Subject #013 | ✓

Chapter 20

The next few days pass in a blur. It eventually got to the point where I forgot what day it was, and instead, I counted the number of times the sun disappeared. I've been especially quiet these past few days, only talking if I need to, and, surprisingly, Alix doesn't push me. Besides, Liz has been around a whole lot more lately because of his leg and my...uh...phobia, so we don't exactly have time to talk about our problems.

The weather hasn't changed much over the past few days. No more snow fell, which worked in our favor. As for food, we're close to being forced to eat animals. I'm not big on that suggestion, but it's either roasting deer over an open fire or starving. I personally would rather not choose the latter, even if it means I'm a vegetarian when all this is said and done.

While I was gone on my little dauntless adventure, Liz was forced to stitch up Alix's leg so the infection couldn't spread any further. Based on their light-hearted mood today, one could assume that his leg was, in fact, getting better.

Alix still hasn't moved much from his spot lying against Grayson, but he did move a little yesterday, based off of the grunting and the "I did it!" Alix yelled for all of the United States to hear. It must suck for him, to have to sit against a tree all day when someone of his skill and experience is used to being up and moving at all times.

Unfortunately, Alix couldn't simply stay another night outside or he'd surely get hypothermia. This is pretty much the only reason Liz enters the tent. To sleep or to grudgingly tell me she is in need of my help to get Alix inside before he freezes.

I've spent a lot of my time these past few days wandering around the outskirts of camp, searching for anything out of the ordinary or just for fresh air. That little tent is more claustrophobic that one might expect. I normally don't have a problem with small spaces, but the confinement becomes unbearable after hours of sitting and staring at the sides of the tent down so hard I can almost make out the tiny little pieces of fabric it's made up of.

I've been feeling so many strange emotions lately that I can't figure out which one I really am. I'm impatient because I've been forced to sit in a certain area for days on end while Alix's leg heals slower than city traffic when I could be following those tracks. Hell, I probably would have found my parents by now. I'm also broken in so many ways because of everything that has happened. But mainly, I'm angry. I'm annoyed at Alix for weighing us down. I'm frustrated with Liz for acting like she's all that, when really, she's just a brat. I know it isn't right for me to want to leave them, but the thought becomes inevitable when you've been hurt. And it hurts more when you're being stabbed over and over again on top of an already open wound.

Liz is a completely different story. On the day she jumped out of that tree and told us all she wanted was a piece of the action, I believed her. Now, she's practically been hanging off of Alix. After hearing her that day when she spilled her guts to Alix in private, I actually made the mistake of feeling sorry for her. But once I saw her draping herself over him like a stylish curtain, any sympathy I may have once had died.

The sun is leisurely sinking down under the horizon for the third time, ending the third day of our "camping trip". I'm sitting on a stump a few hundred feet from camp, staring off into space and absentmindedly tracing circles into the snow at my feet when I hear Alix's voice.

"Jess! Time for grub!"

Ah, my cue. Though we've purposely been eating our edible food slowly, it becomes hard to hide the insistent growling of your stomach after only eating a stale cracker or two. I'm not one to complain, though. Not after everything I've been through.

"Coming!" I yell back, though I make no signs of movement for a good minute. When I'm sure he's right about to yell something again, I finally force myself off the stump, brush the snow off of my jeans, and walk back.