Born 01 - Born

you think my bow is made of?"
    He grins. "I don’t know."
    "The bow has to be willow. The arrows can be any wood."
    He sits beside me. "Good to know. So, I heard a rumor."
    "Yeah, well, if you're the star of the rumor, keep it to yourself, please. My imagination works just fine for cooking up ideas on the things you do that are noteworthy."
    He laughs, "You're jealous."
    I snap my face at his. "I am not."
    He kisses my nose but I back up fast and fall off the log. "Don’t touch me."
    I snatch my things and stalk away.
    He grabs my arm, sending my feathers and sticks everywhere. I feel like I'm going to cry. My lip trembles. I will myself not to but I can't help myself. I am furious. I've never actually felt this emotion. It appears the angrier I get, the closer to tears I get.
    I feel my body shake back and forth. I feel his arms biting into my skin. I feel his hot breath on my face, but I don't hear the words he's shouting.
    I shut down. I feel limp in his grip, like his hands are the only things holding me up.
    His blue eyes are on fire. They narrow and his lips thin in a sneer. He's very angry. His mouth is moving savagely. His eyes dart to the left. He looks to the side and stops shaking me. I follow his gaze to see Star standing and watching us. The world stops moving and his fingers stop clawing at me. He drops his hands. He glances nervously at her. She bites her lip. Everything moves slower. He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. He points one of his big fingers in my face. "I'm watching you. You don’t do anything stupid."
    I bend, and try not to fall over, to collect my things from the ground. I wish I could leave them there. He has humiliated me. I can feel a buildup of emotions ready to burst from me. I hate that he has yelled at me like I'm a child. In front of his girlfriend of the week, no less. Maybe she's been his girlfriend all along.
    I hear his feet crunching on the ground and her giggles. My fingers want to grip an arrow and drive it into both of their chests.
    I feel Leo nudging my arm.
    The fire in his yellow eyes reminds me who I am. I am the hero of my own story. The girl who lived alone in the woods and never needed anyone. The girl who is going to free the other girls.
    The world is growing distant to me again. My emotions are shutting off. When I am done saving the women and children, I am going back to my cabin.

Chapter Twenty-One

    The ragged group of people is exactly what I imagined they would be. The desperate look in their eyes is exactly what I was looking for. I pull out a map I stole when Marshall was out of the main tent. It's one of the smaller ones he never uses, as far as I could tell.
    "This area here is a high traffic area." I point to a roadway a few miles from the farm. I look at the two younger looking women. "We are going to get you and you to walk along the road there and get picked up. You look pretty perfect. Once they stop, I will drop them from a tree on the side of the road with my bow. Who here can shoot?"
    A man, who reminds me of my dad a little, nods. "I can. I have a rifle." He pulls it off his back.
    "Okay, good. You and I will shoot everything down there but those two ladies. Everyone else hides at the edge of the woods and ambushes after the initial are dead. We climb aboard and ride it to the farm with us women in the back as captives. There are few guards at the drop-off. Maybe four. They will expect you guys are guards, too. From there, it's mostly doctors and nurses. We sneak inside and…"
    "And what, Emma? Blow up the building? Kill every doctor you see whether they're guilty or not?"
    I sigh and close my eyes. "No one asked you for help."
    I look at the group of people and ignore the giant angry bear of a man at my back. "We are all here voluntarily, right?"
    They eyeball him and nod weakly. He must look really pissed. I don’t care. I hate him.
    "Honey, you have to think this through." I hear a sweet, giggly voice.
    I turn and try not to shout. "What have you ever done besides screw guys in a camp? What do you know about rescuing people and avoiding death? Your short shorts and big boobs have pretty much guaranteed your survival. Sorry if I don’t listen to anything you have to say. For Christ’s sake. I'm not looking for advice on how to style my hair." Her pretty face becomes stoic. She looks at Will and turns on her heel and stalks back to camp. Will grabs my arm and drags me into the woods. I fight him, but at some points my feet