CHAPTER 20
Sparks
I don’t know how much longer we can keep hiking.
It would be one thing if we were well-fed, taking frequent breaks, and had proper gear.
Two people can’t survive on just squirrels and random flowers.
Astrid doesn’t even have proper shoes. I think I walked through some poison ivy earlier today as an itchy red rash has developed above the edge of my boots.
Maybe Astrid knows of a poultice that can help.
I shake the thought from my head. We can’t waste time on silly rashes.
Every mile we trek makes it that much harder for them to find us.
Astrid probably thinks I’m being overbearing, pushing us too hard.
What she doesn’t realize is that Jack has been preparing me for this moment my entire life. I know how to run, how to hide.
My firewood stack feels sufficient, especially since I’m still against making a fire.
Between the smoke and the glow, we’ll be easily tracked.
But Astrid insists, and I have to compromise somewhere.
I navigate back to our agreed upon meeting point, beating Astrid back.
I begin to stack my kindling, she’ll be back any second now.
The firepit is ready. I pace around anxiously. Any second now, her blonde hair will pop over the ridge. I look up, as if my manifestation could summon her. No dice. It’s fine. She’s just picking some flowers or something to surprise me. Yeah, she’s fine.
She’s not fine. She was supposed to be back by now. I don’t have a watch. Has it been seconds or minutes? Hours? Don’t go looking for her, I tell myself. What if you leave and she comes back? We don’t need two lost hikers. I’ll just grab some more firewood. One branch, a twig, a second branch.
A shriek pierces through the air. My sticks tumble from my arms. I’m already moving before they hit the ground. She’s hurt. She needs help. Astrid. Hold on, I’m coming.
I can’t think straight. I can’t lose her again.
Memories flash through my head. Hot chocolate in the morning.
I can’t lose her again. Sparing with her in the ring.
I can’t lose her again. Shooting her with a squirt gun after she got arrested.
I can’t lose her again. Feeling her bare skin beneath my fingertips. I can’t lose her again.
I race through the tree line as a second scream sounds further to the left. I adjust course. She’s on the move… or being pursued. The possibility spurs me to run faster.
Tree branches crack and I finally catch sight of Astrid. She grapples with a man as they roll down a chasm. Several small twigs are embedded in her hair. I slide down the pitch, popping up as soon as it flattens out.
She shrieks again. A knife. I have to reach her.
Her attacker hesitates, hearing the grass crumple beneath my feet.
That’s all the time I need. I won’t lose her again.
I leap forward, wrapping my arms around his neck.
My inertia forces us to the ground. He screams as he flails with the knife, but I pin his hand to the dirt with my heel.
In his frenzy, he lets go of Astrid. She stands and kicks his ribs repeatedly, I hear several crack. Good girl.
Eventually, he passes out and I release my hold, panting from the effort. Astrid struggles with the knife to cut through her restraints. I take the blade from her and carefully saw through the zip tie.
“Thank you.” Astrid winces as the plastic snaps. “He snuck up on me. I didn’t―”
She doesn’t get to finish her sentence. Instead, I take her head in my hands and crash my lips into hers.
My fingers weave through her hair drawing her in deeper.
She tenses in shock, but quickly melts into my embrace, pressing her body into mine.
I pull away and rest my forehead against hers.
I’m not surprised that tears have already fallen down my cheeks.
“You don’t get to do that again.” I choke out, as sobs rack my body. “You don’t get to scare me like that ever again, you hear me? I love you. I can’t…”
Astrid brushes her lips against mine, softly this time. One of her hands cups my cheek. Her touch has a tenderness I haven’t felt in months.
“I’m okay,” she whispers. “We’re okay.”
“I heard you scream.” My voice is strained, and I struggle to put my feelings into words. “I didn’t know where you were, if you were okay. I came as fast as I could.”
“I’ll recover.” Her thumb wipes the tears from my cheek.
“Recover?” I ask, forcing myself back. “What happened?”
The panic rises in my chest again. Her wrist, she’s hurt. The pink skin is swollen, and she whimpers as I examine the injury.
“I fell and landed on it wrong,” she grunts as she tries to move it. “I can’t really use it.”
“I’ll come back to it in a second,” I assure her. “First I have to deal with him before he wakes.”
“Check his backpack.” Astrid points to the bag. “He has zip ties. We can restrain him.”
“We can’t leave him alive.” My voice is low. I don’t get any pleasure from this, but we have to kill him.
“Can’t we just leave him tied up or something?” Astrid pleads. It breaks my heart to have to expose her to this.
“If we leave him alive, he’ll call for reinforcements,” I explain. “If we leave him tied up, he’ll just die from starvation or the elements, especially since you broke several of his ribs. It’s crueler than if we give him a quick death.”
“Oh.” Her voice is quiet.
“Turn away, Astrid.” I pick up the knife from the ground, stalking toward his unconscious body like a predator. “You don’t have to watch.”
“Let me do it.” She grabs my arm, pulling me back.
“What?” I turn back to face her. “No.”
“Please,” she begs.
I don’t understand. I could see vengeance or anger driving her to volunteer, but she has none of that. A deep sadness is in her eyes, for a moment, I think it might be shame.
“Why?”
“I need to.” Astrid tightens her grip on my arm. “I need to learn, to grow stronger. I can’t put this weight on your shoulders. You don’t deserve that burden. Let me take it from you.”
Part of me thinks that she’s right. There could come a time in her life where she will need to be comfortable with taking a life.
But the other part of me breaks. I made her into this.
Stole her light. Coached her on the necessities of survival.
I won’t be able to protect her forever, but I can shield her for one more day.
“Close your eyes,” I whisper, placing a soft kiss on her hairline.
She buries her head in her hands, sobbing. I only hope she was loud enough to drown out the sound of my knife slicing through his neck.
His backpack is heavy. I dig through it quickly.
Flashlights, sleeping bag, first aid kit, rations, satellite phone.
A few other knick knacks. Finally, some good luck.
I grab the phone and pop out the battery, ensuring nobody can track us.
We’ll see what we can do with it in the morning.
Bag slung over my shoulder and knife stuck in my waistband, I grab Astrid’s good hand.
“We have to keep moving.” I forgot about the way his blood splattered on me. A red handprint now circles her arm. She tries not to look. “If I heard your screams, it’s possible others did too. Let’s go.”
It feels like an hour has passed, but I’ve always been bad at judging time. The bag falls from my sweaty shoulders as I kneel in front of a puddle. The water is dirty, with particles floating on the surface.
“Hold on.” Astrid crouches beside me. “Dirty water isn’t safe to drink.”
She uses her powers to lift an orb of water to my lips.
I gratefully swallow the cold liquid. We both drink our fill.
Once finished, I wash the blood off my hands, grimacing as the water gains a red tint.
Then, I clean the blood off Astrid. Her arms are covered with small nicks, I presume from when she fell down the hill, plus the handprint I left.
There’s not a chance I’m risking a fire tonight.
Instead, I fluff out the sleeping bag, telling Astrid to slip inside.
She protests, wanting to take first watch, but there’s no way I’m sleeping tonight.
I stroke her hair until she falls asleep, and then for a short while afterward.
I need to keep her safe. No one is going to touch her again.
Eventually, I pull myself away and rummage through the bag again.
The first aid kit has plenty of gauze and wound dressing, as well as a compression bandage.
I’ll splint Astrid’s wrist when she wakes.
The flashlights could come in handy but could also give away our position.
I’m not sure if they’re safe to use. Either way, I stuff the batteries in my pocket, feeling a little more secure.
It’s not much electricity, but I can still fuck up someone’s day if needed.
There are a few packs of rations in the bag, but with two of us eating, we’ll go through them quickly.
We’ll need to hunt tomorrow when it’s safer to light a fire.
The sun gently bobs above the horizon and Astrid stirs.
I kneel next to her, waking her with a gentle caress of my lips.
She moans contentedly as her eyes flutter open, lighting up as they meet mine.
I’m sure after three days without a shower, I’m pretty grimy, but she doesn’t seem to mind.
That being said, I think she looks beautiful as the morning sun glistens in her hair.
She pulls me down for a second kiss, before realizing it’s morning.
“You didn’t wake me up!” Astrid fumbles with the zipper of the sleeping bag. “You need to sleep.”
“No, I need to set your wrist.” The first aid kit is already open beside me. “We can’t let you reinjure it.”
“I’ll wrap my wrist.” She stubbornly tucks her wrist behind her back. “You nap.”
I chuckle and lean forward, lips centimeters away from hers. She closes her eyes, her breath hitched in her chest. Sucker. I seize her arm, turn, and wedge it under my shoulder.