Six

The sixth chapter of ongoing fiction

Both groups were split by a couple thousand feet of an empty plain; there was not even the slightest hint of a barrier between the two to hold one off from interference by the other. One group was ten people strong as the other was seven strong, and that group was mainly composed of defenseless children. It was a personal mission, as if it was not before, to protect four of these seven, while two of them had just joined our ranks. As much as my wife would hate to admit it, we both know what it was that made me not fight her over the ordeal. It was the pity we both shared, and the hope we had that someday there may be a group to help us with the same methods. No matter how much ground we had covered or how things might go upon arrival, it was near impossible to ignore the other group’s presence.

With four kids to tote along with we mainly took shifts to switch between the heaviest and lightest for us to either carry or either make them walk; a mile or two really was not that bad unless you had a couple children just as lost as we were that believed a little bit of play time would not hurt us. In this time any moment not spent with the utmost attention could be the last moment for anything, and that was not something I was going to allow my family to endure. My oldest daughter, I could only imagine, was the one that truly had to take in everything with a high magnitude; her entire world had been altered along with ours, there was no more school and no more afternoon snacks.

Daily lessons for all of us had changed for all of us, and the old saying about learning something new every day had certainly turned to a matter of life or death. The breeze from the low sunned morn whisked between the beige blades of grass and filled the air with anything, but silence; my wife’s voice mixed with the children’s and both overshadowed the crunches beneath our feet as we stomped along. Between the expanse of both groups it was impossible to notice the footsteps that had already tracked a line in, or away from, the direction we were headed; along with that realization I felt my hands tighten, and another hand begun to wriggle inside. In that moment I seemed to have forgotten that there was a link of two children in tow that were attached hand in hand with mine. I took a glance down to find my daughter’s eyes matched with mine; her face told me she was not appreciative of the unbeknownst grip, but she found it in herself to show me her beautiful smile.

No part of me had desired to listen to what the young woman had started to entertain my wife with; this attachment was not one I was ready to make or embrace, I’d leave the pleasantries for my wife to handle as she saw fit. It was not only because I was the only man, surely, it was the father and husband within, that made me steel myself and my family from anything that could bring any harm their way, and it was my duty to be the protector they needed no matter what the circumstance may be.

There was a scent that had been blown my way within the wind, and it was one I had known far too well for several years of my life; I tilted my head to steal a glance of the crowd far away. Two amongst their group had managed to find one thing I had searched high and low through every stop for: cigarettes. Several weeks ago, my last drag was taken, and, even though I had taken several precautions, the nicotine supply was the first one to drain; after all, these were not a matter of survival and there were far more important necessities that were to be worried about.

Every step taken shortened the distance to our destination, but with every step taken I resented myself for not having a plan yet. From what could be seen, four houses had stood tall and sturdy; two on the east side of the road cast a shadow over those on the west, but with the sun being present nothing was given the ability to hide in plain sight. Never before had I noticed these houses, but, then again, I had never cared to venture to this side of town. Crazy things happen when crazier things get set in motion.

The middle child of mine began to fret and whimper, she had trooped along with the rest of us for the majority of our walk and his legs had started to numb underneath him. My wife stopped in her tracks to glance back, but before anything could escape from her lips I scooped up my boy slid him over my back. Two small arms wrapped around my neck as he tried to saddle up for the ride; this of course was made even harder as I had to now keep my bag in front of me as opposed to the free flow it had swayed. At my side the girl stood strong, as strong as she could, and continued to march along with us; she knew things were no longer as simple as they had been, and that everyone, in their own way, would have to pull their own part.

As we drew nearer to the houses there were a few from the pack across the way that had broken off from the group and broke into a mad dash to victory. It wasn’t this that worried me; the assumed leader extended his arm and pointed a finger. A couple more had separated from the group and ran along in the same direction, their pace was quick and their intent was foreseen, and, in tune with their animalistic nature, they leapt forward. All four had hit the ground at once while those on top had remained there to keep their captives ensnared. The leader hardly picked up his pace; in that there was a sadistic nature to make those suffer that broke his rules. Everything I needed to know I knew then and it would be in our best interest to stay away as best we could.

With that group stopped ours pressed on; our pace did not quicken and we kept our voices low, but as soon as we breached the steps of one house we did not turn back.