Part 78: Time To Go

Mia studied the teenagers to the best of her ability. The only thing she had for comparison was the Lord of The Flies and she felt silly relying on that story, but it was the only thing she could think of. The dynamic of the group seemed to be similar to a tribe. All people united under one leader. Mia wondered if they were all apart of the same group at one point in time and then broke off into two groups, the Black Faction and Red Faction. Unless one of these kids spoke English, she probably would not have her answers.

The kids of the Black Faction just sat around as the kids from the Red Faction guarded Mia, Taylor and Eddie. The little boy didn’t want to move, so he stood in front of Mia. Even the Lakota girl kept him calm by keep her hands on his shoulders. Taylor just stood around, holding her arms. She was taking deep breaths, trying to remove what Cedric was about to do to her from her memory. Mia felt bad for her, but glad that blonde boy called Alexander stopped the leader of the Black Faction from having his way with Taylor. Mia was growing frustrated by the minute. She needed answers to all this! The Lakota girl closed her eyes, remembering something from her past. During high school, Mia chose to take Spanish speaking classes, mostly because of the region. However, Bonnie, her best friend took French classes. She remembered her teaching her some basics but she had to concentrate to remember the proper words. She took a deep breath, hoping she would get it right.

Mia gently reached out and stroked the arm of the nearest Red Faction girl. The young girl turned around and looked at Mia. The Lakota girl coughed and smiled. “Bonjour,” she whispered, “Uh . . Parlez-vous l'anglais?”
“No,” the girl replied.

“You said you didn’t speak French?” Taylor commented.

“I don’t. I only know a few words. The bad news is she just told us she doesn’t speak English.” Mia turned back to the girl, “uh . . uh .. Quelle façon l'endiguer?”

The girl then burst out laughing at what Mia said. The Lakota girl looked slightly embarrassed. She doesn’t know what she just told the girl. Eddie looked up at Mia, “Well, at least you made her laugh.”

“Yeah,” Mia sighed.

“Qu'essayez-vous de dire?” the girl giggled.

“How about asking her what her name is?” Taylor suggested.

“Good idea, “ Mia smiled, “I think I remember that one . .uh . . .uh . . Quel est votre nom?”

The girl then smiled through her Red Bandana. “Marie,” she whispered.

Mia smiled and pointed toward her chest twice. “Mia.”

“Mia.” Marie pointed.

She then tapped on Eddie’s head. “Eddie.”

Marie leaned down and looked at him in the eyes, “Bonjour, Eddie.”

“Hello,” the little boy grinned.

Mia then pointed to her blonde friend, “Taylor,”

“Bonjour, Taylor,” Marie waved to her.

“Uh, yeah . .Bonjour,” the blonde girl reluctantly replied.

“Well, we all know who we are at least,” Mia smiled.

“Hell of a lot of good that’ll do us,” Taylor muttered.

“Well, we broke the ice at least. The next move will be theirs.”

Marie then looked over the three captives, and had a concerned face. She then looked to the distance and waved at a boy. “Jean-Paul!” she called.

The black haired boy called Jean-Paul ran over to her, holding onto his dark black knapsack at his side. Marie was talking to him and pointing back at Mia’s group. The Lakota girl couldn’t tell why Marie was so concerned with them. Why would she be talking to this boy about them in such an alarmed manner? All they did was tell her their names. Jean-Paul listened to what she had to say, then shook his head in agreement. He then walked over to the three, taking off his knapsack from his shoulder. He opened up the flaps and pulled out a bundle of red cloth. He then offered it to Taylor, who just looked at him.

Marie was confused why they wouldn’t take them. Then she took them from the boy’s hand and offered it to the Lakota girl. “Mia.” She whispered.

Mia hesitated, then took the red cloth. She looked back to Marie and she young girl motioned for the bandana around her mouth. The Lakota quickly put two and two together. “They want us to put on these red bandanas over our mouths.” She whispered.

“HELL NO!” Taylor protested, “I am not joining their tribe!”

“I don’t think that’s it.” Mia countered, “If they were asking us to join, why wouldn’t Alexander be the one doing that? Clearly he’s the leader.”

“Then what could it be?”

Mia looked at Marie who make the same motion for her to put it on. Mia couldn’t stop thinking. “Maybe . .maybe they know something we don’t?” she whispered, “Maybe . .they are wearing these masks so they don’t have to breathe something?”

Taylor looked at the others. It made sense. Why would they wear masks every single second living in a humid jungle? The blonde reached over and took one of the red clothes, then tied it around her mouth. Mia tied hers on and then kneeled down, tying one for Eddie. “I feel like a cowboy train robber.” He chuckled.

Mia stood up and looked at Marie, “Merci.”

“De rien, Mia,” Marie clapped her approval, “Maintenant les Autres ne vous verront pas.”

“I sure which I knew what she was saying.” Mia said, smiling through her mask.

“What’s up, people?” a male voice said in the distance.

Marie and Jean-Paul gasped at the sound they heard. They turned to see a blindfolded man standing in the distance among the bushes. Eddie immediately recognized his man that had temporally taken his father’s place. “TONY!” he screamed in glee.

“Eddie, are you all right?” Tony said, “Are you hurt?”

“No, they didn’t hurt me.”

“Is Mia and Taylor with you?” he repeated.

“ We’re here, Dr. Tony,” Mia called to him, “Taylor was almost hurt but another one of these boys stopped it from happening.”

As they were talking, the Red Faction were running away from Tony in fear. Members of the Black Faction were looked at Tony in mild confused, and some of them also ran away from him in fear. “They are scared of you, Tony,” Eddie mentioned.

“Why?” Tony asked, then shook his head, “Never mind. Let’s use this moment of confusion. Come to me, now.”

Taylor grabbed Mia’s arm as the Lakota girl slowly guided her and Eddie toward Tony. Then one of the Black Faction boys ran over and pulled out the strange short sword they all seemed to carry. He pointed it to Mia and screamed, “Ne pas se déplacer!”

Mia stopped. She didn’t know what he said but she knew a threat when she saw one. Then the boys began to walk toward Tony, surrounding him. “Tony!” Taylor said, alarmed, “Tony, they are coming toward you!”

“How many?” he asked.

“Four!” the blonde responded.

Tony didn’t move. He calmly raised his cane and held it outward, like a quarterstaff. He concentrated. He could hear their footsteps rustling through the bushes as they approached. He could hear their whispered breathing. He waited till they got closer. “C'est lui?” one of them said.

“Impossible.” Another replied, “Nous l'avons tué.”

Tony was grateful for them talking. He then knew exactly where they were. Quickly he thrust his metal cane out, striking one boy in the head. Then he swung it back, hitting another boy in the collar bone. One boy then brought up his sword, swinging it down at his head. The sword make a singing sound as it cut through the air. The blind doctor then quickly bent downward, hearing it coming. He then flung his cane back up, smacking the boy across the jaw, making him spit blood. The other boy managed to knick Tony in the chest but it was enough for the blind man to grab him by the throat. The boy then blacked out as the blind doctor head butted him. The whole time Eddie was cheering him on. Tony quickly regained his senses from the head butt. “LET’S MOVE!” he commanded the others.

Mia, Taylor and Eddie quickly ran toward him. The little boy grabbed the hand of his blind friend, leading him out. Mia and Taylor let the way, pushing the giant leaves and branches out of their way, as Tony and Eddie brought up the rear. The four companions ran as fast as they could, know more would surely follow.