Looking at the children huddled together, whispering excitedly, Jasmine wished she could travel back to her own childhood, to that time when she saw everything as just one more exciting adventure. Even Isaac seemed to allow the wind of obliviousness to carry away all the knowledge he had about their current predicament. Jasmine didn't blame him as it was probably easier for his young mind to cope that way. Still, she was somewhat jealous that he could find the escape she needed but could never get.
The resilience of children was something Jasmine wished the adults had more. It would have been helpful in times of strife, such as the one they were in. Instead, she was stuck in a hell of overthinking everything to the point where her head felt so swollen up that it could explode at any moment.
"Jasmine, I was thinking we could move out at first light," Asher said, looking at his children with an unconscious soft smile. "Can your leg take it?"
"I think so," Jasmine said, stretching her leg carefully as she moved it around experimentally. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore. At the moment, the pain is more like what you feel after working out for too long. It's bearable."
"Are you sure?" Asher asked, turning his head to look in her direction, his eyebrows knitted together, his teeth worrying his lower lip distractedly.
"Yeah, I'm not trying to be tough or anything like that. I promise. That's just how it feels right now," Jasmine said, understanding why he would think she was making less of her injuries.
It didn't make much sense to her either. However, she refused to think about it too much, terrified of what she might discover if she overanalyzed the strangeness of it all.
"That's weird," Asher said, squinting his eyes as if trying to read impossibly small letters on a chart which was miles away. "It's a gunshot wound, after all. It can't be fine mere hours after it was inflicted. We must be missing something, something obvious."
"Don't worry too much about it. It's just a graze," Jasmine said sternly, trying to dispel his worries even though hers had started stirring up now that he had pointed out the obvious. "Besides, I took those magic pills you gave me, so maybe that's why it feels like this, why I have the strength to keep walking."
"That might be it," Asher said, relaxing his stiff shoulders slightly.
"So, where are we actually going?" Jasmine asked, eager to change the subject.
"In the opposite direction of the cabin, of the sounds I heard?" Asher said, shrugging his shoulders.
"That's it?" Jasmine asked, surprised because Asher appeared like a man with a plan, and seeing him without one was strange.
"Yes, I was thinking about where to go when those sounds cropped up," Asher said dryly. "They appeared before I could figure out our next move. I reckoned we could rest there for a few days, then figure out something later."
"What are our options?" Jasmine asked, all business wanting to lift at least some of the worry from Asher's strong shoulders.
"Well, there is this cave of a famous outlaw who lived in these parts that the rare few can find," Asher said, some of the pride of being among the rare few showing by the straightening of his posture. "Or we could go to the nearby small town and hope for the best."
"I'm not in the mood for another damp cave," Jasmine said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
Jasmine used to love visiting all the different types of caves as she found them fascinating. Yet, after spending a few days in one, fearing for her life, the magic of the exploration was gone. All that remained was the notion of overwhelming dampness and paralyzing fear.
"Me neither," Asher said, smiling conspiratorially. "Besides, we've already concluded that while a place like that might be a good one to hide in, it also has a higher risk of ensnaring us if it is discovered by the bald men."
"What about the small town you mentioned?" Jasmine asked, trying to rein in her growing hope.
Maybe nothing happened there, or more people were left behind, people who could help them, because the truth was that Asher and Jasmine were constantly winging it, and with three children to protect, that wasn't the best option. They needed something more stable if they wanted to survive.
"It's quite small, hopefully not worth invading, but still..." Asher said, running his hand through his hair. "It could be rather dangerous depending on what happened there. We need to approach the town with caution. We can't afford to take any risks."
His loving eyes lingered on his children, making it clear that they needed to be protected at any cost. Jasmine was surprised to realize that she agreed with the sentiment, feeling more strongly about it than she had felt about anything in her life.
Was the famous maternal instinct kicking in, or something else entirely?
Suddenly, the children's playful banter stopped.
Something happened.
It was as if time had paused for a second, altering everything in its path.
Unstoppable and unattainable.
"Ariyana!" Arman's loud shout cut through the air. "What's wrong?"
Asher hurried toward his daughter, who was holding her head and started screaming so loudly that Jasmine had to cover her ears with her hands in shock.
"Ari, what's wrong?" Asher asked, his voice quivering as he crouched down to hold his precious little girl in his arms. "Sweetie, tell me what's wrong, Daddy can help."
"Daddy, my head!" Ariyana shrieked, breathing heavily. "It hurts so much!"
Asher quickly searched through his bag while Jasmine tried to calm the girl down, hugging her and patting her back awkwardly.
Soon, Asher found the pill and gently coaxed Ariyana into taking it with water from her favorite Smurfette water bottle, the most precious item in Ariyana's collection, according to her.
Soon enough, Ariyana settled, although Jasmine was sure the medicine didn't even have the time to start working. It was most likely the placebo effect. But as long as it helped, Jasmine didn't dare question it, especially since it stopped the ear-piercing screaming. The yelling didn't help their situation in the least, and even though Jasmine felt sorry for the little girl's pain, she wished that Ariyana didn't shout as loudly as she did.
"Asher, we need to move out! They might have heard her," Jasmine exclaimed, looking around cautiously studying their surroundings. "Let's head for that town, and we'll see what we'll do when we are close to it. For now, the priority is to leave this place behind as soon as possible."
Asher nodded in agreement and, without saying anything else, picked Ariyana up, allowing her to gently settle into his arms. She was finally quiet, but her eyes were filled with so much fear and pain that it was hard to watch.
"Why don't you sleep a bit more, Ari," Asher said gently. "That naughty brother of yours woke you up too soon. Maybe you have a headache because you didn't sleep enough."
"Hey! I am right here, you know!" Arman exclaimed, offended.
Asher turned his head toward Arman and winked at him, making it clear that he didn't mean it, that it was one of the parent things Arman didn't understand. So, he just went with it, shrugging his shoulders and keeping his mouth shut, something he rarely did under normal circumstances.
"Okay, Daddy," Ariyana said weakly, closing her eyes obediently.
Even before they set off again, her breathing evened out, and she was fast asleep. Faster than any of them would have anticipated, having heard her scream her head off mere moments before. It was another odd little thing in a long list of weird stuff happening.
For that reason, Asher's worry didn't stop there. The sudden headache was unusual, especially since Ariyana never had headaches before. He hoped it was caused by the stress of their situation, but he was afraid there was more to it than he anticipated. The uncertainty of it all made him sweat profusely, because nothing scared him more than a potential danger to his children, especially the one he couldn't really fight.
Either way, he hoped they would meet some humans on their way who could provide them with some answers or maybe help his little girl get rid of the pain.
Was going to a small town a good idea?
Would it end up causing more harm than good?