Amber's P.O.V.
I looked behind my back every now and then as we proceeded from the
city. But, to my relief, nobody was on our trail, at least as far as I could see. As we egressed from beneath the cloud of the depression, I pried my eyes from the rainy street and gray buildings, riveting my attention fully to what we were walking towards. Sunlight now beat on my head as I scanned all directions. On either side of me was nothing but trees sprinkled about miles and miles of sand. Sort of like a forest that was thinned out in such a way where if I looked in certain places, I could clearly see the mountains lining the horizon.
The weather wasn't bad, though. It was similar to how it was in the afternoon back at home, which was convenient because that meant we all had dressed appropriately.
Me in my favorite pair of boots, blue jeans, and red flannel.
Joy in black jeans, converse and a purple hoodie.
Parker and Grayson were dressed similarly- except on top of their long sleeve shirts, Grayson wore a gray hoodie while Parker sported a denim jacket.
"Where do we go now?" Grayson inquired, breaking the sound of silence that had been a result of four, curious observers.
Parker scratched the back of his neck. "I honestly have no idea. I think it would be smart to go where people will be....Just not back there."
I glanced back one more time. It felt like Sodom and Gomorrah. The city looked dark, drenched and almost cursed, underneath a fierce bed of clouds that seemed only the cover the perimeter of the city, leaving everything around it, chipper and dry.
"Follow the path," I muttered, pointing out the train track that cut cleanly through the wilderness. "If people would be anywhere, the train track will lead us there."
"Good idea, Amber. But what about food? We could be traveling for days."
I hesitated and then smiled. "We don't need all the answers, Parker. Why don't we just use blind faith? We don't have much else of a choice."
He stared at me for a fraction of a second and then sighed. "You're right. Let's go."
I giggled. "Good, an adventure I get to lead." I jumped on top of the train track and gestured for my companions to follow.
"We shouldn't walk on the track..." Parker protested.
"Who's stopping me?" I asked, continuing to balance myself on the railing of the train track.
"An oncoming train might," he replied frowning.
I rolled my eyes and kept walking. "There are leaves and dirt covering the tracks it looks old like there hasn't been a train gone through here in years. You really think one will run me over now?"
"This isn't exactly home and you can't be too careful." He replied, almost snappingly.
"Fine then," I rolled my eyes, hopping down.
For the next couple of hours, we walked, at first in silence but eventually, we were talking and laughing. I decided to take this time to get to know Parker and Grayson better by observing them as well as peppering them with questions.
Grayson was the type of person that stuck with the people he knew best - that being Parker. His shoulders slouched just a bit as his dirty-blonde, Bieber haircut fell over his face. He didn't speak very much. So, I determined he was an introvert.
Parker was an introvert too - but just barely. Which, once again complimented me. I was an extrovert, but just barely. Opposites attract, right??
He, like me, was also artistic, but he was artistic in a different way.
I liked my art and photography while he preferred expressing his artistic qualities in the form of music.
"I wish you'd brought your guitar with you. I was really looking forward to seeing it," I said.
He nodded. "Yeah.... I used to wake up early and go play it on the gazebo at the park whenever I had a free Saturday.... Or sometimes Sunday after church when the neighborhood couples would sometimes be taking walks as the sun was setting....Just so that I could have awhile to wind down and maybe help someone have a brighter day. Music is pretty powerful, But, you know. Seniors don't have much time for that - especially if they're already falling behind like me."
"Why are you falling behind?" I asked. He was a stellar student and focused way more than I did. I got A's, B's and C's equally, while Parker was known for his straight A's.
"I had to go through the sixth grade twice," he replied, shrugging. "I was too distracted and didn't focus. Not much has changed."
I nodded. "That's fine, though. Grades don't determine how smart you are....And, I think you're very intelligent. Probably more so than me."
He looked at me and smiled. "And what makes you think that?"
"It's pretty obvious," I replied, and then ran to catch up with Grayson and Joy who had apparently gotten comfortable with each other while Parker and I had been talking.
"Hey, there's some buildings way over there! Can you guys see it?" Joy said excitedly.
"Yeah, let's go a little faster. I have to go to the bathroom." I grinned.
"I mean, you could've just gone in one of those bushes," Grayson grinned.
I almost told him to hush but then I realized he'd hardly spoken this entire time. So, I just smiled and shook my head at him.
We neared the edge of this town which was much smaller than the big city we'd just come from. There were houses and grocery stores and, the regular thing you'd see in a regular town. We began to walk it's streets and nobody really gave us a second glance so, I assumed it was safe.
As we walked past a theater, I looked at Parker for instruction on what to do next when suddenly, the sound of crying errupted, cutting the peacefulness of the atmosphere.
I followed the sound until my eyes fell on a boy sitting against the wall of the theatre cradling a baby. Cautiously, I turned away from the group and started walking towards them.
"Amber, what are you doing?" Parker asked.
"I'm going to see why that boy is out here alone with a baby." I replied, waving my hand for him to leave.
but he didn't leave. He followed me.
When I reached the boy, he didn't look up at me. He kept holding the baby girl in his arms.
"Shhh. It's okay Destiny. I'm here." He muttered. His mop of light, brown hair brushed lightly over his face.
I knelt down. "Excuse me but, why are you out here all alone?" I inquired gently. "It's getting dark."
The boy looked up but his eyes were expressionless. "Ma'am, can you help me? I need milk for my sister...a-and a place she can sleep. I have these movie tickets. I'll sell them to you."
"How...how old are you?" I asked softly.
"I'm sixteen next week." He replied.
"Where are your parents?" Parker added.
"Dead." The boy said. I almost couldn't hear him over the crying baby. "They had a new lady put in charge of the orphanage a couple weeks ago and she kicked us out today. I don't know what to do. The people in this town are nice enough. But they won't take in a blind boy. Nobody has time for that." He paused, then quickly added. "I don't want a lot money though. I'm not starving. I just need some things for my sister. If you don't want the tickets, I'll pay you back in some way....I can cook pretty well or make beds....Anything like that."
I looked at Parker.
He wasn't looking at me.
I looked back at the boy. "Can I hold your sister...um..."
"My name is Piper," he replied, smiling a little bit. "What are your names?"
"My name is Amber and this is Parker." I replied awkwardly. "We're not from around here....And sadly we don't have any money that would be useful to you...."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" He asked.
"Well, this currency isn't one you can use." I replied simply. "It's American money...and this isn't America, is it?"
"Wait, you're Americans??"
"Um, yes..." I began cautiously, noticing the tighter grip he had on his sister.
"Maybe you should go then." He said quietly.
"Why?" Parker asked.
"You aren't welcome here....None of you are. I'm sorry. I thought you were nice people. Just...go. Please don't hurt us.
"Piper, we're not going to hurt you. We're just kids."
"That's what the last man who came here said. Of course, he was only a kid then." He sighed. "Just leave. Go back to America. Please."
He was visibly trembling as he held the small bundle of life in his arms.
After several seconds of silence, I spoke.
"Piper, we can't go back. We came here by accident. Someone chased us here. And I have a feeling those are the people you're worried about. I have no idea what it was that happened, but I promise we don't even know where we are right now. We wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on you. I...want to help you. But we need money and we need to know the story behind everyone's reason for hating us so much. So, can you help us, Piper?"
A/N - Thank you, my happy readers. I love you more than penguins. VOTE AND COMMENT. 😘😘😘ALSO, PM ME YOUR IDEAS FOR FUTURE CHAPTERS. I HAVE PLANS ALREADY FOR THIS BOOK BUT YOUR INPUT AND WRITING PROMPTS WILL HELP WITH MY WRITER'S BLOCK ❤I ONLY HAVE ONE CHAPTER AFTER THIS THAT I CAN POST SO, READERS, IDEAS. ANYTHING IN THE WORLD. REALISTIC OR NOT WILL HELP
Also - tomorrow I'm going to a meeting. A very exciting meeting.
KBYE