Flames and Starlight

20🌘

Peter

The sun was lowering in the sky by the time we reached the cabin resort. Night would arrive shortly and quickly paint the world with darkness.

I nearly slumped with relief as I found an empty one that didn't appear to have anyone staying in there. Kendrick murmured a quick unlocking spell and the door opened instantly.

We walked in. It was a one-story cabin with three small bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a dining table, and a living room with a TV. Despite the small size, it was cozy and would be nice to stay in, though with the circumstances it was impossible to relax and enjoy ourselves. We had to plan on our next move and figure out where to go.

"I don't know where to go from here," Nicole admitted.

"We should run into town to get supplies," Kendrick said out of nowhere, his first full sentence in the whole time I'd known him. I looked over at him in surprise. "We need to get food, clothes, water, and essentials."

Nicole nodded. "It would be a brief visit. We don't interact with anyone. We keep our heads down, get in and out."

"We should get a car," I suggested but they both shook their heads.

"We need to remain in the woods," Kendrick said. "If we rent a car, it increases the chance of us getting traced and people finding us. We need to remain off the grid."

"For how long?" I asked before I could stop myself, despite remembering what Nicole confessed to me the night before.

Kendrick fixed me with an icy stare. "As long as we need to."

I wanted to know when we could decide it was safe to come out of hiding, but I knew not to push it from the expression on both of their faces.

"The best thing we can do is continue east," Nicole continued. "We keep finding places to rest and keep moving. We never stop. We never stay in one place for long."

She nodded to the bathrooms. "We should wash up while we're here. I don't know when the next time will be when we'll have bathrooms like this, but we need to take advantage."

"You can go first," I offered. "Kendrick and I will stand watch."

"Thank you."

She walked inside and locked the door behind her. Kendrick took guard near the front door and I took guard near the back door, making sure no one came in or caught us in there.

Once Nicole was done, her long, dark hair damp and messy, she and Kendrick traded places as he went in the bathroom to clean up as well while she stood guard near the front door.

We didn't talk as we stood guard, peering out intently, praying no one came by and caught us.

Kendrick stayed in there for nearly fourty minutes and I fought the urge to pound on the door and tell him to hurry up. I'd stepped in poison ivy as we were trucking through the forest earlier that day. It was driving me crazy and I couldn't wait to get it washed off.

Finally, he walked out and I nearly pushed him out of the way. I stripped off my clothes and got in, using one of the spare rags that were on the railing that hadn't been used and the shampoo bottle Nicole used to wash myself off.

I managed to get some of the poison ivies off of me, but not all of it, though at least the itching wasn't as bad.

Kendrick pounded on the door a few minutes later, telling me I needed to hurry up. I fought back the snarl that threatened to escape my lips and told him I'd be out in a second, though he didn't see any of us complaining when he nearly took a damn hour.