Chapter 14-The Final Battle

We were prepared. 

We kept weapons at our side, 24/7. There was always someone awake to guard us. We couldn't stray out of earshot of each other. Everything had to either be in our pockets or tucked away somewhere where nobody could easily find it. And we weren't allowed to attack anything without the permission of the other two.

So far, we only had faced a handful of Monkbees, a Bearmutt, and a half-dead DNA horse, who was raving and trying to stab us with a stick. But we were careful. There were still stronger, healthier DNAs and Runners, hidden somewhere. We only saw foot- and shoe prints, and the occasional carcass of an animal. A few times, we saw bodies, with slash marks and puncture wounds obviously made by weapons, not claws or teeth. It kept the danger real towards us. We could easily die now.

"Cody?"

It was night. We didn't start shifts until we got tired. And recently, it was late into the night. The moon had already climbed a quarter's way into the sky. I guessed it to be around 11. We had no way of telling the exact time, only morning, afternoon, evening, and night.

I watched him towards to me in the fire's glow. "Yeah, Cammie?"

I gazed out over the water. I could see the distant Research Island, where the real world could connect to. I longed for it. "I wanna go back to the Snatcher's place, with the cell. I'm scared to go back home."

I felt his arm go around me. "Why? They miss us. They haven't seen us in the longest time."

"They might have gotten used to life without us. And there, we knew what was coming, usually. We had food every day, and somewhere to sleep. And doctors. And there, if we ran off, they would look for us."

Cody raised an eyebrow. "And your parents wouldn't go after you?"

I bit my lip. "My sister. She was seventeen. She was out with a friend. And. She went missing. My parents didn't tell people until a week later. They found her body a month after that. The police said that if they had told them earlier, they could have found her. Alive." I sighed and looked up at the moon. "She was the one who wanted me to stay out of the government's hands. my parents didn't care."

He put his arms around me. I did the same and set my head on his chest.

"It's gonna be okay. I promise."

I nodded and stared across the water. "Do you think...you think we could somehow make a boat?"

Cody gave me a weird look. Bailey laughed, on the other side of the fire. "A BOAT?" she laughed again. I shot her a serious look. "What? Where would we go? And how would we build one?"

Cody growled. "There's the Snatcher's island. We've got swords and daggers, the trees are already down. We don't need a big boat, just one that can carry us out of here."

I pressed my hand into his. He kissed my cheek. I fell asleep, dreaming of the three of us floating away on a tree.

When I woke up, it was still dark. Cody stroked my hair.

"You wanna take watch? Bailey took the first one, and I was gonna wake you up, anyways."

I nodded. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. I felt his breathing deepen. Soon, he was asleep. I put my arms around his neck and watched a pile of fallen timber, where we used to collect berries from a bush. I hated this place. It only brought death to the weak, pain to the emotionally unbalanced, and madness to people who could survive the rest. 

Eventually, morning came. I woke Cody and Bailey up, and we started breakfast. It was Monkbee meat, the only thing we dared to eat now. It didn't taste that bad, so we wouldn't waste it.

"Did you guys hear that?"

Cody and I listened carefully. We heard metal clashing and a person yelling something we couldn't make out. It sounded like a fight. We all got up, threw our food in our pockets, and ran towards the noise. it was instinct to hide behind a fallen tree.

What we saw was different.

A think-built runner in a ripped white shirt and tan pants was in a fierce sword fight with a DNA tiger. I saw the DNA's striped sweat, and the Runner was soaked himself.

"You stupid cat!" we heard the boy shout. His voice had a thick accent, and my brain struggled to recognize it.

"An import?" Cody whispered. "They usually don't send them out to punishments..."

"What's an import?"

He almost jumped. Without moving his eyes away from the scuffle, he explained. "Sometimes, they manage to find Runners in other countries. They find some way to lure them into America, then they lock them up. He's from somewhere near Russia, I can tell. He knows English well enough. You think you can get a good shot on the DNA?"

I peered closer at the tiger-girl. it would be easy to take her down....but why? Then, I noticed that her eyes were glazed over and her feet and hands were constantly twitching. She was insane. She had some disease. I notched my bow, holding ti sideway. I let go, and the DNA fell over, twitching violently. The boy then took his sword and plunged it into her chest.

Quickly, he took his weapon back out and whirled to face the tree we were hiding behind. He jumped over the tree and pointed the blade towards us.

"You don't hide from me. You fight."

I whimpered. Cody grabbed my hand. Bailey flattened her fox ears back.

"Now! Get up!" he Runner pointed to me. "You girl, you can fight for them. You took the kitty down. You can try that on me."

I shook my head. "I....I can't..."

Cody put his arms around me. "We don't want to fight. We did what we had to. the DNA had something that was taking over her brain, and we didn't want you to get it."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "No fighting? Different. Most of the others would take the violence."

Bailey shook her head. "That's what the Snatchers want. They want us to kill each other, so they don't have to. to make more room here."

The import growled. "They took me from my home, in Russia. Then they put me here. They won't use me like I'm a silly toy." He put his sword in its holder and held out his hand. "I am Ivan." he pronounced it like 'ee-van'.

"Cammie."

"Cody."

"Bailey."

Ivan helped Cody up, who pulled me up with him. Bailey hopped to her feet. "Have you eaten?" Ivan shook his head. "Here, have some of my food. I don't eat a lot, anyways."

She dug into a pocket and pulled out a rather large chunk of meat. The boy took it and started to eat it viciously.

"Do we start on the plan now?" I asked Cody. He thought for a minute, then looked over at Ivan.

"Do you think you can help us with a project?"

He thought for a minute. "Depends. What is it?"

"We're trying to make a boat of some type, to get over to the Snatcher's island. Maybe, they'll realize we aren't meant for the Island."

Ivan grinned. "If it gets me closer to my mother and sisters, I will help. How do we start?"