Unhappy

11. Irene

Irene walked with the other two people. A girl named Wendy, and another named Kingsley. She didn't know what else to do, so she just followed them.

Irene found the two of them interesting. Wendy was a small feisty girl who was obviously trying to gain power in this situation. Kingsley was a boy in a hospital gown who seemed very cautious and literal. She found it to be very strange, but ignored it. Honestly, she was just glad she wasn't alone in this situation.

"We should try and find a water source. If we do that, we'll be more likely to survive." Kingsley explained. Wendy, who seemed like she could barely keep herself from lashing out, kept a very unconvincing smile on her face.
"Right, of course! You're so smart!" She said, but it was obvious to see she was faking it. Well, at least in Irene's eyes it was.
"Come on, I think the lake is just down this way!" Kingsley said, quickly walking through a small amount of trees. Suddenly, they came face to face with a boy. He looked to be around fifteen years old. He had lots of blood on him, and injuries covered his body. Irene wasn't focused on that though. She stared into his big brown eyes, pleading for mercy. For help. Irene didn't think, she just ran forward. She stopped in front of the boy, and got down on her knees in front of him.
"Are you okay?" Irene asked, staring intensely into his eyes. His own replied with fear and hopelessness. Irene couldn't help but think about how she had felt in the cop car. Seeing it happen to someone else, made her feel horrible. Irene thought for a moment, before smiling at him. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you."
"I... I..." the kid began. She could feel the fear radiating off of him.
"No, it's okay! Don't talk if you don't want to." Irene explained. The boy stared at her. "I'm Irene Weber."
"I- I'm... Milo... Frazier..." He barely managed to say. Irene could tell that he wasn't as scared as before. He was still acting cautious, but she knew he was warming up to her.
"Hey, why are you out here all alone? Do you need us to take you home?"
"NO!!! DON'T!!!" He yelled, grabbing Irene by the shoulders, shaking her a little bit. After a moment, he let go, as tears fell down his face. Irene regretted suggesting that. Now he was panicking, and she didn't know is she'd be able to calm him down again. "I won't be unwound... I won't let them try and do it again..." he mumbled.
"You know what it's like to be unwound?" Kingsley said, walking over to the boy. Milo stared at him for a moment, before he looked at the floor and nodded.

Irene couldn't sympathize with that. Sure, she was horrified of being unwound herself, but this kid had survived the experience? Now she could only imagine the horrifying way they did it. This kid was just petrified thinking about it. And now she could feel the fear crawling up. Now she what another fear stacked onto her back, to make the unwinding process even more unbearable to think about.

"I know... it's okay... I've felt it to..." Kingsley said, as he hugged Milo. Irene stared, as tears fell down both of their eyes.
"How would you know!?" Milo suddenly snapped. He pushed Kingsley away, and stared in fear and sadness. Irene looked at him. It was a great question to ask. Kingsley stood still for a couple of seconds.
"I've had brain surgery, it's very scary." Kingsley replied. Milo stared back, his face plagued with fear and disgust.
"No! That's not the same thing!" He insisted. He pulled his hands to his face, and let himself cry into them. His fingers were out to the side of eyes, so you could see the panic and desperation in them. "They replace your blood with pure oxygen, they give you a shot so you can't feel anything. Then they slowly take away your body parts while your awake. The nurse talks to you the entire time to stop you from freaking out, but it doesn't help! I don't even know how I got out of their alive. Oh god... how did I even get out of their alive!? WHAT DID I DO-" Milo ranged in fear, before Wendy came over and smacked him in the face. Everything was frozen for a moment. Irene couldn't believe she'd just smack someone in the face like that! Especially when they're having a panic attack.
"Listen up, we're not gonna get anywhere if you just freak out! We're going to set up camp, and rest here for the night, got it!?" Wendy yelled at Milo. He stared at her, and nodded with fear in his eyes.

Irene wasn't sure if she should follow the orders, but she decided it was a good idea. She helped Kingsley put up the tent. Wendy looked at Irene, and glared at her, before going back to work.

Irene knew what was happening. Wendy knew about her being outmatched in the skills department. Irene was a threat to her sense of power.

She'd gotten this a lot from other kids. They'd constantly try to make her look bad so they could be the Showcase Angel. But Irene's fear was far more powerful then any other person's greed. The fear drove her to push past their attempts to dethrone her. And she saw the same thing happening with Wendy. And honestly, she didn't know what to do about it.