"Keep moving."

"Keep moving."

"Keep moving."

"Stop that."

"Stop that."

"Stop-- oh."

Ugh! I was on my third evacuation of the day. This group was unfortunately made up of a lot of younger girls who did not enjoy the hike through the woods. Every time I called an encouragement over my shoulder, it was echoed several times down the line. At the tail, I could see Kellen succumb to a fit of silent laughter at my expense.

We would be running students out of the Academy until the next afternoon, when most of the students would be out here and not trapped within the school. Somewhere else in the early evening, three other groups were also hurtling through the trees to their safety.

I shifted my weight, jostling the packs on my back into better positions. Packs, multiple. As in I carried not only mine, but two for younger girls; a sacrifice I was willing to make, knowing that this trip through the woods would be my last for the night. Other groups would be leaving and arriving after us, but given the two hours it took us each way, this was it for Kellen and I till morning.

There was a whispered rustling that snaked behind me and suddenly Kellen was at my side, "What is that?"

Behind us, our entire group had stopped and was crouched down, barely visible in the swathes of tall reedy dead grass that was alongside the sparse trees. We listened for some time and I heard what Kellen must have, a faint echoing of branches snapping at regular intervals which could only mean footfalls.

Were we being followed? There were other groups evacuating too but none of them should have been this close to us.

Kellen, despite the panic I could read all over him, put himself between me and whatever was nearing us—because it was nearing us. I wanted to hit him, because if it came down to it, we both knew I offered us more protection.

Kellen's knees buckled and he dramatically collapsed into the grass when Jackson's head popped up over the grass.

"Oh, Thank God!"

"What the Glitter, Jackson?" I whisper-yelled, "You nearly gave your drama queen lover, here, a heart attack."

"Shut up, Cole!" Kellen smacked me as he gestured back towards our evacuees.

"Whatever, they already know you two are attached at the hip. What are you doing here, Jacks?"

He gestured at his running partner, and huffed, "Sophie thought she saw someone way, way behind us and our route was a little too open so we detoured to your route."

His words sent a chill through us and we all started moving again, this time much quicker than we had before and without any complaints. Jackson and Kellen sent Sophie and I ahead with both groups while they backtracked to try and see if we were being followed.

It wasn't long before we'd reached the rock face we needed to climb, and we began our ascent one after the other, dropping ropes back for the people to come after us. We were halfway through when Kellen and Jackson returned, out of breath from having run back to us.

"No one. There's no one back there."

"You covered your tracks anyways?" Even I was annoyed at my tone, but we could never be too careful. Kellen grimaced at me, but nodded as he helped a freshman climb up.

When all but the two of them had climbed up, they decided to rest.

"You should just come up here."

"But I'm too tired!" Jackson complained, "My arms would not manage pulling me up right now."

While the rest of the group lazed behind me, reveling in the break the guys wanted, I kept watch. After staring at the horizon for a long time, I was sure I was seeing things, but I shook my head and blinked several times before looking again. 

"I think you need to reconsider." My fingers curled around the hunting slingshot I had in my pocket. It wasn't much in the way of protection, but it was something. Kellen and Jackson looked up at me, irritation clear on their dirt smudged faces.

"Why?"

I wondered for a moment if I should just let them deal with it, but I dropped the rope down to them once more. "Look behind you."

"Oh. Shit."

Massive wardens, who hadn't noticed us yet, were lumbering through the woods toward us. One guard, we could handle. But four armed men could endanger the whole student body. Jackson's weight immediately pulled the rope taut, as he scrabbled up the small rock face quickly. Cursing, Kellen scattered all the evidence that we'd been there. Only when Jackson and I did a cursory once over and determined that the clearing looked natural enough, did he grab for the rope.

As Kellen's hands latched onto the rope, Jackson and I pulled him up. Up on the ridge, so long as we stayed low, we were out of their sight. But, we were also, essentially out in the open. Running away would be too noticeable. We'd have to stay put, or crawl along the ridge to safety.

I looked over my shoulder; several feet back, at the students we were transporting. They were scared, laying flat like Jackson, Kellen, and I were doing. We would have to move for their sake. While the boys watched the progress of the wardens, I looked around for a way out.

We needed to get to where the trees got denser. Once there, we could keep moving without the risk of them noticing us. Alternatively, it would serve us well to lead the wardens the wrong way.

Either way, if we could get ourselves behind the rock formation about 30 to 40 feet to our left, we would be hidden. I signaled Sophie to take the others to the trees, and continued watching.

Beside me, Kellen tensed and I flicked my gaze back to the approaching trouble. They were entering the small clearing at the base of the cliff. Moving slowly, as silently as we could, all three of us inched back from the edge.

The wardens took no chances, moving as silently as they could through the woods. They were fanned out, walking in a straight line, so as to cover more ground. We could no longer see them, laying as flat as we could against the ground.

But I suppose that was a good thing; if we could see them, then there was a possibility they could see us. It was clear that they weren't sure which way to go when they reached the cliff. We listened to the shuffling of footsteps towards the same general place, and then a plethora of muttered curses.

"Which way do you think they went?"

"Not up, that's for sure! Those spoiled fucking royals!"

The relief I felt at hearing those words was ridiculous. I'd never been so happy to be dismissed before. This time, that generalization about rich kids would save us. Because, let's face it, if they chose to scale the cliff right then, they would have found twenty-eight terrified kids.

But, they went in a direction that would ultimately make finding everyone else easier.

They weren't even trying to be quiet so they could sneak up on their prey, so at the very least their noise would cover up our movements. Their mistake was thinking we'd be stupid and lazy.

Motioning for Kellen and Jackson to take the others through the trees, I waited till they were halfway there, and turned, crawling along the ridge, to follow after the wardens. I wanted to make sure they wouldn't stumble upon the way to find us.

I reached the rock formation that would hide me, and looked back to check on the others' progress. I saw Jackson disappearing into the trees behind the rest of the group. I also saw Kellen right behind me.

"What the glitter?" I whispered, both shocked and annoyed.

Kellen held his fingers to his mouth and moved past me, continuing to follow the ridge. Grabbing his arm, I motioned wildly to the tree line, silently questioning why he hadn't gone with the others. He leveled my gaze, held up four fingers, pantomimed large muscles and then pointed at me, shaking his head. 

Despite shooting him the most irritated look I could manage, I was glad that he'd chosen to come with me. There was no way I'd have been able to take them all on, if they saw or caught me. We'd have a better chance together. And, I guess, it was kind of sweet that he was worried about me... And if I was going to die, at least the last thing I'd see would be his super cute face.