“I’m not going to kill anyone. Unless I have to of course,” he said.
“Are you sure you could do it?” asked Joe sympathetically.
I’d gotten to know Byron well during our dream circles before I was kidnapped by the MMC and ran away to the rainforest. He was such a kind and compassionate soul who put others first, I couldn’t imagine him holding a gun, let alone shooting one. He was the type of guy who rallied against weapons.
“I don’t know. I’ll practice with Wade and get comfortable. I’m sure I’ll be fine. And like he said, it’s only a precaution,” said Byron.
“If you decide you aren’t comfortable, let me know,” said Joe.
Byron patted him on the back and turned back towards Harper, who looked even sadder than before.
“I can’t say it’s an easy decision for me to let two of the most peaceful people I know carry a loaded weapon, but I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think it was necessary. Wade and Byron can meet with Thomas later this afternoon and train tonight and tomorrow. Today we’re going to be working on how to function as a team. This won’t come together if we don’t communicate and work as a consolidated group, so I have some exercises for us to do. We’ll make it a bit of a competition to make it fun. Losers cook the winners’ dinner and do the dishes.”
Byron clapped his hands and rubbed them together, a grin spreading across his face.
Sarah rolled her eyes. “What’s with guys and competitions?”
“It’s how they show how manly they are,” mocked Laina.
“Or how manly they aren’t,” I added.
“So the two team leaders will be both myself and Joe. It will be up to us to keep our teams together and safe while we get the job done. The first task is going to be called ‘Mine Field’. I’m going to put things out around the camp, and one person from each team will be blindfolded. Their team members will have to communicate with them from the sidelines to get them to the other side safely. Winning team gets two points.”
Once she finished, Joe, Sarah, Laina, Byron, and I huddled into a circle.
“So who wants to be blindfolded?” Joe asked.
“I’ll do it,” said Laina.
“Are you sure? You’ll be busy distracting them on the night of the hijacking. Maybe someone like Amelia should do it, you know for practice,” suggested Joe.
Laina’s smile turned into a scowl and she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I think it’s a good idea. She’ll still need to communicate with us,” I interjected, trying to bring the team back together. “It’s not like I’m going to be blindfolded when it happens.”
“Yeah, how come Amelia gets to do everything?” Sarah smirked. “It’s time she gave the rest of us a turn.”
“Okay, if everyone thinks you’re the right choice you can do it. I’ll grab the blindfold and put it on for you.” Joe walked over to Harper and grabbed a blindfold.
Laina pulled it from his hands. “Amelia, can you please tie this for me?”
“Sure,” I replied with an awkward glance at Joe.
She turned her back to me and I placed it over her eyes, wrapping it around her head before tying a knot. Once he was sure she couldn’t see, Joe rolled his eyes like a moody teenage girl. I guided her to the starting line where Kaelee was already standing biting her bottom lip, her hands clasped in front of her.
“On your marks. Get set. Go!” yelled Harper, and the camp erupted into a roar of voices.
“Laina go straight for four steps,” said Joe and Laina took off warily.
“Take a big step,” Harper called out over Joe.
“I said four not three. Take another one,” called Joe.
“Stop,” yelled Wade and Laina stopped on the spot, as did Kaelee.
“He wasn’t talking to you Laina. Go,” yelled Joe frustrated.
“Do you have to yell at me like that? I’m freaking going,” replied Laina before catching her foot on the edge of a large rock and sprawling onto the dirt ground with a painful thud. Her hands broke her fall, but she still managed to get a face full of dirt.
Joe ran over, grabbing her by the hand to help her up.
Laina pushed him hard in the chest. “You’re supposed to be telling me where to go. Not yelling at me and making me trip over.”
Everyone stopped yelling out, and she pulled the blindfold from her eyes looking in my direction. As though sensing the tension, Kaelee removed hers as well. She looked between each of us, confused.
“Maybe you should’ve done this, Amelia. I’m sure Joe would’ve made sure you were safe and didn’t get hurt.” Laina dusted the dirt from her hands and wiped at her face muddying with tears.
She strode towards me a fierceness in her eyes. I took a step back, unsure what her intentions were.
“I’m sorry, Amelia. This isn’t your fault. I don’t even know why I said I’d do this. I don’t even know why I’m here at all. I can’t do this anymore.” She threw the blindfold at my feet and took off towards the waterfall.
“What the hell was that all about?” Joe threw his hands up in the air.
“Maybe you should go and find out,” suggested Sarah.
“Are you serious? After her ridiculous outburst?” he bit back.
“Girls don’t lose their minds over nothing, Joe. Go and talk to her and work it out,” said Sarah.
Joe looked towards me for support.
“I’m with Sarah. You should go and talk to her.”
“Are you kidding? You too?” he grunted, storming off towards the stream.
“Well, that didn’t go according to plan,” said Harper rubbing her temples.
“What do we do now?” asked Janine.
“I guess we call off the competition for now and we can go over our plans together until they sort out their problems,” replied Harper.
I felt sorry for Joe. It must be confusing to have someone angry at you and you don’t even know why. Much like having no idea how someone could fall out of love with you in less than a few weeks. I was disappointed Laina still had an issue with mine and Joe’s friendship. I thought we’d sorted everything out.
“Don’t worry about Joe. He’ll be fine,” offered Sarah, squeezing my arm.
Chapter Fifteen
We spent the rest of the morning going over our plans, but I found it hard to concentrate while worrying about Joe. I knew he was a big boy and could look after himself, but he’d told me how much he liked Laina and I knew he’d be devastated if it didn’t work out. She’d seemed to really care about him and I imagined she’d do what she could to fix whatever was broken between them. They’d been missing for a few hours, and I could only hope they were spending the time working out their issues. That way, they would both come back with a smile on their face and we could get back to organising the hijacking.
“Amelia, this is where you come in…” Harper interrupted my thoughts and I blinked my eyes back to awareness.
“Sorry I wasn’t…”
“Hey, guys.” Joe appeared at the end of the walkway, followed by Laina, her face flushed pink.
“Hey, are you both okay?” Harper stood up from her seat at the table and approached them.
Joe turned to look at Laina and she stepped forward, tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, guys,” she said. “I tried to fit in here and make it work. I really did. But I can’t do this anymore. I’ve decided it’s time for me to go home.”
Home? I thought we’d talked everything through the day before, thought everything would be okay. I looked to Joe who broke his sad expression with a reassuring smile. How was he taking this so well? The way he spoke about her, I was sure he’d be devastated she was leaving.
“Are you sure you guys can’t work this out? Do you really want to go home?” asked Harper.
“I came here for the wrong reasons. I get what you’re doing and why. I really do. But I was never the type of person to do this kind of thing; put myself in harm’s way. I guess it makes me selfi
sh, but I came here for Joe. To see if we could make things work and to support him because he’d lost his best friend. But she’s here now, and he doesn’t need me anymore.”
“That isn’t true,” said Joe.
“You know what I mean. Anyway, Joe is going to drive me to the nearest town and I’ll organise my way home from there.”
“I’m sorry, Laina, but we need Joe here. He’s missed so much already and we have so much to go over before tomorrow night,” said Harper.
“I’ll take you, Laina,” offered Rose. “It’d be good for Ethan and me to get out of the camp for a day. Everyone knows he’s going a bit stir crazy in here. We could take the opportunity to buy him some new batteries for his game. It’ll stop him bugging everyone about them.”
“If you’re sure. That’d be great thank you, Rose.” Laina looked between Joe and me. “Guess I better go pack up my stuff.”
Sarah walked over and wrapped Laina in her arms, and everyone else followed suit. When everyone was done, I walked over to say my goodbye.
“Thank you for your help the other day. Your words helped me make up my mind more than you’ll ever know,” she said.
I looked back at her in confusion, running the words I’d said through my head. How could they have led her to this decision? I thought I’d urged her not to leave Joe.
“I don’t think I said you should leave?” I questioned.
“No, you didn’t. But our conversation gave me insight and the chance to work out why I was really here.” She leant forward and hugged me, whispering into my ear. “Look after him for me, please. You’re the one person he’ll listen to.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
She turned and walked down the path towards the camp, followed by Joe, Rose, and Ethan.
“With this turn of events, maybe we should take another timeout?” suggested Harper.
“No,” I said louder than I’d intended. “We have too much to plan before tomorrow night. And with everything that’s happened today, it’s even more important we get it right.”
“Should we go and get Joe? He’s your team leader after all,” asked Harper.
“We should have someone who hasn’t got any distractions. Someone with their head in the game,” said Sarah. “I think Amelia should be our leader.”
“I can do it. I’ll be our team leader,” I said.
A proud smile spread across Sarah’s face. “That’s my girl.”
“Oh, and I’m going to be the one who gets the truck’s attention,” I added. “If their focus is on me, they can’t hurt any of you.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “The power’s going to her head already.”
I poked my tongue in her direction.
I talked my team through what they’d be doing, and we listened to what Harper’s team were planning. When Joe’s face appeared in the darkness of the path, I was the first to notice him and, without a second thought, I ran to him.
“Are you okay?” Once in front of him, I felt awkward and unsure.
“What the hell did you say to her? She said you gave her clarity. What the hell does that mean?” The hurt and confusion in his eyes felt like a punch to my stomach.
“I don’t know. I told her I knew it was hard and how Cameron and I struggled. But I told her it didn’t mean you two couldn’t make it work. I told her I thought you could make it work.” I knew I couldn’t find the words to make him feel better. I wanted to wrap him in a hug, but didn’t think it would be welcomed.
“I really liked her, you know. She’s smart, funny, and beautiful. But I don’t know why I thought it would work. We were just so different. Why can’t we find someone who gets us?” He sounded so defeated.
“I wish I knew.” I shrugged my shoulders.
I didn’t know either. Maybe after we’d brought down the MMC we’d have the chance to meet someone, but for now our main focus was getting rid of the Cambiar virus.
“But I know one day we will. I have to believe we will. Right now our priorities don’t exactly allow much room for relationships,” I said.
“Sarah and Byron are happy. So are Wade and Harper.”
“I know.” He was right.
“At least we have each other, I guess. Until we do meet people who understand us.”
“We sure do. And even then, you won’t be able to get rid of me,” I added.
Relief ran through me when he pulled me into a tight hug. After a moment he let me go and we re-joined the group.
Joe was proud I’d decided to lead our team and wasn’t the least bit upset he’d been demoted. The rest of the day was spent going over and rehearsing the plan we’d put together. Late in the afternoon, Byron and Wade went for a drive to collect the guns from Harper’s friend Thomas. When they returned, the fire was blazing in the centre of the camp and each of us lounged around it. Joe and I sat farther back than everyone else. I still didn’t want the flames lulling me into a sense of calmness when I knew what they were capable of. Dawn’s face and the flames still haunted my dreams from time to time, and I didn’t think they’d ever fade.
“Do you ever think about her?” Joe stared at the flames like he’d been thinking the same thoughts.
“You mean Dawn?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“I think about her a lot.”
“I’m glad. I wonder sometimes if I’m the only one who does.”
“You aren’t. She finds her way into my thoughts often. Advice she gave me, her smile, which spread to her eyes…”
“The fire.” Joe nodded towards the flames.
“Yeah, it still haunts me.”
“Me too. Well, what I remember of it. Some of it I think my mind made up on its own,” he said. “Do you think we’ll ever get over everything that’s happened to us?”
It wasn’t like Joe to question things, to be so reflective and nostalgic. Since he’d grieved for Dawn, he’d been nothing but a pillar of strength for everyone. It was hard to see him so deflated.
“I’m not sure if we will. But I don’t think we’re supposed to. I think we’re supposed to grow and become stronger because of it. At least that way it wasn’t for nothing.”
He nodded, absorbing what I’d said. “Thanks, Amelia. I needed to hear that.”
The following day, we tried to catch up on the training we’d missed the day before. Harper had us doing team building exercises all day, including sitting back-to-back and trying to use each other to stand, which resulted in some hilarious stacks. There was also a relay race where Sarah tripped over her own feet and dropped the stick we were using as a baton. It then took us a few minutes to find it again, which meant we lost the race. By the afternoon we finished with our team on ten points and Harper’s on eleven, so it was up to us to prepare dinner. As the afternoon drew closer, the air became sticky and humid, and the sky grew dark with clouds. After washing off as quick as possible in the cold stream, my team and I made our way to Harper’s place to prepare steak and salad for an early dinner.
“How are you doing?” Sarah asked Joe as she chopped up the salad.
“Good. The steaks nearly done,” replied Joe.
“I mean about the whole Laina thing, dummy.” She nudged his arm.
“Okay, I guess.” Joe turned the steak over, the sizzling drowning out some of his voice. “We had so many distractions today I haven’t had a chance to think about her too much. I mean, I miss her. And I’m sad she’s gone, but it was less stressful today because I didn’t have to worry if she was feeling jealous and if we were going to have another argument.”
“That sucks you feel that way, but maybe it’s what’s right for you both?” said Sarah.
“Yeah, maybe. It’s weird without her around, I suppose. Dinner’s ready.”
“I’ll let the troops know,” said Janine and she headed out of the overcrowded kitchen.
“You know we’re here if you want to vent,” I said.
“You’re feeding me the line we’ve been giving you for the past few
weeks?” He laughed which made me smile. “Thanks. I’m okay.”
Happy with his answer, I carried out an armful of plates with cutlery resting on top and took them to the long tables under the covered area. Soon Sarah and Joe followed with the food we’d prepared, and the rest of our group came trudging down the pathway. As we ate, the chatter became less frequent and quieter around the table. The mood sunk as we drew closer to our departure time. I wasn’t sure if it was the prospect of the hijacking or the fact the clouds had begun to rumble above us.
“Looks like a storm is brewing. We better batten down before we leave,” said Wade.
“I’m surprised we haven’t had more rain,” I said. “We’re in the rainforest after all.”
“We had huge downpours before you got here. You were lucky. They’re really scary,” said Sarah.
The thought of sleeping in mine and Sarah’s two-man tent through a storm scared the hell out of me. Would our tent even withstand a strong gust of wind? No one else seemed too bothered as they piled their plates and cutlery up at the end of the table and headed back to camp.
“Ethan and I will do the dishes,” Rose offered. “It’s the least we can do.”
“But the losers were supposed to do it,” whined Ethan.
“Yes, but we appreciate that they cooked us such a delicious dinner so we’ve graciously offered to wash up for them.” Rose smirked at me as Ethan groaned and picked up a pile of plates. Rose grabbed a pile of her own and followed him into the cabin to wash up.
Harper stood to speak. “I guess this is it. Let’s get changed into darker clothing and pack the cars ready to roll out in an hour’s time. Janine heard from Cameron that the truck should be here at around eight o’clock, so we need to be in position by that time. The truck is called the Road Reaper, but no plates at this stage.”
“Road Reaper? Are you serious? I hope the name isn’t an omen,” whispered Kaelee, a little too loudly.
I narrowed my eyes at her. She’d better keep herself together instead of panicking and trying to run off this time. It still didn’t sit well with me she was helping at all.
“Make sure you tie down your tents. We don’t want any of them blowing away while we’re gone. We don’t have any spares, and I don’t think you want to be squeezing in an already full tent with other people. Let’s roll out.” Harper’s final line switched us into action.
Rise of the Dreamer Page 12
