Expedition Dead

Attraction

The rest of the day was uneventful. As uneventful as it could get in the dark, damp, creepy forest where the team was being stalked by a murderer. They moved slowly but made progress, stopping only for lunch and for a water break. 

There was no cave to sleep in that night.

Oliver and Travis made a tent out of thick branches and two sleeping bags. Julia got to work making a fire and another smoke trap. She desperately hoped she would fall asleep tonight- she was literally swaying on her feet.

Travis seemed to notice this. He touched her arm when she swayed backwards on her heels, just catching herself while she worked on the smoke trap. Her hands wouldn't do what she wanted them to do and she couldn't seem to sit up for very long.

She jumped at his touch, losing her balance and falling into him. He righted her and looked her over, concern in his eyes.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" he asked. He pushed a strand of hair out of her face and she leaned into his touch, too sleepy to fight her attraction to him.

"No," she mumbled.

He gripped her arm and helped her stand. 

"Well come on, then, we'll get you to bed."

"I need to make the trap," she protested.

He gently pulled her away and helped her sit on the sleeping bag she would be sharing with Raven.

"I'll do it. I saw you do it yesterday and it's easy. You just make a wide teepee and light the fire right underneath it. And cover it with a layer of leaves so the smoke doesn't get through the cracks in the teepee."

She sighed, laying down. He zipped her up and began stroking her hair. She sighed again, this time in contentment.

"Thanks," she muttered. Her eyes drooped shut.

He looked around to make sure no one was watching and touched her lip with his finger. "What happened?" he asked. "You have a cut."

She thought back to everything that had happened and shrugged. "I guess I bit it too hard when I was waiting on you guys to come back yesterday."

He gently ran his thumb over it, sending shivers through her. 

"Be careful, okay?"

She just looked at him, wondering where that came from.

"When we get out of here, I want to take you on a date. But you need to get out of here unharmed for me to do that."

She couldn't help but grin. 

"Okay."

He kissed her forehead and stood up. "Good night."

"Good night," she mumbled.

She watched him cross over to the fire and start setting up the smoke trap, and smiled. She rolled over and the last thing she saw before she fell asleep was Marvin glaring at Travis.

***

A shreik woke Julia out of a deep sleep. 

She shot straight up, frantically looking around until she noticed that Raven was the source.

She was having a nightmare.

Julia shook her. "Raven, wake up!"

Raven opened her eyes and looked up at Julia, then abrubtly bursted into tears.

Julia sighed quietly and opened her arms. Raven launched herself into them and cried until she was asleep again.

By this time, Julia was too tired to even fall back asleep. Everything ached and she physically felt sick, but  sleep wouldn't overtake her, no matter how hard she tried to let it do just that.

Finally, she sat up and crept out of the sleeping bag. She looked at the fire and jumped a foot in the air when she saw someone sitting by it. She saw Marvin's face in the firelight and put a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart.

"Did I scare you?" he asked, smiling.

She let out the breath she'd been holding.

"You could say that."

He scooted over to give her more room. 

"What are you doing up?" she asked him.

"I couldn't sleep. I was about to go wake Raven up but you beat me to it."

She frowned. "I hope this isn't a nightly thing. I can barely sleep with her being quiet."

"I know what you mean," he agreed. "I'm sorry you haven't been sleeping much."

She sighed. "It's okay, I'll live."

They grew quiet. "Do you think you will?" he asked.

Julia looked up at him, eyebrows drawn together.

"I mean, do you think Kevin is going to find us?"

She shook her head. "I hope not. I have no idea. All I can do is lead us through this and try not to let anyone else die."

"You can't help it if he decides to kill one of us. No one can."

She shrugged. "I still feel responsible. I led you all in here, after all."

He put an arm around her and drew her close. In the dark, sitting by the warm fire, as tired as she was...it was really comforting.

"We made the decision to come here, Julia. None of this is your fault."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, saying nothing. Tears came to her eyes. She was really touched.

After a while, her eyes started to droop. 

Marvin had made her feel so much better that she could actually sleep now.

She kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Marvin. For all of this."

He smiled at her. "It was my pleasure. Good night, Julia."

"Good night."

She crept back into her sleeping bag and tried not to think about the way she'd started to feel about Marvin.