Lost

Chapter 5

Fisher crouched near to the ground, eyes scanning over the faint four-toed tracks imprinted in the ground. They'd been standing there for over fifteen minutes.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Thora asked, taking a step toward him.
"I never said I did. And move back, you're blocking the light." She rolled her eyes but did as he said, wrapping an arm around Dell. Fisher hopped to his feet, pointing deeper into the forest. "That way." Without waiting for them he walked in the direction he had pointed. She shared a skeptical glance with Dell but followed anyway.
The prints gradually grew deeper and the air grew slightly warmer. The sun was rising, cresting the horizon, basking the land in a warm red glow. She let the sun that filtered down to the forest floor warm her face, let it fill up her lungs.
A walk in the forest first thing in the morning did wonders for an overcrowded head.
Fisher, who had huddled down near the ground a few feet ahead of them, balancing on the balls of his feet, whisper-shouted for them to hurry up and stay quiet. The two girls squatted down beside him.
"What is it?" Dell asked quietly. Fisher grabbed the plants obscuring their view and pulled them back, giving them a view of a flower-covered field in front of them. And the animal roaming in it.
The rumors passing around camp about the large, bird-like creature. The animal had a large, thick beak and long, scaly legs. Atop the long neck was a large head and a pair of beady yellow eyes. The feathers at its head were a dusty grey that faded into a deep, beautiful brown by its tail.
"It looks like a terror bird," she muttered in awe. Animals of the prehistoric era had always entranced her as a kid so seeing a creature like this was more extraordinary than she could ever put into words.
"Guess we're having chicken tenders for dinner," Fisher said with a smile, going to get up from his crouching position. She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket.
"Look." She pointed to the other side of the field. There sat a huge nest housing a clutch of yellow and blue-hued eggs. "She's a mother." Just as she said that a similar-looking, but much brighter-colored bird stepped through the plants. Its feathers were a mixture of bright pink and blue, reminding her of cotton candy.
"If you're so worried about it then we can take that one and leave the mother with her eggs," Fisher said with a slight roll of his eyes. Thora bit at the inside of her cheek. She hated how she felt bad for a pair of birds and their eggs. She hoped it would get easier the more she did it. "They'll be fine," he promised.
"Okay."
Dell let out a silent whoop, looking to Fisher to tell them what to do.
"I'll go with Dell," he started. "Commander, stay here. We're downwind." She nodded. "We'll try to scare it toward you. Sound good?" She glanced at Dell who was practically shaking with excitement before offering him another nervous nod. "Alright, come on Dell." He led the girl along the edge of the field where they disappeared behind a curtain of vegetation.
Thora licked her lips, heart pounding in her throat, waiting for the bird to come her way.
After a few moments, she saw Dell's smiling face pop up from the plant life. She waved happily at her before ducking back down. Thora managed a small smile at her friend.
The plants rustled across the field and a large rock was vaulted at the brightly-plumed bird. It hit its mark. The bird's head flashed up and stared in their direction. It let out an indignant squawk, which alerted the female that they were being hunted.
They made their way toward Dell and Fisher, heads bobbing up and down like chickens as they walked. 'Oh no.' She thought. They were going the wrong way. Which, in all honesty, made sense. If a rock was flung at you, you'd probably head toward it, not away.
She couldn't let them hurt Dell. She'd made a promise. Her thoughts muddled in panic at the concept of the girl getting hurt, Thora raised her gun to the sky and fired a shot, flinching at the resonating boom caused by it.
The birds paused, stared at each other with their heads cocked for a moment, before turning and walking towards her. Unlike before, when their walk had been unhurried and curious, she could tell they were angry. They moved their heads from side to side, trying to see better what the noise had come from.
They were advancing on her rapidly. She held the gun up, aiming at the female birds' leg, hands shaking. She took the shot, hitting the female's leg cleanly. She fell to the ground, squawking loudly and flapping her tiny wings. The male faltered, pace slowing. After a second of silent conversation between them, he kept advancing on her.
And then, she froze. The gun aimed at the bird's head, her entire body went stiff. She couldn't do it. He was just protecting his family. And those beady yellow eyes stared her down. Made her unable to move.
Something crashed through the foliage to her right and slammed into her. She was knocked to the ground, a sharp pain flaring in her side. Fisher, her brain finally realized. He wrestled the gun from her frozen hands and in one fluid movement aimed the gun and shot.
Quicker than the blink of an eye the bullet had reached the bird's head, sending blood and brains flying out in an arc onto the field. The bird seemed to fall in slow motion and when it hit the ground she could've sworn the earth shook.
Slowly, Fisher lowered the gun before directing his eyes to her. Dropping the gun, he rushed over, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her gently.
"What the hell happened? Did you get hurt?" he asked worriedly, his eyes scanning over her in search of any cuts or bruises. Dell burst through the leaves then, eyes wide.
Thora swallowed, trying to find her voice. "No, no, I'm okay." She tried to push his hands off her shoulders but to no avail. "I froze."
"No shit!" He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. The sounds of the injured bird were still prevalent as it flailed around, even though they couldn't see it. "You're an idiot. You were going to come out here with just you and Dell? If I hadn't been here you would be dead!"
"Wouldn't that be a good thing for you?" she asked, hating the quaver that forced its way into her voice.
Fisher glared at her before taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. She gasped as the pain in her chest reared up but was able to stifle it and neither of the others noticed her discomfort. She was fine, she assured herself. Fisher had knocked her down hard but there probably wasn't any real damage.
"I have a tarp in my bag," Fisher said, reaching into his bag. "We can wrap the bird in that and drag it back to camp." Thora could barely focus on the words he was saying. Every breath she took ached deep within her chest. In an attempt to hide it, she tried to keep her breathing shallow. It worked and some of the pain was alleviated.
Dell and Fisher unfolded the tarp, laying it out beside the bird.
"Commander, help me with this," Fisher called. Concealing her limp as she walked over was a bigger problem than she would have expected but she managed.
They heaved the body onto the tarp. Thora bit her lip the entire time, eyebrows lowered. After Fisher was sure the bird was securely wrapped, he turned to her with a deep frown.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," she snapped, her words coming out harsher than she meant them to. Fisher nodded curtly before picking up one end of the tarp which she took as a gesture for her to grab the other. Dell held onto the middle without being told to and Thora gave her a pained half-smile, which the girl returned widely.
"On three," she said. "One... two... three!" They all pulled at the same time and the tarp began to move.
The bird couldn't have weighed more than two hundred pounds, which was less than she had originally thought. Not that she was complaining. It was still heavy and pulling it did nothing to help the pain in her chest. She hissed quietly every time they jerked the tarp forward.
Walking backward through the forest wasn't easy. Thora stumbled a few times and Dell tripped over a root and fell on her butt.
"Can we take a break?" Dell asked from her spot on the ground, lips pouting. Fisher nodded, wiping his arm against his forehead. Thora didn't need to be told twice. She stepped away from the tarp and leaned heavily on a tree nearby. Fisher shot her a glance but didn't comment, not after she had snapped at him before.
Fisher offered her his water bottle when he noticed her reluctance to move and after a moment's hesitation she took it, guzzling a few sips before handing it back with a quiet 'thank you.'
He let them catch their breaths before clapping his hands together. "Alright. Time's up. I wanna get this thing back to camp before it gets dark!" She glanced up and noticed Fisher had a point; they had been out of camp longer than expected. The sky was turning a rosy orange above them.
She pushed herself off the tree with a grunt. "You okay, Dell?" she asked her friend. The girl nodded as she got slowly to her feet, pouting again. They took up their original positions before heaving the bird back toward camp.