Dust

Chapter 6

Polaris sent Ark and Sirrah hunting, warning them to use their shots wisely. Sirrah was a pretty good shot, but she never used a sniper like Ark did. A sniper allowed him to see far distances for any animal, or Undead. The two of them did not stray far from the shelter, staying near it.

Rachel gained her strength back, and the fever went down. He saw no signs of the black veins appearing on the surface like before. He wasn't sure if that was from the poison or not as Lion's Bane was not known for causing such symptoms. Polaris required she stay in bed for a bit longer until the following day when they would move onto another location.

"I see one," Sirrah said.

"Undead?"

Sirrah sighed at him. "No. A deer."

Ark looked through the scope and indeed found a deer picking at the grass. With a steady hand, he pulled the trigger but the bullet missed. The deer fled the scene quickly, and they lost sight of it. They found a rabbit to kill instead. One shot was enough to kill it. Ark didn't enjoy killing animals, but it was for their own survival. A lump in his throat always formed when a wild animal was still alive and in pain if one bullet was not enough to kill it. He tried making it as painless as possible.

They brought the dead rabbit back to the shelter. Davyd skinned it, while Sirrah had a fire going to cook it.

Ark threw a log into the fireplace, watching it rise high. Is it a good idea to even have a fire in the middle of the woods? He thought. "Everything good, kid?" Polaris asked, putting a hand on Ark's shoulder.

"Yeah," he replied, focusing on keeping the fire not dying out.

"I wanted to thank you for listening to me yesterday," Polaris said. "I know it was... hard not to be there with us."

"It was no problem." But Ark knew in the back of his mind, it was a problem. It should have been someone else, like Davyd, who stayed with Rachel. Davyd was the one who left the door open in their other shelter, allowing the Undead to come in. Even Sirrah was a better option to stay than Ark. "Why did you have me stay?"

"Because if anyone could defend Rachel and Josie from enemies, it was you."

"There was nobody else around."

"That's not the point. I said if."

"You took Davyd, who did much worse."

Polaris closed his eyes for a short moment before opening his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "You are mad about me not taking you," he said, as more of a statement than a question. "I took Davyd so he could redeem himself."

"You never told me that."

"Do I have to tell you everything?"

Ark stared at him and nodded. "Yes."

"Well, Ark, I have news for you, and you are not going like it. I can't and won't tell you everything. I only tell you the most important things."

Ark didn't know what his problem was. Why couldn't he have accepted that he made a mistake by not taking Ark along to Rusvil? Was it that hard to admit it? He thought back to their conversation a few days ago when Polaris spoke about the others mentioning how Ark seemed to enjoy killing the Undead. "I just don't understand why you don't trust me anymore," Ark said.

Polaris was starting to get annoyed with him. "Let it go. You won't have to worry about this for much longer. In maybe a few weeks we will get to the portal and –"

"I don't want to go," he interrupted. Polaris was silent. Ark studied his expression, a mixture of shock and anger.

"You what?"