Behold the Scalded

Chapter Thirteen

The bitter taste of the roots was worse when the sun was out. They seemed to dry up and become less tender and more fibrous, not delicious at all. And we had to work much harder to get any sense of satisfaction while eating them.

I stopped trying after a few minutes. "We're just going to have to come back here later tonight."

Lilac nodded in agreement. "Hopefully by then those hunters are completely gone."

Concern grew in me at the look of the undying smoke in the distance. "You think they finally managed to set fire to the Scalded?"

"I would not put it passed them to own grenades and sticks of dynamite." He scoffed. "I don't think we have much to worry about though. They seem to be focusing their attention to the other side of the radius."

"For now," I reminded him. "Just like Hermit said, it's only a matter of time before they start attacking and raiding buildings and the hospital itself. Many people probably think the hospital is where the creatures come from and want to demolish that first."

Lilac flicked a piece of root away. "They might think twice as soon as Valerie shows them that there are people still in here. People who are just like them."

I nodded. Thinking about Valerie and Noel and if they would be successful. Another part of me feared that they would do anything to get views for their social media accounts. It wasn't farfetched to think that people would only pretend to help if they weren't getting something out of it. In the end, they would probably be like the rest of the city folk and watch as this placed burned and the unimaginable happened.

Lilac placed a comforting arm around me. He relaxed his body weight on my shoulder, nearly melding into me. I was thankful to have him in my times of need. I felt the trust and appreciation he exuded too. It was as if he intuitively knew when I needed comfort and attention. It made a huge difference even in the short amount of time we knew each other. It was as if we were one of the same.

We entered the forest, not sure of where to go. "Maybe we should stay away from the hospital until we know it's safe," I suggested.

"I agree." Lilac looked around our surroundings. "So where do we go from here? We probably should stay away from all the buildings."

"And stay away from that smoke." I pointed into the distance.

Continuing through the forest, a voice from above like a god from the heavens came down. "You'd be right to stay away from Knoques." Hermit's voice cast down low and unenthusiastic from his place in the thistles.

We looked up to see another makeshift tree house supported and hidden amongst the dark puffy leaves. "What are you doing?" I shielded my eyes from the sunlight.

"Staying out of danger." He peered down over the boards of the platform that were twined together with some of the stronger ropes of vine. "Heads up." Down came a pair of sap covered boots that landed before me to nestle in the roots.