Chapter 5

A Chapter by Courtney

Landon jumped out in front of me protectively, as the boy came crashing through the cascading curtain of green. The rifle was pointed directly at him, and both of our lives hanged in the balance. I closed my eyes and held onto his jacket sleeve; fearing the worst. The boy looked up from his aim and slowly lowered the barrel as he saw that we were completely unarmed. He called out “Gus! Down!” The chocolate lab instantly stopped and laid his head down at his owner’s leg; though he remained completely alert, although with seeming happiness as opposed to the rage that a guard dog should have in his eyes.
He gave us a look of complete disbelief as his jaw dropped and he stepped quickly toward us, knocking Gus aside. He grabbed Landon by the shoulder as if he were embracing a long lost friend. I had never seen this man before in my life; yet as I looked into Landon’s eyes, I saw recognition, and pure joyous disbelief. “Zech.. I thought we lost you!” I finally made the connection in my mind with the spoken name. Zech was another extremist willing to act out with us against Control. When our village had been raided by officers, my own brother had been the one to inform them of Zech’s cooperation with the rebels.
He had been forced into a large van along with several others; destined to be delivered to the capital. He met our jovially quizzical faces, and began to tell of what had happened that fateful night, just before Landon and I had taken our leave. “They had pushed me into the crowded van. But they didn’t realise that I had been able to hide my K Bar in my boot. I was able to break free from their bonds and move to the front. I was able to take two of the men down,” his face turned dark as he looked down, “The third tried to jump to the wheel as we were still driving. Crashed us right into the mountainside. Everyone in the back died. He, Gus, and I were the only survivors.”
“You did all you could,” Landon replied, grasping Zech’s shoulder.
He breathed a heavy sigh, “I know. I did manage to get my hands on this though,” he said as he motioned to his gun which he had leaned up against the tree. “And better yet, Landon. Something I think you’ll be happy to see.”
He turned as he walked back to his small camp, and we followed. He led us back to a hollowed out log where we saw a single gun lying inside. Landon’s eyes widened as we realised it was his gun, from before Control had confiscated it along with the rebels. “It’s my .223, Ar 15” He stated the obvious, as he held it into his hands again, turning it over to see that it was as he had left it; and it was. With our initials carved into the bottom.
“We’re heading to the capital now. We could definitely use more trusted allies” I suggested.
Zech’s grin widened; “You know, I knew you guys would come down this path eventually. Gus and I’ve been waiting!”
Our small group had gained two more members. Ones that we knew we could trust. This would be a huge step in the journey it would take to make it to the end of our road, the end of our lives as we knew it.

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