Abject in the Dust

Chapter 17 - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

"How did she manage to do all of this?" Lykke asked as her weary body slumped heavily against the wooden floor. Mattresses had been moved into one corner of the room, with dusty blankets for cover and pillows piled – if somewhat untidily to one side. Bottled water and some dried, chewy meat, which they knew was not of human origin was set out on a plate to one side. But none of it was Lykke's doing, or Rize's for that matter. "I am already exhausted. How did she manage to do all of this and still get back to the town before we were even awake?"

"She must have run all the way." Rize said in exhausted agreement as he collapsed into the soft embrace of the piled mattresses.

"Well." Lykke sniffed indignantly remembering how Sam had treated her when they parted. "She would not have been carrying the load we have had to carry. She would have stowed her rucksack."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Rize said in amusement as one eye peeked above the soft foam of the mattress.

"She could not. No." Lykke said as doubt started to creep into her mind. "She couldn't have. She didn't look like she had even broken a sweat."

"Difficult to tell with Sam." Rize muffled his words into a hastily grabbed pillow.

"Yes, it didn't take long for her ... unique smell to return and how can clothes be clean one day be so filthy the next. I mean, my clothes aren't anything like as filthy as hers and I certainly don't smell ..." Lykke stopped as she sniffed her armpit and instantly recoiled as she did. "...well, I still don't smell as bad as she does."

"I think she looks for the nearest patch of dirt she can find and rolls around in it." Rize chuckled into the pillow. "It's hard to believe that the person we left at the factory is the same woman we saw in the cabin – white skin without a trace of dirt, long silky black hair and ... and other things." Rize cleared his throat awkwardly.

"It isn't for me." Lykke muttered to herself as she started out of the window, hoping for a sign.

Sam limped as she tried to walk. The pain of the whack she had taken to the side of her head was a distant memory now, but every step she took was agonising.

"I should have known better. I should have known better." She muttered angrily to herself. "Bloody priest and all his talk of not killing. I should have killed them all. Next time I will kill them all. Next time. Ha! There won't be a next time. It's looking out for those two that got me into this mess in the first place. There won't be a bloody next time."

Then why not stop now? Why not turn and face in another direction and just start walking? The thoughts flashed across Sam's mind. You've left them well prepared. They know which routes they can take. They know where they need to go. "Get out of my head." Sam snarled. Why risk it? You have more now than you've had in a long time. Why risk it? Why go back to that place? "Get out of my head!" Sam screamed.

"It's past midday." Lykke said again as she paced the floor. "It's past midday."

"I know, Lykke. But there is nothing more we can do than wait." Rize said as reassuringly as he could, although Lykke's repeated assertions were becoming wearing even for him.

"But what if something is wrong? What if she is in trouble?"

"She is more than likely just exhausted and has found somewhere to sleep. You would not begrudge her that, would you?"

"No, of course not. But it will be dark soon and she talked as if she would be here early and we would walk far today. Something must be wrong."

"Or it went better than she expected, and she feels safe enough to rest."