Serious observation consisted of watching some idiot thirteen-year-olds fighting right under the tree I was stuck on. One of the kids, a little urchin with dark hair, made some pretty obscene signs at the other kids. I myself wouldn't have done that at his age, but I appreciated him when he made the same signs at the camera.

"We have acquired a bag," a little girl said. Her nose was running, and she made no attempt to wipe it out.

"And there is food in it!" another girl, presumably from Eleven, said. She grinned at the girls and then turned to the two boys sourly.

"None for you."

"This is discrimination!" one of the boys yelled, "We helped as much! Just because there are more girls here doesn't mean we don't get food!"

"Ace did bad actions," another girl said smugly, "The first rule of this alliance is politeness."

"No fair! You're not being polite either!"

"Guys!" the third girl said, "We can't fight among ourselves! We have to share as long as we're allies!"

The crowd became silent at her words. Surprisingly, she was the youngest of them all, and probably the only twelve-year-old there. The kids sighed unanimously that almost made me smack my head, before agreeing to share the food.

"Royce always is the only one who keeps calm," one of them said appreciatively.

"Yeah," the foul-mouthed guy said, "Maybe she should decide where we go next because she's the only one who doesn't fight everyone else."

"True that."

Little Royce turned the colour of beetroot at the compliments. She shyly spoke up, "I think we should occupy these trees. We could- we could conceal ourselves in there. And- and if anyone comes along, we can finish them off with our darts."

NO!

This wasn't good, this wasn't good! Sure, I was older than all of them, but there were five of these kids! All of them had darts, and they might just climb my tree. I never, NEVER thought I'd have to fear a bunch babies so much, but right now I had every reason to be afraid. But was there any way to get out of here unnoticed? Even if I got down from the tree, I'd be right in the middle of the ring of the kids, who were all armed.

I didn't want to kill any of the kids either.

"Royce is right! We should sit on different trees and keep a lookout!"

"I choose that one!" one of them said.

"And I choose that!"

"I-I think I'll take this one," Royce said with a smile.

"Sure, go ahead!"

Of all the trees available, the stupid girl decided to choose my tree. I let out a deep breath and held on to my machete tightly. I'd have to move fast now, when half of the kids would be on the trees, and half of them would be climbing. My eyes fixed on their bag, the one that contained food and water. I'd have to try to get them.

I waited till three of them had climbed up. The little urchin from before started his ascend, and Royce lifted the bag to carry with her.

I jumped down at that moment, and snatched it out of her tiny arms. There were loud cries, and little Royce attacked me with a knife. I swung my machete at her and she jumped back. Just as I was about to take off, I felt something zooming towards me. Moving my machete in an arc, I deflected the darts that they had shot, and then ran.

I couldn't run fast enough.

I had been stuck on that tree for hours now. My legs had lost the feeling, and my running felt more like a bad dance. I moved my sword again to deflect the second shower of darts. I risked a look behind, only to see Royce right behind me, and the other kids getting down. Frowning, I picked up my pace. Stooping down, I grabbed a handful of soil and sand and dust, and threw it at Royce, who started coughing and yelling about how she couldn't see. Taking the opportunity, I fled.

The forest was thick and dense, but I had lost the kids. And I had their bag. So I slowed down a bit and caught my breath, panting hard. It was never nice to cheat children, but there were things that had to be done to survive.

As I walked in deeper, I saw that the forest was getting thinner. This was never a good sign, and hence I raised my machete, ready to defend myself if anything went wrong. However, after walking for a while, I saw that it was a small cave right there. I stopped in my tracks and stared.

Would there be animals in there? Or worse- mutts? I hoped not. I seriously hoped not. Clenching the machete tighter, I slowly started walking towards the cave until I was at its mouth. Cautiously, I peeped in. There was…

… Nothing in there.

It was empty, and very small, with sand covering its ground. It was like a very small room. Looking around, I saw nobody was there. And hence, I entered silently, glad that this place was available to me. Sure, it wasn't a good hiding spot, but there was a tree right next to it which could be used. And this cave could protect me from bad weather.

Letting out a deep sigh, I settled down on the ground and closed my eyes. Today was really tiring…

I know that this is so late. Sorry people. :/ But I had written the chapters before, and they got lost, and I was busy, but now I'll complete this for sure. Thanks for reading!