I spent a few more minutes in the woods away from the others, composing myself before going back, thinking of my father. After I pulled myself together, I wiped the tears from my face and returned to the safety of the group.
Derek saw the distraught look in my eyes and reached for my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Are you alright?"
After a moment, I nodded, and then whispered, "Yeah, I am."
There was a long pause then Derek asked in hushed tones, "What did he say?"
I took a deep breath, debating, thinking about what I should do next. "I have to tell everyone. This affects us all."
Derek gave me a half smile. "I don't know if that's a good idea or not …"
"Hey," Trevor interrupted us, helping me to make my decision, unbeknownst to him. "What are you two talking about over there?"
I looked at Derek. He read my thoughts and whispered under his breath, "Don't do it …"
"Okay," I began loudly, ignoring him. I took a deep breath. No one was going to like what I had to say. Everyone's eyes were on me. I had their undivided attention; some out of fear, some, curiosity. "Don't blow a gasket, but I just called my dad."
"You what?!" Trevor roared, getting to his feet. Brolin placed a restraining hand on his arm. "How could you? Do you realize what you've done? You've just endangered us all!" Trevor was beyond livid. Fury raged wildly within his eyes as he violently clenched his hands by his side.
"Wait a minute," I said, holding out my arms for them to stop. "Hear me out."
Trevor turned around and kicked the dirt. "Okay, what?" he asked.
"My Dad's a truck driver and he's out of town right now," I began. "I thought that out of everyone I knew, he might know what's going on. So, I called him and he's still alive."
"Well, good for you," Trevor said sarcastically, his eyes still livid.
"Trevor …" Jada almost growled at him in warning, and then turned to me. "Go on, please. What happened?"
"He told me what happened today," I continued. Everyone was riveted, wondering, wanting to make sense of it all. Or, at least, try to. "He said that it was terrorists."
"I figured as much, but how?" the senior asked.
"Dad said they've been infiltrating us for years," I replied, trying to stay objective. "And they're not alone. The North Koreans are helping them."
"Was it just us, or what?" Jada asked. Her black eyebrows pulled together, trying to think it through.
"No, it was the whole United States." I paused for a moment as a grumble sounded around the circle. "And there's more. The Pentagon and the White House were destroyed."
"Oh, my God!" One of the girls who were sniveling earlier went back to sniveling.
"What about the president? Did they get him out alive?" Brolin asked. His hands were clenched and he was leaning toward me anxiously.
I shook my head. "I don't know. He didn't say."
After a moment, Jada asked, "What else did he say?"
"That's about it," I replied. "We kept the conversation short so they couldn't trace it and then I destroyed my phone."
"You destroyed it?" the other girl beside the one crying asked. She appeared to be a bit prissy, long blonde curls and an attitude. Her family probably never worked a day in their lives.
"I had to. And if anyone else has a cell phone, we'd better destroy it now," I added. If they could track mine, they could track theirs, as well.
"Do you think that's really necessary?" the blonde cheerleader asked, clearly not wanting to give up her phone.
"Yeah, I do," I answered, then looked at Derek.
"She's right," Derek added, backing me up. "If you don't give it up now, then you place us all in danger." There was a grumble, but everyone got out their cell phones, threw them in a pile, and we crushed them all under the heels of our shoes. Any other time, it would have been fun, but not today.
The night had fallen across our makeshift camp while we talked, and we couldn't see each other's features clearly.
"Let's get some sleep and we can sort this all out tomorrow," Derek said, looking around the circle.
"Sleep here?" the dark-skinned cheerleader asked, clearly not a nature girl. I smiled to myself.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Brolin asked.
She didn't reply.
"Tomorrow, we can scout around and see if we can find something better," Derek interjected then added gently, "but for tonight, let's get some sleep. We can check out the school tomorrow, too, to see if the insurgents are still there."
"I'll take the first watch," the senior added, propping himself against a nearby tree.
Derek nodded.
"I'll take the next watch after that," Trevor added.
After a few groans, everyone settled down for the night. Despite the warm days, it was getting cold at night, and I had a feeling that it was going to be long and cold.
As everyone settled down for the night, I walked over to a dark patch of soft grass, lay down, and turned over. But the images were too vivid in my mind for me to sleep. A moment later, I heard a rustling, then a strong hand touched my waist and another was near my head.
"Here," Derek said, "raise your head."
I did as he asked and he slid his arm under my head, forming a pillow, keeping my head off the ground. He curled up behind me, slinging his other arm around my waist. For a moment, I wondered if I should object, but the warmth from his skin felt too good. I settled in, waiting for sleep to find me, feeling more comfortable than I should.
Then, Derek whispered in my ear, "What's your name, anyway?"
I smiled to myself. The question seemed so surreal. We had already been through so much together that it seemed as if I'd known him forever. It was odd that we really didn't know each other at all.
"Casey," I whispered back. "Casey Nichols." I had never slept this close to a boy before, besides my little brother Timmy, but at the moment, it felt just right.
Aksara