Chapter Two

(Jade)

(7:21pm, 8th April 2011)

Everything was quiet. No more screaming, no more gunshots. Just silence.

Someone was nudging me.

"Jade? Jade! Wake up."

I pried open my eyes. Beck was sitting above me, concern clouding his eyes.

"Wha…Beck…Are you okay?" I slurred out. My head was throbbing, and my body ached; I could already feel the bruises blooming underneath my skin. I groaned as Beck helped me sit up.

"I'm fine. Just a few cuts and bruises."

I scanned the scene. The truck was a pile of smoking rubble, putrefying the air. All the ducks were dead; some decapitated or sliced up by their cages, others squashed to a pulp; blood and feathers coating the ground. It was an ugly sight. I continued to gaze around, but I couldn't see anyone else.

I looked at Beck in fear, "Cat…Andre..."

"Everyone's just a bit further in. Come on." He secured his arms around my back and slowly lifted me to stand.

My head started spinning. I hoped I didn't have a concussion. I couldn't remember ever hitting my head, but the chance of it was still pretty high.

We slowly made out way around the debris. As we went past the cabin of the truck, I could just make out from the shadows a limp, bloody arm hanging out the window.

Oh God. Sikowitz.

I started to walk closer, my mind not thinking logically, I think I just needed to know if it was true.

"Jade," Beck grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"Sikowtiz…"

"Yeah. He's dead." Was all Beck said, pulling me close to his chest. We stood there like that, silent, for a few minutes, then he continued to pull me along to the others.

I couldn't believe it. We couldn't be stranded here, just us kids. That was too frightening to comprehend.

Beck helped me through the low branches and bushes going deeper into the forest, until we reached a small clearing. I released the breath I hadn't even realised I was holding when I saw everyone else, alive.

Trina sat up on a large rock, her face contorted with pain. Her hands gripped the side of the stone tightly, her knuckles turning white. Andre was kneeling in front of her, wrapping her ankle tightly in a browned bandage. A First Aid kit lay open beside him on the dirt, its contents minimal; just another bandage and what looked to be a thermometer, but I couldn't be sure. The latch looked broken, probably from the crash, but in this country, who knew for sure. At least it had been salvageable, that was something.

Miraculously, it looked like Trina's sprained ankle was the only real injury. Well, the ones that we knew of anyway.

Cat sat about a metre over, just staring straight ahead, eyes glazed over, Tori's arm draped around her shoulder. Tori seemed to be murmuring words of comfort; though her face was pale and strained. I'd never seen Cat so quiet before, and for some reason it scared me more than anything. She was so fragile and innocent. Something like this could alter her forever. Hell, it's probably altered all of us forever.

Robbie was sitting by himself, eyes boring into the ground. He was cradling Rex in his arms and he looked like he was in terrible anguish; like he'd lost a real child. The puppet was completely pulverised; much worse off than he had been when Tori had sucked him into that giant industrial fan.

It was obvious we were all in shock. Deep shock. This was becoming all too frightening. It wasn't a game anymore.

"Oh, good." Andre attempted a smile as he saw me. "You're okay."

What? Okay? Okay? I was definitely not okay. All of us were far from okay."No, this isn't okay!" I practically screamed at him. "Soldier's shot at us! With actual guns! Sikowitz is dead, and we're stuck here in this God forsaken country!"

"Where are the soldiers now?" Tori's eyes were wide with terror. "Why aren't the rest of us dead? Why have they stopped?"

"Well, we don't have time to wonder about any of that now. We can't just sit here." Beck piped up. "We need to get to cover. We need to hide." Thank God someone was thinking logically.

"Well there's no way Trina can walk far on this ankle." Andre said. "We'll need to transport her somehow."

"Sheema." We all snapped our heads to Robbie, his quiet voice startling us. "We can use her jumpsuit as a hammock or something."

Everybody was silent with unease. I could tell what we were all thinking. Whilst it was a brilliant idea, nobody wanted to be the one to strip Sheema's lifeless body, to have to look into those blank eyes.

Beck steadied me against a tree, removed his arm from around my waist and lifted his chin. "I'll go get it."

"I'll go too." Andre stood up. Beck gave him a small nod and the two boys walked off back to the truck, disappearing behind some bushes.

It wasn't long before they returned, eyes steely determined, obviously affected by what they had seen. They laid the material on the ground and Robbie brought over some thick branches they had collected, tying each one firmly with the arms and legs of the suit. Andre picked Trina up and gently seated her in the middle of the makeshift stretcher, then Beck and Andre gripped two branches each and settled it carefully over their shoulders.

Tori helped Cat to stand, supporting her weight as Cat sagged, her body and mind still far, far away.

Before we left, I collected up our wallets and purses, which thankfully only had suffered minor wear and tear, so that at least we had our ID's with us. Our phones were all smashed, completely useless now, so they were left with the truck. We began walking away, our destination unclear. Robbie's eyes filled with tears as he left Rex, twisted and broken on the ground, behind him.

We must have been walking for hours. I couldn't keep going for much longer. We'd found a creek early on to quench our thirst; it had tasted disgusting, but it was running water and so it had been safe to drink, and probably the only safe water we'd find for miles. We hadn't seen any hint of the guards, but we still hadn't passed any civilisation yet either. We'd had a few breaks, but the worry of being caught meant we couldn't stop for long. Everyone was tired and anxious; especially the boys, who were still supporting Trina on the jumpsuit.

The moon shone steadily, illuminating our path with a weak beam. Having to find shelter in the dark made it just all the more impossible. We needed to find something soon. Really soon.

Finally, after what seemed like another hour or two, Tori spoke up. "What's that over there?"

We all turned to look. It was quite a way into the distance, but was most definitely a building of some sort. A tall, bulky shadow. I could feel my heart start to race. We'd found something. At last.

My hopes were dashed, however, as Beck told us not to get too excited, as it could be someone's house, which meant we'd have to keep going.

The boys lowered Trina to the ground, and Beck silently stalked off towards the building. We all waited in anticipation. I was rocking on the balls of my feet, ready to run if needed. But it proved unnecessary. Beck quickly jogged back over to us and said that it was what looked to be an abandoned shed. We could stay there.

It wasn't an ideal place, that's for sure, but it had four walls and a roof, so it would have to do. The door was heavy steel, and it took both Beck and Andre to slide it open. The inside was concrete floor and tin walls; echoed but not completely empty. Stacked against the wall were a couple of dozen blankets. Thank God something was in our favor tonight.

We all took about three or four each and huddled together, settling down to sleep. But my body just wouldn't let me. I was overtired; my body sore and drained but my mind buzzing with fear and adrenaline.

It was if then, with nothing else to occupy my thoughts, that it really hit me.

I didn't cry often, it wasn't something I particularly enjoyed doing, but at that moment, stuck in a foreign country, hunted by soldiers, with Sikowitz dead and absolutely no way of getting back home, I burst into tears.

We were going to die.

(Excerpt from Chapter Six of 'The War That Left Us Broken' 'Part I')

Please R&R. = )