Chronicles of the Fall- #1- Empty Night

Chapter 19: Autumn Vigil

"Fire," DJ says. "We need fire." Her and Laken are crouched in the center of a small clearing, still panting from their flight cross the stream, and up the mountain. They are on a moss covered rock that forms a platform stretching over the forest floor, which forms a sort of cave underneath it.

"It could rain or snow, where would we put the wood?" Laken asks, wiping sweat off her forehead. DJ points downward, gesturing to the cave.

"Okay, okay. Good idea," Laken pants, standing up. DJ follows suit, drawing herself up slowly to allow her muscles to stretch. Her legs burn from the long, uphill run.

'I wonder how Laken feels. She barely ran at all before,' thinks DJ sympathetically, her muscles burning as she heads up the mountain.

"Don't go too far. Stay within shouting distance. You get the small stuff, I'll get the big," DJ says. Laken nods, and then the two of them set off to gather firewood.

***

DJ grunts, hefting another heavy, fallen tree branch to her shoulder. Her muscles strain as she carries several other pieces of wood. Each branch is thick and heavy, containing the potential to burn for many hours. DJ can tell that autumn is turning into early winter, and she surmises that fire and warmth will be essential to their survival.

She sighs, checking the condensation of her breath. Even though her frozen breath isn't a giant cloud of white vapour, DJ knows that the night, and many nights to come, will be long and cold. She hopes that her efforts will be enough to sustain them...

Farther down the mountain, Laken's hands and arms are piled high with thinner sticks and twigs. She doesn't have room to carry any more, so she begins to walk back up towards their campsite. She hopes her kindling will be enough to get the fire alight.

***

"DJ..." Laken trails off, staring at her hands in her lap. DJ gives a slight grunt in answer.

"You think everyone is safe? Faith, Hampton? Lucas, Cora?" Laken asks softly. DJ lets out a sigh, and probes the fire with a blackened stick.

"I don't know. There's no way for us to know," she says solemnly.

"You're not worried about us? We've never been out here by ourselves before," Laken states, her eyes darting into the surrounding woods. DJ gives no response.

"And what about when we run out of food?" Laken pushes. She looks down at the two packs of food they picked up in their escape from the zoo, knowing that they won't last too long.

"We'll find more," DJ answers sternly.

"With what vehicle? With what group?" Laken asks, feeling the pressure build up in her chest. The thought of being out in the middle of the woods, alone, with lurkers seemingly crawling around every where they turned, make her sick.

"We just have to play it safe; we'll find everyone soon. We'll be fine. We're strong, we're smart, we can survive," DJ replies confidently. "I mean, me and you have gone camping with each other for years. Just treat it like one of those trips."

This eases Laken's mind. The two fall back into silence, staring at the flickering flame between them.

"I miss Faith," Laken says quietly.

"Me too, so much," DJ agrees.

"I bet she's so scared... God, she probably can't stop freaking out," Laken says sadly.

"I bet scriptures are flowing out of her mouth so fast Hamp doesn't even know what to do," DJ chuckles, causing Laken to smile. "Hampton's so good with her though; they'll be fine. He's always known how to calm her down better than any of us. He'll keep her safe."

"He's always been pretty good at calming any of us down," Laken adds.

"Remember when Hailey Springer caused me to miss her shot at Regionals? She scored that goal on me during the penalty shootout, made us lose the game. I was so mad; I was on my way to the locker room to rip that blonde ponytail out of her head when Hampton stopped me. She'd have been dead if it weren't for him." DJ smiles at the memory.

"He told me he'd never seen you so angry before. He even took a few punches, right?" Laken laughs.

"I left a nasty bruise on his stomach that I felt awful about," DJ confirms, smiling and shaking her head. The two girls settle into a contemplative lull in conversation, as the fire crackles between them, illuminating their faces with soft orange light. As time passes, the quietness becomes unsettling.

"I can't believe that Lucas would leave with them like that," Laken says, breaking the eerie silence. Her eyes are troubled now, and she wraps her arms about herself in an effort to comfort and warm herself.

"I can. He's Tripp's right hand man," DJ says. "You saw how much time they spent together. Why wouldn't he go with him?"

"It just... I just thought..." Laken trails off, shaking her head. "How long do you think they'd been planning to leave?" Laken asks the question cautiously, eyeing the battered face of her best friend.

"Tripp knew I wouldn't submit to a Council; he had his mind made up for a while now," DJ responds, her eyes turning cold. Her tongue probes at the cut across her busted lip, and she winces. 'He'll pay for this,' thinks DJ with a spark of anger. Her jaw twitches, and Laken refrains from mentioning that DJ is acting like Tripp.

"They're up the mountain, aren't they?" Laken sighs instead.

"If there's any hope of William fixing those generators, then yes. Tripp knows that was our plan for the winter, and he's making sure he gets there first."

"We could go there," Laken suggests.

"We'd be signing our death certificates if we did. You know that." DJ shakes her head. "Tripp would blow my head off before I got a word in edgewise."

"I'm worried about Lucas," Laken blurts out. DJ's eyes meet her friends.

"Of course you are," she laughs. Laken's face is coloured with a light blush.

"Not just him, of course! Cora and Jackson too, our friends. I don't want Tripp to hurt them," Laken says, looking down.

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with the crush you have on Lucas," DJ says teasingly, shooting Laken a smirk. "Besides, if they went with him, I doubt he'd hurt them. Anybody who's on that bus handed Tripp his power, which makes him satisfied... For now."

"I'm going to sleep. I'm done talking to you." Laken sticks her tongue out at her friend, then pulls her bookbag over and uses it as a pillow. Her thoughts race. She focuses on the steady rhythm of her breathing.

"Guess I'll take first watch, then," DJ chuckles, punching Laken playfully on the shoulder.

Before long, Laken has fallen into a fitful sleep. She tosses and turns. DJ stares blankly at the fire, and paranoia runs rampant through both of their minds.