Forgotten

Thirteen--- Aaron

We decide to go on a hike, heading towards the mountain, with no intention of climbing it. We walk hand and hand, watching our surroundings. I don't know how long we walk, but we walk in silence. Tara sneezes and coughs a couple times, and when I give her a worried look, she claims its allergies. If she gets sick out here, like really sick, then we have no way of healing her. I don't want to think about how that might turn out. All I can say is that I don't want to dig a grave with nothing but a garden spade.

"Hey!" She stops in her tracks, looking at something in the middle distance, peeking out from the trees. I follow her gaze and my heart stops. Its a house... or at least the ruins of one. We run to it, the remains of a stone cottage. The chimney and two walls still stand, and there is no roof. But this means someone once lived here. Humans were once here! We get excited, like children on christmas.

"We're not going to die! They're going to find us." Tara says. She looks exhausted and beads of sweat are forming on her forehead. I don't want to tell her that a crumbling house only means that humans once lived here, not that we are going to me found. She was drained of hope, ready to give up. This will keep her going.

Suddenly she sits down on a rock, head in hands. "Whoa! Are you okay?" I ask, kneeling by her side.

"I just got a little dizzy...can... can I have some water?" She asks shakily. I am worried about her, but I hand her a canteen, and feel her forehead. Its hot.

"You feel like you have a fever. Damn it. You cannot get sick!" I stand up. "I am not a doctor! I can't take care of you!" Even though I am probably over reacting, and it's most likely only has cold, I am terrified of losing her.

"Aaron, I am fine." She says, and is sick at my feet.

She insists on walking back to the cave herself, but when she runs straight into a tree, I insist on carrying her. She lays her head on my shoulder and I can feel how hot her skin is. This sickness came upon her within the rage of an hour, that's what worries me. It could be a disease from the forest, without a cure.

Tara falls asleep the moment I lay her down on her sleeping bag in our cave. She has begun to shiver, so I wrap her in the sleeping bag. Tearing a piece of cloth from my own shirt, I soak it in water a lay it on her forehead. Then, as night falls, I position myself at the cave entrance and wait for morning, hoping her sickness will pass. I stay up all night worrying about her, and wishing a helicopter will appear to save us from this hell on earth.

Tara awakes sometime near dusk, drenched in sweat and sobbing from a nightmare. She is delirious. When I ask her what her dream was about, she tells me she was in hell. I hold her as she cries, her feverish heat warming me in the cool morning air.

As the sun's rays brush across the ground, she says. "I am dying, Aaron."

I kiss her hair and say. "I am won't let that happen."

"Its not in your power." Those words scare me. I hate not having power over what happens. Death can not be controlled and I realize now that the only thing I really fear is death.

"But its in your power. You'll pull through." I try to assure her, but her forehead is almost too hot to touch, and I know its dangerous and she needs a hospital. "You have to. For me."

Later, I am outside cleaning squirrel, because I am starving, when I hear her coughing. I rush to her, and my heart stops dead. Tara's blue eyes are wide as she stares at a bloodied hand. She is then racked with another coughing fit, and more blood appears. Tears roll down her face. "It hurts, Aaron." She says, closing her eyes.

"No. No, Tara. You'll get through this. " I take her hand. But I see it in her eyes know, the light that used to shine is gone. She looks so weak, when yesterday morning she was fine.

"I must have caught a disease, or something." She manages a slight smile.

"No." I find myself sobbing. "You can't just give up. I need you." But she is asleep.

I am not religious, but I find myself praying.

She never opens her eyes again. Tara Winchester takes her last breath around noon this same day. I cry longer then I should have, before pulling myself together.

I bury her and cover her grave with rocks. The thought of surviving her alone is devastating, and I make my decision. I will never be rescued. I gather the rope from our snares, and take the easy way out.

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this concludes Forgotten: Book One of the Forgotten Series.
hope you enjoyed, comment if you want a sequel.