The Sleeper Cells: A Terrorism Story

Chapter 2: Just The Beginning

"Name?" Kris asks the girl.

"Kennedy Faye," she answers between her deep breaths.

"Is that what happened to you?"

"Exactly," she puts her head in her hands. "Exactly like that. I had a feeling something was off. My friends started acting weird...like something was happening to them. I couldn't do anything to save them. I took off and ran. They were just shooting at us! I was the only one—the only one—who got away. What do we do?!"

Titus looks at me, "Nasom and Noah."

"My family," I say.

Lindsey lets out a cry for her family. Her voice piercing our ears. My uncle, Kris, jumps around her putting his hand over her mouth.

"Listen, Lindsey! We have to stay quiet. We do not have a choice. We don't know what is going on back there. We don't know anything. They may be alive. They may have gotten away."

Rose shakes her head and looks at the ground, crossing her arms. She doesn't know what to do. Do any of us? I know I don't. Rose kicks a short stick away from her; she's trying to keep herself busy.

Kennedy looks over at me and Titus, "I am so sorry if I led them to your house. I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt anyone! I don't know what's happening!"

Rose looks up at Kennedy, her glazing eyes instantly blaming her. Rose would do this. She has never been someone to try to understand the situation. She wants to jump on the 'it's not me' bandwagon.

"Rose." I shake my head at her, "she didn't cause anything. They were coming regardless."

Rose lets an aggravated huff of air come out, and then turns her back to us. She leans against a tree and plays with her hair, twirling it between her fingers. It's childlike. She's an adult and she behaves like she's in high school—middle school.

Titus gives me a look of determination. I know this look. It is the same look he has when he works out. It's a look of being indestructible. He looks around, peeking through trees. I notice my uncle Kris doing the same thing. They're already trying to find the next thing to do. Kris notices him, squints his eyes in acceptance and continues searching around.

Lindsey holds onto me. I don't really feel like it right now. I'm losing feelings for her anyways but now is not the time. Neither of us know what happened back there. We both left our families. I'm not sure if that was the right choice...

Kennedy turns to Rosemary but doesn't say anything. I wonder what's going through her head right now. She survived two ambushes. Two! That girl must be strong... mentally and physically. She dealt with her family and friends being jumped on, then ours. She's ran a whole lot more than we have.

Titus grabs onto a tree branch and swings himself higher into the tree. He easily maneuvers between the branches. Twisting back foliage and breaking off dead limbs. He finds a stopping point and peeks into the distance.

"Yep. Hey, Kris! There's a tree stand over there. It's high, too! We should go there."

"Yeah, that's a start. Good eye, Titus." Kris helps Titus out of the tree. "We should all go to this tree stand. It could give us the eyes of a bird. Stay quiet. Stay together." my uncle tells us.

Without hesitation or opposition, we all rally together—even Rose—in a tightly-knit group playing a life or death version of follow the leader. Kris has his eyes peeled, signaling us to keep watch. We can't afford another ambush. There would be nowhere to go...no distractions.

Rosemary swings her arms with every rough step through the woods. Every motion is seasoned with sass and aggravation. We all are upset right now, but she needs to be mature. I pat Kennedy on the back without thinking about Lindsey watching me. Lindsey grabs my other hand; I guess Rose is not the only one being immature right now. It was a simple pat on the back. She hasn't always been this way.

After a good ten minutes of walking, the group comes to an instant stop when Kris throws his hand up at us. Titus, in the back of the group, turns to check behind us.

"Everyone stay here. This is close enough. Be careful and stay alert. I'm gonna climb up there and see what we have going on." Kris announces in a whisper.

Everyone does just as he says. He snatches a stronger limb from a tree to use as a weapon. He peels the edges, then sharpens it on a tree. It isn't deadly, but it's enough to do some damage if he has to. It's impressive to see him create a weapon that fast. Titus tests his spear-making skills and tries to mimic my uncle.

He walks down the slant towards the tree stand and works his way into the bushes scattered along the bottom of the tree. The stand has obviously been here for a while. It doesn't look very sturdy, and green vines are growing up the ladder. Twirling up and around the metal.

Around me, everyone but Titus seems to feel a little more nervous without my uncle here with us. Kennedy breathes in a deep breath and pokes her chest out. She's trying to be brave... at least she's trying.

Rose's eyes dart around a little quicker than usual, and Lindsey squeezes my arm a little tighter. But, I cannot keep my eye off my uncle. He made his way to the base of the ladder. He jerks back the entire vine, popping it from the tree with one strong tug. He keeps his spear in a ready position and slowly creeps up the ladder.

At the top, he sticks his head in from underneath and looks around the itty-bitty room. It's camouflage and dark. His weight is obviously making the stand sink lower. I want to scream be safe. But we have to stay silent, and I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing. He bounces the ladder to test the structure. It's fragile, but hopefully not too fragile. He grabs onto the sides and shimmies his way inside.

He is finally out of my sight. He's fully in the tree stand now. Rose speaks up, "I think we're okay, but he's taking too long."

Really? He's trying to help us, but I can't say that out loud.

Titus whispers, "Be quiet." Rosemary curls her nose at him. Titus has obviously taken the leader role when Kris is absent.

What's up there?

Silence from our group to inside the tree stand. It's not even moving that much. Is he even in there? Then, the tree stand lets out a huge creak as it spins down. The left side gives out and drops, swinging below. The ladder is still attached to the tree, but the tree stand was too fragile.

We all jump in fear. "Kris!" I accidentally let out.

We run towards the tree stand to help him. It completely breaks off and smashes to the ground in front of us. Dust from the inside scatters around and creates a small cloud, but not enough to obstruct our vision. It's just a pile of garbage...and the unsettled dust smells old.

"Where is he?" Kennedy asks.

Suddenly, he emerges from behind the hoary tree. Of course, Lindsey screams. I lean into her ear, "you have to stop, Lindsey."

He's safe. How did he even get down?

"Calm down guys. I jumped down right before it broke. Luckily, there was a pair of binoculars up there. I think we're good for now. I didn't see anyone." Kris puts the connecting string around his neck to wear the binoculars as a necklace. "I think we might have a place to stay... There's a log cabin about a mile away. It's two stories and looks habitable. But, the attackers may have it. So that means we either have a new home, or we are taking it from them."

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