90 DEADLY DAYS (WEEKLY UPDATES RETURNING THIS DECEMBER)

Chapter 15

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Chapter 15

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Fahim leads the way through miles of jungle. Leaves hang down from wiry branches and flap like elephant ears. Bright red insects chomp on the bark and any other flesh in the way.

Everyone follows him without complaint. Fahim is clearly the undisputed leader of this hardy group. He moves forward with confident strides, jaw tight and focused. At his side tramps a petite thing. They call her Elisa. She rattles off details about the landscape, seeming to note each one in a personalized brain file. Fahim nods interestedly at her observations.

From a passing glance the woman seems harmless, obtuse even. And I mean that objectively, matter-of-fact. 

Her eyes cause me to reconsider my assumptions. Narrow and dull in color, they move irregularly, making her cross-eyed at times. They remind me of a cat's yellow irises. Sharp and smart, ever watching those around.

And I suspect, as they glance in my direction, that what those eyes see they never forget.

As a group, we pause at a river that Fahim deems safe enough. He's nervous about drinking water now. "They've screwed with everything else," he says, "it's only a matter of time until they screw with the water--if they haven't already."

Suddenly, I don't feel like drinking.

Everyone else drinks greedily. I wait until they seem fine and then I drink too. The water tastes sugary on my dry tongue. I have to force myself to take measured sips instead of gulping it like a wild animal.

For a girl who never knows the next time she'll drink or eat, it is a mighty struggle.

After I have had my fill, I take stock of the others. Lily stares intently at her reflection in the waves. Her nimble fingers buff off a smudge near her chin and the grease on her forehead. She prompts me to stare at the water's surface.

Nervously, I peer at the imperfect mirror. The ripples I've made fan out and I am left staring at a vibrating reflection. A frightening girl stares back, her brown eyes wild with terror and pain, her face dripping with fear.

That cannot be me.

Burrs, and leaves fill what once had been a curly, full mane of hair--the only thing about me I truly liked. Now it resembles a bush set on fire, left to crumble into disarray. I lift a trembling hand to touch the charred locks, feeling tears well up in my eyes as I do.

Scratches criss-cross my face, whether they come from branches or by other's hands I can't say. My own eyes scare me, they look so dead, so empty. I tear my eyes away from the water, breathing heavily.

I wish I never looked.

"You alright?" a concerned voice asks. My head snaps up. Elisa looks at me.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

My mind blanks after I say that, washed of everything. It takes so much effort to lie. I can only remember one thing Adonis said when he felt melancholia coming on. His words simple and very honest. They captured more truth and feeling than a poet's lyrics.

'Everything hurts. And I think I am going to cry.'

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Night falls faster than the night before. Dark storm clouds that arrived at midday block the sunlight way before sundown. Fahim looks nervous, passing that same feeling to the rest of the pack. 

"Lola," he says to a familiar girl. "Is the other side covered with storm clouds?"

He refers to the side untouched by Grecous.