The Unwanted Wendigo [ManxMan]

Chapter Thirty-five: A Family Affair - Part Two

~Chapter Thirty-five: A Family Affair - Part Two~ 

I can only guess that I have been on the run for at least thirty minutes before I finally stop to take a brief break, as it has started to lightly snow, and the ground is getting hard to run on with all the random patches of slush-mud hidden in the shadows of the trees and under leaves. Wherever we are, it is almost painfully remote, because I have not happened upon a single human soul. Of course, it is likely for that exact reason that this location was chosen, but it is a little unnerving that I have yet to even find a way out of the forest. After all, there are a lot of national parks in the United States, and I have to wonder if this actually is one.

Just how far can gods teleport? Is there even a limit?

At one point, I did actually come across a road, but though there were no humans in sight, it was not abandoned, as I saw more than a couple wendigo hanging around the area, possibly hoping to either keep me from hitchhiking out of the area or hoping to catch me crossing the two-lane street, as it did provide a pretty open view. Now, I could easily have gone further down the road and hoped that a human would drive by, but after spotting the waiting wendigo, I was hesitant to stay in the area, so I had moved to the nearest bend in the road and quickly crossed there before moving on.

No sense waiting if transportation won't arrive in time.

If there had been a car, I might have taken the chance, but my swim in the river had clearly slowed me down enough that they managed to get ahead of me - or maybe they actually took cars to get there so fast; who knows - and now I need to make up for that lost time. Well, after I take a moment to warm up properly, that is. My little jaunt in the river really might not have been the best idea, as, even with my natural tolerance to colder temperatures, I now feel cold under my wet clothes, and the snowy weather is definitely not helping.

Of course, continuing to move might help me warm up faster, but with how frequently I have to stop now that I actually need to worry about wendigo being in front of me instead of just behind, there is no 'continuing to move,' as I have to stop frequently to keep an eye out for traps. For a moment, I contemplate huddling up against the tree to make myself smaller, which would make me harder to see, and also increase my ability to warm up, but it would also decrease my chances of being able to run on a moment's notice should I hear someone approaching.

At least I don't have an immediate tail to worry about, even if I'm not out of the woods just yet.

It is for this reason that I make the decision to lean back against the tree I stopped beside instead of huddling up on the ground next to it. Standing around like this might not help me feel warmer, but the trees in this little thicket shelter me from the light breeze that feels like it has been blown straight from the Arctic tundra, so it is better than no shelter at all.

Can being frozen kill a wendigo?

Since I have never actually been somewhere cold enough to worry about being frozen alive, I would not actually know if it is possible, but...

Shaking my head, I remind myself that this is not the time or place for a morbid sense of curiosity. Someone will find me eventually, as I am still pretty sure that my capture is inevitable now that there appear to be wendigo actively looking for me in all directions, and I would like to get moving before that-

The sound of pounding feet is my only warning before a flash of white hair reflecting the moon's light catches my attention and hot, red pain shoots up from my lower arm. I roll out of the way when the wendigo throws some sort of a container at me - it smells like rotten blood? - that causes something to splash against the tree I was leaning against. Without bothering to see what it was, as the smell is enough of a hint to know that I will not like the answer if I wait around to find out, or what happened to my arm, I push off the ground and start running in the direction she appeared from, as I can always return to the river, if necessary.