The river proved just wide enough to stop the fire from burning everything beyond it. The group’ footprints hardly imprinted in the dusty shores. Ferrying across one by one on Blue’s back Tallen wondered where the man holding her hand was taking her. Kyle’s face fresh in her mind she let him pull her off the mutt’s back. Focusing in on the forest around her Tallen smiled, there were a couple of travelers up ahead, heading towards them. Hushing the two bickering men behind her she listened, hearing the hurry of the approaching figures as they break through the underbrush.
With a burst two girls fell onto the sandy shore in front of Tallen with surprise, “Hello, would you happen to have food?” Tallen asked looking at them expectantly.
“Huh? Shouldn’t we be asking you that?” one of the girls asked as she looked up at the group in slight fear.
“Who are you?” interrupted Noah before Tallen could waste their time with useless questions.
“We’re the twin, Mila and Mira.” The twins finished together pointing to each other as they said their names.
“What were you running from?” Konner interrupted, making Tallen tense. The leader was allowed to speak but the cripple would do better quiet.
“The Fire Assailants, their headed towards the river.” Mira explained as the two girls got up, figuring if the group hadn’t shot them already then they weren’t government.
“We need to head south then, follow the river to some sort of crossing.” Noah spoke out making Tallen look at him with question.
“If we head south, the likely-hood of these assailants being there is high, we need to head North to the source of this river, and the city beyond it.” She chipped in hoping it hadn’t sounded like she was making fun of his knowledge. Noah just returned the look of question but nodded shortly turning to look north along the river.
“The city of the north is big, miles wide, we’d do best to avoid it. Evil lies in wait there, seeking out its enemies.” Mila replied looking fearfully up river.
“It’s been decided already, we’re headed north.” Noah insisted making Tallen smirk at the girls incompetence, the leader obviously liked her more. “You’re welcome to join us though,” he added making Tallen’s smirk disappear.
Andie had long awoken, and as they continued north she got the twins to open up. They had been on vacation in the east with their grandparents when the war started, and after losing their grandfather to the war draft their grandmother had gone crazy, ‘Nutters’ Mira would say. So the twins, at twelve began to care for themselves, traveling from city to city. Tallen’s own stomach rumbled as they told the little girl about how they hadn’t eaten real food in days. Looking down at her hands, crusted with dark red blood she was tempted to reach out and start nibbling her own.
As dusked settled and the group watched as smoke claimed the sky, Noah found himself watching Tallen as she rolled out her knapsack besides Blue’s sleeping form. She had been off ever since her flashback, as if she didn’t know who he was. Though he had to admit the jealousy he had seen in her eyes as he talked to the twins was amusing.
Getting up from his seat against a tree he padded over, standing next to Tallen as she shuffled everything into a comfortable position. “Hey,” he forced back a laugh at her startled expression, he had never spooked her before, “Can you take a walk with me?” Nodding she stood up and followed him from the bank deeper into the woods.
“You don’t remember me do you?” he asked as he pushed forward trying to hide the hurt in his voice.
“I-I wish I could, but you see my brother just died, and I’m lost. My mother’s out there somewhere and I need to find her,” Tallen murmured pain already hurting her.
YOU ARE READING
Freedom Fires
Aventură{ On Hold -until I finish another story} In a world where nothing is safe, where the government is hunting down its own people, few have learned to survive. The frozen tundra of the north is nothing compared to the deserted cities of the south where...
