9
"DADDY!" Carl screamed as he ran towards his father. "Carl! No!" I yelled. Maggie sprinted out of the bushes, right at Carl. She scooped him up in her arms. She scanned the clearing. Her eyes froze when they reached Aron. Her eyes teared up as she saw the puddle of blood he was laying in.
"M-Maggie? Carl?" He whispered, and then winced when he tilted his head to look at them. "Dad!" Carl yelled. He wriggled out of Maggie's grasp and ran over to his dying father. Maggie ran after him. Aron whispered, "I love you," to them. His gaze shifted and I saw that he was staring at me with his dimming eyes. "Protect them," he whispered. Then his vision clouded and his short, shallow breaths ceased.
"Maggie, take Carl to the motorcycle." I demanded. She nodded, and stumbled towards the motorcycle, sobbing. The moment she disappeared into the bushes, I kneeled down to Aron. "I'm sorry." I said to his lifeless body. I reached into my jacket and pulled out a jagged knife blade. I glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, and then lodged the knife into his forehead. There was a sickening crunch, and then silence. Even the birds stopped singing. I shuffled back to the motorcycle, with my hands in my pockets. I nodded at Maggie. "Get on," I mumbled as I started it up. Sitting on the motorcycle, we drove off. We reached camp with no problem, besides the fact that Maggie and Carl had just lost their family. I had hoped to come back to camp, seeing everyone working together on the new home, smiles on their faces as they thought of the new future.
I came back to the total opposite.
Jarrett was pacing around the clearing. He was screaming something. I listened in. "….DEAD! SHE'S DEAD!" Maggie and Carl hopped off the motorcycle, and I did the same. I ran over to Kate. "What happened!" I questioned her. She looked worried and replied, "Matisse is an idiot!" "Tell me something I don't know!" I replied. She sighed. "No… Alexa went home to see if her family was okay… and the only person she told was Matisse. She told Jarrett, and he's flipping out! He thinks she might be-" She was cut off by Jarrett yelling: "GET AWAY FROM ME! NO, I'M NOT ALRIGHT!" I spun around to look at him. Logan had tried to comfort him, and now Jarrett is pointing a sword at Logan's face. Wonderful! I started running towards them. "Watch them!" I yelled to Kate, and pointed at Maggie and Carl. Then I ran faster to Jarrett. "Jarrett! STOP!" He turned to look at me. His eyes were full of tears, and they were streaming down his face. "But she's gone, Maddy." I shook my head. "No. I left an hour ago, and she had still been here. How far can she get in an hour?" Jarrett's eyes filled with hope and he shrugged. Not THAT far! She went on foot! She might be okay!" "Which way is her house?" I asked him. He pointed in a direction. "That way." Then he pulled out a ripped map and put it in my hands. He pointed to the clearing. "We're here." Then his finger shifted to a neighborhood. "Alexa lives here."
I looked at the map in shock. Alexa's house was right by my house. Two blocks away. Not only could I save Alexa, but I could go home.