Shady

“Wow,” Aleth answered, opening his eyes to try to guess her age. “That’s dedication.”

“We know there’s only one bow,” Jerica said, slinging it back over her arm. And it’d be going with her if they DID split up. “One basket of food…”

Aleth inhaled sharply and held it as pain stabbed through his torso again. He slowly let it out, closing his eyes. “How long have you been doing this?”

“Why the fuck do you want me to leave you?” Jerica was too tired to get truly agitated. “Our chances for survival halve if we split up.”

(All good! I’m fine with that!) Aleth groaned again and rubbed his face, then grimaced at how it hurt his hands. He looked down at them. “I suppose I should ...

“Well, things were fine til you started screaming all the reasons why I should die,” Jerica muttered.

Aleth sighed. “There’s nothing that you can do to save them?”

Jerica hesitated, getting more frustrated with each and every compliment that Evaline paid her. It weakened her resolve. Even though the resolve had been slipping away before this sudden change ...

“Yes,” Aleth agreed, brain fluttering with realization that he needed to watch his words. “It felt like five years.”

“I… I can’t remember,” Aleth responded. It was mostly true. “It’s all a blur of snow and pain. Maybe two weeks? I’m not sure.”

“Nice to meet you,” Aleth murmured. “Kind of.”

“Hmph,” Aleth grumbled, but figured she was probably right. “The name’s Al… and you?”

“Maybe I won’t feel like this in a few moments, either,” she snapped, but it was becoming progressively emptier. The negative emotions were ebbing away, leaving her completely empty.

“It hurts,” he growled, but resentfully dipped his feet back into the water with a grimace. “A lot.”

He hissed in pain and yanked his feet back out of the water.