to Oregon so i guess we can stay the night here and be on our way” Haze shrugged.

“Sounds like a plan” Nico agreed.