As we finish the last snare the rope allows us to make, my stomach grumbles loudly. I never ate breakfast this morning. The sun has fully risen and it’s beating down on my neck. We’ve been out here for hours.
“We should head back,” I say. “Andrew and Chris are probably wondering where we are. Besides, I’m pretty hungry.”
I stand up and stretch. Jess does the same.
“Do you think…” she starts. Her voice is so quiet I can barely hear her. She clears her throat. “Do you think if we had done this before she wouldn’t have been killed?”
I breathe deeply and consider my answer. “It’s possible,” I say.
Her eyes immediately fill with tears. I instinctively pull her in and hold her.
“At the end of the day, we can never know. She left the house in frustration for being cooped up so long. Even if we had had the snares up, she may have just walked beyond them and whatever limited protection they offer.”
My stomach growls again and interrupts us.
“Let’s go back and get some food,” she says.
She steps back but takes hold of my hand. The two of us make our way back to the cabin. Our shadows walk companionably next to us.
“I was really worried about you,” I say. An echo of the fear returns and I look down at her to gauge her reaction to my words.
Slight confusion passes through her face. “What? Why?”
“I woke up and you weren’t there.” I shrug to try and downplay the panic I felt. “Andrew and Chris didn’t know where you were and I thought the worst.”
“I can take care of myself,” she says.
She’s making me feel silly for worrying. Maybe I don’t mean as much to her as she does to me.
“How would you feel if you were in my place?” I ask.
She studies me for a moment and says, “You’re right. I would be upset if you did that to me. I should’ve let someone know where I was going. I won’t do it again.”
I exhale a little bit in relief. “Thank you.”
She nods and changes the subject. “How badly does your foot hurt? You’ve been favoring it all morning.”
I put all of my attention on walking normally so she won’t be able to tell how much it’s bothering me.
“I’ll take you up on your offer to help me clean it,” I admit.
“You don’t really have a choice in that matter,” she says. “It needs to be cleaned. Who knows what you exposed it to yesterday and if it gets infected, we’ll have to go to a territory and try to find some medicine.”
I swallow a fearful curiosity over what has happened with everyone in Potentia. I send a silent prayer that Ian and his family are safe. It’s bizarre that something so easy to get such as basic antibiotics has become a dangerous and worrisome ordeal.
The two of us make our way into the house. The guys are in the same position they were when I left them hours ago. I want to do or say something that can take away their pain, but nothing comes to mind.
“Hi,” Jess says to announce our return. “Have either of you eaten yet?”
“No,” Andrew says. His voice is emotionless.
“We’ll make something for all of us,” I say.
I spot the expired food cans in the back of the pantry and smile involuntarily at the memory. I drop my smile when I spot my friends out of the corner of my eye. Pain is radiating off of them.
Jess and I go to the kitchen. Not wanting to make a big ordeal for lunch, we put sandwiches together with some of the jam we took from my grandparents’ cabin. My mouth waters with the thought of food. I try to remember the last time I was this hungry. A small pang of pain hits me. It was at the start of everything when I was with my mother and Dominic. Things have changed so quickly.
“Come and eat with us in the kitchen,” I say to my grieving friends.
They shuffle their way to the kitchen and sit at the table. I’ve always associated the two of them with laughter and happiness. Even after their parents died and I saw them at the funeral, I could still recognize them. Now, their pain overshadows everything else about them. It suppresses their entire being.
“Thanks for makin’ lunch,” Chris says.
“I appreciate it,” Andrew says. They’re just words, devoid of feeling.
“Of course,” Jess says. Her worried eyes glance over at me.
I grab my sandwich and eat it in five bites. I’m still hungry and wish I had more. I know once it hits my stomach, I’ll feel a lot better. Jess must have been pretty ravenous as well because she finishes right after me. On the other side of the spectrum, Andrew and Chris slowly make their way through the meal. They pick at it very disinterestedly.
“We’re going to go to clean Elliot’s foot. He cut it yesterday,” Jess says.
“Okay,” Andrew says to acknowledge her.
He picks up his sandwich to take a small bite. It’s almost painful to watch. I’m grateful to get out of the room. Their agony is overpowering.
I shuffle my way to the bathroom while Jess follows. I open the door and turn on the light.
“Sit on the edge of the sink and put your foot in the water,” she says.
I untie my shoe and feel instant relief to get my foot out of the confinement. A bloodstain stands out. I reopened the wound today while walking.
I hop up on the edge of the sink and do as I’m told. Jess turns on the faucet and places my foot under the stream. My foot twitches when the warm water hits my wound. The blood washes away while she reexamines my injury.
“This is really deep, Elliot. I’m surprised you didn’t really feel it when it happened. I’m going to pour alcohol on it,” she says and gently lets go of my foot. She reaches under the cabinet and takes out a bottle of clear liquid. “It’s going to hurt.”
I brace myself as she pours it on and curse at the sting.
“That should be good enough,” she says. “I’m going to put a butterfly bandage on it to help it close and then wrap it.”
“Aye, aye, doctor,” I say through gritted teeth.
She turns off the water and dries my foot off. She’s being as careful as she can, but it’s still sensitive.
Her confident motions shed light on an aspect of what role she served in Vis. “You were training to be a doctor,” I say with certainty. “How far into your training were you?”
Her eyes widen in surprise and she admits, “I had just received my assignment a few months ago, at the start of the year.”
I nod as another piece of her clicks into place. Not wanting to overly pry, I ask, “What do we do now?”
“We do everything we can to make sure we don’t lose anyone else,” she says as she starts to place the bandage on my foot. “Is this too tight?”
“No,” I respond. She finishes up and tapes it in place. I move my foot to test it. It’ll work. “Thanks.”
She offers me a slight smile in response and changes the topic. “The thing that Andrew and Chris need right now is time,” Jess says.
“It’s hard seeing them like this.”
“We can’t take away their pain and make this situation better. That being said, we can try to distract them and make time go by faster,” she says.
I look at her curiously. “How?”
“We need to keep them busy. Long term, we need some sort of barrier to block any more of the infected from getting to us. Might as well start now. We can put them to work and have them cut down trees and work on getting all the materials for that ready.”
“I like that. To be honest, I could use the distraction as well,” I say. I welcome anything to escape the haunting and emergence of terrors in our lives.
“Me, too,” she says. “Let’s work on bringing our friends back.”
Chapter Fifteen
A drop of sweat rolls slowly down my back. I set the ax down to wipe some away from my eyes and take a long swig of water. The sun has heated it up and I wish the water were colder.
To my right, Andrew and Chris saw at a tree to br
eak it down. Behind me, Jess sharpens one of the sticks. We’ve been working from dawn to dusk for the last five days on a goal to get enough supplies ready to build our makeshift fence. By the time the sun goes down, we’re so exhausted we go straight to sleep.
Grief has become our relentless, insatiable demon. There’s no defeating it completely, but we can distract ourselves. The strong labor has been therapeutic for all of us. At times, we all forget the death and find ourselves making small jokes. It’s a nice return to normalcy, but it never lasts. One of us always remembers and the demon reappears.
I instinctively reach for my back pocket to get strength from the picture of my mother. My hand comes up empty as I remember I left it inside to keep it safe from the physical labor of the day. I swing my ax back down at the tree in frustration. My arms ache with overuse. I ignore the discomfort and strike again.
Chris breaks our mindless physical labor. “What’s that smell?”
“It’s awful,” Andrew exclaims.
The smell reminds me of the time when a possum died in my grandfather’s boathouse and it took us a while to find it. Recognition for what this means to us now immediately follows. Jess stands up quickly when it reaches her.
“Where is it?” Jess’s tone is demanding.
Chris and Andrew’s expressions switch from mild amusement to one full of terror when they understand. I share in part of their fear. My only interactions with the creatures have been when they killed those I care about. At least this time we’re prepared and together.
“Come to me. Get away from the trees,” Jess says.
I don’t want to expose myself to the horrors within the forest so I back up toward Jess. My foot aches slightly at the movement, but it’s manageable. Andrew and Chris are less calm and run the twenty yards to Jess. The four of us anxiously await its appearance.
“What if there’s more than one?” Chris looks around frantically.
“Then we’ll kill more than one,” Jess says. Her teeth clench with anticipation.
Andrew shares his brother’s panic. “Should we run to the house?”
“No, we’ll take care of them now,” I say. I hope I sound bolder than I feel.
No one says anything. The four of us await our fate. The smell gets more nauseating with every passing moment. Finally, two break through the tree line.
“Should we shoot ’em?” Andrew asks. He pulls out his father’s old gun and aims.
“Don’t shoot,” Jess states. “We don’t want to waste any bullets. There’s no need to be afraid. Watch how slowly they move.” As she says this, one stumbles over one of the branches. “They’re clumsy. As long as you’re smart, they can’t hurt you. Don’t give them the chance to surprise you. Take it out in its head.”
At her instruction, I follow their every movement. My imagination has created an image of them in my head much more intimidating than they actually are.
“I’m going to take care of one and then I want the two of you to kill the second,” Jess says.
“Us?” Andrew and Chris say at the same time. In another situation, their reaction would be comical.
“You need to learn sometime. Now watch and learn,” she says. She tightens her grip on her knife and slowly makes her way to one of the infected. Without any hesitation, she plunges the knife into its head and it falls instantly. She leans down and retrieves her weapon.
The other beast lunges at her. However, Jess is quick enough and easily evades it. She motions for them to step toward it.
“Use your head and don’t miss,” I urge them.
They nod and determination replaces the fear in their faces. Chris takes my ax from me. Without any comment, they walk up to Jess and she hands Andrew her knife.
It reaches the three of them and Chris swings his ax and plunges it into the creature’s chest. It falls to the ground and Andrew finishes the deed by penetrating its head with the knife. He takes the knife out of its head and spits on it. Chris expresses his anger by kicking its side.
After a moment, Jess says, “As long as we play it smart and there aren’t too many, we’re going to be fine.”
They nod in agreement.
“Can we get rid of it? It smells horrible.” Andrew’s voice has an emotional twinge to it.
“You two burn them. Jess and I will go check the snares and see if we’ve stopped any from getting through,” I say.
I can’t help but wonder if they trapped anything or if it was just a waste of time. We haven’t checked them since we made them a few days ago. We’ve been so preoccupied with getting the fence supplies put together.
She directs her attention toward Chris and Andrew. “Good idea. Will the two of you be okay?”
“Yeah, we’ll burn ’em,” Andrew says.
“Be careful. Take the gun,” Chris says. Andrew nods in agreement and hands me the weapon. I place it under my shirt, tucked into my shorts.
“Of course,” I say.
Jess grabs her bag and we walk into the tree line. We get farther and farther away from the cabin. I was hopeful the smell would disappear, but it seems to stay with us.
“There’s more,” I say unnecessarily. “Where are they coming from?”
“I’m not sure. It’s a little worrisome that they’re showing up now. I wonder what changed…” She trails off, fully alert.
We come across the first snare and discover it’s occupied. One of the beasts snarls hungrily at us. Luckily, the rope has held. I make a move toward it and Jess grabs my arm and stops me.
“We should let Andrew and Chris kill it. If it hasn’t escaped yet, it’s not going anywhere,” she says.
It did seem to help them to kill the last one so I agree with her. We make our way through the line of snares that separate us from the outside world. A surprisingly high number of the snares have captured their targets. We leave them in plans to let Chris and Andrew help us kill them. It will be good training and help relieve them of some of their grief and anger.
Finally, the air begins to clear. It’s a subtle difference at first because we’ve grown used to the smell, but it soon becomes obvious. It’s easier to breathe. The snares on the west side are untouched.
“They must have come from the east,” Jess says. “That’s where Vis is.”
I came from the west so this offers me a little hope. I smile to myself and take in the serene atmosphere. It has been a rough time, but we may have made it through the worst. Maybe I needed the world to fall apart so I could come together. Maybe this is how things are supposed to end up.
Interrupting my thoughts, Jess reaches out and grabs my hand. She smiles and looks up at me and I’m simply astounded. How could I have been so lucky to find someone who is as beautiful and strong as she is?
After a couple more yards, she lets go of my hand and sits down in front of a large rock. “Sit with me for a bit, Elliot. We can tell Chris and Andrew about the traps later. Let’s enjoy the moment.”
She couldn’t have picked a nicer place. The view of the lake is so serene and peaceful. It’s easy to forget about the recent horrors here.
“We’ll know if one of them gets close to us by the smell,” she says.
She scoots forward a little bit so I sit down behind her and lean against the rock. It feels good to get off my foot. I place my arms behind myself to prop me up. Jess leans into me in response. I push the pain of the last couple of weeks down and take in the surroundings. I try and focus on the positives. Too much time has been spent tallying our losses. At least the four of us are together and have a plan.
Also, it’s nice to have a quiet moment alone with Jess. As much as I enjoy spending time with Andrew and Chris, it seems like one of them is always popping out and preventing Jess and me from really being alone. Although I would never admit it, their mood has been contagious. It’s a relief to get away from all of their pain and try to forget.
Jess shifts a little and her hair catches the breeze. Her hair gets into my mouth and I blow out in reaction.
She leans away and looks at me. She says, “Whoops.”
I smile back at her and without thinking, tuck her hair behind her ear. When I realize what I’m doing, I pause and make eye contact with her. A strange look crosses her face as she reaches up and holds my hand on her cheek. Nerves course through my body while I try and gain courage. I lean in close to her.
An obnoxious cough comes from behind me.
Jess immediately lets go of my hand. In annoyance at the distraction, I close my eyes. When I open them again, the shock in Jess’s expression, combined with hearing his voice again, makes my heart drop.
“Now, Joe, that is no way to greet your brother’s return, is it?”
I jump up and whip around to find myself staring at Dominic. It looks like he hasn’t shaved since we last saw each other. It gives him a dangerous edge.
In disbelief, I mutter, “Dominic? What?”
Dominic barks a humorless laugh. “Glad to see you are still the same, intelligent individual. If I were one of the Letum, I could have killed both of you easily. I did not interrupt anything, did I?” Dominic looks at us knowingly with a smirk.
Surprise at seeing him again slows down my reaction time. A single word stands out and I ask for him to clarify. “What did you call them?”
“We have been calling them the Letum. It suited them,” Dominic responds.
I nod in agreement. They’re a symbol for death and ruin. It’s fitting.
“What are you doing here?” Jess asks Dominic. She slowly stands up behind me.
He puts his arms out in front of him and appears to be affronted. “I have not seen my little brother in weeks and this is the type of greeting I get? Ever think I just missed little Joey?”
“What are you doing here?” Jess repeats without a change in tone. She steps closer and places a hand on my lower back, relaxing me.
Dominic’s eyes narrow at her movement.
For a second, my brother’s carefully constructed mask falls apart and reveals a tinge of jealousy. Just as quickly as it appeared on his face, it leaves and is replaced by an expression of bored neutrality.
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