Keep Watch

Chapter Six

As it turned out, there was a limit to the information Umber had received in her vision.

The group had been walking for six hours now, and it was nearly pitch black outside, with nothing but a thin sheet of moonlight illuminating the ground ahead of them. Chloe had given up on keeping vigilant, and instead kicked at the grass with her toes, stretching her heels with each footstep. Her back screamed for a break and she could barely feel her legs anymore — damn her for always skipping leg day — but she kept on, just like the ten others that muddled around her like frogs in a pond.

It was Ash that spoke up first. "How far away are we?" they asked, and Chloe could hear the crackly dehydration in their voice. They had run out of water hours ago now. "Maybe we should take a break."

Umber didn't look back as she answered, "We're not even close."

Her curtness frustrated Ash, and it was with more conviction that they asked again, "Maybe we should take a break, then."

Umber did spin around at that. "Do you want to get your head ripped off like that boy in the forest? No, I don't think so. So keep walking."

Lachlan stepped into the conversation, raising his voice from his position to Chloe's right. "Aye, no more fighting, you guys." They seemed annoyed with him, so he added, "Let's have a vote, then. All in favour of staying, stand over there," he gestured to one side, "and all in favour of keeping on, stand over there," he gestured to the other side.

Chloe watched as the group, relatively evenly split, took their sides. She met eyes with Lachlan, and without hesitation, he moved to the side in favour of continuing. Aava and Jeremy, on the other hand, slipped to the opposite end.

Chloe broke his gaze. She looked at her feet as she padded to the opposite side from Lachlan, coming to stand between Aava and Jeremy. "Good thing there's an uneven number of us," she said, rather grimly. It was true, though — there were five on one side and six on the other, and she guessed Jess would have voted in favour of continuing, having made it a tie.

"So we're staying, then," Aava said.

Lachlan looked upset. Chloe wondered for a moment why he'd called for the vote in the first place, if he wasn't going to be content with the result. He didn't fuss, though, and when Umber started trying to argue, he was the one to step in and calm her down.

Chloe could understand Umber's hesitance; she'd been one of the ones to witness the decapitated body first-hand, and it was probably a source of trauma for her, to be out and vulnerable like this with that memory fresh in her mind. The group needed a break, though, and there was nothing they could do about it with the next cabin being so far away.

"Alright," shouted Jeremy, catching the group's attention. "Those carrying blankets, lay them out flat on the grass here. There's decent tree cover, so we'll just need to stick close together to keep warm. Should we set up a guard?"

Everybody seemed far more comfortable with the idea of having somebody keeping vigil, so they decided to assign rotational watchpeople, and Jeremy would take the first shift.

It was relatively easy for the group to settle. Despite their differences, they got along rather well, and each pairing found a nice spot on the grass to lay out their belongings. People took off their socks to dry, and hats and bandanas were hung up in the trees, giving detail to the otherwise black backdrop around them.

Chloe was surprised when, in the darkness, Aava spoke from beside her. "We need to get some more water," he said. When she looked confused, he added, "Umber thinks there's a river a half-kilometer uphill from here. I want you to come with me."