To the Well-Organized Mind

Chapter Twenty-Three

[Fen/Nia]

The years leading up to the Cataclysm were not uneventful themselves. More extreme weather led to worsening droughts, more frequent flash floods, aggravating heat waves that would sit over an area for weeks. If it stormed, it would hail, and if it hailed, the hail was softball size and sometimes larger. Each storm wasn't "if" a hurricane developed, but how bad it would be this time compared to last time.

The weather we're dealing with now reflects the chaotic times I'm describing, but trust me that today it's a little more peaceful than before. Or if it's not, humans have migrated out of the worst areas and thus aren't trying to survive there.

-from Ridge's history lessons

***

[Fen]

It's amazing how the right company (or right gatekeeper?) makes all the difference for the gate of Asis. Old Henry is on duty again tonight, and he will agree to have never seen us leave, so we don't even have to climb a tree or find some roundabout way of leaving. He simply opens the door to the yawning mouth of darkening forest.

And just like that, we're free—free to die in the way we choose.

I'm already beginning to wonder why I forced myself into this.

But if I'm having second thoughts, that must mean I don't want to die anymore, at least. So perhaps this is already proving worthwhile for me.

The snick of the door closing behind sounds loud, like the clanging of a prison door being slammed shut. I can't believe how immediate the unease is. I'm instantly on edge, peering into the deeper shadows of the denser bushes. My body still remembers the cougar attack, and I don't want another one creeping up on us. My head bobs around, constantly looking for a flicker of movement, the glint of a perceived eye.

"You look like you're having a seizure or something," Nia mutters. "Quit it." A small glint of light reflects from around her throat, and I have a moment of panic until I remember what it is.

Nia is wearing the mirror necklace I made her. When I caught her latching it around her neck earlier and met her eyes, she shrugged. "You said it'd double as a weapon."

Her words were as ever a shield, but I was content to let her wield it. Secretly, I smiled, glad that my effort wasn't as insulting as she had first insinuated. But now, the glint is making my peripheral vision go crazy, thinking it's movement or a threat. However, I don't say anything. My stomach still feels bruised from her reaction when I gifted it to her. I can't imagine her response were I to try to take it back.

We were able to leave before full dark. As much as Nia prefers to travel the woods at night, even she admitted the difficulty in passing through the terrain without our vision to rely on. But we still waited to leave until the exact moment Nia felt it was just close enough to dusk that we'd use all the light left reaching Ridge's cave.

So we don't really have time to stand around on edge, hesitating to plunge into the undergrowth. However, even Nia pauses after the gate closes. But she has her eyes shut, apparently using her other senses to take stock of the forest. I try to listen, even smell, but nothing I sense means anything to me other than the fact I already know: right now, I am prey.

***

[Nia]

I open my eyes from my three deep breaths and relax my grip on my machete. From what I can tell, nothing big is in the vicinity. Birds are settling for the night, chirping, and small mammals are making noises in the grasses. Nothing is fleeing or trying to avoid detection. I glance at Fen. He's still glancing every direction, though not as sharply as before. He's obviously rattled to be back out in the wilds, even though he's been demanding to return here every day.