Morning rolls in after a sleepless night. Everyone gradually wakes up.
“Did you sleep last night? Dillon asks me. I shake my head. His eyes have that sorrowful look in them again.
“We should keep going,” Marcus says. We pack our things and ready our weapons.
I step out of the cave, letting the sunlight warm my face. We’ve run out of food and I hadn’t eaten in days. As we walk, I shoot two squirrels. We stop to clean cook, and eat the meat. No one speaks. What is there to say anyway?
Shortly after, we continue on. I’m not exactly tired, but I’m not alert either. Marcus is still weak on his ankle and needs someone for support. Olivia, Dillon and I take turns helping him along. It may have been my imagination, but it seems as though he held on tighter and closer to me than the others.
Here we are. Five people. Orphans. Friends. Family. Wounded, winded, and grieving. We didn’t know where we were going, but we knew we couldn’t go back. There isn’t anything left to go back to. Everything we knew when we were younger is gone. Our village. Our homes. Our parents.
The sun is hot on our faces despite the cold nights. I grow weary after a while. The bow and arrow in my hands sags from its ready position. My pace slows.
“Look,” Rose remarks pointing ahead. As we walk further, a lake, not too large, comes into view. The water is crystal clear. We give into the temptation. Shoes and socks are thrown off; sleeves and pant legs are being rolled up. I dip my feet in the water. It’s cool, but not cold. I splash some on my face, embracing the refreshing feel on my tired eyes and the sweet taste on my lips. A sweetness all too similar to Dillon’s kiss. A sweetness that calms my nerves, but also sends butterflies loose in my stomach.
I bend down to dip my hands in, letting the water wash away the dirt and grime from under my nails and on my open palms. In a way though, my hands are still clenched shut. Not letting the water wash away the memories that I hold onto.
Suddenly, a wave of water hits me from every direction. I look up and find the others grinning.
“Couldn’t resist,” Rose giggles. They’ve soaked my hair, but it feels good, and my clothes, but I don’t care. I wad to the knee-deep water where Dillon, Olivia and Rose stand. But first, I hold my hand out to Marcus to help him, and he gladly accepts.
My hands are still in tight fists, holding on to memories, but momentarily, my face has opened, letting go of the situation.
We playfully splash each other until we get a combination of hungry, tired, cold, and wet from head to toe. For dinner Dillon and I snag a total of three rabbits and a squirrel and Olivia had found a blackberry bush. We shovel down our food as the fire warms us and dries our clothes.
After dousing the fire, we settle in the underbrush close to the lake just as the sun sets and the stars appear. I’m exhausted, but I don’t want the day to slip away. I think the others feel the same way. No one offers to watch because no one plans on sleeping for a while. This was the first time since we’d fled I’d felt remotely happy.
We all lie on our backs gazing at the stars. Olivia moves closer to her brother for warmth and Rose does so with me. I fight against my desire to sleep. But my desire to keep the day alive is stronger.
“My father taught me a few constellations,” I comment. Rose sighs and I pull her into a hug. “That group of starts that look like a ladle is Ursa Major,” I tell them. “And the smaller one is Ursa Minor. The bright star at the tip of the handle is the North star.” I fall silent after that.
When I was nine, I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. I’d woken my father up too. He wrapped a blanket around me and took me outside. We sat in front of the house looking up the stars. He showed me, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Orion, and Pisces, which is my zodiac sign. Then he said, “The night sky is beautiful isn’t it?” I nod in awe. “Tonight I get to be with the beautiful night sky and my beautiful Skye,” he told me.
I let myself drift off after some time, though it seems as if I’m just waking up. As if the lake was a dream and my nightmare of gunshots, bombs, and deaths is reality. But at one point, it was.
I wake with a start and have to look around me to reassure myself that no one is missing.
“You okay?” Olivia asks. Her green eyes pierce the darkness.
“Somewhat,” I answer. “I’ll keep watch. You can sleep.”
“I’m not sure I can,” she sighs.
“I know what you mean.”
“I’m so afraid of losing you guys. Especially Marcus. He’s always out protecting me. He’d die before any harm could come to me.” Tears start welling up in her eyes.
“I know what you mean.” A faint smile forms on her face.
“Dillon?” she teases. I blush, but smile too.
“How do you know?”
“How could I not know?” She had a point there, I guess. “How to you deal with it? This whole situation, I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do. I get nightmares every night, and if you haven’t noticed, I don’t really hide my feelings.”
“I wish I could just escape the terror of it all.”
“Who Wouldn’t?”
“Why us? Why are they after us?” This was a question that hadn’t really crossed my mind, but now that it has, I need an answer.
“I wish I knew.”
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