The Bus Ride

Chapter Ten

Just as we prepare to dive into the bushes I hear a small voice.
"Hey!" The voice whispers and I turn around to see a small flashlight pointing at me. I blink at the sudden brightness and stare at the speaker. I hadn't really thought of what I would do if some kid caught us. Luckily Luke knew what to do, and like a snake, he shoots out his arm and grabs the flashlight, clicking it off in a second.
"What are you doing?" Luke hisses at the kid. "Are you trying to get us caught?"
"No, I wasn't, I swear!" The kid replies quickly. I glance around at the guards. They don't seem to have noticed anything, but our window of opportunity is closing, and we need to move.
"Look kid, go back to sleep. Forget you even saw us." Dallas says as we turn back around and prepare to dart into the bushes.
"No wait! I want to come with you. I'm all packed and everything, and I won't get in your way." The kid says desperately. Luke clicks on the flashlight and points it at the kids face. It's a girl, probably a couple years younger than we are. Whoever they are, they are not my problem. Sure, that sounds heartless, but this is a matter of life and death. We need to get away from here as soon as possible, and this girl would probably just slow us down.
"Please. I'm scared, and I don't want to die here." The girl continues pleadingly. I look at her, then at Luke, and I can see him starting to crack. Luke is a big softie on the inside, and I know that he is starting to crack. As he opens his mouth to reply I cut him off.
"No. You are not our responsibility, and you will only slow us down." I say, and see the girls face fall.
"Celia, maybe we can make an exception." Luke whispers to me.
"No. No exceptions." I keep my face as hard and as cold as stone. I feel a little bad, but anyone who can't come up with an escape plan is useless to me.
"Fine. If I'm not going, no one is going." The girl says, and all of a sudden she breaks into a grin, and before any of us can stop her, she starts shouting.
"Guards! People are escaping!"

Without saying anything we know what to do. If we can get away now, we might have a chance. Luke, Dallas, and I all start sprinting away into the woods. I can hear shouts of the guards and people start to follow us. Spurred on by this, I sprint faster. I'm panicking on the inside. This was not supposed to happen. That stupid little girl screwed everything up for us, and if we get caught, I'm going to kill her with my bare hands, if it's the last thing I do.

Sprinting has never been my strong suit. I'm much better at lost distance running, so I can feel myself tiring. We can only have been running for a minute or so, but it feels like so much longer. Luke and Dallas are running close to me, and all I hear is the pounding of my head, my heart beat in my ears, the panting of my friends, and worse of all, the footsteps of our pursuers. To my dismay, it sounds like they are getting closer. I push myself harder. I know, that if I stop, I die. If I slow down, I die. If they catch up, I die.

I look back over my shoulder and can see our chasers, and they are much closer than I thought. One of them is so close they could probably grab me. I guess I was wrong when I thought we would have the advantage being smaller. By this point I'm struggling to force air into my lungs, and my chest is screaming in pain. Still I keep going. Until suddenly there is a sharp tug on my hair and I fly backwards. Startled, a scream escapes my lips and Luke and Dallas stop and turn around. If I could breath I would be screaming at them to keep going, but it's too late. They are tackled to the ground, and I cringe as I hear the crunch that follows. I hope that nothing is broken, but at the moment, that is the least of our problems.

The rest of the gang members catch up to us, and for a second we just stand there. I can't help but wonder what we are waiting for, until the leader steps into view, and I immediately start to struggle in my captors grip, but with no use. The leader stares at us for a second, then speaks.
"Ok, who was responsible for this." Luke, Dallas, and I exchange glances, but don't answer.
"I guess we have a couple tough nuts to crack. Let me rephrase that. Whoever is responsible better speak up now, or else I will be forced to hurt all of you. If you do speak up, I will not harm your accomplices." He pauses, looking at us. "So I'll say ask again. Who was responsible for this?" For a second it's silent, and I'm seriously considering not speaking up. But I know what I must do. The needs of one is not as important as the needs of the group, and I know that it would be better for one to die than all of us.
"No one is going to speak up? Well, I guess I will just have to kill all three of you." The leader says as he takes out his gun and nods to one of his gang members, who punches Dallas in the stomach.
"No wait!" I cry out. The leader looks at me expectantly. Out of the corner of my head I see Luke shaking his head at me. I close my eyes, and take a deep breath before continuing.
"It was me. I came up with the plan and dragged them into it. If you are going to punish anyone, punish me." I say, then hang my head in defeat. The leader draws closer, until he is right in front of me. He grabs my face forcefully and forces me to look at him. I glare back at him, and we stare at each other for a couple seconds, then lets go of my face and breaks the silence.
"Why is it always you?" Before I can answer with a witty comeback he spins around and punches me in the nose. I cry out in pain as he comes back for another one. This time it hurts even worse, and I feel warm blood start to gush out of my nose. The next punch is delivered to my stomach.
"Stop it!" Luke shouts, struggling to break free of his captors, but with no use. "If you are going to kill her, just kill her!" He continues. The leader looks at him, then back at me.
"Oh, I'm not going to kill her. I have different plans for her." My eyes widen in fear, and I shudder to think of the evil plans he has for me. Without a word he grabs my arm and drags me after him, and I'm too tired to even resist. All I can think of it what is in store for me when we reach the clearing.

It only takes a couple minutes before we reach the clearing, and my bloody nose has slowed to a trickle. The gang members start screaming at people to get up, kicking those who don't get up fast enough. I'm dragged past the brat who ratted us out, and am filled with such rage that I can't contain myself. With a roar I yank my arm free of the leaders grasp and leap onto the girl, punching every single spot of available skin I can reach, screaming profanities at her. I'm pulled off of her, and can see my handiwork. She has a matching bloody nose, and one of her eyes is swelling shut, and her hair is a mess. Despite the circumstances I smile. She certainly got what was coming to her. The leader slaps me in the face and continues to drag me towards the front of the crowd. We finally reach the front and he throws me onto the ground along with Luke and Dallas. I look at the frightened faces of the other children. I know they know that we are going to die.
"These idiots tried to escape. They certainly got further than most, so I'll give them credit for that. When are you brats going to understand that you can't escape? Clearly killing people in front of you doesn't send the right message, so I'm going to show you that there are worse things than death, and this bunch are going to help me." He says, kicking me in the stomach at the same time. "The girl that you see before you was the ringleader. She was responsible, therefore she will be punished the most harshly. Are you ready to hear your punishment?" He continues, smiling down at me. I glare at him hatefully, while anticipating the worst. "In penance for your crime, you will be forced to kill one of the two gentlemen here. You decide who. I will give you two minutes to decide." This is so much worse than anything I could have dreamed up. Does he lay awake at night thinking of these punishments? Because if so, that is sick. This will be the most difficult decision of my entire life.

I sit in a circle with my two friends. We were escorted to a more private location to talk. At first we don't talk. Then Dallas breaks the silence.
"Celia, I know this is a bad time to say this, but I really, really like you. I have liked you ever since I first talked to you. You are everything I have ever wanted in a girl. Funny, smart, pretty, you are perfect. I know that this won't make up your mind, but please, take into consideration this." Dallas says, waiting for my reaction. What do you say to that? I decide on staying silent and turn to Luke.
"I have nothing to say. Celia, we have been best friends for years now. I have helped you through a lot, and you have done the same for me. I know, that whoever you choose, you will make the right choice." At this point I'm almost crying. I can't do this. Before I can open my mouth to say something in return the leader yanks me up.
"Did you decide? Hope so, because it is either one of them or you. If you haven't decided, decide quickly." With that he leads me over to the crowd, Luke and Dallas following behind.

Who do I choose? On one side, I have Dallas, who has just confessed his love for me. One side of me wants to say that he is being sincere, but there is another side of me that thinks that he is pretending to save his own skin, which I can respect. Then there is Luke, the one who has always been there, the one who makes me laugh even when I feel like crying. They are both amazing friends, and I can't believe that I have to choose to kill one of them. As the leader presses the gun into my hand, and forces Luke and Dallas to kneel before me, all I can think, is that no matter what, I am becoming a murderer today. For a brief second I think of turning around and shooting the leader, but the cold metal of a gun being pressed against my head quickly kills that idea. I have no choice. I must kill one of my best friends. I press the gun against one of the boys head, and close my eyes. Right before I pull the trigger, I shift the gun over.
Bang

I promised an action filled chapter didn't I? This is my longest chapter yet, with over 2000 words. Who do you think is going to die? Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this chapter like, comment, and vote.
Cat
P.S. I've changed the rating in the book because of recent chapters, just thought I should mention that.