Wrecked

The girl with nothing to do

"There wasn't anything much to find." I threw down my finding to the floor in the middle of our circle.

After searching the already bare campsite we'd come up nearly empty handed. All traces of food, water and shelter were long gone, leaving behind only scattered knives and arrows. Something about the rushed clean up told me the person thought they had more than enough weapons to be worrying about leaving anything behind.

"Just some old knives."

Jesse and James threw what they had taken on top of mine, everyone's eyes growing wide at the surprisingly large number of blades.

There was about three more blades, tucked deep within my pack and that was going to be how they stayed till I had the chance to inspect them further.

"We got 3 crossbows." Vincent signalled to each member of his group that now had a weapon draped over their shoulders.

"We only found 2 more. But I hope you don't mind, we did a little hunting." Someone spoke up from the other group, kicking at a bag that had animal paws and tails hanging from it.

Elena and Dailia were quick to reach for the bag, pulling it towards the fire. As soon as they left the circle all eyes were back on me.

"What do we do now? How do we get ready for an attack?" Gemma arms crossed over her torso, shifting her weight to compensate for the heavy chunk of wood by her hip.

I searched the faces of the people stood in front of me, the determination still burning bright within each of them.

My heart swelled with pride as I watched people reach for knives, tucking them into their jackets and boots and jeans- they didn't want to be left unprotected. I didn't stop anyone; I even nodded as Ari bent down to grab some. He was the smartest kid I'd ever met, and Freyja couldn't take care of him on her own.

A million thought ran through my mind, how did we do this? Did we play the offensive of the defensive game? Did we rip up our own traps around the edges of the beach- something that would give us all time to prepare. Did we send out the strongest to search for the man and get this over and done with?

As much as I'd faked it until this point, as much as I had successfully gotten everyone to follow me, I had no clue how to move forward from him.

"Tomorrow, we plan. Tonight, we relax. We know that he is nowhere near here- I led him in the opposite direction." Jesse spoke up for me, his words evoking a few mumbled or calls of annoyance and disregard.

"Look, everyone should be well fuelled and rested before we start this, okay? No arguments." I stood back as Jesse stepped forward, his tone firm and serious- no one was going to argue with him when he was like this. With his presence commanding, his stance wide and his eyes shooting daggers at anyone who dare speak up in refusal.

I watched as the people slowly began to nod, walking away and towards the fire. One by one they settles into their spots, nestling in between loved one's.

Caila and Vincent remained by our side, turning to face us once even the most stubborn finally gave in to Jesse's glare.

"So, I've got first watch?" Vincent spoke up, rolling his shoulders and stretching out his arms. "Don't bother saying it's gunno be you- Dru."

He caught me with my mouth open, ready to shot back a protest. There was no way he was standing guard, not when it was my responsibility to take care of everyone. No one else should lose sleep over it.

"You need to check up on everyone, Besides- this will let me feel like I'm actually of some use to everyone." Vincent shut me down again, hitting me in the one place he knew I couldn't help but cave with. I was due a check up on Cara, Mason and Addy- who was still unable to walk.