making me hazy and tired. Have I ever steered you wrong, Killian?”
“Yes. That one time you told me that berry was safe to eat off the tree.”
He snickers. “It was safe! How was I supposed to know you’d have a reaction to it? People eat them all the time!”
“My tongue swelled up and I thought I was going to die.”
“You did not! Your face did look funny, though.”
“And you laughed every time you looked at my face.”
“Not until after I made sure you’d live!”
My arms are growing tired and my back aches but it’s not much farther at this point. Clearly, I need to work out more. Maybe instead of avoiding Shepherd, I should have been trying to exercise with him.
The last bit is an incline that takes us up to a small recess that remotely resembles a cave. The nice thing is it’s barely noticeable from out here. The only reason we found it was because Bear was nosing in it. Hopefully, that doesn’t mean some wild animals live in it that will eat us.
I drop Shepherd to his feet and pull the brush back that I’d covered it with when we were trying to plan ahead. Once it’s pulled back, I guide Shepherd in and cover the opening again. The ceiling isn’t high enough to stand but if I stay crouched, I can walk to the back where we have our supplies. Since we’d set everything up back when it was cold out, there are blankets and other provisions. So I get a blanket out and spread it out for Shepherd who sits on it. Then I turn the lantern on. While it’s still bright enough outside, it won’t draw much attention, but I’ll have to kill it as soon as it starts getting any darker.
I try to help Shepherd out of his shirt but he seems to have no interest in taking it off and just sits there stone still.
“Shepherd, I need to fix it,” I say.
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. You’ve bled through this bandage.”
“Just showing you I’m still alive.”
I stare at him because I’m positive there are other ways to tell he’s alive than bleeding everywhere. “What if I cut the shirt? We have more clothes in here.”
He nods, so I pull out a knife and cut the shirt off his shoulder before helping him out of it. I undo the bandage before treating the wound again. Maybe now that he’s not moving as much the bleeding will have a better chance to quit altogether. I get him some water and force him to drink it before digging around in the new bags for food. It’s all in a metal container to keep animals from finding it, but it’s mostly things that wouldn’t get stale or that could be rehydrated with water. I get out a little bit to see if he’ll eat it first. He takes two bites and decides he’s done.
“Eat a little bit more, please.”
He sighs but takes two more bites.
When he’s finished, he lies down. It’s starting to get dark, so I make sure the guns are fully loaded and eat before turning the light off. Tomorrow we’ll have another trek to a secondary car we have parked on a lot just outside the forest. Once there, we’ll just have to keep moving until we find another safe zone.
“Shepherd?” I ask.
“Hmm?” he mumbles.
“Why is Tony so adamant about finding us? Like… I get why he abducted me. He thought it’d help him find his daughter, but it’s been over a month. Is he holding grudges this long?”
He seems to think about it for a moment. “It’s probably a combination of things. You because you fucked him over but mostly me because I’ve been by his side every step of the way since I was a teen. I know so much stuff that could ruin him, ruin your father… ruin all of the bullshit they’ve built up. I could destroy them all when really, all I want is to stay with you and tell them to fuck off,” he says. “I don’t want to live that life anymore. I want to live with you. I want to live in that stupid little cabin that doesn’t even get good internet and where we have to cut trails and do other weird shit Dave comes up with.”
He sighs and turns quiet enough that I wonder if he’s fallen asleep, so I quietly slip under the blanket next to him so I can keep him close