My body wretched and my head was spinning. I wanted to scream at them to leave them alone; scream anything, just scream. But Derek's hand was still clamped down on my mouth, stifling my screams before anyone could hear. Black dots zoomed in quickly before my eyes and my knees began to buckle. Suddenly, my body was being pulled away, away from this monstrous sight. Then, I realized Derek was the one pulling me.
"Shush," Derek's voice was in my ear. "They'll hear you."
I hadn't realized that the screams I was hearing were mine. Luckily, Derek's palm was still on my mouth, stifling my screams, as he pulled me away from my dead classmates that I would see no more. In my mind's eye, I could still see their faces. Many I recognized. Fighting faint, black dots rushed quickly into my vision again. I closed my eyes. But in my mind's eye, I could still see them, knowing I would never forget their faces. I opened my eyes, but could see nothing but my dead classmates. My head was light from spinning, and then everything went black.
***
Tears coursed freely down my face and I limply let Derek pull me away, away from this horrible scene. My knees buckled, and I could barely hear Derek whispering into my ear in the distance.
"Casey …" Derek … yes, it was Derek's voice I heard. "Casey, you have to wake up. We have to get out of here!" His voice was urgent, but merely a whisper.
"Derek," my voice croaked, still thick with tears. "Derek, we have to do something! We have to!" My knuckles were white from holding so tightly onto his dirt and blood smudged shirt.
"I know, I know," Derek replied urgently, looking over his shoulder. He was pulling on me, trying to get me to my feet. "But we have to go … now!"
I heard his words, but they made no sense. Then, as if someone had switched on a light in my brain, I realized what was happening. We were in danger. We could get caught at any time. And if they heard me ....
"Let's go," I finally responded, breathless, trying to get to my feet. My vision slowly returned, but my head was still swimming. "Let's get out of here."
Derek nodded, and then we were running again, back to the others, back to our makeshift camp with nothing in it. Derek ran purposefully behind me this time, ensuring that I didn't freak out again, I guessed.
Derek stopped me far away from the mayhem before he spoke. "Are you okay?" he asked, his emerald eyes searching mine. He pulled me close with a gentle hand in my hair behind my head.
"Yeah, I think so." I nodded, trying to regain control for a different reason now. "Sorry I freaked out back there."
"Don't sweat it." Derek reached up to wipe a tear away, still prominent on my cheek. "I'm just worried about you, that's all." Concern filled his eyes.
"I just can't believe it … back there …" I let my hoarse voice trail off and bit my lip before the water works started again.
"I know, I know," Derek's voice reassured. "But you have to pull yourself together. The others can't see you like this."
I nodded in agreement then took a deep breath to steady myself. My vision had returned and the lightheadedness was gone.
"Are you ready?" Derek asked, searching my eyes.
I nodded, hoping it was true.
"Then let's go."
We ran quickly through the dense forest, and a moment later, we were back in the false safety of our makeshift campsite. Everyone was still asleep, unaware of the mayhem ensuing just a relatively short distance away. Their faces, colorful, were lost in the contentment of dreams. A big change from the c*****e we had just witnessed.
"We have to go. We have no choice," I said to Derek as our eyes met.
"I know," was all he said.
But where? Where could we go to escape this horror?
We began shaking the shoulders of the others, waking them, one by one.
"What the …" Trevor's voice trailed off as his eyes tried to focus, swinging his arms and trying to make sense of his surroundings. For a moment, he looked surprised to see me, and then the realization dawned in his angry eyes as the horrific memories returned.
"We have to go," I told him gently, my hand still on his shoulder.
"Get off me!" Trevor said, pulling away. Then, his voice calmed. "What's going on?"
I looked around. We had the full attention of everyone who was awake.
"You don't want to know," I said, fear coloring my eyes.
Derek quickly explained what we had just witnessed. The two sniveling girls began to cry again, but I didn't blame them. I had done my share of crying, too. "Gather what little you have and let's go," Derek announced.
"But where are we going to go?" the sniveling blonde cheerleader asked.
"I don't know," Derek said. "Casey thinks there has to be a cave system somewhere around here. Maybe the Knobs? Was that what you said?"
All eyes were on me. I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to clear my head. "Yeah, we have to walk toward Floyd Knobs, or maybe to Henderson State Park. There has to be a cave around here somewhere. Somewhere where we can at least hide during the day and travel again at night."
A grumble of agreement sounded around the campsite as everyone began to slowly get to their feet.
"Maybe later tonight we can go back to the school to see what we can salvage." Trevor was actually trying to be the voice of reason. What a shock.
"Are you crazy?" Scott, the senior, exclaimed. "There are insurgents, terrorists, back there with guns, very big guns, and you want to go back there?"
Trevor's body tensed and his hands clenched into fists, but Derek intervened. "No, Scott, he's right." Derek looked at Trevor, looking smugly at Scott. Derek turned to face Trevor. "If we're close enough, we'll go back to see what we can find, or maybe we can find what we need on the way."
Trevor nodded in agreement. "Okay, then. Let's go."
"Got any ideas, Casey?" Derek asked, turning to face me.
Trevor rolled his eyes.
I nodded, pulling myself together, summoning my strength. "Let's go northwest. It's our best bet."
"Then northwest it is," Derek said, smiling, taking my hand. "Let's go."
"But we have to stay in the woods to keep our cover," Trevor added, following closely behind.
Aksara