***
“We’ve been walking through these woods for more than two hours,” Margaret moaned. “I need to rest my plates.”
Nick was still a little further in front of the others, but he stopped when he heard the old lady begging for a rest. He didn’t know how long they’d been trudging through the woods, but two hours sounded about right.
“We keep moving,” said Dave. “We can’t afford to stop.”
“Why not?” Eve asked. “What’s the harm?”
Dave’s eyes narrowed. “We need to find help. Or have you forgotten that? The longer we stay in these woods, the bigger the risk we get attacked again.”
Eve turned a slow circle, taking in their surroundings, and then shrugged. “I think we’ll be okay to take a fifteen minute break,” she said. “We’re totally alone.”
Dave shook his head. “We’re not stopping.”
“Who the hell put you in charge, anyway?” Nick intervened. “Margaret needs to rest, so we let her. There’s no argument to be had. She’s an old lady. Show some compassion.”
Margaret looked at Dave pleadingly. She seemed embarrassed that her age and weakness was causing a spat.
“Fine!” He huffed. “She can have ten minutes, but then we’re not stopping again until we find help. We can’t afford to be stuck in these woods once it gets dark.”
Nick checked his watch. It was just after two. It wouldn’t get dark till about 7PM, but Dave did have a point: they didn’t want to be wondering through the woods in the dark.
Margaret crouched down and eased herself onto a fallen log. Pauline sat down beside the old lady and rubbed her back. Dave, Cassie, Carl, and the three prisoners huddled together between the trees and began chatting.
“That Dave is starting to get on my tits,” said Eve in a whisper to Nick. “Talk about a power trip. He thinks he’s head boy scout or something.”
“I know,” Nick said. “I can’t believe how quickly his attitude has changed. To think he was driving around, picking people up and rescuing them, and then to just attack Kathryn the way he did.”
Eve knelt down and picked up a fallen pinecone. She ran her fingers over it for a couple of seconds, before placing it beneath her nostrils and taking in its scent. “I think that when we parked up the bus, the reality of the situation finally dawned on everybody. It was a bit like being in a cocoon when we were driving around; just watching all the chaos but not really being a part of it. Now that we’re on foot, I think we’ve all realised just how vulnerable we are, and how much the normal rules don’t apply anymore. Dave is just doing what he thinks is right, in a screwed up way.”
She tossed the pinecone into the distance.
Nick backed up against a towering poplar tree and looked up at the sky through its leaves. Birds fluttered overhead. “Are you doing okay?” he asked her.
“Who? Me? Yeah, why do you ask?”
“Just checking. You’re a young girl. This whole thing must be pretty frightening.”
“Yeah, to everybody, though, not just me. I’m an adult, same as the rest of you. Twenty-two doesn’t make me a child. It just makes me better looking than the rest of you.”
Nick laughed. “You think so?”
“Absolutely. Me and Margaret are the hottest people here.”
Nick laughed harder. “Well, I didn’t want to say anything, but the old dear does have something about her.”
Margaret peered over at them then and seemed confused by their stifled giggling. Perhaps she knew they were talking about her.
“Stop,” he said. “We shouldn’t chat about people behind their backs. Especially not a nice old lady like her.”