The Beginning of the End

Chapter ten, Engulfed in darkness

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I scramble to my feet, only slightly stumbling on my way. I look around hastily. The forest is calm, motionless. I can't hear anything. I can't see her. Beads of sweat form on my forehead. My armpits are almost instantly damp. I can hear my heartbeat thumping in my ears. My head is pounding.

"Lena?" I whisper, though I don't know why. I need to wake Haylee up anyway.

I wait a moment in silence, hoping for something, anything that would direct me to Lena. Maybe she has just wandered off? No. She wouldn't do that.

I turn to Haylee. I walk over to her and hurriedly nudge her arm with my boot. "Haylee!" I say loudly, attempting to wake her from her deep slumber.

She quickly sits up after a few seconds, startling awake. There is a look of clear confusion on her face. An eyebrow raised, she gazes up at me, and then at the light blue, cloud filled sky. Her eyes are slightly bloodshot, only adding to her fierce expression. Her medium length, chocolate brown hair is in tangles, making it seem as though she hasn't brushed her hair in weeks, though that's probably true. I internally cringe, knowing I look just as unkept with my dirt and blood stained clothes, uncombed hair, and my sweaty body. I probably look just as filthy as Haylee does.

"You didn't wake me last night," she says in an agitated manner.

"Lena's gone," I say breathlessly, my head is spinning.

"What?" Haylee stands swiftly, peering around before speaking again, "Perhaps she just went off to find food?"

"No, we brought some nonperishables with us, she didn't have a reason to go searching for food!" My voice slowly rises in anger. Not towards Haylee, Lena, or even the forest. I'm angry at myself. Lena is only gone because I failed to stay awake. I have failed a simple task.

Now I will have to decide between Lena and my sister. Who's most important. This is too much pressure for me. Should we go off to who knows where to find Lena? Or should we just forget about her and focus on saving my dying sister?

"Does it really matter?" Haylee says, interrupting my thoughts. "We're here for your sister. That's who should matter right now."

Something sweeps over me. I'm no longer in control of my own actions. I feel like I am going to faint. Instead of answering Haylee I start to run in a random direction, as fast as my legs will take me, screaming the whole way, "LENA?!"

I abandon Haylee, trusting that she'll decide to follow me, and maybe even talk some sense into me. I feel like I'm going insane and I've only been up here for less than a day.

I don't know where I'm going, I don't even know if Haylee is following me. My ears are ringing loudly, the most I can hear is leaves crunching under my fast-moving feet. I feel like the world is spinning. I need to pull myself together. Everything feels so surreal. This out of body sensation only makes me want to sprint faster. I'm so overwhelmed by everything, I don't know what to do.

I try to slow down, but my legs won't stop. Something has taken me over. I must find Lena.

I take a moment to look around, the trees flying past me as a run. I realize that I really don't know where I am. This is getting me nowhere. I can hear muffled yelling behind me. It takes everything inside of me to slow down ever so slightly.

My chest heaves. I feel as though my lungs will collapse any second now. My heart is racing at a million miles per hour, I can practically feel it thumping out of my chest. My feet throb from all of this sprinting.