The Bus Ride

Chapter Eight

The cover on the side was made by @FutureFanatics, be sure to check them out :) Also, there is some mention of sexual assault involving minors, if you are sensitive to that kind of thing, would might want to skip the next chapter :/

I fall to the ground with a thud and hear screams coming from my friends. I sit up slowly, and inspect every part of my body for a bullet wound. Nothing. I look over and see the little girl lying on the ground next to me, motionless. I suppose he thought that the death of a little kid would affect the town more than the death of a teenager. One of the gang members untied my hands and takes the gag out of my mouth and leads me back to my friends, where I collapse on the ground. Nicole and Dallas look at me, unsure of what to say, but Luke knows exactly what to do. He wraps me in a hug and just holds me. I'm shaking, and all of a sudden it's just too much. All of this, everything I've seen in the past day and a half, it's just too much. Still I hold back the tears, I can't let them see me cry. I pull away from Luke and smile at him faintly. I then go over to my backpack and pull out my notebook. At this rate I'm going to run out of paper and ink. Still I scribble down everything that just happened, then flip to the back where there is just blank pages, sort of like in a sketchbook. I secretly love to sketch, and decide to sketch and draw the scenes in front of me. So for the next hour or so, I sketch the children sitting all around me, the body hanging from the tree, the men surrounding us with guns, and I feel myself becoming more relaxed, which is wierd considering what I'm sketching. The day is fairly uneventful, luckily there is no more deaths. Soon it's night time again, and now there is nothing to block out the thoughts that crowd my head. I nearly died today. If they hadn't chosen that little girl, that could be me lying on the ground, dead. I'm almost glad she died, because that means I'm still alive.

I can't believe that I just thought that. Did I really just say that I'm glad a little girl is dead? What is wrong with me? I'm turning into such a monster. I'm so focused on getting my friends and myself out of this alive that I am willing to sacrifice other children, and that disappoints me. I know that when it comes down to my friends or some random stranger, I know who I'll choose. This overwhelms me, and for the first time since this all started, I allow myself to cry, and once I start I can't stop. I try to be as quiet as possible, and finally I cry myself to sleep.

I awake to sound of adult voices near where we are sleeping and immediately start to listen.
"I'm so bored." One says.
"Me too." The other one replies. They are both guys by the sound of it. I continue to pretend to be asleep, but I'm wide awake.
"I wish we could have some fun with these kids. I mean, there are some pretty attractive girls here, and some of them are almost adults." The first voice says. My eyes fly open in shock and I quickly shut them again. After all, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what "fun" they are talking about.
"How about we ask the boss? I mean, even if this doesn't work out we are going to jail for kidnapping, so what do we have to lose?" The second voice says. I suppose the other guy must have nodded or something as I hear them walking away. What do I do? I can wake up my friends and throw them into a panic, or I can keep quiet and hope for the best. Neither option is that great, but I pick the second option and stay still. I can't go to sleep though, I'm too on edge. I'm afraid of what is going to happen, especially since the leader has taken a particular interest in me.

"Everybody up!" A voice shouts and everyone starts to wake up as multiple people continue to shout. Soon we are all awake, and everyone is confused, except for me. I know exactly what is going to happen. I don't see the leader though. Good news for me. This just reduces my chances of being chosen to have some "fun".
"Alright I want every girl over the age of fourteen to line up in front of everyone. Be honest, because if we catch you lying you will be punished severely." For a couple seconds nobody moves, and then some of the more brave ones stand up and soon we are all lined up in a long row in front of everyone. At both ends of the line there are two members going down the row, pulling some girls forward. Since Nicole and I are near the middle it takes a while before they reach us. It's still dark, and it's not very warm either, and everyone is staring at is with pity in their eyes. Finally after what seems like forever they reach me. They look me over silently and I pray that I won't be chosen.
"She's very pretty." Whispers one.
"Yeah, but she doesn't have any curves. She seems like she would just lay there like a dead fish." Replies the other.
"You're right, plus she doesn't look like a crier." Says the first one. Without another word they move past me and I let out a sigh of relief. Finally some good luck. Luke looks at me worriedly and I smile and give him a little thumbs up. I turn my attention to Nicole, who is a few people down from me. The two men have just reached her and are smiling. Suddenly I worry. Nicole, like me, is very pretty. But unlike me, she actually has curves, and I'm worried that she will be chosen. My fears are confirmed when they pull her forward so she is standing in front of the line. She shoots me a worried look and I mouth "it's ok" to her. She doesn't look convinced and looks down at the ground. After about ten minutes they finally get through everyone and stand in front of the two lines.
"Alright, to you girls who are standing in front of the line, you have been selected to have some fun and will follow us. Those of you who were not chosen can return to your sleeping bags and go back to sleep." One man says. He sounds very professional, and almost makes it sound like an audition or a reward, when I think everyone knows that it is the exact opposite. Silently Nicole and the rest of the chosen girls, about twenty in all move past us, while the other twenty go back to our spots. Some people try to go back to sleep, but my friends and I stay wide awake, worrying about Nicole. Suddenly we hear a scream coming from the forest where the girls were lead to. I bolt upright in my sleeping bag and start to shout out Nicole's name, but Luke puts his hand over my mouth.
"Shhh. There's no way of knowing if that's her." He whispers as he slowly removes his hand from my mouth. More screams and cries come from the area. They weren't lead far away, so we can hear every cry that comes from them. Soon all you can hear is crying and pleading from the poor unfortunate girls. Suddenly the screaming intensifies and we hear the sound of gunfire, then, possibly the worst sound of all.
Silence.

Dun dun DUN. I'm sure you guys can guess what happened. Do you think Nicole's alright? Anyway this book is at 100 reads! That's awesome! I know it's not a lot compared to other books, but it's one milestone I can check off. So thank you all, and if you enjoyed this chapter vote, comment, and follow.
Cat