Fire In Our Bones (NovaHD)

Chapter 16

James had never really been through withdrawals before, but he imagined that it must be like this. His head constantly ached and he felt sick all the time. It got worse every day. Every day that Aleks was gone. He woke up this particular morning with a splitting headache and a heavy heart, his newest nightmare still ringing in his ears. Cooper gave him a sympathetic glance from where he was crouching over the embers of the dying fire.

"Morning, buddy."

James didn't think he had ever heard Cooper say buddy before. He managed a grunt in return.

"Good enough," Cooper said, stamping out the last licks of flame. "I have to be honest with you, James. I don't think Aleks is around here. We've scoured this side of the river thoroughly."

James nodded slowly, wincing at the pounding in his head.

"So we head upstream?"

Cooper seemed to balk at this. "I was thinking we should cross over to the other side and..."

But in a sudden burst of decisiveness, James shook his head. "I think we should look upstream. I have a feeling that's right."

He watched Cooper closely, noticing the muscles in his jaw tighten at his words. Cooper thought for a moment before sighing and nodding almost as if in defeat before looking at James, meeting his eyes.

"Alright. Sounds good to me."

James could only accept that, but in the back of his mind there was doubt that hadn't been there before.

This time, James was in the lead. They were pretty much just backtracking, but he felt a little bit better, more hopeful perhaps. He had a bit of trouble keeping his mind from wandering and almost tripped over a stump or ran into a branch several times. Cooper kept up a steady but flimsy conversation that James could keep going by just saying 'yeah', or 'sure' every now and then. So it wasn't really much of a conversation but he was thankful to Cooper for trying. After about forty five minutes of this, James barely caught something other than Cooper's rambling. He stopped, holding an arm out to stop the other man.

"Do you hear that?" he asked, holding his breath.

"Hear what?"

But just then he saw Cooper's eyes widen and he knew that he had heard it too.

The low rumble that came from a group of Creepers, and it was getting louder. James had known that their luck wouldn't last but that didn't stop his heart from sinking or his pulse from quickening. Damn it.

"How many do you think there are?" he asked Cooper breathlessly. He got a vicious headshake in return.

"Do you think I'm a bloody zombie expert or something? I don't know, mate," Cooper snapped, his accent more pronounced than usual.

James started getting angry before he realized that it wasn't the best time to get in a fight.

"Come on, we have to hide. Now!" he pulled at a flustered Cooper who stumbled after him behind a fallen tree. The branches were broken and twisted and James took advantage by scrambling down under the biggest one. Cooper barely fit, but they made it. The low groans were getting closer and closer until James could hear leaves crunching and branches snapping as the Creepers shuffled blindly forwards. It was definitely a herd of them. Was a group of Creepers even called a herd?

James shook his head. He needed to stay focused. He could hear Cooper breathing harshly and turned his head uncomfortably to see him. To his surprise, Cooper looked pale and his eyes were large and staring straight ahead. He was mouthing something.