The Runaways

Chapter 18

"Hey!" Cody said with a smile on his face. He snuck up on Juliane without a sound and poked her in the shoulder, which made her shoot up from the place where she was sitting.

"Where the hell were you?" Juliane yelled while staring him down, frowning as she had been for the past day.

"Hey, calm down." Cody responded flatly. "All you have been is depressed and it's making me that way. I was just exploring the perimeter and seeing if there was anything useful around here. I found a blackberry bush and the berries sure were tasty." He smiled to reveal his teeth were temporarily stained a deep purple.

"Where are we Cody?" Juliane said dumbly.

"Well we're still in a forest and it doesn't look like we're getting out anytime soon," Cody smarted off. "If you want some of these blackberries I'm willing to share." He held out his hand.

Juliane slapped the berries out of his hand and stepped on them. "Stop messing with me!"

"Juliane I'm not being any different than I usually am. What's happening to you.?" Cody quivered and backed off a couple steps. He looked at the smashed berries on the ground and decided that Juliane was best left alone. He lifted his eyes to look at her and the twilight left a weird glint in her eye. She was going mad and might as well have rabies, because he could picture foam coming from her mouth.

"I'm fine, but I'll be better when this is all over." She responded.

"Oh, well we need to make camp," Cody said. He found some dead sticks and dried leaves and made a pile of tinder and made a circle of medium sized rocks around them. Then he placed two large rocks across from the circle that he and Juliane could sit on. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she stared off into the distance. "By the way, you look nice!" Cody said, doing anything to break the silence and improve her mood.

"Thanks," she said flatly.

Who are you and what have you done with Juliane? He could imagine asking this creature that took over her body. How could he remain the same and she not? He took his shirt and pants off and ran to the edge of the bank of the creek. He did a cannonball and felt the water wash over him. It was cleansing in itself but he used shampoo anyways to wash off.

Several minutes later he got out and went behind a tree and put on a fresh pair of underwear, some shorts, a t-shirt, and his hiking boots. He didn't know why he bothered hiding to do it because Juliane was ignoring him as much as possible anyways. It really did feel good to be clean again though.

With a fresh wash, Cody walked over to the fire pit and knelt beside it. It was now actually dark enough for a fire to be made, so Cody grabbed a thin stick and a piece of bark. He put the bark under the tinder and rotated the stick quickly enough to create smoke and a little spark. He blew on it and a flame arose in the sparks place. Juliane hadn't seen the process because she had her back turned plus she was a little ways away.

"Come sit with me and talk," Cody said. He knew she couldn't just stay out there forever. It was dangerous. They both knew that nowhere was safe at night. Not the city or the country. So what was she doing?

Juliane didn't budge so Cody asked again. "Come sit with me and talk Juliane," he repeated, "please."

It must've been enough because Juliane responded and took her place on the rock on the other side of Cody.

"So tell me what's up," Cody said.

"Well we both know," Juliane said. Cody was just glad she said something more than one word. He didn't care if he knew or not. "I wanna go home," she finished.

"Look, I don't want you to feel like this is your fault Juliane," Cody said, poking the fire with a stick to keep it circulated. "The three of you know that if it's any of ours it's mine. Like I said earlier, we will get through this together."

This registered more and more because a tear formed in Juliane's eye. "A day where you and I don't talk and stuff really sucks. Hannah too. I just wanna let you know I trust you and that you'll get all three of us out of here okay."

"Of course I will," Cody responded. He didn't want to make her feel any worse than she already did, but he didn't know if he could get HIMSELF out of this mess. "I love you," he said to let her know he cared.

"I love you too!" Juliane said. The firelight was orange and warm and left a soft expression on her face. It wasn't a smile, which Cody had failed to make her do, but it wasn't a frown either.

"Are you hungry?" Cody said.

"Yes a little," Juliane replied.

Cody checked the pack and they had nothing left but a sleeve of crackers. He pulled it out to show Juliane. "We're just gonna have to make due for tonight." He said sadly. He got up and sat by her. A little rock across the firepit. They were the closest they physically had been ever since the wreck.

They shared the crackers until the sleeve was empty and Cody let it go. It floated away in the wind. Cody listened to the night sounds. He heard insects and the occasional howl of a wolf. He remembered the stories of the wolves he heard when he was young, Indian folk tales he was told even though he was Caucasian.

"What are you thinking about?" Juliane asked, which caught Cody off guard.

"Right now? Probably the shock of you asking me that!" He laughed.

"Oh really funny!" She said. "Well I think we should get some sleep!"

Cody got up and moved away. He used the pack and propped it against the rock and placed his head on it. Juliane used her arm as a headrest.

Cody stared at her face on the other side of the fire, before he knew it she was quick asleep. He found a jacket in his pocket of the pack and wrapped it in a bundle and placed it under her head. She couldn't be replaced he knew.