Ice in the Desert Chunk 10

More of the gang are found-- Including the member that caused the scream.

 “Get off.” whispers a voice in the dirt. I start, yanking my foot away from the semi-buried kid. I crouch down and brush away some of the dirt, revealing a familiar face with scattered red hair.

“Poison?” I say surprised, a little quietly. I didn't need all the other kids crowding around.

“Ice? There's still some of us left, right?” he groans. He coughs a little bit, but doesn't move otherwise. “Brought a few down. I'm fine, just, actually, a little comfortable here.” he says. I give him a funny look, but he doesn't seem to notice. Our leader seems to be a little odd. I don't speak, uncertain of what to say. “Did you suddenly lose your tongue? Say something. I need to hear something good.” he says, and finally sits up, brushing hair out of his face and behind his ears. I search for words, a little surprised.

“Well, um, there isn't a whole lot to tell,” Poison crosses his legs and leans back on his arms as I speak. “Not a whole lot of survivors. Let's see, there's, uh, Scorch, Dust, me, and four or five others. I'm not entirely sure.” I say, dropping the bad news. He bites his lower lip, appearing to be thinking. After a few moments, he speaks, words coming out slowly. “Hmm.” he grunts. “That's bad. So many. At least not everyone's dead. Lost half my twins by the sounds of it. Dust, that kid. Good. I need him alive.” he replies, giving me a look that said 'Don't ask'. I shrugged, not wanting to press. He suddenly changes subject.

“Listen, kid, I know this might not be clear to you, and that you might be offended by this, but I have to say this. Ready?” he says, looking around to see if anyone was listening. I nod, and he leans forward a little bit. “Your partner. White Ghost. There's something off about him, something that gives me the creeps. You know what I mean?” he says gravely. My eyes widen, and that's all he needs to know my answer. “If you find him and all, and I suspect that you will, I need you to tell me if he gets into anything he, uh, shouldn't be getting into. Got it?” he asks, looking deadly serious. I nod vigorously, intimidated under his gaze. I instantly regret it. I would never betray my partner like that, so I practically lied to Poison. Besides, there's nothing wrong with Ghost.

“Good.” he stands. “Let's keep searching for others. We don't have all afternoon. Who knows when more Exterminators will start patrolling again. I get to my feet and get back to looking for Ghost. I find him slumped up against the canyon wall, holding his right arm with his left hand, looking pained. He grins a little when he sees me, then grimaces.

“Ghost!” I cry, running up to him. “What happened to ya? Are you okay? Are you hurt? No, you aren't okay. And you're obviously hurt. Those are stupid questions. I'm ramblin'. I'll shut up now.” I stumble through my words, quickly and excitedly.

“Settle down, you need all the energy you can get.” he moans. He tries to shift position a little bit, and gasps in pain.

“Like I'm the one that needs rest.” I say. “Stop movin'.” He sighs, but stops. Great, I think. Now what? If he can't move, we can't leave. I look around, the dust mostly gone now. There's a sparse group of us milling around the wreckage, and a few choked sobs echo softly. Others had friends here, too. Friends that may be gone now. I feel my own tears rise when I imagine losing Ghost, having him gone forever.

“What're you doin' Ice? Can ya at least tell me what's goin' on?” he says. Even though he's hurt, he's still trying to do something. That's my Ghost.

“Not a lot of us left, but I'm sure you know that. Poison's alive. So is Scorch.” I lower my voice. “And Dust as well.” Ghost's eyes narrow, and he speaks in the scariest tone I've ever heard him use.

“We'll have to fix that now, won't we?”

“Y-yeah.” I stammer my reply, a little shocked at how grave he is. “Here, let me go tell Poison that I found you.” I say, using this as an excuse to leave. I turn and stumble away through the sand. I come up behind Poison and tug on his jacket sleeve, almost feeling like a little kid getting her parents attention. “I found Ghost!” I say. “He's hurt though. Something's wrong with his arm.”

He turns around and fixes me in the hazel stare. “He lived. Hm. I'm the only one that knows about injuries, but I can't attend to him right now. I have everyone else's lives, too, kid. Just--” He breaks off as a particularly horrified, shrill scream cuts through the clearing.

“No!”

Author's Note

Please check for typos. I really reread this one before posting this, so there shouldn't be any. How do you like the story and characters so far? Please tell me your opinion. Oh, and part 4.5 was posted. It was supposed to be between 4 and 5, as I'm copying and pasting this in from my computer. I accidentally missed a chunk. Make sure to read it, it'll help a lot of things with Ghost make sense.