Nowhere is Safe

Sacrifice

The camp was alive with activity for the coming night: parents scolding giggling children draiped in their bed sheets; people gossiping over pumpkin carving; teens discussing where would be the best place to host that long-awaited party.

The night that I wouldn’t be here for.

With heavy steps, I approached my beloved, hastily thrown together shack. From inside my home came the faint sound of familiar humming and my mood couldn't help but lighten.

Gently, I pushed open the wonky door just as my girlfriend drifted through the hallway, carrying my Foragers uniform into our room from the living room.

Shutting the door behind me, I wandered down the very narrow hallway and hovered in the doorway to our room, watching her with a mischevious smile.

Her brown locks swayed from side to side while she danced to a tune that only she could hear. In one fluid motion, she placed my scarf and desert khakis on our mattress, which was on the floor, before twirling round to walk out of the room only to come face to face with me.

"- oh my days!" She breathed, placing a hand to her heart while I couldn’t help but chuckle, "Don't do that!"

"Nice to see you too," I grinned.

She shook her head in disbelief, "I was this close to having a heart attack, Nathalie,"

She pinched her thumb and index finger together to show me how close she had been to the theoretical heart attack.

"Wouldn't be the first time that I've nearly given you a heart attack,"

Again, she shook her head, this time smiling a little before she took me by the waist and bought me in for a kiss. Whatever annoyance that I was feeling about tonight vanished, just like that. My arms gently wound around her neck, and for a split second, I felt like everything was alright in the world.

But it wasn’t.

Reluctantly, I pulled away from her lips to tuck a strand of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear.

Her blue eyes glinting a little in the evening sun that was seeping through the grimmy plastic window that sat just above the mattress, "How did the meeting go?"

My smile sunk. The sun was already beginning to slip under the horizon.

She picked up on my sudden change of mood, "Hey? What's wrong?"

There was no point in lying to her. She would find out one way or another. And it would be best if she found out from me.

"They’ve asked if I could go foraging tonight,"

She instantly froze up, her smile fading into a frown, "And you said no, right?"

I couldn’t meet her gaze.

"Right, Nathalie?"

"I told them I would go,"

I could tell from the look in her eye that she was not pleased about this at all.

"But that's not fair! It's not your turn to go out foraging," She pulled her arms from around me and started to pace in a circle.

"I know, but everyone else is terrified-"

"And so am I! It's the night of witchcraft for crying out loud!" she stopped pacing, looking me dead in the eye, "There's no way I'm letting you go out there."

"I-"

"I don't care if they tell you that you have to. I'm not letting you go!" There was a fierce, determined fire raging in her eye, "I'm going out there and giving them one big hunk of my mind-"

"Please, Jess, here me out, ok?" I reached out and took both of her hands in mine as she tried to move past me. Her nostrils flared in agitation, but she didn't pull away from my hold.

"I need to do this. Winter is coming, and more and more people won't want to forage because it will be darker. If I get a good haul now, I won't have to go next time,"

"But we were supposed to spend time together today," Jess said sadly, looking to the floor, then back at me with soft, big eyes.

"And we will," I squeezed her hands, "when I get back,"

I could see the monster of worry starting to howl behind her eyes.

"I'll be back before you know it," I reassured her.

She pulled me into a fierce hug.

"You better be,"