Dawn Of Rebellion Collection

16. Gabby

I don"t know how much longer I can take this. It"s not the work. No, I can handle that. It"s not even these grotty living conditions. I"m pretty used to living in dodgy places. What gets to me are these people. You would think that everyone would welcome the newcomer and even help me out. I mean, we"re all in the same boat here. It"s not like I"m going anywhere, so they will have to get used to me eventually.

I wake up with food next to my bed again. Strange. I don"t know who"s bringing this to me, but I know there"s no room service here. I sit up and eat what"s been left for me; same thing as yesterday, but whatever.

As I"m eating, I see a flash of red hair outside my door and then Claire is standing right in front of me. She doesn"t say anything, she just watches.

“Morning Claire,” I say between mouthfuls.

“It"s time to go. I didn"t want to leave you.” As she says this, I think back to last night. According to Claire"s brother, I"m not supposed to be around her. What can I do, though, if she"s the one showing up in my room? Plus, I"m grateful for the company. I finish eating quickly and head out to meet the others.

Today is just like yesterday. We walk for a while until we reach the trees. Then we"re told to get to work picking the oranges. Today, we have an extra bin to fill. The only reason we"re given is that a storm is coming. I"m from England; I can handle a little rain.

Towards the end of the day, everyone has slowed down. It"s been extremely hot all day and people are exhausted. Claire and I work together to finish up our last tree. I stand down near the bottom, gathering the oranges that have fallen on the ground. Claire has decided to climb up into the tree and fetch the last few at the top.

All of a sudden, I hear screaming coming from farther up the tree. I run around to a spot where I can see Claire. Everyone else has stopped what they"re doing and come to see what the kerfuffle is all about.

“Claire! You OK?” I yell up the tree.

“My foot is stuck. It hurts, Gabby.” Her voice wobbles in fear. As I try to get a better look at where her foot is, I notice something hanging from the tree to her right.

“What"s going on? Is she OK?” Amanda has run over, looking worried.

“She"s fine now, just scared. But we need to get her out of there without disturbing that wasp"s nest.” Amanda"s eyes widen as she notices what I"m seeing. “I"m going up.”

“There"s got to be some other way.” As she takes in the determination on my face she changes that to, “Be careful.”

“Claire, I"m coming to get you.” I can"t even be sure she"s heard me through her sobs. I"ve always been a pretty good climber so it doesn"t take me long to reach her. Her eyes are wide and shining with tears. As she sees me she points to the wasp"s nest. I was hoping she hadn"t seen that. I grab her foot and rock it back and forth trying to pry it out of the tight spot it is stuck in. The tree shakes as I get it loose.

“Claire, come on. We need to get down from here now!” Claire goes ahead of me and I follow. I always found climbing down from a tree to be a little more difficult than climbing up one. Claire touches the ground first and I"m close behind. As I"m almost down, I hear a noise coming from behind me.

I slap my arm as I feel the first wasp land there. Its stinger digs into my skin before my hand smashes down. Another one gets my leg. I"ve never felt so much pain as my knee buckles and I tumble out of the tree and pass out.