The Seven

Chapter 3: The Exodus

Cam immediately turned and loaded the wendigo that dared hurt his best friend with bullets, not stopping until he was all out, blinded by pure rage. However this quick bit of distraction proved to be a large mistake, as some of the wendigos on Cam's side began to move in closer. He couldn't maneuver with his large assault rifle and quickly ditched it in favor of his pistol. The beasts were closing in on all sides and the group began to lose hope. However they all felt the need to protect Harley, so they fought them off as hard as they could, seemingly exhausting every bullet and ounce of energy they could. Then suddenly, something came over the wendigos and the remaining few backed off and ran into the forest, vanishing like phantoms.

After the sense of impending doom had worn off, everyone immediately gathered around Harley as the girl writhed in pain. There was a large gash from the middle of her thigh down to her knee. Rick picked the girl up and rushed her inside, putting her on one of the cots lining the walls. He immediately took off his shirt and put pressure on the cut. Claire went to grab the first aid kit from the wall as Cam filled a bucket with warm water. Rick pulled his shirt off the cut and Cam proceeded to pour water over the wound, which thankfully wasn't too deep. Cam then pulled a needle and thread from the kit. "Anyone know how to sew?" he asked inquisitively. No one spoke up. "I suppose I'll do it myself then." He began to sew the wound together, unfortunately for Harley, very slowly so as to not mess up the sutures. The girl began squirming again, more-so than before.

Claire turned away, but lay a hand on her younger sister's head, too horrified to see her sibling in pain. Cam abruptly stopped. "Harley you need to stay still for this, or else I might do more harm than good!"

She looked up at him, pale from the blood loss. "But it hurts Cam! I can't take it, it's too painful!" the girl exclaimed. Cam decided to have Rick and Claire assist him by holding her down. As steady as he could, Cam finished the sutures and cut the thread at the end. Each draw into her skin provoked a wheezed groan, and Cam's hand almost faltered, knowing how much it must have hurt.

The stitching was messy, but tight. It would do.

"Okay, now to get you bandaged up, and I don't want you moving at a pace that could worsen that these next few days." Cam scolded. Harley reluctantly nodded her head, hurriedly wiping off any stray tears.

Sena finished bandaging the girl and they began converse about what went down and how to prevent it from happening again. "We obviously have to move, we're sitting ducks out here!" Nathan exclaimed.

Sena responded, "We have to hold our ground, moving is too risky especially with Harley's injuries. We have to stay put." Cam added, "Moving is too dangerous at this stage. We have to wait for Harley to recover. Even though we're practically out of resources." He was right, the group had used up practically every bullet they had in their arsenal during that fight. They had barely enough bullets for anyone to have a full mag. Claire piped up, "We're also almost out of food and clean water. None of us have had a decent meal for weeks. We're starving, we're becoming dehydrated, and another attack like that and we're all gonna be lying dead where we stand. We need to move out, or face the harsh reality."

"I don't know if any of you have noticed but...", everyone looked at Rick as he pointed towards a small chunk of the wall that was missing, likely from the grenade explosion. A wave of panic came over everybody. "Great, now if we don't starve or die of dehydration, we'll all freeze to death!" Sena exclaimed.

"We have to get out of here, find new shelter." Cam said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"But Harley's injured, I bet she can hardly walk." Rick mentioned. He was right. Harley was hurt and the group wouldn't be able to travel as quickly as they'd like. The wendigos would come back, with more and more reinforcements. They always did. They fought off at least 30 or 40 in this battle with one serious injury, who knows what the next fight could bring.

Cam knew they had to leave, but he didn't want to think about what would happen if they were attacked while on the move. They were down one man, or rather woman, but if they were attacked they would be distracted by having to defend her. Nevertheless, Cam started gathering stuff up in his pack as the others stood around him. "Well? What are you waiting for? We have to move, now MOVE!" he exclaimed.

A new solemn mood settled as the windows became foggy with condensation. The weather was getting colder, and the distant shrill of the monsters that populated the mountain danced in the harsh wind.

Everyone began shuffling around, checking every nook and cranny for food, water, or ammunition. Cam found a box of .45 LC bullets that he and Sena could share, along with a half empty box of .45 ACP for his the rest of the groups' pistols. However the rifles were out of ammo and therefore, useless. Cam turned to Rick, "Should we take the rifles with us in the hope that we find more ammo somewhere? They're our most effective weapons."

"No", Rick replied curtly. "They'll just be more weight to carry. We already have Harley that someone has to carry, along with the rest of our rations." Cam nodded in agreement. The chances they would find more ammunition would be slim to none. They had been lost in this forest for weeks now. They had no way to contact anyone on the outside. All of their cell phones had died at this point, but it didn't matter because there was no service. They hadn't seen any sign of other people here aside from the cabin, and there was no sign of life aside from the wendigos. They were truly dead to the world out here.

"Alright, all packed up everyone?" Cam asked, wanting to move soon as it couldn't be far from nighttime at this point in the day. Everyone nodded and they began walking through the thin layer of snow covering the ground. The dead wendigos had started to rot and decay, leaving a rancid odor that caused the group to gag as they passed by. Cam carried the bulk of the rations as his pack was the biggest. Claire carried hers and Rick's stuff as Rick was carrying Harley on his back. She mumbled apologetically to him and he shifted her up, carefully avoiding her bandaged thigh, dismissing it.

As they walked through the snow they felt a sense of calmness fall over them. The forest was quiet and seemed peaceful. All of them began talking about all the food and luxuries they would enjoy once they finally got out of the mountain.

"Honestly the food I miss the most? Jelly Beans." Cosmic said disdain.

"I miss energy drinks, and bathrooms." Cam responded

"Hot cocoa by the fireplace sounds so nice right now." Claire added.

"Guys guys honestly the best thing about being home right now would be a nice warm bed, blankets right out of the dryer, brand new pillows." Sena said.

They all nodded in agreement with each other's fantasies, all of them sounding like a paradise right now. For a second, they all could only think about returning to those lives once they got out of the forest. Then they all began to wonder if they would ever get out in the first place.