Black Death (TNN)

After all this time

The small group walked quietly through the forest. In front of Max walked Beth, the woman had a hunting rifle over her shoulder, behind him Sorscha. The young man felt the gaze of her on the back of his neck, he kept looking over his shoulder, she was staring at him as if she knew him.

"We need to find shelter for the night," Beth said.

"My family out there somewhere."

Beth looked at him sympathetically. "Don't worry, we'll find them."

" The black army is probably busy clearing all the resources from the farm," said Sorscha.

"How do you know there's a farm here?" Max asked cautiously, something about her made him feel uneasy.

"I was here in this area about ten years ago," Sorscha explained. "It will be difficult to find your family here in the forest."

Max looked up at the sky, which was unfortunately obscured by the trees. "My father said that if we ever get lost, I should follow the North Star."

"Clever." Beth spoke with a warm smile on her lips.

Sorscha, on the other hand, looked at him sceptically. "Is your father a former soldier?"

" No....He just knows a lot about the stars."

The groups still had quite a way to go before they finally emerged from the forest. Max immediately looked out for the North Star and indicated the direction. The two women followed him. Sorscha kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were not being followed by the black army.

She wanted to avoid another conflict with them. Especially after what had happened a few months ago. She looked at her wife, even though Beth tried to hide, the death of Sophie was particularly hard for her. All those they knew from they former home were dead. Murdered by the Black Death.

Max could see an old wooden hut in the distance, with a large hole in one of its walls. Light shone out of it. The boy began to run a little faster.

"Max! Not so fast!" Beth warned and ran after the boy.

When they arrived in front of the ruins, Max first looked through one of the old windows. Sure enough, there in the hut around a fire sat his father and sister.

Carly heard a crack, she looked up and there through the hole in the wall came her brother. "Max!" she jumped up.

A stone fell from Reece's heart, he had already imagined the worst. But luckily he now had his son in his arms.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

The boy just nodded.

"Um, hello," Beth said cautiously as she also came through the hole into the hut.

Reece and Carly gave her a sceptical look. "That's Beth, she helped me," Max said quickly.

"Oh, I don't want to get all the glory," Beth said with a smile. "My love, are you coming?"

Sorscha stepped out of the darkness into the light. The mood changed immediately. Even after all these years, Reece recognised her. Carly placed herself in front of Max. Reece already had his hand on his pistol.

" Reece... Carly...", Sorscha spoke.

"Sorscha..." growled Carly.

Beth now intervened, glancing at her wife. She signalled to her to just stay calm. "It's best if we all stay calm," said Beth.

"Do you have any idea who she is! She's a murderer!" shouted Carly. "You told me I'd never see you again!"

"Can I help it that the boy ran into my arms?" hissed Sorscha.

"We'd better go again," said Beth, wanting to avoid a conflict as much as possible.

But before they could leave, Reece raised his voice. " Wait... It's dangerous now in the dark."

Surprised, Sorscha turned round, she wouldn't have thought that of Reece. The man was still staring at her with a sceptical look. But he seemed to want to thank them for bringing his son back to him.