Lost

Chapter 15

"So..." Kenji started after Fisher explained their situation to him. "You're basing the survival of humanity on a hunch that this river will eventually lead to the ocean- which could be even more dangerous than anything we've encountered so far? Really?" That wasn't the reaction she had expected or hoped for. Her shoulders drooped.
"Trust me," Fisher said. "I just... I have this feeling that this is where we need to go, where we need to end up."
Kenji's eyes narrowed. "You've never been that type of person, Fisher. Following your gut, maybe, but nothing like this. Nothing like faith."
"I followed her," he nudged Thora lightly and she scowled at him half-jokingly. "There's more proof of this working than there ever was of her leading us somewhere safe." He glanced down at her. "No offense."
Begrudgingly, she admitted, "No, he has a point. I was- am inexperienced. In all honesty, we shouldn't have made it this far. It was all luck. So why would it run out now?"
"See?"
Kenji looked between the two of them, seemingly weighing the options. Finally, he rolled his eyes. "At least with this we have a lead. It beats randomly wandering the ground for years." He started to walk off to tell everyone else of the plan before looking over his shoulder, his eyes hard and cold. "And some peoples' luck did run out, Thora. You of all people should remember that."
Her chest tightened, like the weight of the sky was suddenly crashing down on her and she felt a fresh wave of tears. She forced them away, raising her chin, a cold retort hovering on the end of her tongue, but the boy was already gone.
"Hey," Fisher said, nudging her again. "He's just mourning. He didn't mean it." Nodding stiffly, she went to collect her things.

The Spares stood at the edge of the pond, silent and apprehensive. Passed those bushes, they had no idea what awaited them. But it was the same way with anything on Cressida. They never knew what lurked around the next dark corner.
Fisher gripped her hand tight in his, staring ahead, eyes steely with determination.
As one, they stepped forward.
As they walked, she thought about the strange creature they'd seen. It had moved so fast she hadn't even been able to gage its size, body shape, nothing.
If they encountered any more of the shadow creatures, she wondered if all the Spares together would be able to hold them off. The one before hadn't hurt them, but what if it came back with a pack? Would a tiny group of teenagers be able to fight them? She hoped so. Their weapons had to mean something.
Still, she couldn't help it as her eyes dashed around, her pistol held tightly in the hand that wasn't holding Fisher's. She worried that, even with the gun, she wouldn't be able to aim quickly enough to shoot the elusive creature.
Thora pushed the thoughts from her head and focused on not tripping over tree roots.
If she hadn't been so worried about the strange beings, the walk along the river would have been almost relaxing, even with thoughts of Aeryn trying to push through her serenity.
By the time the sun was retracting itself from the sky, the Spares were exhausted, their legs desperately trying not to give out as they walked, eyes threatening to fall shut. Still, Thora didn't allow them to rest. Not until the creeping sensation on the back of her neck dissipated. The group all but collapsed in relief.
They wasted no time in getting back to walking once everyone had a quick water break. Even Thora had to admit that all she wanted to do was lay down in the middle of the path and sleep. They forged on, until the air grew even colder and gnawed at her fingers and face, even with the sweat beginning to form.
Other than the occasional flutter of leaves, or crack of a branch being stepped on, there was no noise, no sign that anything but the Spares were there.
They stopped for water and food three more times. All of them were tired, but not one person complained. They all wanted to get wherever they were headed as fast as they could, as if that would cause their problems to cease. It was strange, but even Thora felt that way. That everything bad would magically disappear once they got to their new home.
Once they were in a place where, if he was still alive, she could reconcile with her brother, make things right, and convince him that what had happened wasn't her fault. She just wanted her big brother back. The feeling hit so hard it felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Urging herself not to bend over and hurl up her meager dinner, she took a deep breath, and marched forward. 
When the sun finally showed itself over the treetops, Thora allowed them to rest. She was so tired she didn't even pull her sleeping bag from backpack, just curled up on the spongy ground, her head resting on her arm. Her eyes were already dropping shut when Fisher plopped down next to her.
"Seems a little backwards to me, Commander," he said suddenly as he moved her head into his lap, back resting against a tree. He gulped a few sips of water from his water bottle before she spoke up.
"What does?" she asked, although she was so tired that she didn't really care.
"Walking all night and sleeping during the day."
"It's cooler at night- a better time to work up a sweat. Hotter during the day- better for when you're doing nothing," she explained into the fabric of his pants, her sentence interrupted halfway through with a huge yawn. Fisher chuckled slightly, his fingers moving to her hair. He worked out the knots. "What are you doing?" Something felt different, like his movements had a purpose.
"Braiding your hair, silly." 
She said nothing as he continued to work. With the gentle caress of his fingers in her hair, her eyes finally fluttered shut and she drifted into sleep.