Apocalypse

~chapter 9~

  We've been walking for what feels like forever until Henry finally stopped us. He took out a water bottle, took a sip, and passed it around. There was a rustling sound and a rabbit popped into view. It sniffed around a bit and hopped away. "Alright, guys.", he says. "First thing is we need to make our weapons and find out who will catch what." To start on our weapons everybody is searching the ground to find sticks, small branches and sharp rocks. I found two branches and a rock, Jax gathered up some sticks, Zoe found a few sharp rocks and Henry had three branches and another rock. Jax pulled out a pocket knife that he got from camp and started carving a sharp point. Everyone took a branch and started carving with their rocks. About an hour later everyone has finished working on their spears.

Our footsteps are light so we don't scare off the prey. Henry and I are on rabbit duty and Jax went off to catch some fish. Zoe decided that she'll try finding some berries to go with whatever we catch. I hear rustling in a bush close by and turn to it watching closely for anything that pops out. I see a stroke of white and then it ran away. I took off after the chase and Henry was right behind. The white blur dashed left and then a right. I was close behind but suddenly I couldn't see it anymore. I stop abruptly and Henry almost runs into me. "Why did you stop.", he asks. "The rabbit is gone.", I whisper. "What do y-.", "Shhh!", I cut him off. The only thing making noise was the wind blowing in the trees and a slight crunch as we walk on top of leaves. Just as we started heading back, there was a crunch and a low growl coming from behind us. We both stop and slowly turn to see a mountain lion. I look to Henry and he signals to back away slowly. We take two steps back, and the lion takes one forward. We keep backing up but the lion still follows. I glance toward Henry and he has his spear gripped tightly ready for it to pounce at any time. The mountain lion growls and I look just in time to see it leap. I roll out of the way, but the claws still got me. My arm stings but I continue to move away until I'm next to Henry. "Distract the lion. I'll call for back up.", I say, dodging the lion. Henry nods and starts making noises and yells insults at the big cat. It turns to him and gives into the distraction. I quickly dive into a shrub and call George. It rings for half a second and he answers. "George! Come quick! Mountain lion!", I say quickly. "Where are you guys?", he asks. "In the woods somewhere, there's an opening and a big rock.", I answer the best I can. "I'm coming towards you. I'll be there as soon as I can!", he says hurriedly and hangs up. Before I jump out, I slowly look around. The lion is still distracted but gaining on Henry. "Over here you stupid kitty!", I yell trying to get it off of Henry. It stops and turns toward me, my heart starts beating faster. It takes off running, but before it reaches me, George and the others race out of the trees and surround it.

Back at camp, we show our prizes of fish, deer, and a few rabbits, but the best prize we got, was the mountain lion. As we start the fire and prepare the food, everyone is sharing their stories of how they caught their prey and George helps to wrap my arm. "Well obviously my team won.", I start to say. I winced a little from George wrapping it too tightly. "No way!", Ryan shoves in. "We were the ones who killed it.", sticking his nose to the sky. "No you didn't.", Jax says, moving his way into the circle around the fire. "It was Henry and I who killed it.". "Actually", Henry states. "George helped too.". "Then who gets the points.", I ask. "Hmmm..", George says out loud. "I have an idea!", Zoe says. We turn to look at her. "What about Rock, Paper, Scissors?", she smiles. Everyone laughs and we decided to use it to see who gets the points. It's the best out of three and we all look to Henry and George in an intense game. It's one to one and everyone looks wide-eyed, this is a full ten points so the competition is real. Henry takes the win and our team wins. We all cheer and high-five one another. I get to Jax ready for a high-five and he wraps around me in a hug. My eyes widen and my cheeks burn. He lets go quickly, "uhh, sorry. I got caught in the moment of victory.", he says. "That's alright.", I giggle. Then we high-five and sit around the fire. The meat and fish are cut into chunks so we can grab what we want and cook it to our liking.

As I start to eat my kabob, Zoe and Chloe walk over and sit on each side of me. "What was that about with Jax?", Chloe says, winking. "That was so cute when he hugged you.", Zoe giggles. I'm blushing and turning red with embarrassment. But before we can walk in, a stranger comes out of the shadows and into the light of the fire. "Well, well. What's this?". I look at him with a hint of fear into my eyes.

Peyton.