I instantly ducked for cover, yet there was no cover. Instead, I belly flopped into the snow. Erica pulled me out and we ran.
"How did they find us?" Zoe asked as we ran.
"I don't know," Erica replied. Bullets grazed the ground behind us, getting closer with each and every volley. We dove into the nearby woods, hoping that we could lose the gunner in there. It worked. Bullets sprayed out in every direction before ceasing. Even though we all were out of breath, there was a collective sigh of relief.
"Gotta say, that was awfully close." Mike puffed.
"Yeah," I replied. I was hoping to get some rest as we had ran for miles. Erica, however, had different plans.
"Come on, let's get moving." She said. She didn't seem to be affected at all.
"Can we have one more minute?" Zoe asked.
"Not everyone is as incompetent as you." Erica shot back.
"Actually, I think everyone else is as incompetent as Zoe," I said. I lay on the ground. Erica wasn't pleased by this comment.
"And who are you to say that?" She asked.
I was too out of breath to reply. Erica started walking deeper into the forest.
"Wait!" I shouted. "Wait up." I jumped to my feet. If Erica walked away, there would be no chance of our survival.
"Yeah?" She stopped. I ran up to her, Mike and Zoe reluctantly followed.
We cut our way through the underbrush. Zoe walked right next to me. She held my hands and I (reluctantly) allowed her.
"Why don't we just ditch Erica?" She asked me. Mike overheard our conversation.
"Because if we do, we'll be dead within a day." Mike jumped in. They mulled this over for a bit, then both looked at me for my opinion.
"Mike has a point." I sighed. I looked at Erica. She was 10 feet ahead of us, leading the way.
"How could you say that?" Zoe asked me.
"She's well prepared and who else would take lead?" I replied.
"Oh really?" She said.
"Yeah." I didn't like where this was going.
"Fine, I'll take lead." Zoe shot back. She started walking a different way. "Anyone who wants to go with me, follow me. Right now." She stared at me. Erica looked back at me accusingly.
I sighed and continued walking with Erica. Zoe's eyes swelled up.
"H-how could you?" Zoe asked me.
"We'll die if we don't follow her. She's the best spy and the most experienced." I said.
"No! You're only doing this because you still like Erica!" Zoe said. "You betrayed me."
"NO, I didn't. And right now I'm NOT." I was on the verge of yelling. Erica decided this was a great time to jump into the conversation.
"Guys, cut the crap. This is why I don't get into relationships. We don't have the time for this." Erica said.
"See? How can you like her when she's that cold?" Zoe asked me accusingly?
"Ok, what do you want me to say?" I asked her. I pulled off such an icy voice that Erica even shivered. That or it was just getting cold outside.
"I want you to follow me and apologize," Zoe replied.
"No, I'm not going to follow you. I don't have anything against you, it's just that if we do, we'll all die." I said. I was quickly getting annoyed and mad.
"Ok then. Fine." Zoe shot back. "Mike, you with me?"
"Well, er, sometime later maybe?" Mike said. It was obvious that he didn't want to get involved.
Erica rolled her eyes. "Guys!" She exclaimed. "Get your crap together! We don't have all day to wait here. SPYDER's on the loose and looking to kill us!"
"Fine then" Zoe started walking the other way. Nobody followed her. I was distraught over the whole ordeal. We needed to stay together, after all, we were the last remnants of spy school. I had hoped that despite the last mission we would put apart our differences. Instead, they had begun tearing us apart. I shuddered to think about what would happen to Zoe, but by that time she had already disappeared into the trees and Erica and Mike were also getting out of sight. I ran up to them.
"That was just amazing." Erica stated. We continued on our way.
"Yeah." I sighed. "What's the plan?"
"Bounce around 'till we get some leads. Before then just stay alive." Erica sounded somewhat worried, yet she tried her best not to show it.
"Are you telling me that you don't have a plan?" I asked. If even Erica didn't have a plan, we were certainly doomed.
"No, I do have a plan, I just explained it to you." Erica was already getting tired of the conversation. I decided to drop it.
We walked for the rest of the day. We didn't have a bite to eat since that morning and quickly our bodies were deteriorating. Finally, at nightfall, we came across a gas station on a dirty street. We walked into it and gathered some burgers. As well as a whole pack of water bottles.
We decided to camp under the trees about a mile away from the station. I closed my eyes, thinking that the worst of our trouble have finally ended.
I couldn't be more wrong.
