Chapter 5- Extended Family
Aerian's house was nothing special. The beige paint on the walls peeled away as soon as you brushed your shoulder against it. His living quarters were nothing more than dusty rooms with minimal furniture.
"It's very... homey", said Shelley.
Gigi raised an eyebrow. "Girl, please. If this is homey then Naomi is Bear Grylls."
Naomi rolled her eyes at this.
Aurelie emerged from a separate room, a frown on his face.
"Found anything, Aurelie?", asked Drea.
Aurelie shook his head. "No. I'll need to consult my notes. I shouldn't have rushed ahead with this."
"It's not your fault. You just wanted to reverse this law quickly", said Drea.
"We all want the same thing. I hate this law too but we've survived this long. A few more days or weeks won't kíll us", said Noah.
"Regrouping is probably a good shout", said Gigi. "But we've been talking and Naomi, Holly and I like the law. I know Maaria's cool with it too."
"How can you like it? It's stupid and it literally controls you", questioned Noah.
"Yeah, you're right. It is stupid. But it also gives people a chance to start over. Be someone entirely different", replied Gigi.
"I don't get it. If you love it so much why'd you come?", asked a curious Noah. Despite not knowing each other well, it was clear to Gigi that this was coming from a place of genuine curiosity rather than rudeness.
She wasn't used to that. Gigi very well embodied 'go with the flow', so never tried to venture out of her known environment or allow herself to give in to any curiosity she felt.
Sometimes it was just easier this way.
Gigi shrugged. "I-"
"-She goes wherever I go. That's how this relationship works", interrupted Naomi, before walking away once she got board.
Gigi nodded. "Yep. I follow her everywhere, silently plotting her murder", she joked, making Holly laugh.
Shelley opened the fridge door, gagging as the pungent smell of blood hit her. "There's packs of blood in here!"
Everyone rushed to Shelley, covering their noses as they got a whiff of the blood as well. "Who'd keep all this blood here?", asked Gigi.
"Maybe he had a blood bank or something?", questioned Holly.
"What? One he ran from home?", asked Noah.
Aurelie grabbed one. "We'll take this back with us", he said. "Maybe the others will have found something like this."
"For their sake I hope not", said Holly.
Drea opened up her rucksack. "Here. Put it in my bag, Aurelie."
Aurelie nodded and carefully put the bag in Drea's rucksack. "Alright everyone, let's head back", said Aurelie, his small steps showing he was deflated.
Naomi opted to walk near Noah, intrigued by his mysterious demeanour. "So... Noah? What's got you all hot and bothered? About the law, I mean. I think I know what's got you hot and bothered right now", she flirted, a hint of mischeviousness behind her seemingly innocent look.
"Long story", he simply replied.
Naomi frowned before rolling her eyes and attempting to storm away. As she did so, the heel of her stiletto dug into the ground, causing her to fly forward and slam into the ground.
A loud snap could be heard, which alerted some further away, like Holly and Shelley, of the issue.
"Ow... stupid grass!", exclaimed Naomi, clutching her foot.
Aurelie rushed over and carefully examined her foot, making sure he ignored the multitude of course words that flee out of Naomi's mouth.
Gigi picked up her stiletto, gasping when she saw that the heel had come off. Stuffing it in Naomi's bag, Gigi held the bag open for Shelley, who threw the heel in. "How is she?"
"She's fine", said Aurelie. "No serious damage. Just a bruise."
"Someone's going to have to carry me back. I can't walk like this!", exclaimed Naomi.
Aurelie nodded and moved to pick Naomi up, but Naomi jumped, or rather slid, into Noah's arms. "Carry me back to camp?"
"You sure you don't want your friend to do it?", he asked.
When Naomi shook her head, Gigi sighed in relief. "Thank the donkey that took Jesus and Mary to Bethlehem."
Shelley furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why the donkey?"
"Why not", replied Gigi.
Holly grabbed the bag from Gigi's hands. "Don't worry, I'll carry this."
Noah lifted Naomi up, groaning a little before finding his balance and walking. Everyone else followed, sticking to the pair like glue.
Naomi gazed adoringly into his eyes as he carried her, whilst Noah just focused on not dropping the already bruised girl.
"It's not even been a full day yet and we've already got a casualty", said Shelley.
"Don't look at it as bad. I mean, it's brought Noah and Naomi together. Sort of. Think of it as a team bonding exercise!", beamed Holly.
-
As Aurelie's group returned back to camp, they were stunned to see Giamora's group were already there.
"We couldn't find anything important so we came back", explained Mikhail. "We weren't too sure what to look for anyway. I'm sorry."
Aurelie shook his head. "That's alright. I just threw you in at the deep end. I should've prepared you all. My deepest apologies."
"Please. You have nothing to be sorry for", said Mikhail. "Uh, we took one of your water bottles. SJ wasn't feeling well so-"
"-That's quite alright. It's there for consumption anyway", said Aurelie.
"Is she ok?", asked a concerned Mikhail, pointing to Noah who had slowed down considerably.
Maaria rushed to them. "What the héll happened to you?", she asked.
"Don't want to talk about it", said Naomi.
"Oh she will when she's better
And she won't stop for hours", muttered Gigi, grinning when she saw Maaria stifling a laugh.
Shelley rushed towards Mikhail and SJ, who wrapped her in a hug. "I missed you both!"
"We missed you too", said Mikhail. "SJ went all weird without you", he joked, earning a light punch on the arm from SJ.
Holly's face lit up when she saw Lyndi. "Wifey!", she exclaimed, tackling her into a hug. Lyndi hugged back, the biggest smile on her face.
Duke couldn't help but smile at this. Holly reached forward and grabbed him, pulling him into the hug.
"Is no one going to look at my foot?", yelled an impatient Naomi.
"I want to go and see Noah but that Naomi girl's clinging to him like a leech", said Audrey.
"Just pull him away from her", said Luna.
"I'm not stupid, Luna. I've only known her for 5 minutes but I'm not risking my life. Even for Noah", said Audrey.
Luna laughed, pressing her lips together in an attempt to stifle any more.
Audrey furrowed her eyebrows as she studied Luna's expression. "What?"
"I love you, Audrey", replied Luna.
Audrey's eyes widened. "Luna, I-"
"-Oh, God Audrey. No, not like that. Why can't I say one thing without you blowing things out of proportion?", sighed a frustrated Luna.
"I'm sorry. I didn't understand."
Luna sighed. "Yeah. That's the problem."
___
Hi!
Not much happened in terms of plot advancement but it'll all kick off soon! The 'drama' happens sooner than I thought which is why I'm adding some 'filler' type chapters in so it isn't too rushed.
The other group found blood as well! What's going on?
Let's not forget to say our goodbyes to a fallen friend. Naomi's stiletto.
Can we all just take a minute to appreciate Noah carrying Naomi through the bumpy woods?
What do you think the group have in store for them?
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