People scream. I can hear them running, their altered steps going from one place to another, confused about what they should do in the dark.
Cristina and I stay pressed together, hands held high ready to shoot but it's impossible to distinguish friend from foe in the dark, and with every passing second that we don't move, we risk being caught.
More shots are fired; this time we hear the desperate voice of Dauntless guards trying to guide people into safety. I can hear a few "Run" or "Over here!" but no matter how much I try, I can't see anything. Should we go back to the cottage? Trying to find the transport was not an option since only the guards knew where it was. But we need to do something.
A sudden light caught our eyes and Cristina and I turn around to see Brett turning his flashlight on, scanning the woods frantically with the blueish light. It was a mess, his hand shake so badly all I could see was snipets of trees. I was about to reach into my pocket and take my own flashlight when I hear a man yell:
-NO!
A gun is fired and next thing I know, Brett is falling to the ground. The bright light illuminates his face and it shows a crimson colored dot in his forehead, his eyes stare in our direction. Lifeless. Cristina lets out a sound close to a scream before she drags me away.
-C'mon.-She pulls from my arm, running as far away from Brett as we can and further away from the group. Without the light and in the darkness again I can't see anything. Sometimes I bump against a tree or I can feel Cristina tripping with the increasingly uneven terrain, but we keep running, it's all we can do. Away from the light and from the people who might have seen it, and us.
After, seconds? Minutes? The voices are nothing but sounds with the occasional gun fired. I wonder whether the rebels run off or if the ones being hunted are us. I hear steps now and then but they seemed rushed, just like ours, probably more people running away. Still Cristina and I stay as far from those noises as we can just in case.
I don't know how long we have been running like this, in the dark with our arms stretched in front of us so we won't knock on a tree. Finally, when the adrenaline starts wearing off and the pain at my side becomes unbearable I stop and Cristina follows. Her breath is as shallow as mine and she grabs me for support when she bents down and throws up.
-We-have-to get going.- She says in between breaths. I pat her back and take her hair out her face, making sure she breaths properly so she won't inhale her vomit. The woods are finally silent and I let myself relax if only to clear my head and think about our next step.
An option would be to stay here, resting until a Dauntless guard finds us or day comes, but without knowing what happened with the rebels staying out in the open poses too much risk. We could try and get back to the cottage and see if others made it back, or simply trying to go back to the facilities. The last thought set out a red flag in my mind; if rebels followed us and got to the facilities the damage they would cause, life they would take was inexcusable. Not to mention they could be organized, which meant they could coordinate an attack if they knew the location…
Suddenly, my head snaps up at a sound. No, not a sound but the lack of it. I can see better now and gaze at the shadows behind us. The woods are silent, too silent and the hairs in the back of my neck stand with the feeling of being watched. Cristina stands up, slowly as if measuring her state, grabs my hand and pulls me to keep back walking. But I don't want to move, I don't want to make a sound just stay quiet in case there is someone nearby that can hear our steps.
-C'mon.- She whispers, surprised I'm not moving. Even a whisper sounds too loud for my taste so I hold her wrist, forcing her to look at me and take my finger to my lips. She looks at me warily and next her gaze is flying through the empty shadows, but she shakes her head and starts walking again.
Two steps.
That's how far she got when the man took her. Cristina screamed, her eyes wide with terror as she kicked and punched uselessly the air. I take my gun and aim, hoping that the three shooting classes were enough to hit the man instead of Cris but as I'm about to shoot I trip with a root and bullet flies to the sky.
It took me less than a second that two fires were shot, one disappeared into the night, and the other hit the tree behind me, right where my head had been moments ago. There were two of them. I shoot at the men hlding Cristina in the leg but before she can run away another men jumps from the shadows and grabs her, this time he places a cloth on her mouth that makes her stop squirming and she fells into his arms like a doll. I try to shoot again but I miss, and the noise brings his attention torward me.
I hide behind the enarest tree as I hear him fire twice, and wait for him to come and get me.
And wait, and wait. The seconds turn into hours as I stand behind that tree perching the darkness for any sound, a broken branch, the slush of the grass, anything that tells me how close he's getting but I hear nothing.
Finally I peek, slowly in case he's waiting just that to blow my head off, but he doesn't because he's nowhere around. Slowly I leave my cover and stand in the middle of the woods, my heart pounding violently in my chest, but still now in the open nothing happens. He left, and he took Cristina with him.
He's nowhere, the darkness swallows it all and I see nothing on the ground that tells me where he went. He took her.
Nononononononononono.
Silent tears start to prickle in my eyes but I swallow them back, this is not the time. I can find her. I'm sorry. Completely lost I go a few steps back to where we came from only to stop and go back. What direction could he have taken? Back to the place where they attacked us or away from there?
I am about to find my way back to the attack point when I hear it. It's faint, but distinct; a vehicle's motor. I let the familiar sound carry me as I run through the woods until I see them.
There are four men as far as I can see, standing next to a van just like the one we use for our transportations. Cristina is with them, still passed out. I aim my gun at the head of the men holding her; a simple shot, nothing else… Until I realize how stupid my idea is.
Even if I hit, the other men could be armed and ready. More importantly, they could kill Cris, I can't risk that, but I can't just let them take her. They put her inside the van, my hand is shacking now, should I aim at the tires? No, they could still hurt her. Damn it! They all climb inside and start to move.
With tears in my eyes I drop my gun and let them go, the van too fast to follow. Nobody knows what happened with Cris besides me, if I were to die Dauntless could consider Cris to have suffered the same fate, they wouldn't go after her
I can't see their faces just like before but in one of the men's arms I see something; it's Cris, they put her inside the van before they all climb inside and take off. I think about shooting them, if I'm lucky I could hit the tires but there is also the chance that they are all heavily armed, and if they see someone shooting they'll respond in kind. I would have no chance against that.
Against every instinct that screamed at me to do something I let them and Cristina, go. I'll be more useful as a witness. I take out my nife pocket and mark the tree I'm standing next with an X so I'll know the spot well. Now it's time to go back and ask for help. If I don't die in the process.