Into The Woods

Chapter 18

     "W-wha-who is he talking about?" Vanessa scrambled.
     "Run, Jenny. Please go" Vincent mumbled.
    "Jenny?" Malachi questioned curiously gazing down at Vincent.
     "We need to somehow carry Vincent and Charlie" Serena said with a puzzled look upon her face.
     "I have a plan. Malachi and Tatum, you two carry Charlie. Serena and myself will carry Vincent. One grabs the ankles and the other grabs under the armpits. Got it?" Vanessa said rather leader-like.
     "Got it" they agreed together.
     They proceeded to lift up their injured friends, one on the ankle end the other on the shoulder end. Even though there was two of them lifting only one body, it seemed more like ten bodies. They had lost most of their strength and energy since they hadn't eaten or drank anything in almost 3 days.
     They now knew how fortunate they were back at home, when they had full meals on their tables three times a day, and always having fresh, clean water to hydrate with.
     "1...2...3...LIFT" Malachi instructed to the other three.
     They lifted with all their strength and quickly, but steadily, made their way towards the cabin. For a moment they almost had forgotten about Uriah and Irene who were still not back yet.
     About 10 minutes had gone by, feeling like eternity, but they were finally in the radius of the cabin. It looked so close but they knew it had to be at least another 5 minutes away.
     "Almost there. Are you guys doing o-okay?" Tatum asked while barely managing to keep his balance.
     "Oh, better than ever" Vanessa whimpered sarcastically.
     "Agreed" Serena and Malachi laughed.
     They kept walking with only the 'comfort' of the strange cabin motivating them to keep moving. The long, narrow and creaky timber bridge that was leading across a small stream was straight ahead. It creaked and cracked as they stepped across it, trying to keep themselves from falling into the shallow stream. Malachi and Tatum approached the back door first, struggling to hold Charlie off the ground. Malachi shuffled the doorknob and busted in.
     "Finally! We did it!' Tatum said passionately.
     The others smiled while trying to catch their breath. Once they stopped they could feel the knots in their sides and in their stomachs, which were quite intense.
     "Water" Serena panted thirstily.
     Malachi lowered Charlie's ankles then went to the fridge to grab the only bottle of water that was left there (the rest were still in their van).
     "Here" Malachi said while tossing the bottle over to Serena.
     Without hesitation, Serena chugged about half the bottle. Vanessa looked at her unimpressed at the fact that she didn't offer anyone else some.
     "What?" Serena questioned selfishly.
     "I kinda wanted some too! I'm sure everyone else would have enjoyed some cold, refreshing, salivating, crisp-" Vanessa exaggerated.
     "Oh, please. There's plenty more in the van" Serena rolled her eyes.
     "I'll go get the rest. I think there's a case of 32" Malachi proposed.
     "Thanks my sweet" Vanessa said jokingly with a smile.
     While Malachi went to fetch some more water, Serena poured the rest of her bottle onto Vincent's face.
     "Why would you do that?" Tatum raised his voice furiously.
     It wasn't the brightest idea, but sure enough Vincent jolted awake seconds after feeling the cold rush of liquid over his, still pale but hot, face.
    "Where's Jenny?" Vincent gasped.
     "Who's Jenny?" Tatum asked curiously.
     "Jenny? When did I bring up Jenny?" Vincent questioned if he hadn't just asked where she was.
     "Jenny. You just asked where Jenny is" Vanessa stated.
     "I did? Oh. Jenny is my dog. Well, was my dog" Vincent said with a tear.
     "What happened to her?" Serena asked.
     "She disappeared one night a few months ago. I went on a walk with her and when I got home I turned to get her favourite ball, and she was gone. Just like that. We did everything together, she was my best friend and now she's gone. I-I didn't even get to tell her I loved her one last time, or how she was the best dog a boy could ever ask for" Vincent shared sorrowfully.
     "I-I'm so sorry Vincent" Vanessa consoled then put her hand on his shoulder.
     "Ouch" Vincent gasped.
     "Sorry. What is it?" Vanessa apologized.
     Vanessa proceeded to pull down the collar of his shirt to reveal a large purple-ish bruise. It looked quite painful, and the largest one she had seen on someone's shoulder.
     "Oh my God. That looks terrible!" Serena awed.
     "Oh, geez. That stupid thing!" Vincent swore angrily.
     "Where's Malachi? It's been awfully long" Tatum realized.