Amalgam Nation [This could possibly shock you, you've been warned.]

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter 16

Insects chirped as the sun disappeared out of sight, leaving a white-yellow glow above the horizon in it's wake.

“Why are you travelling together Beth? Don't you feel any...Awkwardness?” I asked as I picked the last of a raccoon carcass clean.

“Do you feel awkward with me?” Lexbeth's eyes glinted in the firelight. I shook my head and she purred, delighted.

“It happens. At first your instincts scream at you to rip each other to shreds but as you learn about each other and become accustomed to the smell, I feel no different than if they were lynx.”

“It still seems unnatural to me.” I said, I looked over to where Flynn and Key were working on a basic long bow with Darla. Yult was fast asleep next to the fire, every now and again he would wake and move closer, then huff and move away as embers burnt tiny holes in his jacket.

Speaking of clothes. . . “Could I wash Beth? These clothes are disgusting.” The reality was these clothes have the remnants of Nae ground into them.

“Would you like a companion? Let's get Flynn's too. I would never have mentioned but he does smell of death.” She smirked.

I coaxed Flynn out of his dirty outer clothes but he refused to sit around in the nude. Fair I suppose.

Lexbeth and I followed a slow stream down to a natural shallow bay. Beth had fashioned a torch so that we could make a fire close to the stream's bank. With a small fire crackling and spitting giving us both light and somewhere to dry our clothes my stomach lurched with fear at the thought of getting in the water. Especially at night. Every ripple in the murky stream had my heart racing.

It was at this point that I realised just how my life was controlled by my fears. This fear was an especially stupid one. Even if a body appeared out of the gloom like it had back at the lake, what would it do to me? Would it hurt me? Kill me? No. Just frighten me. It would scare me. There is no harm in that.

I took my clothes off and sat on the bank next to Beth. There was no awkwardness between us, we chatted as though we were clothed. I soaked the blood encrusted clothing in the water and then worked it between the sandy bank and a flat rock. By the time I was through both Flynn's clothing and my own my arms were getting shaky and sweat glistened on my brow.

Lexbeth hung our clothing on a spiny bush next to the fire and my jeans on a rock to help it dry out. Night had fallen while we washed the clothes and I was again watching the water.

“Do you ever worry about 'gators Beth?” I asked as she sat next to me again.

“Pfft, you worry too much, you need to loosen up.” She had a glint in her eye. “Like this.”

Lexbeth scrambled to her feet, ran to the fire and leaped over the pit. I gaped at her as the flames licked her legs and feet. She promptly landed and came at me. She soared over me where I sat on the edge of the stream and dove into the deepest part of the water. The blond woman surfaced, spluttering she tried to breath and laugh. I couldn't help but peel back in laughter watching her struggle, her own mirth was her downfall.

“Come on Rex, do the same as me. Let go.” She splashed at me and I recoiled. My fear returning to the pit of my stomach. I wasn't just frightened to go in the water. It held more significance than that. I needed to be cleansed. I had to let go of what was my family, say goodbye to my pack and farewell the life I knew before. Where I had grown soft, I was loved and comfortable which lulled me into a false sense of security.

I bit my lip, found a piece of dry skin and pulled at it with my teeth. Step up Arrex.

In order to move on I had to let go, I needed to be clean, unburdened. In order to live I knew this silly, little game was me proving to myself, I had what it would take to survive the next chapter of my life.