Outlaws | An Eclipse | [Vol.1]

Chapter Nine - "The Boy"

Alexis stumbled over a tree root and fell face first into the loose dirt, getting soil up her nostrils. She annoyedly pushed herself onto her elbows and spat dirt from her mouth, and blew the rest out of her nose. Mumbling curse words, Alexis shoved herself back onto her feet and trudged onward.
          It was dark now, and navigating in a tangled forest wasn't easy when the only light she had was the moon and stars. Alexis had been walking for a few hours. If she was being honest, most of those hours she had been trying to find her way back to Mr. Crux's cottage. Now, Alexis was just trying to find anything that would count as shelter.
          It was also difficult to make her way around because she had never seen the inside of a forest before. Alexis had only seen the top of trees from the peaks of Crow's Cry City. There was certainly much more than standing trees in this forest. Thick vines hung both high and low on some of the tree branches. Bushes filled with red and yellow berries littered the ground. Tall grass stuck up from the earth near the bases of some plants. Most trees were close together, creating a dense environment. Every now and then, Alexis will come across a large rock in the ground that she could swear she has seen more than once.
          In some parts of the forest she can hear rumbling, like water crashing into something. Whenever she did, Alexis tried to find where it was coming from so she could get something to drink. Just the thought of water caused her to sallow in yearning. She wondered if Mr. Crux was looking for her. Was he aimlessly looking through the forest in search of her, or was he laying back in a chair realizing how crazy he was? Both could be possible. The man was kind, but also needed to rethink his life decisions.
          Alexis sighed. She was tired, thirsty, and lost. She stopped walking and leaned against a tree. As she stood there, her legs shook with exhaustion, begging for her to fall to the ground again, and stay down. Alexis slid carefully down the trunk of the tree, sitting on the earth floor. She looked up at the tree that offered support. The thing was so big that one of its roots bowed over her head with a little space in between them when she stood. Now, it gave her a twisty roof as she laid her head back on the trunk. Alexis took a deep breath and closed her eyes. No point in searching for a cave in a forest. And no point in looking for sounds she could possibly be imagining. With the flimsy closer patching her needs, she let herself fall into a dreamless sleep.

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Alexis groaned with distasted as light streamed across her face. She put a hand over her face as she slowly opened her eyes. Sunlight seeped through the leaves and blue sky showed itself beyond the reaching flora. Not a single cloud was in sight.
          Alexis let out a long sigh. She stretched her arms and legs out and grunted as a sharp pain in her neck forced her fully awake. She rubbed the side of her neck and winced. The muscles were tight.
          Great, Just what she needed to start the day.
          With a push feeling more strained than it should have been, Alexis brought herself to her feet and arched her back in a stretch. When she took in her surroundings, she slouched, remembering she was wandering with no direction just the night before. A hollow feeling filled her stomach. She couldn't quite tell if it was from hunger, thirst, or straight up just the feeling of emptiness. Alexis had never once felt lost before. Was this what it felt like? Hopelessness, followed by sluggish actions and panicked thinking?
          Alexis looked around again. She spotted a bush and walked over to it. Reaching down, she plucked off a few yellow looking berries. They were maybe the size of fish eggs. She brought it up to her eye to look at it closely. Alexis didn't really know which plants she should and shouldn't eat. She also didn't know just how poisonous they could be. But, with this oblivion, followed regretful actions, and Alexis opened her mouth and plopped them in.
          Before she could bite down and find out if the berries were sweet or sour, something smacked her upside the head, and she spat the food out of her mouth before she could choke on it. She coughed and swerved around to see what hit her.
          "What the hell?" Alexis growled. She raised her fist, ready to punch blindly, but paused.
           Standing in front of her was a lean boy with spiky, dark hair, and gray eyes looking at her with distress. Coper colored, rectangular glasses all crooked, and stance a little defensive. The boy looked Alexis up and down.
          "Who..." Alexis was going to ask, but another question popped into her mind, and her face grew serious. "Why did you do that?" She sputtered.
          The boy's eyebrows shot up and he pointed at the berry bush, then he used his other hand to mime a line across his neck.
          Alexis's hearted jolted, and she took a step back. "You were going to kill me if I eat them?" She shrieked.
          To this, the boy facepalmed and then pinched the bridge of his nose. He walked past Alexis and, again, pointed to the berries that hung from the bush. He then began to silently act out someone putting some in their mouth and then dramatically dying, laying his body on the ground and reaching to the air with panic, then shutting his eyes and going limp.
          Alexis stood there with a disturbed look on her face. Did the boy just tell her she'd die if she ate the berries by pantomiming it? Was that even what he was trying to tell her? Who was this kid, and what.... just what? There really wasn't any other bigger question in her mind, other than 'what.'
          The boy opened one of his eyes and looked up at Alexis curiously. She couldn't tell if he was waiting for a response, or waiting for her to offer a hand. When she didn't do either, the boy got to his feet and dusted off his white, pullover, short sleeved hoodie. He looked a little bit taller than Alexis, but not by much.
          "Would you just speak?" Alexis ran a hand down her face, both exasperated and irritated. Now this was not the way she had thought her day would start. She was hungry, and thirty, and her neck was killing her. "It's a lot easier then trying to get me to guess what you're saying."
          The boy shook his head.
          "Can you not talk or something?"
          He smiled, and gave her a thumbs up.
          Oh. That explained the odd body language. "Are you trying to tell me I'll die if I eat that?" She asked, pointing to the bush.
          The boy gave her two thumbs up, and grinned even wider, which creeped Alexis out. If she could have died from it, maybe he shouldn't be smiling. "What's a boy like you doing around here anyway?"
          The boy scowled in disapproval. He straightened his glasses, and put his hands on his hips.
          Alexis put her hands up in surrender. Was it something she said? "What?"
          The soundless teenager next to her pointed at him chest and face, eyes wide like he was trying to jar his thoughts into her brain.
          "I have no idea what you're trying to say now," Alexis admitted.
          The boy rolled his eyes and shook his head. Alexis watched as he then tilted his head and started to stare at her. Was he... studying her? It sure looked like it with the way his eyes seemed to be searching her.
          After a moment, he reached into the satchel around his neck that Alexis hadn't noticed a moment ago. He pulled out something wrapped in some shiny paper and held it out toward her.
          Alexis hesitated, but when the boy stepped over to her and forced the wrapped whatever it was into her hands, she accepted it. Alexis eyed the boy, and then slowly unwrapped the object. inside was a baked good with some delicious, red looking filling slightly leaking from the side.
          She didn't know what it was, but it looked like food. Alexis looked up at the boy, and he nodded in reassurance. She took a bite out of the bread and her mouth was filled with some kind of raspberry filling. Sweet and sour with a hint of cream. It was heavenly.
          While Alexis took another bite out of the gift, she also watched as the boy reached back into his satchel and pull out a bottle of water. He held it out for her, and she gratefully took it. Alexis no longer cared for who the boy was, all she cared about now was if he had more of what he gave her.