Decemberland

Chapter 12: Cry of the Damned

"Where are you going?" Phillip demanded, running after Nico who had walked out without a word while everyone was facing the other way.

"I'm going to look for Clarity, what do you think I'm doing?"

Phillip stepped in front of her. "The black hell you are! You nearly got torn in two not even an hour ago! You're in no condition to go anywhere."

"Nah, I feel fine," said Nico, rotating her arm. "Outta the way!"

"It's still dangerous out here, Nico."

"You want me to clock you in the face again?"

"Dear divines, you're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Nope." Ignoring his short attempt to convince her, she stepped around him and continued walking, but he wouldn't leave her alone.

"I was going to do this for you, remember?" he said, keeping up with her pace from behind.

"I'd rather you not. I haven't been enjoying your company as of late."

"Damn it all, Nico, if you get yourself killed by one of those things-"

"What?"

She stopped and turned around to face him, staring him straight in the eye. His hard look wouldn't faze her any longer. The eyes that used to scare every man that looked into them, she overcame. And she made sure he knew that.

"What exactly are you going to do if I'm killed by one of those things, Phillip? How is it that you suddenly care what happens to me?"

Phillip stood quietly, as if ready to take the tongue lashing he knew he deserved. A faint hint of regret revealed itself behind the apathy across his face.

"I don't hate you, if that's what you're thinking."

"Is that so? Then what did you run me all over the forest with a knife in your hands for? To get your money back?"

"I had a lapse in judgment. And I'm trying to make up for it."

"Don't." Her voice cut through the air like the edge of razor. "I don't want you to make up for it, I don't want you to apologize, and I don't want you to do anything. I just want to forget about it. You're not the first one to step on me."

Turning around to head off again, she rubbed her shoulder and started rotating her arm again. "Now if you're gonna come with me, you're gonna have to keep up or I'll leave you behind."

More than making it clear where the two of them stood, she also wanted to make it clear that she didn't actually hold anything personal against him. Time would do the healing like it always had with her. Hopefully he would get the message. Guilt might attack him later on, but at least he knew that she didn't hate him, either. And some small part of her wanted him to regret.

She heard Phillip sigh. "Well, you'd better not get yourself chewed up again, because you're out of luck if you do." That was more like it.

***

Clarity pulled herself over the fence with all her might. This was the second time that she climbed it within five hours, the second time being much harder thanks to her injuries. She managed to reach the top and flopped over it, hitting the ground with a thud.

"Ow," she groaned.

As she wandered closer to the train station, watching for wendigo tentatively, she got a good glimpse of the utter train-wreck that the area was in. Before, she was barely conscious. But now it was clear-Nico nearly killed them saving their lives. Thank goodness that trains these days weren't run by engineers anymore. For sure the head of that collision would have been killed.