Zero

Chapter 9: High Spirits

The forest was nearly silent, save for the swaying of branches, and the crunching of leaves underfoot as Luz and Amity carefully picked their way across fallen logs and uneven dips in the ground. The ground was mushy, covered in equal parts mud and moss. To Amity's displeasure, when they had first entered the train car hours ago she had taken a wrong step and got her foot stuck in the sunken ground for five minutes as Luz struggled to pull her free. After much effort, a few choice curse words courtesy of Amity, and a heated debate on whether or not to abandon the sneaker, Luz managed to pull Amity's foot out of the mud with a pop, nearly falling over in the process.

From the onset, the dark forest was bathed in an ethereal glow from the blue moon that shined from high above. The sky was devoid of stars, the moon provided their only source of light. Everything was shrouded in a dense grey fog that made it difficult to see further than ten feet in front of them. The air was crisp and cool, with the temperature gradually dropping the longer they walked.

Luz and Amity stayed close, no more than two feet away from each other, as both passengers found themselves increasingly unnerved by the eeriness of the train car they found themselves in. They had yet to run into anyone, denizen or passenger. And, if Luz was being honest with herself, she felt scared. She sensed they were being watched, and her neck prickled with goosebumps. The jagged wooden teeth that sprouted from the hollow insides of the trees that surrounded them did nothing to dissuade her uneasiness. And, to make matters worse, Luz and Amity had come across several mutated woodland animals with large eyeballs placed randomly on their bodies. Luz had screeched when one ran across her feet, scrambling back in terror.

Nervous tingles went up and down Luz's spine and she tried in vain to focus on putting one step in front of the other. Absentmindedly, she fiddled with the watch on her wrist, twisting it in a familiar and comforting fashion. It almost never failed to help ground her in times of trepidation. Suddenly, a whispered shout startled Luz out of her musings.

"Luz!"

"What?" Luz raised her head and turned to face Amity, not noticing the low-hanging tree branch in her path.

WHAP!

"Ow!" The branch hit Luz's forehead with a sharp sting, and sent her sprawling to the floor.

She heard footsteps approach her prone form, and the tired sigh that followed.

"This is the sixth time in the last two days that you've neglected to watch where you were going." Amity looked down at Luz with an irritated expression, lips pressed together.

Luz sat up, and rubbed her forehead with a wince. She could already feel a bump beginning to form. Nevertheless, she looked up at Amity with a cheerful smile.

"You've been keeping track?" Luz leaned forward, tilting her head inquiringly.

Amity scoffed, taking a step back, and crossed her arms.

"C'mon, get up. We need to find somewhere to stay for the night, it's only getting colder."

This wasn't the first time she had dodged one of Luz's questions, or amiable attempts at banter. Amity turned and stalked off, disappearing into the dense fog. Luz rose quickly to her feet and followed her, not wanting to be left behind.

The past two days with Amity had been slightly awkward at the best of times and horribly tense at worst. Even though Luz was immensely glad she wasn't traveling alone anymore, Amity made... interesting company, to put it lightly. Any attempt at conversation that wasn't relevant to traversing a train car or unlocking exit doors was promptly squashed or completely ignored. The passenger hardly spoke a word unless she deemed it necessary. At first, Luz figured Amity was still salty about the Colosseum Car incident. But, despite her apology when they first set off together and best efforts to be friendly, like giving Amity some space at the beginning of their shared journey, it was like she had hit a roadblock.