Plague Of The Wise

Chapter 6

The next day was difficult for all of us.

Yvonne got on mine and Audrey's nerves, sparking fights that sometimes lasted for about an hour, over the most trivial things. Zachary always backed her up, even though he looked like he wanted to do anything else. She seemed to think every problem we had could be solved if we simply did what she said, but it couldn't. She even had the audacity to try and send Zachary down to the creek, several hundred kilometers away, to find suitable drinking water.

"Are you kidding?" I demanded as soon as the words left her mouth. "In a forest full of bears looking to fatten up before hibernation, and wolves, and cougars, not to mention any moose or deer that are in rut season and feel like killing a human being might just be the way to mount the lady they've had their eyes on?" I rolled my eyes, implying sarcasm.

Eden cocked their head. "Mount is such a primal word," they said.

Jack snorted. "We're no better than cavemen now," he said. "We literally live in a tree shelter and rely on fire for warmth. We're Adam and Eve and their eight additional irritating friends."

"Who's Adam and who's Eve, then?" Hillary asked, not even paying attention as she stretched her arms over her head. We had just eaten some of our last food packed from yesterday for lunch and she insisted on not pulling a stomach muscle.

"I'll leave that to all of your imaginations," Jack responded, pulling out his phone from his pocket. "Should we see if we can get a signal at the top?" he asked.

"Maybe," I said. "Although if someone went through the trouble of locking us in here, they found a way to disable our phones."

Jack hit his phone against his knee. "Must have died in the cold," he said, not sounding at all frustrated. "Guess that means more off-the-grid living." He smiled.

Yvonne had her arms crossed over her chest and a fierce expression across her face. "Fine, I'll go with Zachary to the creek. The rest of you, find something useful to do." she stalked away and Zachary followed her, grabbing several water bottles from our accumulated stack.

"Alright," I said, clapping my hands together. "Now that she's gone, the real fun can begin!"

Wilfred glanced at the ground. "She's not that bad," he muttered.

I ignored him.

"We need to send out search parties," I said. "No matter what Yvonne said, that's our top priority. We were locked in here for a reason, and I have a feeling we won't find that reason unless we explore this area, especially before it gets too cold."

"What do you suggest?" Audrey asked.

"Three groups of two," I said. "Leave two people behind in case something comes along and decides our shelter looks like a great place to stay. The rest of us split into three groups and head out in different directions, one left, one right, one over the creek. Look for anything suspicious, or anything that looks man made or artificial."

Audrey's hand shot straight up. "I call across the creek,"

Wilfred shot finger guns at her. "I'll go with you,"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I guess that's settled, then,"

"Hillary and I will stay behind," Eden suggested. "That way I don't have to deal with ehr fucking stretching."

Hillary laughed. "Sucks to suck, I'll stretch anywhere, anytime."

"It's not a school fight, Hillary,"

I shook my head and massaged my forehead in exasperation. Jack laid a hand on my arm. "Let's go," he said, gesturing to the left. "We'll go that way. David and Martha can figure out where they're supposed to go. They're smart."