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The men had given the females furs to cover themselves better with, and I gave Noelle my spare set of pants because her skirt had been the most ill-fitting clothing item. From what I had gone through, I knew they needed a hot bath, more food, and sleep in something resembling a bed. Lots of sleep.
The caves would provide all of that, but we had to reach them first.
Running into the femaleshad not only been a stroke of luck, but it also illustrated how far Holly had come.
While my males took turns carrying the females once the sun hit its zenith and it was clear they had reached the end of their endurance, Holly marched on undeterred. She was so far removed from the exhausted female I had found in the woods, it made me proud of how resilient she was.
The other females were fighters, too. I didn’t think they would still be alive otherwise. But this world had a way of killing even the strongest person if they weren’t lucky enough to find a tribe. Nobody could make it out here alone, not even the strongest warrior.
If it weren’t for the myriad of predators or hunger that killed someone, it would be the elements. The days were fairly warm, but the nights were chilly, and soon winter would once again envelop everything in a white blanket.
As much as I liked the sight of the white flaky stuff coming out of the sky that blanketed the entire countryside, I knew how deadly it could be. Especially in the mountains. I had seen itcome down like the mightiest wave, burying everything in its path.
We made camp, and I doubled the sentries. There were only ten of us, and all of us would need some sleep, but I didn’t trust how easily the humanoids had given the females up. So I made sure the females had weapons and were protected at all times. I nearly didn’t allow a fire to be lit because it would give our position away, but the dropping temperatures and shivering females made me change my mind. Ensuring they didn’t get sick, or worse—freeze to death—was a higher priority than not giving our location away. Not to mention the trail we were leaving that even a blind male could have followed.
We roasted more of the meat and baked the last of Sel-Gor’s dough into warm flatbreads the females devoured with expressions of utter delight.
“I never thought I would eat bread again,” Noelle exclaimed.
“This is delicious,” Brigitte agreed.
Only Cara kept quiet. She nibbled on her bread and meat but appeared beyond caring if she lived or died, which was strange considering she was the one who ran from the humanoids.
“Are you alright?” Holly asked Cara, picking up on the female’s listlessness as well.
Cara stared into the flames. “When I ran today, I thought they would kill me. I was ready to die.”
That, I understood. It was hard finding yourself alive after having committed yourself to dying.
“I thought I would either be free or dead,” Cara huffed. “I didn’t think it would be so difficult coming to terms with being saved and alive.”
“You were on a high when you ran. It’s hard coming down from that,” I explained. “Many warriors experience the same after a battle.”
Cara looked up at me and must have found what she was searching for in my eyes. She nodded. “Will I be okay?”
“You will. You are a fighter,” I assured her.
“Do any of you know what happened? Why we’re here?” Holly asked, and the apprehension in her voice tore at my heart.
How many times had I railed against what the Manx had done to us? But at least I had known what had happened to me and why. Holly had none of that.
Brigitte's head moved from side to side, “Not really, but we have some theories.”
“That’s more than I have. Please,” Holly encouraged her, “tell me your theories.”
“We threw a few things around, but we think it was like some kind of wormhole?”
“A… what?” Holly looked perplexed.
Brigitte’s face turned wry. “Some kind of wormhole, some kind of experiment that went horribly wrong. Scientists and governments play with all kinds of things all the time, like how to make it rain or change a hurricane off course."
“Toys for a bunch of crazy scientists who would risk extinguishing all life on Earth rather than stop their stupid ideas about playing God or with mother nature.” Brigitte fumed.
“Don’t mind her. Git was a reporter before this happened and—” Noelle explained but was interrupted.
“And I warned people about this,” Brigitte snarled. “I. Warned. People! And now here I am! Here! Fuck!”
Agitated, she rose and walked away from the fire, headed toward the shadows that had crept up on us. Holly was about to rise and follow her, but Oredeon beat her to it. “I’ll keep her safe, I promise.”
