The Hiding

"Lily, where are you?" Becka called from somewhere deep inside the cave. I ignored her, I was not in the mood for her daily dose of drama. I sat up, and looked up at the night sky. The moon was nearly full, and I watched the stars twinkle next to it, looking bright as ever.1

The light gleamed off of the rock at the opening of the cave, casting long shadows on the ground beneath me. I shivered as the cold winter wind bit at the exposed skin on my arms. My long sleeved shirt was long gone by now, all that I had left was a tattered black tank top. I am a...fugitive. 2

My city was attacked by terrorists, intent on destroying the entire human race. I am one of the few survivers of the nuclear attack, as well as the posionous gas explosion a few months back. My friend, Becka, was with me at the time of the first nuclear attack. My other friend, Ryan, was also with us in this dangerous world. 3

"Lily, what are you doing out here? Its freezing." Ryan's voice appeared from behind me. I turned to glare at him, I wanted to be alone.4

"Ryan, go away." I muttered, looking down at the ground.5

"Why? You seem lonely..."6

"Because, I want to be alone thank you."7

"Lily, now don't start again, please." Ryan came to sit beside me, looking down at me with his bright green eyes. A small smile appeared on my face, he could always make me smile. Maybe it was those dimples, or the fact that he was just so damn cute.8

"I'm sorry, its just that...I..." I didn't know how to finish. Ryan grabbed my arm, and pulled me off of the ground. He pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly. The sudden warmth felt wonderful against my freezing skin. It had nearly gone numb by then, so I didn't notice how cold I was.9

"What does Becka want?" I muttered as she called my name again. I groaned, and followed the sound of her voice into the cave. 10

"What in the hell do you want Becka?" I asked when I finally found her.11

"We are nearly out of food...again..." She replied, motioning to our receeding food supply.12

"We'll 'find' some later, okay? Its not the end of the world--okay, check that--it isn't the end of the world if we go without food for a day or two. We have bigger problems on our hands Becka."13

Just then Ryan's scream erupted from where I'd left him; my eyes grew wide in fear. Not again, not again. I thought, shaking my head. I ran to the opening of the cave, where Ryan was kneeling on the ground, looking up at the sky.14

I ran over to him, and nearly fell over him. "Ryan, what's wrong?" I nearly screamed, my heart was beating in my ears.15

"H-Helicopters." Was all he said, he was shaking. This was going to keep happening until we died, which we would in the end. I had thought many times about what the use was running if we were meant to die in the end, I had come up with no solutions. Except for something my father had said to me once; Never give up Lily, always keep fighting.16

"W-What?! D-Did they see you?" I was shaking now too, I heard Becka's footsteps hault when she saw Ryan and I talking. She has never been a big fan of Ryan's, ever since he turned her down softmore year when she had asked him out.17

"No, I don't think so. They were surveying the land with spotlights, looking for survivers no doubt."18

I closed my eyes, thinking how this had to all be a dream. No more than two months ago, I was enjoying my senior year of High School and now look at my future. I have none. Shaking my head, I stood from the ground, my hands balled up into tight fists.19

I kicked at the ground, breaking off a large piece of rock and hurling it into the cave wall. "Why? Why in the hell did this have to happen? Why did this stupid world have to turn on us? Why couldn't I have just died like the rest of my family? Then I wouldn't have to be running from the damn people that are trying to kill us, I hate this. I HATE THIS!" I pounded my fists on the wall, grinding my teeth together.20

I usually didn't lose my temper, but when I did it was not a pretty sight. My mom said when I lost my temper it looked like someone lit fire behind my eyes, I of course, got the trait from my father. I felt a cold pair of hands take mine away from the walls, Ryan surely had a strong grip.21

"Lily, clam down please." Ryan soothed, patting my back lightly.22

"Its not fair Ryan, I'm tired of running and hiding. Im tired of always feeling sad, or angry. Im tired of having no food to eat, or no bed to sleep in. I don't know what to do..." I turned and began sobbing into Ryan's soiled shirt.23

"I'm sorry Lily, I wish I could help. I wish I could make the world go back in time, then maybe we could have stopped all this from happening. Please, don't give up now...not yet."24

I squeezed my hands together again, and winced. I looked at my hands, most of my knuckled had long cuts in them and were bleeding. A few were screaming out in protest to the pressure I was putting on them, they I knew were broken. Ryan looked down at my hands, and sighed.25

He grabbed a bottle of water from our supplies, and ripped two strips off of his shirt. 26

"Hey, we DRINK that water Ryan." Becka protested, putting her hands on her hips. 27

"Shut up Becka." Ryan replied, rolling his eyes disgustedly. I couldn't help but laugh when her jaw dropped, offended.28

"Nice job Lily, you've nearly broken your hand." He said as he poured the water over the cuts in my left hand. I winced, the water stung. He wrapped one strip around my hand, making it look like I was about to cage fight or something. He did the same to my right hand, smiling as he finished.29

"Thanks Ryan, I don't know what I'd do without you." 30

I heard a noise coming from outside the cave, and my eyes grew wide. I began to scream, but I clapped one of my hands over my mouth. That was the most familiar, and terrifying sound in the entire world. Helicopter blades. And they were getting closer.31

I felt Ryan leave, running for the secure depths of the cave, but I couldn't seem to move. Maybe they would just kill me on the spot, not wait, that would be best. I was sick of this life, but a small part of me still wasn't ready to leave it yet. I tried to move my legs, but they were bolted to the ground.32

My eyes grew wider as the helicopter approached, both of its guns pointed toward the cave. I heard footsteps coming towards me, but my gaze was locked on the approaching helicopter. I couldn't tell if it was fear that they knew where we were, or whether it was surprise for the same reason.33

"Lily, come on! What are you waiting for?" Ryan's whisper shocked me, it was almost a hiss. I forced myself to tear my gaze away from the guns, which were pointed directly at me. Ryan's face was fearful, and angry, at me.34

"W-what?" I replied, shaking my head, trying to clear it. I looked back at the guns, they were glinting under the moonlight. Without knowing it, I started walking toward the helicopter, as if it were a rescue plane. Ryan grabbed my wrist in an attempt at pulling me away, all it did was knock my off of my feet and onto the hard ground.35

"Lily, listen to me! Please, Lily! Can you hear me?" Ryan's voice seemed like a lull in the background compared to the thunder of the blades approaching. "Lily, is there something wrong?"36

Ryan's voice appeared right inside of my ear, knocking me out of my trance. I looked around frantically, looking for him. I scrambled to my feet as I saw the glint of the helicopter out of the corner of my eye. Ryan ran ahead of me, checking back to make sure I was following. My hands were balled into fists again, my knuckles screaming under the bandages, but I wasn't listening to them.37

My eyes grew wide as I heard an even more frightening sound, the sound of guns cocking, getting ready to fire. "Run faster Ryan, run!" I mumbled, he responded. 38

I stumbled over a rock as I heard the click of the trigger. I heard the bullets swoosh through the air, past me. I lunged forward, pushing Ryan out of the way as one swept past his ear. I heard another click of a trigger as more bullets fired from the chambers, making me run even faster.39

I stumbled over another rock in the darkness that now surrounded us, bad mistake. I felt the bullet's tip touch my forearm, and then nothing. I knew in an instant that my bone would be shattered, or broken into two pieces. I buckled over in pain, and fell to the ground. Ryan whipped around, and yelled out in anger.40

He helped me to my feet as we ran along in the darkness, hoping they would not follow us. I clutched my arm to my chest, feeling the warm blood soak into my shirt. I clamped my teeth together so I would not scream out in agony.41

I could hear Ryan feeling around in the darkness, searching for something. I didn't know what, and I didn't care. I heard Ryan sigh in relief, and then my head began to swim. My eyes began to close, and the ground became closer. I felt Ryan catch me just before I hit the ground, I wondered if I was going to die. It would be all my fault if I did, no one could blame themselves.42

********43

I heard a distant sound that sounded like crying; although I couldn't be sure who it was coming from. It could have been Becka, because there was no one else there. I prayed it wasn't Ryan who was crying, he had no reason to. He of all people should be furious with me, I had acted like an idiot. I didn't realize I was doing it at the time, but I wished that I could relive that moment and do it differently.44

I could feel a sharp pain running up my arm, although my entire arm felt like lead. I couldn't find my voice, or open my eyes. I wondered if I was dead after all.