The moment the blizzard dies out, we're hitting the road. Alix's leg is still a work in progress, so he's a bit hesitant to go, but I'm done sitting around.
"Do I have to?" Alix whines.
"For God's sake, are you three?" I retort in a vain attempt to keep a straight face.
"Do I look three?"
"You sure act like it."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"Yes, it does. You just don't have the brain capacity to understand."
"Hey! That's my line."
"Ha! Mine now."
"But-"
"Ladies, ladies. Chill the hell down before you wake up the jungle." Liz says, but the corner of her mouth is twitching upwards.
"But...but she's bullying me." Alix says in an annoying nasally voice.
"If that's what you call bullying, get thicker skin."
When the three of us woke up, Alix was, I admit, quite surprised to see that Liz and I were on good terms once again. But he also had this prideful air about him. Well, he always seems prideful, but more so than normal. He's smart, I'll give him that. He probably was exhausted last night, but he left us alone together on purpose. How long has he been at this kind of business?
We've cleared up camp as well as we can, but the tree that fell down during the blizzard has proven nearly impossible to move with only two people and a cripple. Liz and I do our best to spread out the ashes near where the fire was and scatter the pine needles cluttering around the trunk, but after the damage done last night, I doubt there's really much more we can do.
I shoulder Alix's backpack, and Liz gathers the sleeping bags and tents. Alix is lying, completely useless, against a tree. I have to rest my leg as long as possible before working them, he told me.
W-h-a-t-e-v-e-r, Alix. But finally, we're ready to go back to the spot my brain has wanted to visit every second of every minute of every slowly passing day. The tracks in the snow. The tracks that would lead to my parents. Hopefully. It's the only thing I've seen lately that fills me with even a little hope, and I need to hold on to that. I refuse to freak out like before. I feel my throat closing up just thinking about what happened with the Wanted sign, and I stop to take deep, long breaths.
"Alright, sleepy-pants. Get up." I say once I've caught my breath, looking down at Alix with a smirk. It will be difficult to get through the forest, but the cities neighboring Silverton can't be that far away. I've hardly traveled out of the little town, but I have taken geography classes.
To my surprise, Alix doesn't argue. He simply puts his hands firmly on the ground, and pushes himself up with his good leg. At first, it seems as if he is going to successfully stand, but when he's halfway up, he falls over.
I abruptly hold out my arm in attempt to grab his arm, but I get his hand instead. And not before he falls all the way down to the ground.
"Ouch." He says, brow furrowed in concentration. My smirk mutates into a grin.
"Try again. I've got you this time." Adjusting my grip on his hand, I meet his eyes. You can get up now. I 've got you. He reads my message and tries again, this time with one less hand, but more strength. We eventually manage to get him on his feet, his injured leg held aloft in the air, the other one searching for traction.
Reality hits me like a hard brick to the face. We can't travel like this. I rack my brain for ways to transport Alix without carrying him and the supplies. My mind brushes over something.
When someone is injured, they are normally given a brace, a wheelchair, or.... crutches.
That's it! I've seen it in movies all the time. We'll make Alix a pair of crutches.
"Don't go anywhere." I say, leveling him with a stern stare.
"I have no place to go, Princess." He replies with a little laugh.
His words hit me hard, and I try my best not to flinch. He'd said those words to me when I asked him to let me go.
You have no place to go, he'd said. I do now.
Tensing my muscles, I spin around on my foot and head off into the woods. It doesn't take me very long to find two long sticks that look about Alix's height.
I work quickly, marveling at how my slender fingers slowly craft together some makeshift crutches. I'm so bent on seeing my parents again, that this probably isn't actually my skill at play, it's adrenaline. Chemistry has always been my strong suit, not engineering. It's kind of funny how fast things change.
After giving them a test run - I use Bayley's all the time because she always gets hurt - and I can guarantee they will be able to hold Alix, I'm walking back to camp. He's right where I left him, but Liz is kneeling by his side now, checking his bandages for any signs of swelling. But, she's done a good job and it hasn't gotten any worse. Maybe she'd be interested in being a doctor someday when this is over and done with.
"What are those?" Alix asks, his tone curious and amused at the same time, causing Liz to look up from her work for a moment. She sends a small smile my way before looking back down to finish the task at hand.
"They're crutches. Can't you tell?"
He just looks confused.
"With all of these supplies, Liz and I can't carry you. Instead, you can use these."
All I get is a blank stare.
"How do I... use them?" He asks, tilting his head sideways at me.
"You've never seen crutches?" Liz asks, and I'm sure my face mirrors her confusion. He's never seen crutches before?
"No. What kind of inventor came up with the name crutches? Did he take the name crotch and add chess? Or was it a she? I don't understand."
Liz snorts, but I just gape at him in confusion.
"They're... you know... things people use to help them walk." I demonstrate, sliding the tops of them under my armpits and lifting one of my legs up as if one of them was injured. Making sure not to fall, - Alix is taller than me by a couple inches, so it's difficult - I hobble around the outskirts of camp. When I stop, I look at him. "You see? Not that difficult. It might be fun even."
To my surprise, he bursts into laughter. His laugh knocks him off balance, but he catches himself. Liz slips with the bandage and she glares up at him, but he hardly notices.
"Those are the weirdest things I've ever seen." He says through his laughter.
Oh. At first, I thought he was going to tell me that he actually did know what they were, he was just messing with me. But I should know by now that Alix isn't predictable. That's just how thieves are.
"Yeah, well, have fun." I say, patiently waiting until Liz finishes up his bandages before handing him the makeshift helpers. "I must warn you though. Every handicapped person who uses these thinks they're fun at first, until they're sore for days."
"Hey, I'm not handicapped. I prefer to call it lazy."
A breath escapes from between my lips. "I don't care what you call it. I'm just saying."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n." Alix says, holding his hand up in a dorky salute. Liz nods an affirmative.
Let's go.
~
The crutches work surprisingly well, and, as predicted, Alix is soon ahead of both Liz and I, hobbling down the trail at a fast pace that neither of us can keep up with because of the heavy supplies we have to carry. He must really be enjoying himself then. Just wait.
We walk nonstop until the sun is high in the sky. All of the uphill slopes make me extremely grateful I take weights, but nevertheless, Liz and I are both breathing hard, and even Alix's energy has started to wane. He's already begun to complain about how his armpits hurt, to which I responded, "I warned you."
We finally allow ourselves to rest, which results in Liz almost collapsing on a fallen tree, Alix almost tripping on his crutches in relief, and me, gratefully sinking to the ground in fatigue. I've always enjoyed hiking, but when you live in Colorado and there's mostly mountains surrounding the city, you think differently. We haven't come across a downhill in over an hour.
I wipe my sweat soaked hair off my forehead, readjusting my ponytail. My throat is dry and none of us really want to speak. We're all thirsty, no doubt, but sadly, that river I found and crossed before is long gone. Now, we have a limited supply of water and all three of us are having a silent competition of: Who Will Give In To Thirst First?
"Man," Alix says, passing a hand across his face. "I could really go for a Gatorade right about now."
Well, that's the closest any of us have gotten to admitting we need water. Screw it. I shrug off Alix's backpack and produce the half drunk water bottle. Unscrewing the lid, I take a few gulps before tossing it to Alix, who does the same. At this rate, we're going to run out of water over the next couple of hours. We need to get out of these woods. I'm already sick of nature.
"We have to keep moving." I say, toying with my fingers. They've lost feeling along the trip. Not only because of the cold, but because they have dangled by my sides for far too long.
"Okay." Alix says, shifting positions on the ground so he's lying on the ground, his gaze on the sky. "I'm just gonna take a little power nap first, though..." His eyes drift closed, and I can't help but notice the half smile he wears even as he's quote unquote "power napping." Liz notices before I do that I'm staring.
She shoots me a small smirk, and I roll my eyes in response.
What? I mouth at her.
Nothing. She responds. Quite suspiciously, I might add. But I'm too distracted to think anything of it right now.
~
Maybe my sense of direction is wrong. The sun is about to set, and we still have seen no sign of a neighboring city. I rack my brain for information. We studied the history of Silverton and the adjacent cities in Geography, and based on the direction we're headed right now, Durango shouldn't be far. Should it?
"Maybe we should stop and continue in the morning...?" Liz suggests in a soft voice. Alix pauses to look back at us, pure pity written on his face as he looks at me.
"Yeah. Maybe we underestimated the walk. We'll get there tomorrow." Alix says in agreement.
The only thing I let out is a long sigh, before giving in. "Alright, but let's just walk another twenty minutes. That's all. I promise." I say.
"Twenty minutes, says the princess." Alix repeats. "Your wish is my command. Lizzy?"
Liz shoots him daggers. "Fine, but do not call me that."
"What? Your name?"
Right before Liz punches him in the face, I step between them. "Guys. You can fight when we have the energy. Right now, let's just get to Durango."
Reluctantly, Liz retracts her arm and storms past the both of us. The nickname clearly is a tender spot for her.
I glare at Alix, an unspoken argument sparking between us before I tromp after Liz.
"I never get to have any fun." I hear him murmur, and I laugh under my breath. Your idea of fun is so much different than ours.
Before I know it, fifteen minutes have passed, and I can almost swear the trees are thinning out. I can feel a sense of longing deep in my gut, and somehow, that's enough for me. We're close.
The last five minutes tick by, and it's almost as if Liz has been counting the seconds until we're able to rest. My heart drops into my stomach when the harsh reality rebounds into my like a boomerang.
They're tired. We need to stop.
But something pulls my eyes upward. I see it before Liz or Alix. The dying light of the sun illuminates lights below. Pretty lights off in the distance. Not all of them are part of the sunset.
"Oh, my God." I say, unable to resist a wide grin.
Alix says what I don't. "Welcome to Durango, y'all."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry it's taken me forever to finish this. Some of you may think this is the most boring update ever, but what you have to understand is that there have to be some filler chapters in every book to fill in the holes.
Long story short: don't complain! Some crazy stuff is coming up.
Thank you for 600+ reads! This makes me so happy! ;)
~trebleclef18