Us and Them

Terrible Thing

   Pete looked up at a vulture sitting on a high tree branch, two rabbits dangling in his hand. There had been more and more sightings of the birds as the moon grew darker each night. At first, he found them useful to see which snares had caught an animal, but now he was realizing that they were rather off. They just overlooked the outskirts of the camp, never moving toward the clearing that the camp was in. Sometimes, he swore they had yellow eyes, but he just figured he'd been seeing things. Josh had spoken about how the Bishops had used them as spies recently, but he wasn't so sure about that.

   "Having a staring contest again?" Joe laughed, standing from resetting the snare. His once long curls had been cut down to keep the chance of being snagged during a fight to a minimum. Everyone was changing.

   Pete shook his thoughts away. "Just making sure it doesn't try anything." He joked dryly.

   The two finished their rounds, carrying the carcasses of various small animals into camp. They stopped by the supply tent to drop everything off, CC working rather carefully with his various blades. They used every part of the animal for different things, especially when it came to large game that they hunted once every two weeks.

   "Haven't seen a lot of the Torchbearer or Dallon for the past few weeks. Which is odd because those two are normally pretty involved with maintaining this place." Pete commented, making himself comfortable as he watched CC.

   "Andy's put them on night watch since that murder happened. Which makes sense, they're both pretty night owlish anyway." CC shrugged, moving some meat scraps around.

   "Yeah...say, maybe we could talk to him about switching things up? As much as I love carrying around dead animals, those vultures are kind of creeping me out."

   "I wouldn't worry about those guys so much. It's the ligma you have to worry about out in those woods."

   "Ligma?"

   "Yeah, ligma balls." CC snorted, grinning at Pete who rolled his eyes. "But, in all seriousness, I doubt those things are any harm. All they do is smell the lovely little critters you're carrying around. They're just hoping you'll let them have a piece. I'm sure you can make peace with them by taking some food scraps out there."

   "Anything to keep those beady little eyes off of me while I'm working." Pete sighed, looking behind him at the clearing.

   A smaller framed man was walking over to Josh's tent, taking a quick glance around before popping inside. Strange.

   "Well, enjoy your blood and guts. I think I should go check on Patrick in the medical tent. I'm sure he's dying to show me what new thing he's learned from Jake."

•••

"Good, now I can kill two birds with one stone." The man grinned, Josh standing between him and Dallon.

"Frank, you really don't want to do this. You're one of Andy's top men." Josh said, Frank shrugging.

"You already killed my best friend, so what's left to lose other than this fucking war you've drug everyone into?"

"How do you even know you're in the right place? There are a good amount of people in this camp. Could be anyone."

"Like you said, I'm one of Andy's top men. In order to keep the peace he had to let his best know the truth. So, you can give up your murderous boyfriend or you can catch these fucking hands too."

Dallon pushed past Josh, his blue eyes showing a glint of gold. He was seething, stepping to Frank and looking down at him.

"Go ahead, then, I'm right here!" He challenged, voice warping a bit. "And I just wanted to let you know, your friend fought like a bitch."

Frank let out a growl and jumped at Dallon, who simply stepped out of the way and let him crash into Josh. The two fell into the back of the tent, arms and legs flailing as Josh fought to subdue Frank. Frank wasn't having it, he jabbed an elbow into Josh's gut and righted himself while the other was incapacitated.

   Dallon clocked Frank in the jaw, sending him reeling backwards. Blood poured out of his mouth from where he bit his tongue, fueling the fight. Dallon took a few hits before grabbing Frank by the throat and lifting him an inch off the floor, Frank clawing at his hands as he struggled to breathe. Pete barreled in, shoving Dallon off balance and getting him to drop the other. Josh righted himself shortly after, grabbing Dallon by the back of the shirt and pulling him away from the fight. Pete grabbing Frank by the arms to restrain him.

"Dude, what the fuck!?" Pete barked, struggling to keep a hold of Frank.

"I don't know! He just came in here ready to kill Dallon!" Josh replied.

Josh let out a loud whistle, a signal him and Andy had come up with when there was immediate danger. In about two minutes, Andy and CC appeared, weapons in hand ready to fight. Though, they lowered them when they saw who was involved.

"Iero! What's going on?" Andy interrogated, Frank relaxing once his higher up was present.

"Ah, you know, friendly...sparring?" Frank answered, giving a strained smile.

"My tent. Now."

CC apologized for their colleague on the way out, Pete letting out a loud sigh.

"Why the hell can't we go a fucking week without someone trying to kill somebody?"

"Trench is where the Bishops' power is most potent. They use your weaknesses against you." Dallon commented, picking up his quarters. Dallon sat on his cot, head in his hands. It felt like someone had jammed a screwdriver between his eyes.

Josh invited Pete to sit, starting a fire to warm up a container of water for tea. He sat next to Dallon, getting him to lift his head so he could look him over.

"Your changes are coming from intense emotion. I felt like I was in the room with Brendon when Frank started at you."

"Brendon? Isn't he dead?" Pete asked, warming his hands.

"Long story." Josh dismissed, dropping bundles of herbs into cups and pouring the hot water over them.

•••

A horn blew in the middle of camp, rallying everyone around the fire pit. Andy stood in the center, ashes staining the soles of his black leather boots gray.

"Listen up! We will be breaking down camp tomorrow to move forward into Trench. The dark moon will keep our movements hidden from the Bishops. So, we will be moving swiftly through the center of the gorge. Camp will be set up on the outskirts of the wall, five miles away to avoid any scouts that may be in the area. We should make it in about four days without stopping."

"Without stopping?! Man, this shit is heavy!" A voice groaned from the crowd.

"I meant without setting camp." Andy waved his hand. "We'll rotate who's carrying the heavier loads every two hours."

   With that, the meeting was disbanded, Josh felt a pit form in his stomach. The time was coming.