Prisoner

Chapter 17

John Hansson

The morning after Jarve died, at about 4am, I woke up to Adaryn screaming bloody murder.

I shot up to a sitting position and looked beside me to where he lay. Adaryn was laying there, screaming, shaking and perspiring. He looked as if he was in excruciating pain.

Across the camp, I saw Adonis prop himself up on one elbow and look our way. Clev remained still.

When the screaming didn't stop, I move to Adaryn's side an began to shake his shoulders. His skin was abnormally warm.

It took several seconds of me vigorously shaking him before Adaryn's eyes shot open, wide and full of fear. He stared at me in horror for a moment, breathing hard, before he closed his eyes with a groan. I took my hands off him and sat down on my mat. Adaryn rolled over so his back faced me and went back to sleep. I did the same.

* * *

I tore a small chunk of bread off the small loaf and put it my mouth, trying to ignore the taste and texture. By now, all four of us were awake, sitting side by side next to the fire.

No one talked for a while, and finally Adonis stood.

"We need to get moving. We have already stayed too long here. If we are to achieve our goal, we need to be to the next town by sundown." He announced.

Immediately, I stood and began to gather my things. Adaryn, who looked tired and pale, poured water onto the fire, putting it out. Clev stood off to the side, shoulders sagging slightly.

Within the hour, everyone was ready to go and on their horses. With a heavy heart, Clev had tied Jarve's old horse to the pack horse. Around 7am, we began to ride out of the tree line and onto the plains once more.

* * *

We had been riding for almost three hours when I noticed Clev was lagging behind, slumped in the saddle. With a sigh, I slowed my horse until I he caught up, and I was riding by his side.

Clev hardly even acknowledged that I was next to him. He just stared off ahead. For a while, Clev didn't say anything. Finally, he spoke up.

"What do you want?" He growled at me. I was surprised at the anger I heard in his voice.

"I just want to make sure you are okay." I told him. Clev scoffed and shook his head.

"My best friend, my brother, died yesterday. Why would I be okay today?" He said.

I watched the soldier for another minute. The huge weight on his shoulders was almost visible to me. Not knowing exactly what to say, I sighed and gave it my best shot.

"You do know him dying wasn't your fault, right? Because it wasn't." I clarified. Clev looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Do not start with that." I shook my head.

"It wasn't!" I told him. "The virus, or whatever it was, killed him in less than twenty minutes after he woke up! Even if we had realized something was wrong the night before, which we didn't, we still wouldn't have been able to get him to town in time! There was nothing any of us could have done."

Clev listened to me, clenching his teeth. When he spoke again, his words were spat out like fire. His rage was beginning to show in the reddening of his face.

"I could have saved him!" He shouted. Far ahead, Adonis turned his head to look back at us. "If I had gotten to him sooner, Jarve would still be alive right now." Clev kicked the sides of his horse hard and raced ahead to where Adonis rode, leaving me alone.