*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Earth's Knight - Ruth Watson* Part 2 - NARTHWICH

Chapter Twelve - Unknown Dangers

*Hodgson POV*

Two weeks have gone by and we haven't found any further evidence of where the girls were. No campfires, nothing. The trail seemed to go ice cold again. I was getting extremely frustrated. We found the best clue in the whole world as to where they went and now zilch.
Perkins and I were forcing the troop to speed along, desperate to find something that will extinguish our fears. We would get them up at the crack of dawn and only rest when the sun had fully set and there was no point going any further in the dark.
Now, Jackson and Clayton had had enough.
"Can we stop for one minute?" Clayton moaned. "I need to rest."
"We will rest soon, Clayton. Keep going, mate." I tried to encourage him.
"I want to stop too." Jackson joined in. "I need a piss."
"I think my shoe has a stone in it." Clayton added.
I groaned, throwing my head back in annoyance. "Fine! Ten minutes, lads!"
The rest sighed as they slumped to the ground, leaving only Hunter, Perkins and I still standing. I rolled my eyes to them as if to say, 'can you believe this?'
Hunter shrugged and sank to sit on the floor before taking out some leftovers from this mornings breakfast. He quietly ate while watching the others chat among themselves.
Perkins shook his head and leant himself against a nearby tree, arms folded and eyes glazed over as he reminisced about Green. He had been taking to doing that more and more recently. It was his way of keeping himself going strong and not giving up.
I didn't need to do that. I dreamt about Watson every night, but it was now the same nightmare I've had since Stainton was killed. Starting in the forest, just us, before she disappears, the huge tower destroys a house and Atkinson emerges holding her head. I shuddered, trying to remove the last image from my mind. I sighed and looked at what everyone was doing.
Jackson had disappeared, probably to go and relieve himself.
Moon was standing away from the group, talking to Grimes who sat about a meter away from him. They were deep in discussion about the last conflict we had with a Duskwing. The beast had taken a considerable beating from us before it decided to finally die. The blasted thing took one of Edwards' fingers clean off when it managed to knock him down. Poor sod had been screaming all night from the pain.
Edwards was sitting opposite Moon and Grimes, looking around the forest for any dangers. I had to hand it to the red Viking, he was always on form, but the Duskwing battle had made him nervous. He never truly let his guard down and although he hadn't come out the same, he had done everything in his power to ensure no one was badly injured or killed.
Clayton was leaning against a tree, his boot off, trying to hook something out from inside it. His complaining was really starting to get to me, now. He even complained about having to be the one to carry Staintons sword this morning. Lazy son of a bitch nearly got a beating for moaning about that.
I heard footsteps approaching from Moons direction and knew Jackson was now back from his little trip. I sighed and bent to sit down on the ground when a weird gurgling sound reached my ears.
I looked up and saw Jackson standing behind Moon with his blade out. Moon's eyelids were drooping, his mouth hanging open. He had blood seeping out from under his chin. Jackson had slit his throat!
We all immediately jumped to our feet, raising our weapons at Jackson, who seemed to have cracked under the pressure and gone mad. His mouth was pulled back into a crooked grin and he was drooling. His body was staggering about, as if he wasn't able to fully control it, and his eyes... His eyes were glowing! A gold gleam radiated from them. Why were they like that?!
Jackson let Moon drop to the floor before launching himself at Edwards, who had barely gotten to his feet.
Chaos broke out as we all rushed to defend ourselves. All of us yelling, screaming, and darting all over the place from the surprise and panic that one of our very own was attacking us.
Edwards raised his shield just in time to meet Jackson's attack, and swung his fist hard into Jackson's ribs forcing Jackson to buckle to the side. He unsheathed his sword and stood in a defensive position, but Hunter and I had pinned Jackson down.
"The fuck is wrong with you, Jackson?!" I bellowed at him.
Jackson started flailing around, his arms and legs going in all directions as he struggled to break free from our hold.
Trying to hold him down with one arm was proving difficult, so I shook my sore arm out of the sling and tried to put Jackson into a headlock. Jackson was having none of it, and sank his teeth into my arm.
I screamed from the pain and tried to get my arm out of his mouth, but Jackson wouldn't let go. I punched him repeatedly with my other hand. The others rushed forwards, Hunter was trying to prise Jacksons jaws open, while Grimes and Perkins tried to pin down his thrashing arms and legs, getting punched and kicked in the process. Clayton kicked Jackson hard in the groin, making Jackson's teeth clamp down even harder, piercing my skin deeper, I felt the flesh being ripped off the bone.
I shrieked in agony, backing away, looking at my bleeding, wounded arm. He had gone so deep into the skin, I could see bone visible through the blood. I gritted my teeth from the pain.
Jackson gave an almighty yell as he used all his energy and finally, he managed to break free from the five boys who were holding him down. He snatched up the nearest weapon to him, Grimes' mace, and pounced at Clayton. Clayton just about scrambled out of his way, but Jackson swung the mace around extremely fast, and smashed it into Clayton's back. You could hear his spine sickenly crunch as the impact completely shattered the bones along with his ribs, Claytons pain so excrutiating, he couldn't even make a sound, just fell to the floor with a silent scream. Jackson wasted no time in bringing the mace down, caving Claytons head in.
I didn't even have time to register what had happened before Jackson roared a loud battle cry and charged at me.
Grimes knocked me out of the way and, using Jackson's own longsword against him, started duelling with him. Edwards, Hunter, Perkins and I stood frozen to the spot, watching the horrific battle between the two.
"RUN!" Grimes yelled. "I'VE GOT HIM! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Perkins and Edwards grabbed their bags and went to make a run for it, while Hunter tugged on my arm, trying to pull me away.
Jackson brought the mace down on Grimes' shoulder, snapping his collarbone. Grimes wailed from the impact, staggering back.
"No!" I shouted, wanting to help Grimes. "No! I won't leave you!"
"GO, HODG!" Grimes managed to bellow back as he swung the sword round into Jacksons arm, slicing his hand off.
"Come on, Hodgson! We gotta get out of here now! He's buying us time!" Hunter shouted over Jackson's and Grimes' yelling.
With one last look at my two companions, I grabbed the closest bag to me, and legged it with Hunter in front of me. Perkins and Edwards were just ahead of us, darting between the trees and jumping over protruding roots and boulders. The sound of Jackson and Grimes fading as we fled further and further away from them with no idea which direction we were heading.
We ran so hard and so fast for at least a couple of hours that, eventually, we fell to the ground. Completely spent. All gasping for air and nursing our injuries.
None of us could move, we just laid on the forest floor,  five minutes or so, Perkins dragged himself to his feet and fished in his bag for some old clothes. He then ripped it up into makeshift bandages, bringing a couple over to me. He took my bitten arm and tightly bound it, making sure to do it as quickly and carefully as possible to minimise the pain he was causing me. Hunter looked over Edwards while Perkins attended to me.
We were all badly shaken up, trembling violently, holding back our terror and sorrow. Moon, Clayton, Grimes and Jackson left behind. We will never see them again.
I was overcome with guilt for leaving Grimes to take on Jackson alone. I should have helped him! I should have taken over from him and fought him myself! It became so over powering, I broke down. Every emotion rose to the surface, forcing me into a heart broken, sobbing mess.
Upon seeing me break down, Perkins gave in too, followed by Edwards and then Hunter. The four of us sat there pathetically wailing, sitting apart from each other as we just let it all out. We didn't acknowledge each other until our sobbing had ceased and only our sniffing, along with the odd cough, could be heard.
Without uttering a word, we rose to our feet as one and trudged further into the forest with our backs to the sun in silence.

Several hours later, the sun has started to stain the surrounding trees with red. Knowing we wouldn't get much further, I lifted my arm to the others to signal it was time to rest for the night. Removing our bags, we collapsed to the floor, exhausted and tired from the day's events. We were all still feeling fragile and tender but thankful to be alive.
Perkins rummaged in his bag and produced some crackers that were now looking very stale and dry. Our food was running out fast so I made a mental note to try and source some more over the next couple of days and make that a priority.
As we ate, my mind wandered to the girls and what they must have gone through, and quite possibly, still going through. Had they found safety? Or are we travelling on a fools hope now?
I scrunched my eyes closed so I could imagine Watson's beautiful face. It was becoming more and more difficult to bring forth an image of her alive now. My mind only seemed to focus on the image of Atkinson holding her head up from my dream. How I wished I could find out if she was still alive and safe!
Hunter dragged himself to his feet, stating he needed to relieve himself.
I nodded. "Don't go too far though," I murmured to him weakly.
"I won't. Sorry if you hear anything," he joked half-heartedly, trying to lift our spirits.
I gave him a tired smile and he turned to go into the trees.
A few minutes later, we heard him gasp.
"Hodgson! Perkins! You have to see this!" His voice cried out from the trees.
We all scrambled up and made our way to see what he had found.
"It's another campfire!" Hunter pointed to the ground in front of him, and sure enough, there it was. "But look here, do you recognise this?"
He picked up a round empty bottle.
Edwards folded his arms. "It's a bottle." He stated, obviously missing what this meant to us.
I took the bottle from Hunter. "It definitely looks like one of the bottles from the girls display cabinet." I said, studying it closely. "Looks like they had a little drinking sesh." I found the corners of my mouth twitching to a smile as I felt safe in the knowledge that the girls had found the time to drink and relax.
"Am I missing something here?" Edwards asked, furrowing his brow. "How would you know that came from their cabinet?"
Hunter, Perkins and I exchanged concerned looks before I sighed. "Edwards, we have a confession to make. There's no need to keep it a secret anymore. You see, Perkins, Hunter and I... we want to find the girls more than anyone. Not so they can be punished for killing Stainton, but so we can keep them safe."
Edwards eyebrows shot upwards, his mouth falling open. "You want... to protect them? B-but why? They killed a man! They need to pay for what they did!"
Perkins stepped forward. "You know just as well as the rest of us that the girls wouldn't have killed someone in cold murder. They were doing it in self defense. Stainton was a selfish, evil cunt. He more than likely deserved what he got!"
"We are positive that they went through hell to end up killing Stainton. They wouldn't hurt a fly normally." Hunter added.
"If only they could hit a fly in the first place," I joked. My heart was feeling a hundred times lighter now I had let myself get rid of all the emotions earlier and on finding out that we are on the right track. "The point is, the girls are just as much the victim as Stainton. Atkinson wouldn't have heard their side of it, and he would have still dished out the execution without considering all the evidence in front of him!"
Edwards thought for a moment. "Wh-what about the reward?" He mumbled.
Hunter rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Uh, that was a lie. Sorry. It was to keep Jackson and Clayton off the scent because they were greedy fuckers."
"Hmmm." Edwards looked down at the campfire, then up to the empty bottle in my hands. "I admit, I never thought the girls would have killed Stainton without a fucking good reason. In fact, I actually thought Stainton had targetted them first and they retaliated, accidentally killing him..."
"Exactly!" Perkins cried out, happy that Edwards didn't think the worst of them. "I don't know whether you knew this, but we knew the girls better than anyone. Green was my girlfriend!"
Edwards blanched. "Really? You were with Green?"
Perkins nodded proudly.
"What the fuck did she see in you?" Edwards said.
Perkins' proud expression turned dark and he glared at Edwards, but Edwards was smirking back, showing that he was joking.
"Let's sit by the fire and talk, it's starting to get cold now." I suggested as a cold wind whipped through the trees, making us shiver.
We started heading back to our campfire that was beckoning us with its warm glow.
"So, if Perkins was with Green, who was with Goodwin?" Edwards asked.
"No one." Hunter asked, but he looked away, hiding his feelings from us.
"And Watson?"
"I plan to make my move on Watson," I stated. "So she is off limits!"
Hunter and Perkins chuckled, Edwards smiled.
"That leaves Dean then, what do you think she has to do with all of this?" Edwards said as we reached the fire and sat around it, huddling closer for warmth against the bitter wind.
"The girls used to spend every evening at Dean's Tavern, so they grew pretty close to her. I suppose they ran to her after Stainton and told her what happened. She Must have ran with them... Of course, we won't know the full story until we find them." I guessed.
"That's the most likely," Hunter nodded. "But what if Dean was the victim and the girls leapt in to defend her?"
"Just as long as Green isn't hurt, I don't care what happened!" Perkins murmured, his eyes glazed over as he thought of her.
I chuckled seeing my friend reminisce.
"The more I try and get my head round what could have happened to them, my mind just keeps firing blanks," Hunter said, quietly.
"Sounds like my Friday evening..." Edwards joked, making us laugh.
I looked into the fire, thinking. Today had been one that I will never forget. We found further proof that we were on the girls trail and they had, indeed, made it this far. But we lost half our team to someone we thought was one of us. This made me wonder.
"Why was Jackson's eyes glowing?" I thought aloud.
Perkins, Hunter and Edwards looked at me, stunned I had brought it up so soon.
"I don't know." Hunter muttered, his brow bunched together. "It was like he was possessed."
"I have never seen nor heard anything like that happen before, it's a complete mystery." Edwards shrugged.
"I think we will need to stick together until we find a village or something and know that we're safe." I said, looking to the others who nodded in agreement.
Perkins stifled a yawn with the back of his hand.
"Sorry, guys. I'm done. I'm going to try and get some sleep." He grumbled sleepily.
"I think we all need to get a good nights rest. It's been one hell of a day." I yawned. "I'll do the night shift tonight."
"No you won't, I will." Hunter shot me down. "I came away with just scratches, you're missing a chunk out of your arm!"
I looked at my bandaged arm. "Ok, fine. If you're sure." I rubbed my eyes.
Hunter took his sword out and starting pacing around in a circle around us, while Perkins, Edwards and I settled ourselves down to sleep.