The Sentinels (Book One)

Chapter 44

One foot swings forward and presses down on the dust. The next one comes forward to copy the gesture, and the other repeats. Toes drug on the ground, ankles gave way and knees buckled. Shaky legs swing forward. Foot presses down. Repeat.

Nella tried hard to focus on where her feet were being placed, since she had lost most feeling in her legs from exaustion. They had no water, so it was hard to thin their blood to be energized, which was much needed after all their blood loss and injuries. She adjusted the two backpacks she was attempting to carry for the rest of the journey, feeling them weigh down on her back, pressing on the healing rib that made it hard to breathe.

She looked up through slitted eyes, mouth open weakly, and gazed at Jax ahead of her, who had Tai strapped to his back so he wouldn't fall while he slept. The boy was so light and small from hunger that it didn't put too much strain on Jax's chest wounds. But they were still forced to stop now and then to clean up his blood, and for Nella to rest while her arm and rib throbbed.

They had left the town at noon like they had decided, and set out to gain more ground in the right direction. Jax had gotten them back on track and heading in the right direction. Today was day two of traveling since they had left the town.

Jax renewed the hope by reminding her once in a while that every step was a step closer to final safety. One more step behind them. But every step was painful and she wanted to rest, to eat, to drink. To wrap up in a warm blanket and just sit. But the other side of her, the larger piece, was fueled to get to the Freshlands more than ever, as fast as they could, to end her brother's pain before he could not tolerate it any longer.

Jax hadn't seemed to recover any sleep the night before, as he stumbled with balance, the same bags under his eyes. Nella stiffened every time he lost his footing, staring at her brother on his back. She wished she could have been the one carrying him, but her rib wouldn't have supported his weight without slipping out of the break point again, and she wouldn't have been able to use her broken arm to hold him up. Besides, she was hacking and coughing more now, her throat sore from the constant cough. She knew the fever would come soon after the cough, sooner this time than the first, and she wanted to get as far as she could before she got weaker.

Nella caught up to them so she was next to Jax, so she could feel Tai's pulse while he slept, just to make sure he was breathing. He was, but the pulse was slow. She rubbed some dirt off from his cheek with her thumb, that she assumed had gotten there when he fell asleep on the ground last night. With no tent, and no strength to climb the trees, they were forced to sleep on the open dirt ground. Tai was barely ever awake. The last time he had said anything was earlier that morning, making car noises with his wooden car driving up Jax's back, as he rested his cheek against him sleepily.

Nella let go of Tai's hand and looked up at Jax, who looked down at her with a tired smile. It made her feel better, and she smiled back, but it felt forced. She didn't feel free enough of danger to feel that relaxed. She could still see an overarching arm of death hovering over Tai's shoulder.

Jax must have seen her worries because he turned his head away from her, while reaching an arm around her thoughtfully, pulling her to his side so they were walking together.

We made the right decision, she repeated to herself. We wouldn't be on the way to helping him if we had stayed at the house. He would have died...he would have died at that house. We can make it in time...

She looked up desperately at the forest ahead of them, seeing no sign of civilization. They hadn't seen a house in a long tim. To their left through the tall dead trees was a road that they followed without being on it. They kept it in sight so they could still see and follow. Jax said he thought that the dirt road would lead them to it, since it was going in the same direction and seemed to have branched off far away from the last town. The road and forest around it was heading steadily uphill, and she could tell they would be heading to higher ground compared to where they had been traveling for months.