When Given a Lemon

Part 9

Another growl erupts from the woods, closer by. Shrieks and yells soon echo it along with more growling. Being down here, we have no visibility; relying on the wind to tell us what is happening, where. Whatever is making that noise is far more fierce than the buzzballs we've been wasting time chasing around. Unless this was the end goal all along. If the captain somehow knew that those things would lead us to whatever is out there now... I shuddered.

“Cold?”

“Obviously,” I snap, “we're in a freezing fucking hole in the middle of winter. With a monster out there!” Lemon stays silent but the smirk gets bigger. I don't know how they can find any of this amusing. If that creature sniffs out that we are here, we're done for!

But instead of coming to hunt us, the growls grow more distant and we use this chance to clamber back up to the surface. It wasn't a difficult climb, but that doesn't seem to ease my irritation. It's honestly too cold, and swiftly getting too dark, for my liking. I can even effectively say that I hate this weather. I much prefer the half submerged terrain of the muddy barracks. Maybe after that growling monster is subdued I'll be able to return there.

We've realized that we won't make it back in time for nightfall. Meaning we will be spending the night out here, just the three of us, with that thing on the loose. Also without any gear. I rub my arms, wishing I had thought to bring my rucksack. Then I could at least don an extra shirt.

“My name is Merryl,” the other soldier abruptly said, not looking up at us as he hunched over slightly to look closely at the ground as he stepped about the area.

“Keenah,” I provide, then “that's Lemon,” when said person didn't offer their name, too caught up in their thoughts to pay attention.

“What?” Merryl wrinkled his brow, “Lemon?”

I nodded. They gave an odd look, likely wondering why someone would name their child a lemon, –he’ll understand once he gets to know them– but then went right back to searching through the rubble. Not wanting to interrupt their concentration, I kept quiet until he finished, standing back to his full height again, pointing at a small corner of piled stone. We scooted in closer.

“That's the base of a fireplace and this spot looks like it would be well protected from the wind and other elements. It's roofless, but if we get some wintergreen branches, we can block out some of the chill at least.” He proceeded into the ruins. I watched for a moment as he scurried around the space, clearing it before heading off to look for wood for a fire or some leaves to protect us from the night sky. Lemon and I followed suit. When I got back with my second load of wood, Merryl was brushing away rogue twigs and pulling roots after removing all the snow. Lemon showed up with an armload of branches, dropping them in a heap then heading out again. I briefly contemplated working on getting the fire lit but Merryl waved me off so I followed Lemon out.

The temperature was rapidly dropping as twilight fell further into night. I tried to keep moving, even stamping the ground when I stopped to grab stray wood. We collected more branches and even found a tree that had a few early fruits scattered amongst the branches, though they didn't look very big so I couldn't tell if they were ripe yet. It was still better than nothing so I plucked a handful of them.

“What do you think these are?” I asked Lemon who had been gathering nearby. “I don't want to repeat what berryboy did.” I was referring to the guy that had picked and ate the unknown berries.

“These are red elderberries,” they replied. “You can't eat them raw but we can maybe cook them in the fire. Might not taste great on their own though.”

“Oh, that will have to do.” I tucked them away so I could gather more wood. “Whatever happened to that kid anyway?”

“The one that didn't listen to me and got sick?” I nodded. “He was the other one thrown in the frozen pond.”

“Oh.” My heart lurched, it somehow felt worse knowing who they were. I tried to push the feeling down. If I couldn't handle the death of one soldier I had barely met, how would I handle it if we actually saw action?

Lemon didn't seem to notice my quiet, moving on to get the last of their armload before we returned again.

We headed back quickly to escape the growing dark of night, and were greeted with the warm and cheery light of a fire. I don't know how they got it burning so well so quickly; most of the wood had been at least damp. Not that I'm complaining! I hurried forward, dropping my load, to warm my freezing fingers by the heat of the flames. Merryl had even laid some of the branches criss crossed over the corner of the ruined wall like a woven roof. With the additional boughs we had just brought, we were able to extend the roof a little further along so that all three of us could sleep under cover tonight. Afterward Lemon piled all the waxy berries onto a mostly flat stone set nearby the coals to give them a chance to roast a little before eating them. I hoped they would be palatable enough.

“I'll take first watch.” I offered after we were done eating our sparse fair, remembering the monster and not wanting to wake face to face with it.

“'Kay,” Merryl added more wood then huddled in closer to the fire, flipping their hood up and was soon breathing evenly.

“I could never fall asleep that fast,” I frowned, knowing Lemon also had the uncanny ability to sleep whenever or wherever they wanted to. They quickly copied Merryl, leaving me alone with the night.

Trying not to think about what might be hiding out there in the dark, I took turns gazing at the fire and walking back and forth within the boundaries of the original house outline. Most of my earlier cuts, bites, and stings no longer troubled me, but some of the bruises still ache, like the one on my head. At least my headache had subsided a little.

I peered out into the darkness beyond the crumbled wall. If I was being completely honest, I was too afraid to go any further than that, not wanting to become a midnight snack for any growling –or at this moment silent– monsters but also afraid that if I stayed sitting I would fall asleep and still become a midnight snack, just a more surprised one. I repeated this process over and over, jumping up whenever I heard anything other than the lonely wind blowing wisps of snow around. Soon enough my eyelids were drooping even when I stood up to move around, becoming more and more difficult to keep myself from nodding off.

“Psst,” I almost screamed, but it was only Lemon. Rubbing the sleep out of their eyes they sat up to face me. “You can get some sleep and I'll watch.”

“It hasn't been very long and it's not your turn next. I should at least go longer–”

“Don't worry about it, I can wake you back up in a little while, Merryl won't know the difference. Besides, I don't think you'll make it much longer.”

Too tired to truly argue, I agreed and flipped my hood up and curled myself as far into my jacket as I could, tucking my hands deep inside my sleeves for warmth. A few flickers and small cracks cut the silence as the fire danced along the log in my vision. Then I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and the bright flames disappeared.