Page 41 of Love is Angry

Minutes later, I’m running through the woods beside Rhue. Without any words, we know that our first objective is to get as far away from the clearing as possible. If there’s a cabin nearby, we’ll find it. With or without Rhue, I will pass the hazing ritual. I will get my points, and I will do something that the old Madison would not have dared to even try.

“This is the worst night of my life,” Rhue says.

I bolt past him. “Try to keep up, at least. I thought you were an athlete.”

At least I get to piss him off. So, I’ve got that working for me. Everything else just sucks every other way. I can only hope that the darkness of this beautifully silent forest will swallow me whole and keep me hidden from the Acolytes. Rhue has no choice but to tag along, though I can’t help but wonder what tonight is going to be like. Will there be war, or will there be another attempt at peace? I’m fine with the latter, but I can’t trust this handsome bastard to oblige.

Chapter 19

Rhue

I thought hazing was going to be fun.

It’s the only reason why I drove all the way out here, ignoring the lines in the fine print about inclusivity and safety guidelines. The stories I’ve heard from college grads sound like horror and thriller flicks compared to what this is. Buncha’ snowflakes. Worst of all, Mackenzie was true to her word. She fucked me, alright, as soon as she paired me off with Madison. This is a fucking drag.

We’ve been walking for about twenty minutes, though I’m not sure where we are, so I take out my phone and turn on the map app. Soon enough, the GPS pointer puts us smack in the middle of this forest. Madison keeps walking for a few more yards before she realizes I’ve stopped. I can feel her glaring, but I’m more interested in the quality of the map zoom on this phone.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Trying to figure out where we are. Obviously.” This is the most we’ve talked since we were paired off and sent into the woods. “I’m hoping we can find one of those cabins sooner, rather than later.”

She frowns, but accepts my reasoning, then crosses her arms and looks around. It’s dark and quiet. With that comes a strange sense of peace and tranquility, as if the whole world has suddenly vanished. There’s no college. No career and life expectations. No social pressure. No family. Nothing but me, her, and these giant old trees. The fresh air fills me up to the brim, and for a moment I imagine what it would be like to never go back.

“There should be paths,” Madison says after about minute.

“It’s what I’m hoping to see via satellite images,” I reply.

She shakes her head. “You’re not going to see them from above. The canopy is too thick. We need to—”

“No, wait. Look here,” I say, so into what I’m doing that I forget the hatred that’s supposed to exist between us. Madison moves closer to look at my phone screen. “This is the clearing. It’s got to be. The country road is here,” I say, the tip of my index hovering above the map. “It thins out here, which is basically where we left our cars. According to the pin here, we’re headed south. Another three miles, and we’ll reach one of the residential roads beyond the woods. That won’t do.”

“Right. We should head north-east from here, then,” Madison replies, gently pointing at another section of the map. “There are better chances of finding a cabin on that side. If I were a hunter, at least, it’s where I would build one. See that creek?”

“What about it?”

“I’d build my cabin close to the water,” she says. For what feels like forever, our gazes lock on each other, and nothing is said.

Tonight, the ball is in my court. I decide how this will go, it seems. Madison is keeping it civil. I can either follow that line or be a dick again. The latter comes too easily to me. Maybe I’ll challenge myself. Maybe.

“Let’s go, then. I’m pretty sure the Acolytes will be tailing us soon enough.”

“Aw, you spoiled the surprise,” a man’s voice slices through the darkness.

It’s followed by popping sounds and pellets whizzing past us, barely missing our heads. Instinctively, my hand juts out and I find that I’m grabbing Madison, pulling her by the hand as I bolt towards the north-east. She cries out as one of the pellets hits her side, but as long as she’s running, we’re good.

“Come on!” I urge her. “We can’t let them beat us!”

We’re somehow in sync, now. We’re gliding across the forest floor, jumping over swirling roots and rocks like deer. My breath is even but getting shorter. I lead us through a thickening cluster of pines. Some of the branches are too low and slap my face as I move faster. The needles scratch my cheeks and break the skin, but I cannot let those bozos win. Madison and I aren’t friends, not even close, but she lucked out today because my need to win is apparently bigger than my hate for her.

“You okay?” I ask but don’t wait for an answer. I do get an “Uh-huh”, so that answers that.

It takes us a while, but we manage to leave the Acolytes behind. My guess is they’re meant to just spook us and stop us from lingering in one place for too long. We’re supposed to seek refuge in a cabin, after all.

“That son of a bitch,” Madison snaps when we finally stop to rest for a few minutes. She’s holding her side, face crinkled from the pain.

“They got you, huh?”

She nods once. “And then some. That son of a bitch,” she hisses, knowing that we can’t be too loud if we’re to keep them off our tracks. Slowly, she raises the hem of her tee, and I’m treated to a portion of her hip and lower abdomen. The skin is soft and almost white in this darkness, with only the moon risingabove as a source of light. Madison uses the flashlight on her phone to reveal the reddened area. It looks painful.

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