Fading Flames

Chapter 2

I looked at my cracked watch, it was broken but it still told time. "He should be here soon..." I said, looking up into the sky. "Who?" Mabel questioned. "Crystal. Crystal can help us..." I said, not looking away from the sky. "Oh yea... he's been gone for 3 weeks..." Mabel said, following my gaze. I looked back down at the fire, and sighed frustratingly. "We have no food left, don't we..." I said, thinking about the portions we ate last night. I walked over to Stanford's and Stanley's tent and cracked it open a bit, they were talking and stopped when they saw me. "Yea Lily?" Stanley asked me. "Do we have any food left?" I asked. "Yes, but not enough for everyone..." Stanford said. I sighed. "Alright. Make sure everyone under 18 gets food first, and if there's anything left split it in half and give it to everyone else. Cut me out of the list, that way everyone will get something." I told them. "But Lily, you need food, you're the weakest here... you need to stay alive..." Stanford said, putting his hand on my shoulder, looking at my patch. "Its better off if my teammates are feed and I can last for one more day. I promise." I reassured him. Stanford sighed. "But, we still wont have enough food for everyone..." Stanford said. "I'll go hunting for some stuff. Shouldn't be to hard..." I said. "No, you shouldn't, your too weak Lily, you need your strength. I'll send out a hunting group and they will bring back a lot more stock than you alone. Please lily, your pushing yourself to hard." Stanley said, trying to urge me not to weaken myself more. I sighed, knowing that his words were true. I needed to keep my strength so the same thing that happened two months ago wouldn't happen to anyone else. I nodded. "Alright, get the group ready..." I told them, walking out of the tent. I sat down on the side of the hill, and looked over at the sunset silently alone. I started to remember the time me and Dipper sat on our favorite tree under the exact same sunset, but it looked so much more beautiful when he was still alive. It was our favorite hill, we escaped reality there... We talked about everything there... learning how to drive, getting a car, buying a house together, having kids... but, I guess that's impossible now... I thought silently to myself as more tears fell from my eyes. "Hey kiddo," I heard someone say nearby. I quickly turned around and saw Wendy, and wiped the tears out of my eye, trying to hide that I was crying. She sat down beside me. "Hey, you don't have to hide it, we all cry sometimes... and if anything, you have the right to cry..." She told me, cracking a small smile. "I... I know..." I stuttered silently. "Listen, I know you have been pushing yourself really hard these last few weeks, and everyone is saying that you should take a break and rest... your extremely weak Lilz. I can see it in your eyes. Well, eye, but you get my point..." Wendy said soothingly. I yawned a tiny bit and nodded. "But, if I stop, who knows when another one of those creatures could jump out and attack us again... killing more of us..." I said as tears fell through my pants. "I know... but don't forget... your not the only one here. We all can fight, and since that one time, we all set up camp in the same place, so we all could fight if they attacked again." She reminded me. "Oh yea..." I said, looking back up into the sky. "So, take the day off tomorrow. Stan and Ford will take charge." Wendy instructed me. I hesitated before nodding. I really did need some time to rest and heal. "Now come on, they just sent out a hunting troop, lets go find some water." She said, holding out her hand to help me stand up. I smiled and took her hand, and we walked around to go and find some water.

Wendy and I walked back to the camp with buckets filled with fresh drinking water from a nearby river. As we reached the camp, we saw everyone gathered around the camp fire, and Mabel saw us and waved. We waved back and set down the buckets by one of the tents and I sat next to her, and Wendy sat next to me. I looked over at the freshly killed buck that lay next to the fire. Wendy's oldest brother was cutting the legs, hooves and head apart. I leaned back against my rock and sighed. "We got food..." I said and smiled. Mabel nodded excitedly. I felt my eyes start to get heavier. I started to get a bit dizzy and decided to close my eyes and rest for a small period of time. The next thing I knew I was being violently shook away by Soos. "She's awake!" He said and sighed in relief. "Oh thank god..." Stanley said worriedly. I looked up, everyone was gathered around me in a circle. "w-what happened..." I said weakly, squinting. "You passed out... and started to turn really pale... and you stopped breathing for a bit..." Wendy said, picking me up slowly. She put her hand on my forehead for a moment before looked back at the group. "Its bad, she has a fever." She said worriedly. I looked around weakly, my one eye making my vision blurry. "You need to eat something Lily... and drink some water." Wendy said, setting me back down and handing me a piece of skinned deer. I immediately sank my teeth into it, the sweet juices flowing into my mouth. Wendy put a canteen next to me full of water. "Thanks Wendy..." I said after I finished chewing. She smiled "No problem, don't eat to fast though." She said, and everyone began to eat. After everyone finished, I started to feel dizzy again and I told Wendy, I drank some water and she helped me get into my bed where I could rest and try and heal.