Progeny

Out of the Woods

"Sir, I still think that we could profit from them. Their king would pay a hefty price for their heads." My breathing stopped, and I tried to calm my erratic heartbeat.

———

I needed to alert the others without the men noticing. Maybe we weren't safe with them after all. My best bet was to wait until my friends were awake, so I stayed up all night. I watched as the sun began to rise, waiting. My breathing increased more and more as the sky grew brighter and brighter. The longer I waited, the more anxious I became. Some of the group began to stir and stretch. I screamed in my head for their grogginess to disappear. There was a pit forming in my stomach, telling me that something bad was going to happen. I desperately wanted to tell them everything, but I couldn't let the men grow suspicious. I needed to remain calm and act as if nothing were bothering me. As soon as John sat up, I walked over to where he was.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't think we should trust these men. I think they want to turn us in." I whispered, looking around nervously.

"Dianne, they aren't going to do that. That man said so himself." John sighed in annoyance.

"Seriously John, I heard them talking while you all were asleep. The man wants to sell us to the guards. I'm sure they all feel that way." I was starting to panic. I needed him to believe me.

"You heard him say this? It wasn't a dream?"

"I heard him, and the big man didn't say anything. He must have been considering it." I lifted my face up to the sky, trying to stop the tears from falling. John must have heard the fear in my voice because his face turned from annoyed to serious.

"Okay, then we need to figure out what to do." He placed his hand on my shoulder and looked me in my eyes. "We're going to be fine. Don't worry." I took a deep breath and nodded. After I calmed down, John went to talk to Darren. I made my way over to Audrey and Edith. They smiled at me, and I gave them a small smile in return. I didn't know if it would be a good idea to tell them how I was feeling. I was the one to reassure them that the men would protect us, and I didn't want to risk them panicking. If they did, the men might notice.

I looked over at John to see him and Darren already looking at me. I motioned my eyes towards the girls, asking John if I should tell them. He shook his head 'no', and they resumed their conversation. Darren folded his burly arms and continued to stare at me. Then, he turned his attention towards the Big Man. My mind was reeling. I was trying so hard to figure out what he was thinking.

"Alright ladies! Enough lollygagging around!", the big man shouted. Everyone went quiet and turned to face him. "We are gonna clean up at the river and continue back to Nar'n." As we were all getting ready to leave, a man began to yell.

"Hey! Get up you heavy slug!" We all looked to see who he was talking to. There laid a boy with dirty blonde hair, unmoving from his position.

"Didn't you hear you hear me? I said get up!" The boy still laid there, ignoring the man's yelling.

"Maybe he's dead", one of the boys joked. The others snickered, then stopped after a few minutes passed. We all looked at one another, confused.

"Oh for Christ's sake", Audrey huffed. She marched right over to the boy and shook him, but nothing happened. She paused, then shook him again more violently. The boy laid there, still as a statue, unaffected by Audrey's efforts.

"Rodger", Audrey called. "Rodger!" Her voice fell on deaf ears. That pit in my stomach never left, but grew instead. Without thinking, my feet took me to Audrey and Rodger. I bent down and placed my fingers on his neck. I couldn't find a pulse. I sucked in a breath and looked up at everyone. Their eyes searched mine for an answer, and I slowly shook my head 'no'. Everyone gasped and murmured amongst themselves.