Last Hope (Completed)

Chapter 5

After Sarah helped Remy get comfortable in the makeshift bed she made for her, Remy immediately fell asleep. Sarah stared worriedly at her. Then she went outside of their little shelter to make sure the fire was still going. She thought Remy did a good job collecting firewood for them. She looked at her again as she slept. Then she stood up slowly. It was close to getting dark now. She thought she should pay Remy's hard work by getting them a couple of fish to eat at the stream. She rolled her pants again and waded in the water. Since the forest had tall trees, it got dark pretty early. She could barely see anything in the water, but she tried her hardest to get them at least one fish. Then half an hour has gone by, still with no luck, Sarah tried her hardest to get them something to eat. After another half an hour, she tossed the spear towards the ground by the edge of the water. Sarah shook her head and took a deep breath. The water was getting cold now, but she thought there were enough fish passing by her legs that she could probably get one using her hands. Sarah bent down, but that caused her a great deal of pain in her body. She thought it must be the broken ribs that was causing her pain. She took a deep breath. She looked at the fire. She closed her eyes, trying to decide whether or not it was worth submerging herself in the water. She stared at the fire again. She thought maybe she'll dry quicker now that Remy has built a fire for them. Bahala na, she thought to herself. Although, she hesitated. The water was cold enough to make her body shake even though her legs were the only ones submerged in the stream. She took another deep breath. Then she lowered herself in the water by kneeling. The rocks hurt her legs especially her knees. Half of her upper body was underwater. She started shivering; her teeth started chattering. She could feel the numerous fish swim around her. She positioned her arms and decided to grab whatever she could. She grabbed some tiny fish and then some medium-sized ones. She tossed them by the grass. She could see all of them flipping themselves all over the ground. One even managed to flip itself back to the water. Then she thought it was a good idea to use the front of her shirt to scoop more of the small and medium-sized fish. Again, she tossed them all to the grass after she collected them. When she thought she had enough, she took herself out of the water. She wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered. Then she crawled hurriedly towards the fire to warm herself up. Her body shook even harder. She glanced over to the shelter to check on Remy who was still sound asleep, then she looked towards the grass where she had left the fish. Some of them were still alive. Sarah closed her eyes. Her body shook uncontrollably, but she figured she should gather all the fish before any animal comes around to steal them. She crawled towards the pile she collected and used her shirt again to gather them all. The task was made extra tricky as her hands trembled in the cold. She thought Remy was right. It was extra cold in that forest at night. The cold wind made it even colder for her. "Ang ginaw," she shivered. She's starting to think whether her idea of submerging almost her full body into the cold water was a good idea. Still, she managed to create something she could use to grill the fish with on the fire. She managed to carry four large stones that she jokingly thought was heavier than her. She put all four to encircle the fire. Then she used a sharp rock she found to take off at least some of the scales from the fish's skin. Then she put them on sticks like a barbecue. She alligned the sticks on top of the stones so that the fish were positioned just above the fire. Though her whole body was shivering like crazy, she was proud of herself. She thought it was the least she could do for Remy after she beat her whole body up just to build the fire.

Before the fish was ready, Remy woke up with an intense pain in her upper body. Sarah glanced over at the shelter when she saw something move inside. She was already falling asleep by the fire. Its warmth gave her comfort, but it was not enough to stop her from shivering. Remy tried to sit up. Her arms ached from the repeated motions she had to do to build the fire. Sarah watched as Remy stood up like a drunk man. "Remy?" Sarah called out. "Ate," Remy answered with a hoarse voice. "Okay ka lang?" Sarah called out to her again. "Yes ate," Remy said. She shut her eyes. Her movements made her nauseous. Then she carefully made her way towards Sarah. "Hala. Wow, ate. Ang dami nyan ah," Remy uttered. Her voice felt tight and squeezed out of her. Sarah immediately noticed it. "M-may masakit s-sayo noh?" Sarah asked as she trembled. "Why are you shaking?" Remy asked worriedly. She bent down and checked Sarah's forehead. "Ate, what the heck did you do?" Remy asked. She stumbled in the ground next to Sarah. "K-kasi naman. Yung, yung spear. Di n-nakakatulong. Dilim na k-kasi," Sarah said. She tried to conserve her energy. Her shivering was getting her even more tired. She hugged her knees as she sat close to the fire. "You're shivering because of your wet clothes. Palit tayo," Remy suggested. "No," Sarah argued. "Anong no? Ate, I bet matagal ka na dyan sa malamig and basa mong damit. Let me have it. Here, you can have mine." Remy begged. "No," Sarah said. Her eyes were closed while her head rested on her knees. "Ay ang kulit naman nitong babaeng toh oh. Either you have my clothes or you're going to be naked because I'm not going to allow you to sit on that. Magka-hypothermia ka nyan, Geronimo," Remy scolded, but Sarah continued to shake her head while she rested on her knees and hugged herself. "Fine!" Remy grumbled. Then she walked away frustrated. Sarah lifted her head up. She watched as Remy walked away. "Remy, san ka?" Sarah called out to her, but Remy continued to walk away. "Huy!" Sarah called out to her again. "Ugali talaga neto eh," Sarah mumbled. She was too tired and too cold to follow Remy. "B-bahala ka mawala d-dyan, k-kung yun ang g-gusto mo. P-pagod nako s-suwayin ka. P-pagod nako s-sundan ka. M-masunog pa t-tong isda k-kung iwanan ko," Sarah uttered as her body trembled. She hugged her knees again and closed her eyes.