We, who Survived

We were back in our room, Spark rubbing the ointment into my wound as we watched the sunset by the windows. When he was done and I had my shirt back on, I leaned into his chest, his arms coming around me.

“It’s getting colder,” I said, ” I don’t think we are even close to being prepared for it.”

“You think our supplies won’t provide anymore?” Spark nestled his face into the nook between my shoulder and neck.

“Yes. We would also need wood for fires. All of Trident’s products are outdated and probably won’t last us or help fight against the winter winds. The building still needs patching up and that means rooms and windows need sealing.”

“We can deal with it in the morning. You’re still recovering remember?” Spark pulled me closer into his chest so we were flush against each other. He then went to kiss my cheek and rub my arms.

We stayed like that, watching the sun descend behind the trees. Thoughts of winter were on my mind. Our growing plants would have to be moved inside and fishing trips would have to become more regular before even the fish disappeared. The dehydrated foods and fruit from the trees would only keep us sustained for only a bit longer before drying up. We had no big game weapons for hunting and those animals that we could hunt were likely to be hibernating. The other problem was the constant feeling of being watched. No one else brought it up and in fear of being called crazy, I kept silent about it. Was it just paranoia on my side?

“Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Onyx said he and Joon would take out a party for scavenging while Maria and Max will be doing check-ups with everyone. I know Dean and Charlie also want to start looking for salt to begin preserving whatever we catch,” Spark mumbled, yawning. “My boys want to work but we lack our general tools.”

“Has Charlie checked all the storage rooms thoroughly?”

“I don’t really know but we can do it tomorrow. Come on, you need the rest more than me Bookworm.”

It was dark and freezing when I woke up. Black clouds hung low in the sky, an ocean of white covering everything outside my frost-covered windows. Spark was nowhere to be seen, his side of the bed’s covers tucked closely to my back. I pulled the covers closer, brought my legs up under my bum, and tried rubbing warmth into them with my hand. My long-sleeved shirt did nothing to keep in my body heat. My teeth began to chatter as I readied myself to get out and throw on everything in my bag, only to be stopped while leaning on my elbow as Charlie and Spark hurried into the room, therma-jackets zipped up to their chins.

“Winter came around faster than wanted,” Spark said as he stiffly walked to the closet with our bags. Charlie shot into a detailed description of what damage the snow had caused overnight, resulting in calf-high snow piled at every entrance.

“If it isn’t the animals ganging upon us, it’s the bloody weather that’ll do us in!” Charlie huffed out, sitting down heavily on the edge of my bed, a slight breaking sound of ice making the whole action more dramatic. Before I could say anything, I found myself being hoisted into a sitting position before having Spark pull his fleece over my head and handing me my therma-jacket.

“F-for once, I can’t think of anything to say. We are so far from being prepared that it’s laughable for the animals watching us,” I muttered, putting on my jacket slowly as to not irritate my itching scab. “The only thing I can say is to gather as much wood as possible, move everyone into the cafeteria as it’s got a big fireplace and try to close up the cracks in the windows to keep the heat. Food, we are heavily screwed over with...”

“Onyx has said that his team are ready to head out as the first hunting party. It’s risky, but we don’t have a choice,” Spark said, pursing his lips. “He has asked you to go out with them to identify plants we can possibly look at eating.”

“Wait, why me? One of the farmers can go.” The idea of leaving the base sent fear through me. How would we survive if we found something that was looking for an easy meal? I was far from one of the strongest if it came to fending the thing off.

“The farmers are all busy trying to rescue their plants and working with my guys on a greenhouse. Onyx has already given me his word that he would keep you safe.” Spark wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“You will be fine. There will be two other defence guys going along and a navigator. They all know you are going with and are ready to protect you as you would protect them,” Charlie added, forcing a smile on his pale face.

Untouched ground, predators, a world deprived of colour and a good chance of dying. All these factors made me feel ill but if it meant a chance for our people to survive the beginning of the journey, how could I deny the opportunity to help?

“O...okay. But if I die, I’m coming back to haunt your asses.”

As soon as we left the city boundaries, the snow vanished and we were once again surrounded by browning-leafed trees and mossed over rocks. The navigator, which turned out to be Alex, walked in front of us with a knife in her hand as she marked trees. Jae walked next to me with his spear and borrowed a blade from Joon. I had brought my hatchet with me but leant it to one of the twins who walked behind me, the other one choosing to stay at camp and help with fixing the place up for winter. I think his name was Oliver but I couldn’t really remember. The last member of our group was Shawn from Daniel’s posse of idiots. He, surprisingly, asked to be on this trip and apologised to me for the things he had done when I was getting Jae’s bag ready for berries.

“How far do you think we will have to go before seeing anything?” Oliver asked, holding my hatchet tightly in his hand. Out of the two, he was the smaller one but was a good runner, his brother on the other hand was built like an engineer and preferred to work with his hands.

“I don’t want to take us out too far since I know that moose, we saw the other day was out here. We might have to go out far though in order to find berries and to visit that stream we passed on our way to the base,” Alex explained, glancing over her shoulder with a determined gleam in her eyes. “The better we understand our terrain the quicker we can hunt and supply the people back home with food.”

We spent a long time looking but nothing came up. No moose, no berry bushes and no fish in the stream. This part of the forest may have been left by the snow but its plants had stopped producing and the fish and birds were gone. Alex pushed us until we had entered a foreign area where some animal life showed. By this point, the hairs on the back of my arms and neck were up from the feeling of being watched. I did not want to say anything since it could have been my paranoia.

“I think we should stop here and head back. If we did find anything out here, it would not be enough for us to feed everyone back home,” Jae said, stopping and looking around. “I have this nagging feeling that we are being watched too.”

“You are just like-” Alex began but was cut off by a spear thudding into the ground inches away from her feet. The shaft was still quivering, its length decorated with carvings and feathers. With wide, terrified eyes, we followed the direction it had sailed from. Figures were standing in the thigh-high grass, one crouched in a tree with an arrow notched to his bow, another was still in a throwing position surrounded by spear totting masked figures.

“R...r-run!” Jae shouted, taking off in a desperate sprint.

Everything became a blur as we ran. Boots thumping on slippery ground with war cries on our heels and crudely made spears flying just metres in front of us. Our panicked pace was beginning to slow as our non-existent energy reserves ran low. Then, one of the worst things that could have happened, happened. My foot snagged on a hidden root and I went tumbling down into a snow-filled trench. Yelping as I landed back-first onto a sharp rock, I ended up curled onto my side. The war cries passed by the trench, not one of them stopping to stare down at me. Breathing heavily, I tried to stand up but pain erupted from my ankle and wound, making me whimper and lay down.

“Look what I found here, a small helpless rat.” Turning sharply, I stared up to where the voice came from in horror. My heart felt like it was attempting to perform a jailbreak out of my ribcage with how hard it was beating. At the top of the trench’s bank stood one of our attackers, the one who had crouched in the tree.

He had a mutated buck skull covering his face, hide leggings that hugged his toned legs and no shirt. He was also barefoot. Royal purple lines covered his exposed chest and a tattoo wove an intricate pattern on his left wrist. A quiver sat comfortably on his broad shoulders while he held the bow from earlier in his hand.

“You poor thing. Your friends left you to die a pitiful death.” His voice was deep, words undertoned with amusement. He jumped down, landing gracefully at my feet. Instinctively, I crawled backwards until I was pressed against the wet, cold soil wall of the trench. Fresh jolts of pain spread through my body, causing me to grimace. The man took two steps forward before crouching, placing his bow down and unsheathing a hidden blade, pointing its tip at me.

“Speak or I will cut your tongue out.”

“P...p-please leave me a-alone.”

He chuckled, placing his blade against my injured ankle and dragging it up to my torn jean leg as he moved closer until the edge rested rigidly against my ribs. The skull was barely inches from my face, blurred etchings in the bone showing, the musk of it and the man enveloping me with ease. With him that close, I could see his eyes behind the mask. A striking grey-green with craving and want dominating his irises. The blade slid up against my throat while his calloused hand grabbed my jaw. Tears began to fall down my cheeks as I tried to keep a sob from wracking my body as he pressed the edge of his knife against my skin. It was becoming hard to breathe and to keep my eyes away from his.

“You are interesting. You can barely talk, have not bothered screaming for help or even tried to attack me even though you are clearly scared. Terrified even.” As he spoke, he turned my head roughly, studying me. My tears were slowing down, the lump in my throat still preventing me from swallowing as I sat there frozen. “I will have to bring you back. What do you think?”

“Don’t h-hurt me.”

He chuckled again, lifting me into his arms with one swift movement. Gritting my teeth, a whimper left my lips as his arm brushed roughly against my damaged scab.

“I would not hurt you, Kitten. Though, if you wander too far from my side, I can’t say the same for my tribe.” He held me close to his chest, unwillingly making me rest my head against his shoulder. I was frozen stiff now. “Speaking of them. They are not as soft-hearted as I am. They would have killed you without even having a second’s thought. You should be grateful that you got me instead.”

“Fern!” Looking up, the rest of the men who had chased us stood on the bank. One of them jumped down, their mask similar to the man who held me. “We lost the rats at the end of our line. Who is this?”

“My new pet.” I tried hiding but all it did was make me feel even more vulnerable. These men were not like our boys on the station. They were tougher, stronger and honestly, horrifying.