Complete Collapse

5

Lucille's POV:

A thumb on my chin and a few fingers rested underneath tilting my head up from where it had fallen over in my slumber is what pulled me from my sleep. Benjamin was crouched down in front of me, his eyes burning into mine again, his head tilted to the side with a small smirk. No doubt he was enjoying what a mess I probably looked like. My mouth felt even more dry, my lips cracked and sore, my wrists aching and itching something awful. A few beads of sweat rolled down my forehead and into my burning eyes that I was helpless to get rid of aside from blinking. My neck was stiff, agonizing under the way he was tilting and straining it upwards so our eyes could meet. The morning light was barely starting to peak through the thick wall of trees surrounding us.

"Mornin', sleepin' beauty. Think you're about ready to stop holding us up?" Benjamin said in a low voice, his tone holding just a hint of a morning rasp. My eyes rolled to the side to where Phoenix was already standing up and getting a drink of water from Jeremiah. She seemed decently rested and in good health still. I guess Jeremiah was seeing to that. He looked over at me as he was screwing the lid back on the bottle and I tried my best to send him a silent thank you for taking care of her. He nodded, seeming to understand what I was trying to convey to him. Benjamin took my silence as a good time to start unwrapping me from the tree I had been pinned to. I felt relief take over my back from the loosening of the rope that was no longer pressing me into the rough bark of the tree and cutting into my back. There was a slight sting but I refused to give any further indication of how I may have been feeling to Benjamin. Once he finished unwrapping me he entwined his fingers in the rope that was cutting into my wrists and yanked me up in a swift movement with almost no struggle. He gave a signal to Jeremiah to start loading me up with the packs again. Jeremiah tied my sister's rope to his belt and walked over to me to start placing the packs on as Benjamin walked off to scout the trail we were about to take for any danger. It was significantly harder today to take on the weight of even one of the bags. I let out a hiss the second the first one was placed gently over my raw and tense back. From the corner of my eye, I watched as my sister rushed over to my side, concern spreading over her face.

"Luce, let me take some of the bags this time." My sister whispered to me and Jeremiah seemed to hesitate on placing the next bag so we could discuss this.

"Absolutely not. I can handle it. Not to mention there is no way Benjamin would agree to that after I challenged him about it. I can handle it." My throat ached with every word. I tried to swallow against the pain, but with my system being so dry it was to no avail. 

"Miss, I respect your strength, but there is still four days worth of distance to cross. Maybe sharing the load isn't the worst idea." Jeremiah said softly, his eyes scanning the direction Benjamin had walked off in. He seemed almost nervous to be having this conversation with me. Phoenix seemed to nod eagerly at what he had said. Already they were acting like a unified front despite the fact we very much were enemies. It almost irritated me, but I couldn't deny that this bodes well for my sister's survival.

"I said I could handle it, so I will. I've faced worse challenges. I won't give him the satisfaction." I tried to sound angry but each sound that passed my bleeding lips came out like a choked whimper.

"At least have a bit to eat?" Jeremiah said so quietly I almost couldn't make it out past the breeze that blew past us. he bent down and started rustling through one of the packs and emerged with a small package of crackers. He opened them swiftly and held one up to my face with near-pleading eyes. I looked at the small item and felt my stomach rumble, but at the same time, I was stuck in a turning tide of nausea. I shook my head no and looked away from it and from him.

"Give it to Phoenix. I'm fine." I said softly as I looked at the way the leaves on the tree moved in the wind. Free, without a care or fear in the world. I longed for the ability to just float in the wind.