Chapter 13

'Leo!!! you had to sneak up on me like that?'

Leo snickered ' I thought you were a ghost and came to investigate'

Hazel punched him on the shoulder as he sat beside her.

'Anyways what the hell are you doing at this time?' Leo demanded.

'Humph....couldn't sleep'

'Nightmare?'

Hazel glanced at Leo, She gulped and averted her face 'Nope' but her gesture was not ignored by Leo, who frowned and cleared his throat,' You can tell me Hazel, we are in one boat'

She stayed quite for a few minutes before saying tonelessly 'Just worried about the oncoming journey, worried about my dad, worried about my brother, worried that maybe I will let you guys down' She sighed and put her face in her hands ' worried about my life'

Leo nodded 'We all are worried about what will happen in the future but we are also contented that we will be together and get out of this mess, Hazel being the leader doesn't mean you will have to do everything alone, we will make the decisions together, we will fight together, don't worry we are are in this with you'

Hazel looked at Leo and smiled, getting an answering smile back.

'Go on, rest, tomorrow we are gonna train for 2+ hours, okay?'

Leo groaned, stood up and trudged off to his cabin, Hazel snickered, seeing his pose and went to her cabin, sitting on her cabin she smiled again and whispered

'Together'

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the following days went practicing to fight and gathering enough food and water for the journey, finally the day arrived, everyone was gathered at the gates with sacks of food, bottles of water and backpacks filled with clothes, Band-Aids, tape, scissors and the necessities of the journey, the warriors had strapped swords and bows to themselves , Hazel had a sword with a ☠ on the hilt, it's tip was a little curved, the scabbard was embroidered golden, it was strapped to her side while the bow was in her backpack, it's one end jutting out so she could pull it out easily.

the others were not trained so giving them swords nd bows was dangerous so Hazel decided to give them daggers.

In other words, everyone was well prepared, the doors opened and everyone slipped out and without saying a word and started to march, everyone knew where they would go

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'I think w-we should rest in the morning and walk the night' Hazel wheezed as sweat poured down her eyes, her hazel eyes were squinted due to the sunlight in her eyes.

The others muttered their approval and everyone slumped on the ground in unison, standing up immediately with gasps and yells of 'Eek!'.

The land was burning, everyone took out the Quilts they had prepared and sat on them, some people closed their eyes while others ate or drank, Hazel took out 2 cans of beans and handed one to Leo and took one herself, Everyone was quiet as they observed the desert around them, Hazel ate her food and went to sleep, like countless others.