“We should get going.” Emma said eyeing the bottle of water strapped across Nick’s chest. She wondered if there was anything left or if the blond had doomed them all and drank the remaining water. A loud groan from her stomach caused her to blush from embarrassment. She was not used to her body making that noise, it was embarrassing to experience these noises with Nick and AJ around.

AJ reached his hand into his pocket. He had saved half of his ration bar with the intention of eating it himself, but it was obvious how hungry Emma was and he was willing to give it to her. “Emma…” he started to talk but Nick spoke over him.

“I found something,” He beamed at the other two and motioned for them to follow him. Nick was excited to show them what he had found. They could at last eat and since it was fruit, though not as quenching as water, there would be some water in it too.

Nick showed the bush full of berries to the other two and took one off popping it in his mouth as Emma started to protest. “What if they are poisonous?”

Nick shook his head. “I watched those brown animals for hours this morning and saw one eating these berries.”

“Good thinking,” Emma beamed at him and pulled out a pouch from her bag and started to collect the berries, popping a few in her mouth as she worked. Nick joined in helping her but when she noticed AJ wasn’t doing anything she held her hand out with a few berries. “Here,” She offered him some smiling.

AJ shook his head and held up his ration bar. “I will eat this,” He sulked as he crammed the rest of the bar in his mouth. The bar he was going to offer Emma in hopes that she would look at him in the same way she was looking at Nick now.

“I was thinking there might be water around here somewhere since the animals were hanging around this area, perhaps they live here, but I haven’t seen any.” Nick reported.

“We shouldn’t hang around here too long anyway, if somehow they don’t believe Evan’s story we don’t want to be around in case they come back looking.” Emma piped up and the others agreed. They turned in the opposite direction, the direction they’d been walking in for the past couple of days, and started walking again.

AJ walked behind the other two. Nick’s discovery had given Emma and him stuff to talk about. Emma was curious to hear all about what he had observed that morning, and Nick was like an eager student wanting to please the teacher. When they stopped for a rest Nick was still talking about the brown fluffy animals he’d decided to call ‘puffballs’.

“There was one little puffball that actually had enough guts to start to approach me. He was intriguing to watch as his nose twitched. He got close but I moved, only ever so slightly, and he scurried off faster than I could think possible.” Emma’s face had a bright smile on it as she listened to Nick’s stories. She pulled out the pouch with the berries and they sat near each other eating them and talking about the ‘puffballs’ and everything else they’d seen now that they were free from the walls of their confinement.

AJ’s stomach grumbled uncomfortably as he watched the other two popping the berries into their mouths. When they first stopped they had offered him some but he had refused again, he wasn’t going to get sick from some berries Nick found. After their rest they started up again and soon AJ found himself falling behind.

“Wait up,” He called out before he heard a strange rattling noise. He was about to take a step forward when Nick yelled at him to stop.

“Nick, I’m too tired to play games.” AJ said before he started to move forward again. He saw something lunge towards him but before it connected with his leg, Emma’s bag fell flat on whatever it was. “What the hell?” he questioned his heart racing from being startled.

“Snake,” Nick whispered.

“What?” AJ asked hurrying away from where he was standing, grabbing Emma’s bag as he quickly moved. He turned and looked back where he was standing and saw a long rope-like thing lying in the grass. “How do you know what it is? I don’t remember seeing those in any book.” AJ mentioned.

“Not in our books, but in the medical wing.” Nick whispered. “When I had tests done I saw nurses pushing carts full of those around and so I asked about them. They are poison but their poison, when harvested can be changed to make healing medicine too.”

AJ shuddered looking at the snake lying flat only inches from where he had been standing. His stomach growling loudly broke the silence between the three.

“Do you guys think you can, maybe, share some of those berries?” AJ asked still looking at the snake. He almost died and he was refusing food because Nick had found it? He needed to get his head on straight.

“Sure,” Emma was standing next to him now; he could feel her standing close as the warmth from her body radiated to his arm. She took hold of his hand and opened it placing the pouch with the berries in it. Her fingers touching his skin were soft and sent chills down his arm and spine. He turned and looked at her. He noticed her lips slightly colored from the berries, he wished he could move closer and taste the berries on her lips. He stood looking at her, her cheeks turned red and she looked away quickly.

“Let’s get moving,” She said brushing off their intimate moment as if it was nothing. AJ smiled to himself at the thought of her being close. Perhaps that night he would get to be close to her again. He took a few berries from the pouch and hungrily shoved them in his mouth as he jogged to catch up to the other two.

*~*

The advanced guard stood in front of him. It was obvious by the man’s demeanor that he was flustered. The Luminary couldn’t blame him, his partner was dead and he had to explain how it happened. “Tell me again?”

“We were scouting the area when an animal attacked. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It stood taller than a man and was covered in fur. From where I stood I could see the size of his claws, it was amazing Adam lasted as long as he did against it.”

“And his body? You didn’t bring it back for proper burial?” The Luminary raised his eyebrows. All of the guard knew that to they would never know eternal peace unless they were cremated in the proper way back at Endwise.

“The beast dragged it with him. I would have fought to get it back but I knew you would want the information we had gathered about the escapees. I weighed the choices and thought it pertinent to get the information back to you post haste.” Evan stood perfectly still as the Luminary circled him. He knew he was looking for holes in his story, looking for any bit of information that did not match the first time he told it. Evan also knew he’d have to tell the story to the rest of guard upon returning and if any bit of it was different he stood a chance of execution. On his way back to the camp he’d made up his story and told it several times to himself to remember it.

“And what direction did they head in?” The Luminary was in front of him again. Evan’s eyes fell briefly on the red shirt before he snapped his eyes up to look straight ahead.

“They were headed south.”

“You are sure?”

Evan nodded. He had gone the direction himself and made tracks to give the guard something to follow to prove his story. Lying was all about the details. He breathed slowly waiting for the Luminary to respond if he believed him or not, if he held his breath or if his breathing became erratic the Luminary was sure to see through his lie.

“Howard!” The Luminary called waving for Evan to leave. He saluted and left the tent promptly leaving Howie alone with the Luminary.

“Tell the guard we are heading south tomorrow. I can only hope that we catch them before they are attacked brutally like Adam.” The Luminary smiled wickedly. Howie saluted and marched out of the tent to tell the guard, he hoped they did not run into any wild animals like Evan described during their search. The attack sounded brutal even if the other man was lying.