Human

New beginnings

The piglet wriggled in the girls arms and she sighed, putting the piglet down she watched it run to the side of the path and nuzzle its snout in the dirt. She'd taken to the trail that led through the forest, towards the next town. The sun was setting and little light streamed through the canopies above. She leant down taking the pig in her arms again and walked faster. If there was one place you wanted to rest at night, it was not in the woods.

There was a snap behind her and she broke into a run, I watched as she fled from the path in a blind panic, all the while clutching to the pig like a child. She stumbled and dodged through trees, branches grabbing and ripping at her clothes. When she slowed down, I watched as her expression turned to one of shear confusion as she realised she was lost. She turned in a circle but the clearing she'd ran to was surrounded by tall trees and foliage. She heard the snap again and crept towards a tree with a hollow at its base. She settled there cuddling the baby pig and staying quiet. I watched as she rested her head on the piglet in her arms and cried. Deep down I felt a pang of guilt, but I brushed it aside. She still had to prove herself.

The girl fell asleep within the hollow and so did the piglet. Me, being my sensitive self stayed and watched her. I kept away hidden dangers and before long, day came and she woke. It took seconds for her to realise the depressive events that had occurred to her and she got up and walked away from the clearing. I used three snapped branches to lure her back to the path as she frights easily.

When she returns to the path I set her on. I realise how, close she is to the town. This can't be....she mustn't meet with more of her kind! Then an obstacle I simply cannot remove appears. The boy. He is walking up behind the girl and when he sees her he shouts out. I step back. I presume fate has his ways. I step back uninvolved watching carefully.

"Hey! Girl! Please stop." He jogs down the dirt path to catch up and she pulls her hood up and walks faster. "Hey! Please! I need your help." He begins to catch up and she speeds up holding the piglet tightly. "Please miss. I'm lost! I need to know where the nearest town is. I'm in need of help." She stopped dead in her tracks at the plea on his voice letting him catch up. "Thank you. I've been walking for hours." He was clutching at his side and she looked down, the hood shielding her features. She placed the piglet down and swung her bag in front of her her fingers caressing the fabric. She put her hand in the side pocket and pulled out a small sack. Sitting on the grass verge to the side of the path she motioned for him to sit, and too my surprise, he did. Her fingers scoured through the small sack and she pulled out a spray and roll of white gauze. She pointed to the red stain beneath his hand and he pulled it away. She didn't speak, just pushed him so he lay down and lifted up his shirt. Even I winced at the wound he had sustained.

The cut was deep but the skin around it was turning black and purple, veins spread like black ivy around the gouge and it was clear infection was setting in. The girl worked efficiently, she sprayed the disinfectant on her own hands and then into the cut, causing the boy to cry out. I watched them carefully smiling at how unaware the girl was at how the boy examined her features. Every time she touched the wound to clean it he would tense, trying to suppress the pain he was feeling. She grimaced and he frowned deeply. She looked at him apologetically and with two fingers stretched the cut and pulled out a wooden tendril, along with a maggot that was infesting the wound. When it was out the boy, who had paled dangerously, nodded thanks. The girl applied more disinfectant and placed a gauze over it, followed by a bandage which she wrapped around his waist. Still silent, she dabbed at the scratch along his temple, it was less severe than his side. She stood up and walked to a tree and wiped her hands which were crimson, she couldn't remove the stains completely but she didn't seem fazed by the blood, in fact she had acted rather professional the entire time. Returning to the boy she sat next to him. He was yet to sit up and looked at her with a worried expression.

"I'm sorry." He pushed himself into a sitting position and placed a hand to her hood pulling it back. The girl looked at the floor her brown hair falling into her eyes, her lips pressing thinly against each other. It was no mistake that she was the girl from the photograph, however rather than the bright, miraculous hazel eyes that looked into the lens. These eyes were darker,haunted and distant as if she wasn't truly here but somewhere else entirely. He tilted her chin up "Thank you, I guess you just saved my life." She nodded and stood up walking to the piglet which was now a snout in a pile of leaves, picking it up she began walking along the path again, taking her belongings with her. The boy struggled to get up, and part crawled, part stumbled to catch up.

He stopped central to the path and shouted "please wait! I haven't had company for such a long time. We'd both be safer if we stick to-"

She spun around on her heels and for the first time I heard her speak. "No. Everyone who I loved died because this world has gone to shit!" Ouch. "You'd be safer away from me."

"You just saved my life! You can't just walk away. I'm basically in debt to you!"

She scoffs "And? You owe me nothing but to carry on with your own life. This isn't some post Apocalypse film that used to be in the cinema! Just because I saved you doesn't mean I want you to stay with me."

"Please! I had to take stuff from your house too. You've helped me far more than you think. I recognise you from the photograph I put the flowers next to. I'm sorry about what happened to your family. I really am, but I lost mine to disease. I've been walking for weeks! I was attacked by wooden men, for goodness sake! And now I've met you! Please, we need to stick together."

"If I say yes will you quit pitying me?" Gosh this girl is cold. The boy nods desperately. "Then try to keep up."

"Thank you! You won't regret this I promise."

She turns and raises an eyebrow, shaking her head at the green eyed boy with a lopsided smile. "What's your name?"

"Ray. As in sun rays. My mother loved to watch it pierce through the blinds at dawn." He shrugs as she tilts her head "And you are?"

"Oh! I'm Asha, its Indian for hope." She shrugs mimicking the boy "No reason, my parents liked the name." The boy laughs to himself "What?"

"Nothing," he replies "but I'm going to need a whole lot of Asha to keep going."

She giggles giving in to her hard stare "That was so cringe worthy, even the piglet agrees."

"I bet she does. Does she have a name?" He looks adoringly at the ball curled in her arms.

The girl stops puzzled "I haven't had time to give her one. What do you think?"

He holds his hands up "I wouldn't put that responsibility on me. I had a pet goldfish called Mr Fish."

She laughs heartily "How creative. How about we call her....Erm....well this is Petals path, it leads to the nearest town. So Petal?"

"Perfect! I agree on that. Do you want me to carry her for a while?"

"It's okay, you're still pretty injured. Plus she's not that heavy yet."

"Where are we going?"

"I was heading to the next town, but they're likely to have been ruined like my town, so I think its best we head for the city?"

"Lead the way then Asha." He gestures with his arm. I watch them walk on side by side, their conversation turning awkward every few seconds when someone brings family up. They're heading for the city, but I shall pursue them soon.

What neither of them saw however, was the tree twisting and growing limbs from the dried blood by its roots. It jutters forward and stumbles onto the path gasping. It cracks it's body in the direction of where the couple have now disappeared and drags itself at a snails pace after them.