Some barely had enough strength to get onto their horse. But the group who had come for them was waiting and helped them.
Once they were all on their horses, they clustered together as best they could, and they were off.
A few people started chatting, but Aria remained silent, watching the others with interest.
Mara and Ben joined her at the front of the group. The two of them had known each other back home. And according to Mara had been together once upon a time. It was Ben that had taken an interest in Aria, and Mara had seemed to follow his lead. Aria had come to depend on them to help make decisions for the group.
Mara had worked with computers back home. And she’d gotten in trouble for hacking some secure files. Ben was good with weapons. And he was quick and light on his feet; he’d trained as an officer before being jailed for stealing said weapons.
"What is your name," the girl from before asked, pulling her horse up to them.
"Aria.”
The girl nodded. "And these two?"
"This is Mara, and this is Ben," Aria nodded at the two of them.
"My name is Grace," the girl said. "For the time being, you will be taking your orders from me." She looked behind Aria, to the rest of the group, raising her voice. "Do not question my command, and do not do anything stupid. Do as you are told. We will be traveling for only a few days," she said before turning back to Aria. "Since you are their leader, I can assume they will listen to you. And you will listen to me. Do as you are told, and we won't have any problems. I won't have to leave anyone behind. Got that," the girl asked.
Aria nodded.
"We will be traveling all day with few breaks. If you need anything, food, water, don't be afraid to ask. Try to relax. We don't mean you any harm," Grace said.
She trotted away to ride near what must have been guards, and Aria was left a little dumbfounded. She wasn't sure what she expected, but it definitely wasn't this. She didn't expect to be given food and water, to be told to relax. But she didn't question it.
She turned to the group and ushered them forward. They rode in silence for a while, not knowing if they should trust what they were told by Grace. Since coming above the ground, they hadn't known much besides fear and hostility.
Aria kept looking around as they rode, waiting for something terrible to happen. Eventually, Mara spoke up.
"What the hell is going on? Why are they being so nice to us," she asked.
"I don't know," Aria answered. She expected them to do just the opposite, maybe even treat them worse than the other group had.
"What should we do," Ben asked.
"What do you mean," Peter asked. Aria had seen him before they’d all ended up here together. He’d worked in the cafeteria; she’d seen him cleaning tables and emptying trash cans. She didn’t know what kind of trouble he’d gotten into to wind up here. But he was kind and always had a smile for her.
"Well, I mean, they must be acting this way for a reason. Probably just trying to trick us. What if this is our chance to get away,” Ben asked.
"Get away? How would we even do that? And do we even want to," Isla asked. So far, she had been a voice of reason to the group. Always trying to keep everyone calm.
They were all talking in hushed voices, afraid that someone would hear.
"I do," Ben snapped. "We can't trust these people no matter how nice they are. We should leave."
"And how the Hell would we survive on our own," Adrian asked. Aria cringed at the sound of his voice. He made her nervous, if she was honest. He always seemed like he was up to something, always had a sneer on his face.
"I don't know, but we have to try. Right Aria," Ben said, looking at her.
"No, Ben. There isn't anything we can do. And like Isla said, do we even want to?"
"So, we just give up," Ben asked incredulously.
"We're not giving up," Aria said. "We're trying to survive, and right now, this is our best chance. With these people."
They rode in silence after that.
When the sun began to set, the group stopped altogether. Aria wasn't sure how far they'd gone, but she was glad to finally be resting. Her whole body ached.
Grace gave instructions for her soldiers to set up camp and to bed down for the night. And then turned to address Aria and her friends.
“You are to stay in this area of the clearing. Latrines are being dug just over there, she said, pointing behind her. "Just ask any of the guards, and they can take you to them. But only one at a time. I expect a few of you, the stronger ones, to follow me and help out with chores around the camp," she finished, not waiting for anyone to respond before making her way towards a large group of guards a few feet away.
Aria addressed the group as a whole.
"Take turns going to the restroom," she began, "Mara, Ben, Martinez, and I will be over there with them. The rest of you, see what else you can do to help. Those of you who are too tired to work, stay here and rest and ask the guards if you need to talk to one of us," she said.
The four of them made their way to find Grace while the others stayed behind. Aria didn't want them to be separated, but she figured that she didn't really have a choice.
They spent some time helping out around the campsite, doing whatever they were told.
Fires were built, and sleeping tents were erected, the tall
