Breathing Fear

Chapter 5

         I stifled a giggle as I watched him walk right under me and further into the forest. Once he left, I turned to look back in the direction of our society to see if I could see anything else interesting. Then, I did.

         I frowned, staring at the smoke that was rising in the distance. There were scattered places of deep smoke coming from the other forest, the forest on the other side of the bridges. I narrowed my eyes, looking again to see if what I was looking at was real, and sure enough, it was.

         It must be the hunters…

         But… aren’t they hunting tomorrow?

         Time passed as I debated over what I was seeing, finally I heard a shout.

         “Avery! I give up! Where in the world did you go?!”

         I giggled to myself, forgetting about the smoke in the forest.

         “Over here, dad!” I shouted in return.

         I heard him getting closer and closer. Finally, he stopped right below me, looking around, confused.

         “Where, Avery?”

         “Here,” I giggled.

         He looked up in surprise, and once he spotted me he laughed.

         “How in the world did you get up there?”

         “It’s easy!” I said, as if it were nothing.

         “Easy for an eleven year old! If I tried getting up there, I sure would fall.”

         I mental picture of my dad attempting to climb across the dead tree’s trunk flashed into my head. I found myself laughing and coming down to join him in the safe grass below. He grabbed my hand and started to walk out of the forest and back towards the homes… our home.

         “How about we go home, mom’s probably close to done cooking that soup that you love. Maybe you could help her out.”

         This memory flashed into my head as I sat in one of the boats with the rest of the survivors. It hurt to think of how perfect my life had been when my father and mother had been alive.

         We were circling the land to see if we could find any form of civilization and this has been going on for the whole day.

         I was cold.

         I was hungry.

         And most of all, I was scared.

         The darkness of the night encircled me, and with it brought the faces of The Dead. They haunted my thoughts; the Dead woman who had bit my mother specifically wouldn’t leave my mind. The darkness was suffocating me. The Rulers were rowing, but Bennett and one of his friends switched with them so they could rest for a little while.

         The only form of light that lit our way was the moon and the stars. The moon reflected in the black water. I stared at the water and my heartbeat accelerated. I felt like if I fell inside, it would take me away, drowning me under the murky, cool surface.

         “Are you okay?” Clara asked me, breaking the deathly silence.

         Everyone had gone silent; there was nothing we wanted to say at the moment, we were all mourning over our lost loved ones.