Chapter 9

Chase woke up with a start when he felt something grab onto his face. As he gathered his senses he felt a set of soft small fingers try to find somewhere comfortable to lean on.

He looked down groggily at Elie's splayed out form, her upper body slumped across his chest and her right hand tried to find its way under her head which was resting uncomfortably against his collar bone.

Unfortunately for her hand, it was currently being blocked by a ragged and bearded face that was too mountainous to navigate around.

After trying to get back to sleep unsuccessfully, Chase grew increasingly awake with each failed attempt for her hand to scale his features. Eventually he tried to scoot out from underneath Elie, only for her eyes to suddenly pop open. She stared vacantly at him, with some of her hair adhered to the drool on her face, before lazily drifting back to sleep.

He made sure she was comfortable before trying to get back to sleep himself. The slow trickling of the river tried to lull him back to sleep but despite his best efforts he couldn't relax. He would close his eyes and see the deer smiling at him. Talking to him.

"Wake up, before you forget how to." His eyes snapped open again, his vision seemed to shake with each of his fluttering heartbeats. Chase tried to go back to sleep, he thought of home but even that hadn't been left untainted as a refuge. He hadn't quite started dreaming when he opened his eyes slowly, scared that the home he would dream about would have an uninvited guest.

His forearm burned more and more as the barrow nettles wore off, and to make matters worse his hands didn't stop trembling. He was forced awake every time his arm was nudged.

He sat up in the dark and stared out to where he vaguely remembered he built the smoker. There was a faint red flickering from the embers as they slowly gnawed on the wood.

He hadn't been in his right mind when he was building it so he wasn't sure what state he had left it in. It wasn't like he would be able to get any sleep at this point, so he decided to take a look and reached for his spear, only to grab a fistful of leaves and moss they used for their bedding.

He looked out into the darkness apprehensively before fumbling around, searching for one of the sticks he had put around their shelter for protection. He grimaced when he bumped his injured arm against one of them but pressed on until he was back in the shelter with something he could fashion into a long and pointed weapon.

The stick he returned with wasn't exactly ideal, so he took out his bone knife and slowly started chipping away at the end. It was awkward to only use one hand but he managed to at least shave away at the stick until he ended up with something sharp enough to use as a spear.

Just as he was about to get up and check on the smoker he heard the rhythmic clattering of hooves and froze. He prayed that it wasn't what he thought it was only for his hopes to be dashed.

A silhouette of a deer was visible from the light coming from the smoker. As he kept watching, all the hairs on his body started to rise.

It wasn't alone.

He couldn't make out how many there were but it had to be more than a dozen. Chase didn't blink, and watched as the deer gathered around the hung up carcass.

They tried to bite at it but the smoke and embers made them retreat. After some time of timidly beating the fire with their hooves it began to die and the herd grew more and more confident.

Chase was already retreating inside, he tried to wake Elie up by shaking her. She lazily opened one eye before drifting back asleep. No matter how much he shook her she just seemed to nod off again. He didn't want to make any sound so he decided against forcing her awake, if she started talking then they would almost certainly draw the attention of the herd.

All he could do was hold the makeshift spear in his sweaty hands towards the entrance to the shelter. The point of the spear shook, but regardless he clutched it tightly through the pain and discomfort.

The deer were getting more daring, going up on their hind legs to try and take a bite. The tallest of the group were able to nip at the meat before having to back down again. They worked away at it, one mouthful at a time.

The carcass swayed dangerously as every bite caused it to swing out, and forced the herd to reach ever higher for another. Soon they were scrambling over each other and nipping at each other in an attempt to get more.

One of them grew too ambitious and stretched out further than the others, only to be knocked over by their neighbours. The flailing creature tried to land on its feet only to find itself impaled against one of the dozens of sticks placed around the fire to choke it of air.

It let out a screech which caused the herd to stop their scavenging. In unison the herd eyed their new meal, a feast that didn't require jumping or reaching. The shortest of the herd looked especially enthralled with the deer that was struggling to free itself. It managed to snap the stick with its weight but the shard of wood was deeply embedded into its chest, the deer struggled to its feet before nervously backing away from its herd, a small pool of blood forming around its feet.

One of the youngest members of the herd went up to the pool of blood and started lapping up the thick red fluid. Once it had its fill it looked up at the wounded deer, blood still clinging to its fur and dripping fresh from around its mouth, a wide toothy grin filled with glee was revealed.

A bright red tongue, that seemed too long for a deer, snaked out and ran along its lips and teeth, savouring the flavour and whitening its fangs. It immersed itself in the aroma and texture, the faint hint of iron wafting through the air and stirring up the herds appetite.

The young deer's thirst had been quenched but its hunger was still burning it from inside.

The tension in the air finally broke, like a bone splintering into long thin shards and exposing the sweet marrow within.

The herd rushed towards their new meal whilst their food desperately ran away, galloping with strained breaths. Even after they had left view Chase could still hear them running after the poor beast. It was destined to be eaten alive one mouthful at a time until it could no longer run.

Chase was gripping his spear hard enough to lose feeling in his hands. He waited for the relief of safety to come to him but no matter how long he waited it didn't seem to arrive.

He stared out at the sky, waiting for the faint light of dawn. Eventually, the sickly grey glow of the cloudy morning let him see out more clearly.

He gently shook Elie, now that some light was streaming through the entrance of the shelter she begrudgingly woke up.

"Why we up so early? It's still dark outside." She said, rubbing her eyes and stretching her legs out simultaneously.

"We aren't safe here. Come on, we need to get ready and go." He urged.

He didn't know where they were going, only that they had to get away from where they were. They could keep following the river until they found a good spot. He began frantically thinking of all the things they would need to take with them to get by on their journey, and fell into a silent bout of thought.

It was only shortly after that he noticed Elie tugging on his good arm. Her other hand was wrapped tightly around her mouth and her eyes were so wide that you could see the whites around her iris. Her face that normally had a rosy hint underneath her freckles was ashen grey.

He turned to look at the entrance and didn't notice anything at first but when the long red tongue licked the air, it was all he could pay attention to. There was a small snout covered in a film of faded blood, it had been cleaned again and again by the tongue but there was always a little bit more left for it to dig out.

The wet nose at the end sniffed at the air, obviously searching for something. Chase pointed the spear at the entrance as quietly as possible. Only when he raised his arms up did he realise what had drawn it here. He hadn't felt it, but the wound had opened up and small beads of blood were meandering down his forearm before dripping on the ground.

When the young deer saw them it smiled in exactly the same way as before. A smile of pure joy.

Chase lunged, his spear aimed at the exposed head of the deer, he wanted to kill it then and there. The deer whipped its head back but not before Chase had already gouged its nose. The tip of the spear had gone into one of its nostrils and exited abruptly from the side leaving it bloody and mangled.

The young deer ran out of view, startled by the sudden attack. Chase waited with his spear for it to show its face again. Seconds turned into minutes, and there was still no sign of it returning. It was only after he waited for sunlight to start streaming through the treetops did he calm down.

Elie whispered to him, "Is it gone?"

Chase heard something break behind him. When he turned around Elie had backed up against the other side of the cramped shelter as much as she could. Her back pressed against the branches and logs until they dug through her clothing and into her skin.

The other wall had a new feature, the head of a rabid deer. Its neck stretched out to reach her, but the shelter prevented its body from pushing in further. Its fangs inched as close as they could to her face and yet weren't enough. So instead its long red tongue darted out and tried to grab onto something. Elie closed her eyes and felt it brush against her face and grab onto her hair, trying to pull her closer. She fumbled around looking for her knife.

Chase didn't have time to clumsily turn the spear around In the narrow shelter and instead, slammed his fist as hard as he could against the deer's nose. Causing it to howl in pain. He kept punching its nose until it grew more and more bloody.

Elie finally pulled out her knife and started clumsily cutting away at her hair.

Chase on the other hand swung his fist screaming at the deer, "Get away from her!" He landed a sharp blow against its ear that seemed to leave the beast dizzy. Its head rang like a bell.

He kept pummelling it until his hands were bruised.

Elie couldn't cut her hair, the tongue dragged it one way, then another, trying to get a better grip. She couldn't cut more than a few strands at a time, so she swiped at the tongue, cutting it clean off. It stuck to her hair, writhing like a snake, whilst the remaining tongue attached to the deer started spurting blood all over her.

The young deer let out an ear piercing screech before desperately pulling its head out of the shelter and running off. Chase grabbed his spear, chest heaving, looking to see where the deer had gone. Thankfully he watched as it bolted into the treeline as fast as it could.

Elie was still ashen faced, trying to get the squirming tongue away from her face. Chase helped her get it out and threw it away into the river, he hurled it as far as he could, trying to get some of the tension he felt out of his body. He quickly rushed to clean his arm and re-tightened the cloth around it. He didn't want to attract anything else with the scent of blood.

Elie followed him out, limping to the riverbank and started splashing her face and hair with water. After she was clean Chase took a look at her. Stretching from her chin to just underneath her eye was a long narrow graze that peeled away at the skin enough to leave it pink and raw. It wasn't deep, but he had felt the gritty texture of the tongue when he threw it out and knew exactly what had happened.

He knelt down and held her face still, inspecting the graze. It pained him to see her wince, but there wasn't anything he could do to help make it better besides making sure it was clean.

He was especially worried by how blank and serene she appeared. It was like she had accepted death at that moment and hadn't quite come to terms with the fact that she was alive.

He wrapped his arms around her and held onto her tightly. He could feel her small hands almost digging into him and he gently brushed her hair with his hand. For a moment they stood there peacefully, Chase felt a warmth rise from deep within his chest and he lifted her up and held her in his arms. She slumped her head over his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Chase started, "We're going to be going on an adventure. Do you want to join me?"

His trembling hands wove through her hair. Chase tried his best to hide it from her by running his fingers through the strands more often.

"It's going to be long and difficult, and we will probably go hungry or thirsty. You might have to eat bugs or drink your own pee." He said, unable to laugh at his own joke. Or tell if it was a joke.

"I don't know how long we will have to travel, but it might be a really long time. Maybe weeks or even months... or longer." His voice broke as he spoke.

"But if we leave here, we can go home. We'll have a small cottage and something to eat every day and a small garden to grow herbs and your mum will..." The lump in his throat stopped him from saying anymore.

"And a goat." Elie murmured.

"And a goat." He chuckled.

Even now his hands strummed against her white hair constantly, unable to stop. If he stopped then he might not have the strength to continue on. The fear would take root.

There had been a deep sinking feeling ever since the forest showed its true colours, he knew that if he didn't hear her say "Yes" then they wouldn't make it. He wouldn't be able to muster the courage to continue no matter what they came across, no matter what he lost. He had to hear it from her.

"Dad, I'm scared."

His skin started to prickle as he felt the death of his mind begin to encroach. The part of him that wanted to go home more than anything else was about to be smothered by the muffled words of his daughter. Chase teetered along the edge of giving up, but he still hadn't gotten an answer. So he nudged her one last time.

"Don't worry, I'm with you. I won't let you go."

She tightened her hold on him and whispered in a tiny voice.

"Ok."

Chase closed his eyes in acceptance. His hands never did stop brushing her hair.