The Fog (HIATUS)

Chapter 23

Waking up before sunrise in pain wasn't my plan at all, but I can't be surprised after sleeping tied on a branch.
The two are still sleeping soundly and the fog is slowly evaporating in the sunlight.

Taking a deep breath of the morning air I tried to listen in on the birds, but the few feathery animals that are around were too far away to hear them clearly. Deciding that breakfast would be nice, I climb down.

When the remaining fog touches my feet, I feel the intolerable, yet now familiar, stinging. I wonder why it feels like that, it's almost like an irritant.
Looking around to make sure nothing is around to disturb the sleeping boys I head out to find something edible.

I have the dried mushroom slices, but I doubt that boiling them would fill all three of us, and we already ate the remaining smoked meat I had. Maybe for the better, as it could start spoiling at any time.
Some fruit would be fine, but I doubt that I will find any around here, maybe if we find a farm in the future. For now, hunting is the best way to not starve, but surprisingly since I escaped there were no animals. It left me wondering if Chief ordered to hunt those down.

There isn't even a squirrel in sight let alone something to feed 3 people. If it was only me, I would just go on the empty stomach and eat after I found something.
Sligtly irritated that I haven't found anything, I head back towards the camp, by the time I make it back the sleeping princesses could wake up.

I near the spot where we're camping and spot John as he struggles to help Cody down from the tree. His bag is already down, along the rope I gave him, but the hammock is still hanging.

,,Need help?" I ask as I make my way towards them.

John jumps a little and turns his head slightly to look at me.
,,Can you stop appearing out of nowhere? I swear you will give me a heart attack one day."

I grinned at him and looked up at Cody, who is clutching a branch in his arms as he held it for dear life.

,,Its okay Cody. You can do it." I try to be a little supportive for the small kid. I never was good with kids or babies.

John shakes his head and climbs all the way to his brother.
,,Heard that? You can do it! One leg after the other and you will be down in no time."

Cody shakes his head and climbs back up to the hammock. John looks at me with a sorry expression.
,,This may take a while. Sorry for slowing you down."

Shrugging my shoulders, I start climbing up to them.
,,Its okay, I don't have an appointment or anything." Passing by John, I lift myself on the closest branch to Cody. ,,What's the matter?"

He looks at me and then looks away right after.
,,I'm scared."

,,Of heights?" I ask and he nods.

,,Climbing up was easy. Getting down went smoothly until he looked down." John informs me and pulls himself on the branch below me.

,,What if John carries you down?" I suggest and John looks at me with a confused frown. ,,On his back." I add.

Cody looks at me and hugs himself. ,,What if he drops me?"

I smiled at the boy. ,,Then I will catch you."
John glares at me. ,,Hey! I won't drop you Cody!"

,,What if you don't catch me?" He sniffles as his eyes water.

,,I will catch you. But since you trust your brother more how about this." Shrugging my bag off my back I toss it to John as he barely catches it. ,,I will carry you down and John will catch you if something happens."

Giving him time to decide I look down at John who waits for his answer.
Cody finally gives a small nod, so I signal John to climb down, and he does so.

,,Okay, I will turn, and you have to jump on my back and hold as tightly as you can, okay,"

He nods again so I waste no time and turn around waiting for him to hop on. As he climbs on his arms wrap around my neck tightly.
I laugh a little. ,,Just try not to choke me, okay."
He held tightly as I slowly made my way down, and when I prepared to jump down from the tree, John grabbed his brother and sat him on his shoulders.

,,You see? You did it!" He cheered and jumped in place until Cody started laughing.
I smiled and climbed one last time for the hammock.
,,Oh, and we might go hungry for some time, at least until we catch something to eat."

Cody looks up at me and asks so quietly that I almost didn't hear him. ,,Is that why you disappeared in the morning?"

,,Yeah, I went looking for food, but didn't have much luck." Untying one side of the hammock I reached for the second end. ,,Did I scare you by disappearing?" I joke and struggle with the knot.

,,John was scared."

,,No, I wasn't!" He tries to defend himself.

,,But you said that you are scared she left?" Cody looks at his brother.

I just laugh and let the finally free hammock fall to the ground.
,,Don't worry, I don't leave without saying goodbye first." I jump down and collect the hammock. ,,By the way, do you know where are we? I kind of don't have a map."

He looks into the distance as I gather everything and take out my compass.
,,Somewhere in Minnesota, but I don't know where exactly. Maybe if we get to a town or a city I can be of more help."

Minnesota? I got so far by already? I feel kind of proud of myself.
,,Okay." I agree and start walking east as always. ,,Keep your eyes and ears open. I couldn't find anything this morning, but you never know."

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,,Hey." John taps my shoulder. ,,I forgot to ask you before, but what's the plan?"

I stop in the middle of the dirt road and watch as Cody plucks some kind of weed from the ground.
,,To be truthful, I'm just planning to go to Crystal Falls and find the fort where my friend is. After that, well, I haven't thought that far."

Cody comes running to John and gives him the weed, which appears to be chickweed.
His face brightness when John takes the plant with a smile and puts it with the rest of weeds, he collected, then runs off to gather more.

,,Do you think they will accept us? I mean Cody looks fine and all but when, I mean after he-" He pauses and grips the clutch of plants in his hand. ,,What if they refuse you and him entry just because of... I mean what should I even call it? Infection? Transform? No, that sounds just bad!"

He groans and pulls at his hair. Trying to comfort him with a pat on his shoulder I try to reassure him.
,,If it comes to that, we can always stay on the move until we find a fort that will accept you and if that doesn't work you can always go back to your original fort."

,,Yeah." He sighs as he goes forward, so I follow. ,,What are the odds that every fort will turn us do- Wait... What do you mean by 'you'? You don't want to be accepted into a fort?"

I shrug as I watch Cody run in front of us from left side of the road to the right side.
,,I haven't thought about it, but not likely." I think out loud but then add sarcastically. ,,I mean last time I got close to a fort I almost got killed by crazy cult people and became a part of a rebellion."

John snorts with a grin. ,,Don't forget that you helped overthrow a maniac."

Cody runs up to us again and hands John another plant. I wasn't sure what it was, but it had pretty, violet flowers. As he went to search for another plant John keeps his gaze on him.
,,How long do you think he has? Until the symptoms?"

I try to remember how long it took for my symptoms to appear.
,,Mine showed up after three or four days. But it may vary from a person to person, I'm not sure."

He takes a deep breath and nods.
Looking in front of me I watch as the small kid kicks a rock and runs after it. He was energetic and curios but pretty shy. I can't imagine him acting like that crazy woman.

,,Let's make camp and I will go look for something to eat. It may be a good idea to get as much food as we can, so if we stumble across a town or a village, we should scavenge for anything."

John nods and Cody runs up to us again, this time he comes to me and puts his fist towards me, holding something.
I reach out and let him drop a small gray rock that glitters slightly in the light.

,,For me?" I ask with a smile, and he nods before running off again. I happily observe the shiny present.
When I look up, John is giving me a smirk.

,,What?" I ask.

,,Nothing." He grins. ,,But someone might like to you."

I snort and pocket the gift. ,,You're just jealous that I got a gift."

He shows me his bouquet of weeds and plants. ,,I don't know how about you, but I got flowers from my brother. So, you are the jealous one."

With a laugh I point towards the forest.
,,Fine, you won. Now let's make a camp. Do you think we should go hunting together? You have the gun so if something bigger shows up-"

,,You and Cody can stay and make camp. As a man, it is my duty to provide food."

He looks at me after I stay quiet as if checking if he said something stupid.
,,I would rather if your duty was not to get killed." Taking out my steak knife I hand it to him. ,,But if you are sure that you can handle rabid animals that attack you without thinking then sure go on."

His eyes go wide as he glances at the forest in front of us.
,,On the other hand, we are stronger in groups, right?" He smiles awkwardly and I smile in victory.

,,If you had any experience with them, I wouldn't pressure so much on staying together, but believe me. When they bite, it hurts."

He nods and calls Cody back to us.
,,Okay, then teach us."

I look at him with wide eyes but then smile mischievously.
,,Bad choice."