Perishable

Chapter 7

In The Present

I awoke, the smell of smoke overtaking my nostrils. At first, I panicked, and sprang to my feet. A forest fire wouldn't be too surprising at the moment. Then I saw Veri sitting in front of a small circle of stones, a fire blazing. My panic ceased and I smiled, walking over to her.

"What's this, little one?" I asked. She turned around and smiled. "Morning Aaro. This is a fire, are you blind?" I laughed and sat down on an old log she had pulled up for me. She herself was sitting on the ground, and I felt bad for taking the only seat. But I knew she was worried about my arm, and it did hurt like hell. So I took the seat, thanking her.

"How did you make a fire?" I asked, realization coming to me. "You went out alone again, didn't you?" I narrowed my eyes slightly, as she had disobeyed me once again. I figured I really would have to stay up for a while and watch her.

She shook her head. "There was a lighter in the backpack. I found stones and wood around here." I sighed in relief. She hadn't wandered off again. Or at least, I didn't believe she had. She could be lying, but Veri didn't normally lie to me. I was glad I wouldn't have to lose sleep.

I held my hands out over the fire. It was actually quite chilly this morning, much alike the day we had left. It was then that I realized how hungry I was.

"I'm starving." I muttered aloud, voicing my thoughts. She nodded, and her stomach made a strange noise, as if agreeing with me. I looked around the trees, hoping to see something even remotely edible.

"We're gonna need some food." I said, standing. "That means we need to hunt." She shivered, her entire body giving a strange shake. It unearthed me, and I almost went over and took hold of her. "But I hate killing animals..." She said quietly. I hadn't thought about it before, but when I was six, I couldn't so much as hurt a fly without bawling. This would be hard on her.

"I know. But you need to if you wanna survive." I said. I walked over to the tree, where my backpack was resting. I rummaged around inside, looking for something that could be used to hunt. Of course, he hadn't given us weapons. Then I cursed at myself as I realized what I had left at his house. My cell phone.

I picked up my backpack, a new inspiration filled me. "We have to go. I don't have my phone anymore. So we have to get there fast." I don't know why that made a difference, but having my last resort of communication with the agency torn away from me, even if it was only for emergencies, made me need to get there. As soon as possible.

Veri nodded and stood, apparently empathizing with me. She scooped up some dirt and threw it on the fire, putting it out immediately. We started jogging, and I was proud that we were getting going so early. I hoped that the rest of our days out here could be like this.

The air cut at our lungs and face, but we kept running. I was determined not to let anything stop us, as we had already lost too much time. I needed to get to Ali, and I felt desperation overtaking me. I started to think about how long it had been since I saw her, and if she would hate me for not saying goodbye. I could think of a myriad of reasons for me leaving that my boss could have made up. Questions ran through my head as fast as I ran across the ground.

Veri was breathing hard. I was still refreshed, and I didn't want to stop. I just wanted to run away from everything. I wanted to get back to Ali. I wanted to see her again, for the first time in years.

I started sprinting. Veri did as well, and her breathing was strained to it's max. "Aaro.... Stop..." But I didn't stop. I kept going, until my foot got caught on a root of a tree. I tripped and practically flew until I hit the ground, my face scraping the dirt. I felt it get in my eyes and I blinked several times, trying to clear my head and the dirt from my vision. I repeated my mantra of "She's alright, she's fine..." under my breath several times. I then stood up, but only walked.