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"I'm TIRED of this sitting-around shit. Always waitin' on Patrick to come back and tell us 'Okay, it's safe to sit on the bus for another three hours," sputtered Aaron, sticking his tongue out and whacking one wrist against the opposite shoulder, in what I must admit was a pretty amusing gesture, despite its oddity. Gradually I became aware that his aimless pacing up and down the aisle was getting farther away, and I sat up higher just in time to see his head disappearing out the door. He must have leaped out of the bus from the top step, since the rest of his trajectory was evident out the window. He tumbled into the dirt and hopped back onto his feet.
"I'm gonna look around. Maybe there's another busted soda machine somewhere!" Aaron called out as he trotted off.
I tried to stop him, but his immediate reply (I'm pretty sure he'd been working this up for awhile) was, "Patrick said you're in charge if they're not back in two hours. It hasn't been that long yet." He turned and walked backwards briefly while we debated it, but he never stopped moving.
"I'll go after him..." sighed Vark.
"No. You and Skye stay on the bus. You couldn't catch up to him with your ankle. And between me and Skye, we have ever-so-slightly a greater chance of his listening to me telling him come back to the bus."
God, it had been a long time since I'd run anywhere, and I had to outright sprint to get to him before he disappeared entirely. I even forgot about my back in lieu of my burning lungs.
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