Death comes for all (TNN)

a Walk into the unknown

Reece was woken by the sound of a baby crying. He looked beside him and saw Marjorie breastfeeding. The fire was still burning and the two rabbits were cooking over it, impaled by sticks.

"Good morning," Marjorie whispered.

Reece kissed her on the head, she still looked pale. He let his gaze wander and saw Autumn and Carly standing a little further away. The two of them were talking.

"What are they doing?" Reece asked.

"Carly really wanted to talk to Autumn alone... Reece, what happened on the bridge yesterday?"

" Aut shot Mia..."

Marjorie took a deep breath. "I made a mistake... if I had been on Autumn's side, Mia would still be alive."

Reece didn't answer, she was right.

"We have to keep going." Autumn spoke and stepped in front of them, Carly behind her.

Autumn was doing what she did best. Putting on a mask. Closing off her feelings. But inside she was screaming. The pain of losing Winter gnawed at her and the guilt of what she had done to Mia ate away at her.

"And where to? The city isn't safe," said Reece.

Carly handed Reece a brochure. "I found this in the drugstore. Next to the other goods I packed."

'The ultimate hunting experience' it said in big letters.

"There is a hunting lodge in the forest. Fully equipped with a garden and fruit trees. The forest has enough animals to hunt. We could spend the winter there," said Autumn.

Reece took a good look at the brochure. "That's a long hike. At least two to three days."

"But there's a stopover by the lake. A hut, we could find some useful things there too and rest before continuing. We would be their in a day." Carly said.

"Reece, what's the other option? Stay here under the bridge? It's getting colder. It's been snowing all night. If we stay here. We'll freeze to death," Autumn spoke firmly.

The man looked worriedly at Marjorie.

"I can do it..." she mumbled.

"Then it's decided. We'll be on our way after breakfast," said Autumn.

The group trudged through the snow. Carly walked in front with the brochure in her hand and a map of the area was on the back.

Autumn walked behind her. She kept scanning the area.

Last to go were Reece and Marjorie. Reece had made a sling out of a towel and had his son in it under his jacket. He had his arm around Marjorie to help her.

Marjorie tried to hide her pain as best she could. But with every step, a sharp pain stabbed through her lower abdomen.

Autumn saw this and walked a little quickly to get next to Carly.

"I'm worried about Marjorie. She doesn't look well," Autumn said in a low voice.

"Me too. Giving birth is always exhausting, but I'm worried that there are still remnants of the placenta in her..."

"What would happen if that were the case?"

" Puerperal fever... which causes an inflammation of the uterus, this inflammation can affect other organs, which can lead to blood poisoning and thus to death...."

Autumn looked over her shoulder at Marjorie. "What can we do about it?"

"Only antibiotics can help. Let's hope we can find some medicine in the hunting lodge. There must normally be a first aid kit there..."

"How do you know all this?" asked Autumn.

"You have Viv to thank for that..."

The group had to keep taking breaks so that Marjorie could catch her breath. Reece also realised that all the walking wasn't doing him any good. His knee was throbbing and swollen.

The group didn't reach the stopover after a day and had to set up camp as night fell.

Carly kept the fire burning. They had some protection from the cold wind between the trees. But it had started to snow again.

Autumn came out of the undergrowth empty-handed. Her hunt was unsuccessful today.

As soon as the sun came up again tomorrow, they had to move on immediately to escape the cold.