Starhoppers

14 - A Spark in the Brush

"Dammit," Albright spat, leaning away from Isaac with a bundle of herbs in his fist.

"It's okay, Albright," Ellie sighed, her fingers interlocked with her father's. "You tried your best."

"I know, but..." Albright grumbled, pushing himself to his feet. "I really thought that one would work."

"He'll wake up when he's ready," I nodded. "Like you said."

"I have a few things left to try. Don't give up hope yet."

Albright waddled from the bench once more, Bit chirping excitedly by his feet. Ellie peered at me, forcing a friendly smile. The pain in her eyes stung my heart.

"Zach," Ezra called over, catching my attention.

Ellie sighed. "Go on," she murmured, avoiding my gaze. "I doubt I'm supposed to hear what he's about to say, anyways."

"I'll be back," I sighed, pushing myself to my feet and stepping away from the bench.

The trek to Ezra and Ralph was a brief one. "Come here, kid," Ezra sighed, gesturing for me to get closer. "We need to talk."

I nodded as Ralph spoke. "What is there left to talk about? You heard the girl."

"This is ridiculous," Ezra scoffed quietly, staring past me. "Going back to that village right now would be suicide."

"I understand, Ezra," I nodded. "But we have to give Ellie a break, here. Just think about being in her shoes right now."

Ezra groaned as Ralph grunted in agreement. "She doesn't have much else of a choice. Unless she's planning on letting her father die - or stuffing his cheeks full of any leaves she can find and hoping for the best - then that only really leaves one option."

"I don't want Isaac to die," Ezra spoke carefully, shaking his head. "You have to understand that."

"We do," I nodded.

"We just cannot go back to that place. We are weaker, and smaller, and fewer than them. They'd tear us apart, guys."

"Well, we're no longer in the ambush position," Ralph murmured. "Once we get our guns back, we'll have enough rounds to put at least three in each of the bastards."

"Yeah, well, that's assuming we can even find our things once we get there," Ezra sighed. "And even if we did, I'm the only one of us who's spent any real time with a rifle in my hands. More than the rest of you combined. You'd hit more trees than anything."

"You don't know that, though," I said. "You know... we can just wait 'til they're a bit closer before pulling the trigger. They'd be much harder to miss, right?"

"And what if several of them charge you at once?" Ezra asked. "Are you gonna have the reaction time to take them all down before you find a spear in your chest?"

I remained silent as Ralph spoke. "Does any of this even matter?" Ralph muttered, glancing towards Ellie. "I don't think either of us has the guts to let the girl go on her own, Ezra. Even if we held her down ourselves... she'd never forgive us."

I noticed the sadness in Ralph's voice as Ezra shrugged. "I'd rather her hate me and stay alive. We don't even know if he'll ever wake up again... Isaac wouldn't want to live in a coma for the rest of his days."

"What do you think, Zach?" Ralph nodded to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked needlessly, frowning.

"You're just as much a part of this crew as we are," Ralph said. "You've got a say in this too, you know."