by D, Hannah
Zoe walked over to the lowest hanging branch and sat herself down. She could see the sky turn a lighter blue and she lay down on her back, closing her eyes.
“What a night huh?” Jeff asked.
“You could say that again. I don’t want to talk about it right now though” Zoe said.
“Neither do I. Lets try and get some sleep” Jeff said to her.
“Yeah, okay” Zoe yawned.
Today Jeff didn’t wrap himself around Zoe or even put his arm around her as they both drifted off to sleep. They were both too tired and upset over the nights events to even try and offer the other comfort. They both had nothing to say or offer.
*
“Guys. Time to wake up. We’re about to go on the move again” Sophia said to Zoe and Jeff.
Zoe blinked up at a sky that was light blue and had some white clouds floating through it. Today’s heat wasn’t as strong as the other days which made Zoe glad. Climbing the Pentland Hills would be much easier in a colder air.
“How’s Arthur holding up?” Jeff asked Sophia.
“He’s coping in a way I guess. I just wish he’d have managed to at least get a minutes sleep” Sophia said sadly.
“He’ll sleep at some point. Don’t worry” Jeff said giving Sophia’s arm a squeeze.
“Yeah. I hope so” Sophia said.
Zoe glanced over at Arthur who was sat in the same spot as she’d seen him sit in a few hours ago. He was looking out over the hills they had just walked over. Zoe had no idea what was running through his head but it seemed that some of the anger he’d been carrying with him last night had edged away a little. At least that was something.
“We have some pretty big hills to get over today. I hope you’re ready” Michael warned them.
“Any skin eaters hanging around?” Zoe asked.
“Not from what I could see” Michael said.
“Good. The less trouble we walk into, the better” Zoe said.
Zoe heard everyone murder in agreement. Skin eaters were better to run into than other humans but Zoe just wasn’t in the mood for them today. Zoe didn’t want to have to look a skin eater in the face and instantly be brought back to Sue and how she looked like as a skin eater. Zoe had enough of looking into cold, dead, black pupiled eyes.
“How long do you think it’ll take us to get to West Lothian?” Zoe asked Jeff.
“Shouldn’t take us too long I wouldn’t think” Jeff answered.
“Good. We need to get somewhere warmer than outside” Zoe warned.
“I know and we will” Jeff assured her.
Zoe reached up and gave Jeff a small kiss on the lips. It was a passionate kiss but it was one that told Jeff she hadn’t forgotten their night together and even though she hadn’t basked in any comfort from him last night she still appreciated him being beside her.
“Maybe we should get a house so we can have a proper, private room” Jeff whispered.
“We can only hope so” Zoe smiled.
“Right! Lets go!” Michael bellowed.
Zoe picked up her bag and followed everyone to continue their trek over these hills. Arthur and Sophia went to the back again. Arthur probably didn’t want anyone asking how he was coping or anything. He probably wanted to forget everything that had went on the night before.
Even though there was a bit more of a chill in the air, Zoe still felt the sweat rolling down her back as she climbed up a pretty steep hill. The added weight of the bag on her back wouldn’t have been helping much either. Zoe felt like her arms and legs were on fire again but she bit her tongue from complaining too much as she wanted to get over these hills as quickly as possible.
Alex had ended up struggling but instead of Jeff taking him on his back, it was Arthur who offered to do it. Alex had went over willingly and had made Arthur laugh a little. Even though it was horrible that kids had to grow up in this new world there was some joy in them being here. Alex had been the only one to manage to put a smile on Arthurs face.
“Hold up” Michael announced.
Zoe walked to the front of the group and looked at what Michael had stopped them for. Over the stretch of hill that they stood on was a group of skin eaters. The skin eaters hadn’t noticed them yet, too busy chewing on the rabbits they had managed to catch. Zoe watched as one of the skin eaters took a massive bite out of a rabbit, it’s meat stretching as the skin eater tried to separate it’s bite from the rabbits body.
“I’ll be back in a minute” Zoe mumbled.
Zoe ran off to the side of the hill they’d just climbed and started to be sick. There wasn’t much that had managed to come up considering she hadn’t ate in more than twelve hours now so it was mostly just bile.
“Hey, you okay?” Simone asked her.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t know why I was sick” Zoe told her.
“Maybe it’s the heat and not enough food and fluid in your stomach. Can I check you over?” Simone asked her.
“Sure. Go ahead” Zoe said.
Simone felt Zoe’s forehead and wiped some of the sweat off of her face as she did this. Simone then put a little bit of pressure onto Zoe’s stomach which made Zoe wince a little.
“Was that sore?” Simone asked her.
“Just a bit uncomfortable” Zoe told her.
“Well I’m hoping that it’s just the heat and exhaustion that’s made you sick but I’d like you to keep an eye on your stomach and if any pain comes to it, I want you to let me know asap” Simone said to Zoe.
“I’ll let you know” Zoe told her.
Simone offered Zoe her bottle of water and insisted that Zoe take it as she need it more than her.
“You never stop being a nurse do you?” Zoe said with a smile.
“It’s in my blood” Simone smiled back to her.
“Well I’m glad we found you” Zoe said.
“Thanks. Now drink that water. We need you in good health” Simone told her sternly.
“You got it” Zoe said.
Simone had told Zoe to stay put whilst they took care of the skin eaters. Zoe was not to help them or she would probably faint Simone had told her.
As Zoe watched them take care of the skin eaters and watched the skin eaters heads get bashed in to a pulp and the blood and brain matter come flying from the skin eater Zoe had to turn and look away. She had no idea why the sight was making her feel so unwell and sick when it didn’t bother her before. Zoe just put it down to exhaustion. Once she had had a full, proper nights sleep she would feel ten times better.
“You feeling any better” Jeff came and asked her.
“Yeah I’m better” Zoe lied.
Zoe refused to look at the spec of blood that was on Jeff’s jacket. Zoe knew that Jeff probably could tell she was lying but he let it slide as he helped her stand up.
“The paths clear for us to move on” Jeff told her.
“That’s great. How much further are we going today?” Zoe asked him.
“Another two hills to go over and then we’ll stop for the day. Michael said when we get to that point then we’ll only have about another two days climb until we’re at West Lothian” Jeff told her.
“That’s not too bad then” Zoe said happily.
“We’ll get there in no time and at least no one else has decided to follow us” Jeff pointed out.
“That’s a bonus” Zoe smiled.
Zoe felt relived that nobody had kept on following them. Maybe seeing all the fallen men and women yesterday who Zoe and Arthur had smacked down had sent them all running away. After all, the members of Zoe’s group would have to go out and find their own supplies now. Zoe highly doubted that they had anymore groups working for them. Rachael had wanted to much from them so they must’ve been the only group.
Zoe walked over and started to climb back down the hill, happy to see that it wasn’t taking them all the way down, just down another ditch before climbing up to the next one.
“That wasn’t so bad for the first hill to climb over” Zoe said
, relived.
Jeff let out a little laugh as he turned to look at her.
“That wasn’t the first hill out of the two we’ve to climb today” Jeff told her as he pointed over t two larger hills that were in front of Zoe now.
“Damn it” Zoe huffed.
“You can do it. If not, then I’ll just have to drag you up” Jeff winked at her.
“I’ll hold you to that” Zoe laughed.
Zoe walked over to the edge and started to make her way down the hill, this time all the way to the bottom. Again, it wasn’t so bad going downhill as it was going uphill. Zoe took her time going down and once she got to the shaded part of the hill she went even slower, loving the feeling of the cold stress against her skin. If Zoe wasn’t feeling as sick as she was, she would’ve rolled herself down the hill so that her whole body could feel the cold. However, if she rolled down the hill right now she would end up throwing up everywhere.
Zoe reached the bottom of the hill and saw that everyone was now starting to climb the next hill. Zoe looked up at it, towering over her dauntingly, almost like it was daring her to try and climb it and not throw up.
“Come on. You can do this” Zoe said to herself.
Zoe clutched at the grass and started to drag herself up the hill. She could tell that Jeff was only slowing down for her and for that Zoe was grateful.
“I could mention to Michael about maybe stopping at this hill?” Jeff asked her concerned.
“No. Let’s keep going. The sooner we’re off these goddamn hills, the better” Zoe said between breaths.
“Okay. Only if you’re sure you’ll manage?” Jeff asked her.
“I’ll make myself manage” Zoe said frustrated.
Alex was even managing better than Zoe now as she saw him beginning to sprint up the hills and nearly overtaking Michael at the front. Zoe had to remind herself that Alex had taken a break on Arthurs back for a while whereas she hadn’t.
Zoe pushed herself to climb that bit faster and found herself sitting at the top of the hill. Zoe let herself lie down on her back for a while, putting her arm across her eyes and feeling the sweat coming off of her forehead. Zoe could smell herself and it wasn’t pretty. The smell of sweat was almost going to make her throw up again. Zoe removed her arm from over her eyes and forced herself to sit back up. Zoe reached around and grabbed the water Simone had given her from her bag and gulped it down. She made sure that she left enough water for after the climb of the next hill.
“I don’t mind stopping here if you want?” Michael came to ask Zoe.
“No I can make it to the next one. I just need a break” Zoe said.
“Cool then we’ll take five minutes here” Michael smiled.
“Thanks” Zoe said.
Zoe couldn’t believe that she was now holding up the group. Zoe could see the sky beginning to darken again and she wanted to get onto that other hill before it was completely dark. Zoe couldn’t believe how fast this day had went in as well. She’d also barely thought much about Mike and Sue.
Zoe glanced a look over to Arthur and saw him speaking with Sophia and Alex. Arthur had a small smile on his face as Alex was telling him a story.
After a few minutes Zoe stood up and walked over to the edge of the hill.
“Lets get this over with” Zoe said grudgingly.
“That’s my girl” Jeff said.
Zoe decided that she would go down this hill on her bum and barely use her legs and arms. It did actually feel better and Zoe had no idea why she hadn’t thought of and done this before. It made her life that bit more simple.
“Enjoying yourself back there?” Alice joked.
“You should try it. Much easier” Zoe laughed.
It was taking Zoe that bit longer to get down the hill and once she got to the bottom, everyone else was already climbing up the last hill. Zoe reached the bottom and relished in the cool shade for a bit. Zoe heard the sound of skin eaters coming from somewhere around her which made her get up and start climbing the hill.
‘Stupid skin eaters. I was enjoying that shade’ Zoe huffed to herself.
Zoe got halfway up the hill before she had to take a break. She turned herself around on the hill and looked below her. She saw a couple of skin eaters hovering at the bottom of the hill looking up at her. The skin eaters hands were pressed flat against the grass of the hill, their legs trying to move upwards but not managing it. Climbing hills was clearly not in their list of skills or strategies.
“Not getting to me today” Zoe said as she smiled.
Zoe turned back around and continued to drag herself up the hill. It seemed to take her forever and her group looked like they had been up here for ages. They looked like they’d managed to catch their breaths a long time ago. Zoe flopped down onto the grass just thankful that the climbing was at least over for the day.
“Let me have a look at you” Simone said as she came over to Zoe.
“I’m fine honestly. Just happy to get a long break now” Zoe smiled to her.
“Well I’ll feel bette once I’ve had a look at you” Simone told her.
“Crack on” Zoe said.
Zoe continued to just lie on her back as Zoe looked her over. Checking her temperature by pressing her hand on Zoe’s forehead and putting pressure on Zoe’s stomach. Zoe refused to let herself wince as Simone put pressure on her stomach, she didn’t want everyone giving her unnecessary attention right now.
“Stomach okay?” Simone asked her.
“Yeah, it’s getting better” Zoe lied.
“Hmm, well take it easy for the rest of the day and night and get plenty of rest. Keep drinking water as well” Simone told her.
“You got it” Zoe smiled.
Zoe drank the rest of the water Simone had given her and still felt thirsty. She had no idea how much water everyone had but hoped it was enough to last them another two days.
Zoe went and found a shaded area on top of the hill and lay down and closed her eyes. Tonight would be the first night that Zoe had a sleep free from all dreams.
Chapter 29
“God these hills just seem to go on forever” Sophia complained.
“We’re nearly at the end of them. Trust me” Michael said.
“I can’t wait to be back on flat ground” Sarah wined.
“Soon” Michael said.
They were on their last day of climbing through the Pentland Hills and everyone couldn’t be more happier about it. They had came into barely any trouble from skin eaters over the past few days and had relaxed at the thought that no one was following them.
Zoe had started to feel better the day before and was managing to climb the hills with more ease. She had even managed to take out some skin eaters and didn’t want to throw up at the sight anymore. Simone put it down to Zoe having caught a small summer bug that had managed to clear up on it’s own. Zoe had never felt more glad about something in her life.
Michael had kept on taking a lead role in getting them off the Pentland Hills and into West Lothian. Arthur was still in no fit state to take the lead role but he was doing better and speaking to more people than just Sophia and Alex. However, Alex was becoming his favourite person in the group, he always managed to laugh with Alex.
They had guessed that they were coming to the middle of August with how cold the wounds were getting a night and how it started to get darker a bit earlier. The clouds were also beginning to multiply and some seemed to be darker, like they were carrying rain.
“We’ll be off these hills before the rain starts” Michael had said.
“Good. I’d rather not freeze to death” Mark had replied.
There was still a sad air around them all as they were still mourning for Mike and Sue. They hadn’t managed to have proper burials for them so they hadn’t been able to say their proper goodbyes which was hard. At least with Chris they had managed to have a burial and Sarah got her final goodbye. At least Rachael had paid for what they done and one day Brian would get his comeuppance wheth
er it was from Zoe and her group or not.
“You had me worried for a while there” Jeff said to Zoe.
“There was nothing to worry about. I’m absolutely fine” Zoe smiled.
“I’m glad. I didn’t want to have to carry you the rest of the way over these hills. I’m knackered already” Jeff winked.
“Well lucky for you I can carry my own weight” Zoe laughed.
“Seriously though, I am glad that you’re okay” Jeff smiled at her.
“Yeah, I’m glad too” Zoe smiled back.
Zoe had to give Jeff some credit, he had never left her side as she struggled through her stomach bug. He was always there, helping her to climb up the hills and slowing down to her pace which was ten times slower than everyone else. He had been a real gentleman to her.
“I will say one thing. I can’t wait to cook something proper again” Alice sighed.
“We’re planning a big meal for everyone” John grinned.
“I just hope we can get the ingredients for it” Alice said.
“When there’s a will, there’s a way” John said.
Alice and John had had enough of only making sandwiches and longed to cook a proper hot meal that would fill everyone up to the brim. The past few nights they had laid awake talking about all the meals they could prepare, making everyone’s mouths water and their stomachs growl. Zoe had felt terrible for ever taking food for granted.
“No more food talk please? I don’t think my stomach could rumble anymore than it already has” Mandy whimpered.
“Sorry. We’ll try to stop” Alice said sheepishly.
Zoe let out a soft whimper of her own as her stomach started to growl. She had barely eaten anything the past few days because of her stomach bug she’d had. Her first proper meal had been a jam sandwich today at lunchtime and she’d gobbled it up in a minute, not even taking any breaths in between mouthfuls.
“I think that’s us, just down this hill” Michael said.
Zoe practically skipped over to the edge of the hill and saw a path that would lead to a road below them. She saw a sign that was just beside her that East Cairn Hill and saying that the town West Calder was only 9.2 miles away from the bottom of the hill. Zoe felt a big grin erupt onto her face.