You can't run forever

Chapter 20 - A new day, a new start

We headed out earlier then usual. It was vital that we got to our destination as soon as possible. The rebel army would still be hunting us down. In fact, I wonder why they left so suddenly after getting only two of us when there were seven. 'There must be a reason behind it' I told myself as I attempted to climb down the slippery slope identical to the one we had climbed the day before. We had literally gone made no progress due to the aftermath of yesterday. I kept looking for my sister and general then forgetting they were no longer with us. "Try not to feel guilty" said Toby appearing out of nowhere and putting a friendly hand on my shoulder. "Gah!" I yelled in surprise, swiping his hand off my shoulder. Toby gave me a considerate look and I could tell he was trying not to take it personally. "Sorry.. I'm just.. concentrating on getting to Taweichi" I apologised swallowing huge breaths of air in a single gulp. "It's Ok I get it" said Toby disappearing once more into the deep foliage of the forest. "Is everyone alright?" asked Liam calling for a group break. "I'mmmmm hunnnnggggrrryyy" whinied Abe. "At 3am in the morning? that's unlikely, you're just tired and don't want to say so" teased Katy. "I'm hungry as soon as I wake up, little sister" said Abe playfully punching her on the arm. "He flirts with anything that has a pulse" groaned Toby staring daggers at Abe. "Hey man, I'm just playing your game" he said offering Katy his arm. Toby offered me his arm without meaning too. I took it anyway. Sometimes Abe needs to learn a lesson. Now it was Abe's turn to stare daggers. "No" he said aggressively between his teeth. "All of you need to stop acting like lovesick puppies" said Liam coming back from where he was scouting for signs of danger. "We all know that Abe and Cassandra have something going on, and Abe thinks that Toby is some sort of competition" he said giving us all fatherly stares. "Mate, I'm older than you" stated Toby letting go of me. "Well right now, i'm acting older than all of you" said Liam gruffly "Romance, or bromance, there will be no signs of affection during this trip, once we all go our separate ways I don't care what you all do, its none of my business" he walked off and if I didn't know better she would assume he was in a bad mood. "Speaking of romances, me and Cassandra need to talk, privately " , Abe shooed Katy and Toby away quickly then took my hand and turned to face me. He used one hand to cup my head and the other to lift my chin. "Cass..." he lead off staring into my eyes. "I missed having you around.. I know I called it 'protecting' but.. it's let off into more of that.." he looked truly sorrow filled and my heart skipped a beat. "Yes?" I questioned almost hopeful. "Would you want to..." he turned around embarrassed then faced me again "would you want to... date me?". I didn't know what to say. He was officially asking me to be his girlfriend. "It wouldn't be anything serious of course, you know if you want it to be that way and I'd understand if you said no..." he said awkwardly. "Of course, Abe!" I said giving him a hug and then tried to find a way out. I looked around for Toby to see if he was eavesdropping nearby so I could find a way out... "That's it?" Abe looked amazed, distraught and a little disappointed. I knew he was hoping for a little more. I saw Liam approaching. "I would kiss you but..." I said pointing to Liam behind us, slowly approaching us. "That's ok, he's too far anyway" said Abe hopefully. Liam hurry up! I called to him in my mind. "Nah don't want to risk it, he looks irritated anyway" I stalled. "hiding in bushes is counted as intimacy!" shouted Liam from far away "I will kick you guys off the journey!". "Good call" said Abe looking frightened himself. Liam came faster than I hoped he would, then gave us a lecture. "NO" he kept saying to us every five minutes after we had started walking along the dusty road I first saw Abe in person along. "Memories" he whispered squeezing my hands. I nodded weakly then ran to walk next to Katy. It's not that I didn't like Abe anymore, It's just that I didn't want our relationship to be like this.

Further along the dusty road we sat to have breakfast at 7am. "Finally!" moaned Abe sitting next to me. Awkwardly and instinctively I moved closer to Toby for protection. I don't think either of them noticed, since Toby was really into eating all his chocolate danish Mama Anna had made for him and if Abe noticed he didn't say anything. After we continued along the road and successfully passed around Gwela, I also managed to not talk to Abe until he got the message. Every once in awhile he would sneak a look at me and the one time I met his glance I saw sadness and longing. All of a sudden I heard the sounds of hooves behind us. "Hide" I hissed pulling Toby and Katy who were in front of me onto the side of the road next to me in a little ditch. Liam and Abe somehow managed to find their own individual ditches in time. We all watched as four large majestic brown horses passed us. "Rebels" signed Katy, I could somehow see her even in the dark of the ditch. "They must be looking for us" whispered Toby. "I have an idea" I whispered, "be ready to climb out when I give you the signal". I heard a whooshing sound from what must have been another one of the ditches further directly across to my ditch. Liam must have had the same idea. Great minds think alike. The horses instantly stopped and a man got off one of the horses to investigate. "Be careful mate, it might be a wild animal" said one of the other horsemen with a chuckle. "Or a bandit" said the second making a ripple of laughter go through the group. I ran around our ditch to make dust rise above the hole, making Katy and Toby cough. "Sounds like a bull" said the horsemen who made the wild animal comment. " I better back you up, sounds dangerous down there" said the bandit - joke - guy. Three on the ground and one on the horses still. There was a violent cry as the guy who had gone to investigate the first hole disappeared out of view. "Mate?" said the guy still on his horse frightened. "Jordan you better be careful" said the bandit joke guy. backing away from my hole. I suddenly realised why Abe hadn't made a single sound. I ran around around the ditch violently. While a head popped in the ditch. "People?" he questioned shocked while, Katy and Toby who had been hiding pulled him inside,Toby punched him in the nose to momentarily stun him. Liam appeared above the hole to pull Katy up and Toby gave me a boost to get out. "I'm sorry I don't like violence" he called to the guy in the hole. "Its ok mate, I understand, I would have done the same thing" said the guy in the hole trying to pinch the bridge of his nose together to stop the bleeding. When I had reached the surface again I saw bandit joke guy with one hand on the edge of the ditch, trying to pull himself up. Abe was obviously pulling his legs down. "Need some help with that?" asked Liam pulling the guy's hand off the crumbly edge of the ditch. The guy's eyes went wide as he succumbed to darkness. We waited for Abe to come crawling out of the ditch but after five, to ten minutes, I began to worry. And to think of the way I treated him. Eventually a pale hand covered in white dust gripped the edge of the cliff, and Abe's head soon followed after. "Hey everyone, I'm back" he said grinning sheepishly.