Chapter 32 - One Last Promise

"Angie... please talk to me."

"Now you wanna talk to me?! I spent the entire day lost in my own thoughts that I don't understand. The entire day I was trying to figure out why am I even here. What's the purpose for even dealing with all of this?"

"Angie I'm sorry, but I promise if you-"

"I don't want your promise!" She yelled while backing away. "I want to be finish with all of this. Give me a good reason why I should stay here. Since we met, we've both been met with situations that have nearly killed us more times than we could count. We survived, but look at everyone that has died just for us to get here! Here! Running from death again. And who's to say that tomorrow we wont be caught?!"

...

"I'm tired of running Ejay." She said as she stood up. "There's no way things could get worst if die right? We're already living in hell."

"I..."

What am I supposed to say. Mom could deal with this situation a lot better than I can. Give me something, I don't know what to do...

"Ejay, give me my gun." She said extending her hand. "Or you could do me a favor, and kill me yourself. Please Ejay."

My eyes widened in shock of what she just asked me to do. Her eyes radiated despair and she was staring a whole through me with those very eyes. I looked down to the gun and realized that my hand was now shaking. Why am I scared? I'm not the one who's dying. But...

"Then what?" I asked clinching the gun. "I give you this then what?! I walk back into the forest and wait for a gunshot? I pretend not to hear anything then we find your body in the morning? Then what, I let my guilt eat me alive before I end up killing myself too?! And how insensitive are you to ask me to do what you're so scared to do. How do you expect me to just sit by and let any of this happen?!"

"Why do you care, you don't even know me!"

"Bullshit! It's the fact that I do know you why I'm still even out here! I can't mentally handle losing anyone. The only reason I became a searcher in the first place was to chase after my dad. I never asked for any of this! Speaking of which, the last thing Captain Nash asked me to do was to take care of you."

"Screw him! He never did anything but left me to suffer alone... He didn't protect my brother, he never said anything about mom after she died. Then he left me alone when he promised he wouldn't. Everyone left me alone so it's only fitting I die, alone."

"But you're not alone. What about Mali, Dameer, Lici and everyone else? What about me?"

"You're all gonna leave me alone too." She replied as she started crying again. "Like you said I'm insensitive, I'm aggressive towards everyone and I barely contribute anyway. Nobody would care if I'm gone."

"I'd care. It would eat me alive if I let this happen. And I'm not saying that because of the situation, I'm saying it because it's you."

"Then... then promise me. Promise me you wouldn't leave me alone." She said taking a step towards me. "No one ever keeps their promises to me. If you can be the first then-"

"I promise. Angie, I promise that I'll never leave you alone." I replied extending my hand to her.

Those eyes that caught my attention what felt like so long ago, were now focused on me and me only. I still felt a heavy coat of despair lingering on her gaze, but that wasn't all. There was also a sliver of hope breaking through. She slowly stepped toward me and reached her hand out to me. Right before she was arms reach of me she sprung forward and grabbed onto me. She buried her face into my chest and even though I couldn't hear her I could tell she was continuing to cry. With her hands gripping the back of my shirt, I wrapped my arms around her and rest my head onto hers.

"Please Ejay... I'm counting on you."

11:38 p.m.

"My leg, It's stuck under the chair!"

...

"Please! Don't let me go!"

...

"NOOOOO!"

"Hey, Lj!"

"Huh." Lj said awaking from his sleep.

"You're up for night watch duty." I said kneeling next to him.

He sat up slowly and wiped his face with both of his hands. He was definitely having a bad dream just now.

It looked like he was fighting something before I woke him just then.

"You okay?" I whispered.

"Yeah I'm good." He replied looking at the floor. "Hey, do you remember seeing Nico during the tornado outbreak?"

"What's with that question all of a sudden." I responded while sitting. "There was a lot going on then, I can't say I remember every face I came across."

"Remember I told you there was a kid that I tried to save, but I couldn't?"

"Yeah."

"I just dreamt about what happened back then. At least everything was the same except that kid looked like Nico."

"Hmm, well I guess he made a strong impression on you today. We could talk about it more tomorrow but the others are waiting outside for you."

He got up and grabbed his bow and bag. Quietly he crept across the room and out of the cabin.

...

Angie went back to her cabin. Lici and Cory saw me walk her back but surprisingly they didn't ask any questions. I'm not tired at all.

6:34 a.m.

"Good morning everyone." Rodney exclaimed. "I hope you're all well rested and ready for the journey today."

"Thanks for helping me out guys." Zhaire said.

"Was it really necessary to clean up the campsite?" Cory asked. "It isn't like anybody else is gonna be coming here."

"Yeah and this place won't even be here a month from now." I added.

"That's pretty pessimistic." Zhaire replied.

"It's realistic." Cory stated.

"I wish it wasn't." He said with a sigh. "Good to see you guys accepting reality well."

"When we're faced with it like this, we don't have a choice but to accept it." Cory said.

"And we're handling it a lot better than others are." I added. "What about you Captain? Besides Rodney who looks a bit stressed at times, none of the other Captains seems phased by all of this."

"Believe me they are, but we're not really allowed to show it. Our one job is to escort all of you from point a to point b as safe as possible. Like Violet said yesterday, this is new to all of us, but we don't have time for trial and error. We only have one chance to get all of you to that airstrip. So we're burying any troubling thoughts we may be having for right now, but trust me they're definitely there."

"So when we get to the airstrip you guys won't be joining us?" I asked.

"That depends if there's space for us." Zhaire replied.

"That's pretty cruel." I said.

"I think we're heading out now, we could finish this convo while we're walking." Zhaire stated.

Me and Cory left Zhaire and went to gather our things. I understand we're supposed to be the future but is it reasonable to prioritize us so much. Zhaire is probably not even ten years older than me so why do I deserve a spot on the plane more than him. He's more capable, has more life experience and the age difference is nothing significant. Surely he's thought about it, but he hasn't complained at all. He's willing to risk his life escorting us knowing that he may not even be rewarded for doing so.

"I'm not one to ask questions but what happened last night?" Cory asked.

"What do you mean?"

"From my perspective nothing really makes sense. You went into the forest for a long time. Then Lici went in to make sure you was ok, but then she came back alone a few minutes after. Then you and Angie came out not too long after that."

"Wait, Lici came in to look for me?"

"Yeah she said she almost caught you pissing by the tree and came back."

That doesn't add up. I didn't walk that far into the forest. If she saw me by the tree it wouldn't have taken "a few minutes" to return. Also she would've seen Angie. If we came out not too long after her then that time-line definitely doesn't add up. What did she see?

"You gonna answer?" Cory asked.

"Oh. Angie went in before we came out for night watch. She ran into me on her way out."

"I see..."

Honestly I would rather people think we did something in the woods rather than knowing what actually happened with Angie. I shouldn't worry too much about it though, Cory doesn't come across as a guy who would start rumors. He definitely thinks there's more to what happened though. The real issue here is Lici. Sometime today I have to confirm what exactly she saw last night.

"Good morning." Angie said as I walked pass.

I stopped and smiled at her before replying "Good morning." She smiled back but hid it by turning her head.

How exactly am I supposed to interact with her now? I guess I'll just feel it out and adjust to how she interacts with me. We left the campsite and began moving towards our next destination. By tonight I should be seeing my father again. The reason I got into this situation in the first place was finally right in front of me. However, now it feels like a side mission in comparison to why we're really out here. No matter the situation, my priority is to get to my dad.

"How long have we been walking for?" Alyssa asked stretching her arms behind her back.

"About an hour and fifteen minutes." I replied.

"You're good at keeping track of time comrade." Nico stated.

"That reminds me, how'd you learn sign language?" I asked Nico.

"My grandmother's sister or my grand aunt, was born deaf in one ear and she couldn't fully hear out of the other. So she and my grandmother learned sign language while they were growing up. Then she taught it to me and my siblings when we were all young."

"So you have siblings?"

"Had siblings. Two brothers and a sister, but I'm the only one left." He replied looking to the sky.

"Oh, sorry bout that." I said.

"It's all good comrade." He replied with a smile.

"...So you think you could teach me how to do it?"

"Sign language?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think it's a cool skill to have."

"You never fail to interest me." He said as he threw his arm around my shoulder. "I hear we have a short walk today, so your first lesson will be this afternoon."

"Alright comrade." I replied.

"Think I could borrow you before that." Lici says as she walks up beside me. "Remember I told you yesterday there was something I wanted to talk to you about?"

"Oh yeah. Why didn't you bring it up while we were on night watch last night if you remembered?"

"Actually it slipped my mind too." She responded with a grin.

"Hmm, actually there's something I wanted to ask you too." I said moving Nico's arm off of my shoulder.

"Is that so?"

"I guess I'll hold it for later." I said.

"Now I'm curious." She stated.

"Now you know how it feels." I replied.

"Hmm, alright don't forget."

"I won't."

"You promise?" She said looking at me with a smile.

"Yeah... I promise." I slowly responded.

"Good." She said as she walks off.

That word threw me off. It's normal to make promises, but why did that feel different. Was she implying just then that she did hear my conversation with Angie? I can't get a read on that girl.