“When summer comes, it’ll be two years.” Dani folded and extended the spear experimentally and inspected it, seemingly to busy her eyes.
Lynn kept her gaze on her wounds as she cleaned them of her blood. Thankfully, her cleaning confirmed her earlier assessment. “So, how scared shitless are you right now?”
Dani tensed, and the grip on her spear tightened.
For a second, Lynn thought she’d pushed the tentative comradery too far, then she realized what she was seeing in Dani wasn’t anger but fear. She swallowed. “Sorry, that was insensitive.”
“Whatever.” Dani began to pace.
Skeever, roused by the movement, trotted over from the corner and followed her back and forth across the small chapel. He bounded ahead. Within seconds he returned with the mangled remains of the rat in his jaws and brushed his head against Dani’s hand to get her to take his offering and throw it.
Dani pushed him away twice before she tossed the dead rodent across the room. Disgust crinkled her features. She wiped the tips of her fingers on her pants.
If Dani was afraid now, how scared would she be when she was alone out here? Lynn sighed and focused on cleaning her injuries—injuries she’d sustained because of Dani’s stupidity. Fuck Dani and her fear.
“Is it safe?” Dani scanned the site before them hesitantly.
“It’s defendable.” Lynn let Skeever sniff through the rubble in front of what had been a house pre-war. Its top stories had collapsed, but unlike its brethren in the area, its outer walls still stood.
Dani glared at her. Defendable was apparently not a satisfactory criterion for someone used to an almost absolute guarantee of safety when she slept.
“It’s the best option we have.” Lynn glanced around. This section of the city had been decimated by the bombers. The tallest things around were the trees that had grown on and through the grass-covered remnants of civilization.
Dani had urged them on well beyond what Lynn felt comfortable with, unwilling to agree to a sleeping place this open, but the destruction in this area had been complete. As imperfect as this shelter was, Lynn knew they could make it work. And she needed to make it work too; the dull throbbing in her arm had worsened to a steady pulsing. Swinging her arm as they walked, bumping it against her body by accident, and reluctantly using it to climb over obstructions had taken its toll. It was also getting dark quickly now.
“Come on. Let’s look inside.” Lynn clambered through the gap in the structure that had once held a door. It was now the start of a steep slope of debris. When she pushed aside a variety of green creepers, she upset a mass of spiders. She shook them off without a second thought, planted her fingers into the dirt between the stones, and hauled herself up. She bit back a grunt of pain.
Skeever scrambled up after her, tail low. He overtook her.
Lynn stood up. Inside was better described as on top of. The building’s innards had compacted into a rubble layer as thick as its entire first story. The collapse had created a fairly level and spacious surface to camp on. As far as hideouts went, this was a decent one. Walled in on three sides, sheltered from the wind, and as long as it didn’t rain, a fire would keep them warm. As Lynn stood, she could look out over the ruined walls but saw little more than sunset-red-colored treetops.
Skeever beelined for something in the far left corner and circled, nose to the ground, panting loud enough for Lynn to hear him the entire length of the space away.
Carefully, she tested the solidity of the ceiling-turned-floor as she made her way over to him.
It held.
She crouched down by a collection of bones and dry scat and pulverized some of the feces between her fingers. It was old. Either it was a single dropping of a bear or multiple droppings of something smaller. Wolverine? Dog? Lynn didn’t like any of the options; they were all fiercely territorial and wouldn’t take kindly to intruders. The skeleton was the size of a small doe, but it was hard to tell what it had been exactly, with many of its parts missing—including the skull. More wolves? This not knowing was going to haunt her in the long, dark night.
Skeever sniffed her fingers, then licked them. His tail trembled between his legs.
You don’t like it either, do you, boy? She scratched along his jaw.
“Are we staying?”
Lynn’s heart stuttered. She whirled around. “Dammit! Don’t sneak up on me!”
Dani flinched, then her features hardened. She drew herself up to her full height even as the tip of the spear lowered loosely to Lynn’s chest height. “Don’t yell at me.” Her tone was metered. Her eyes narrowed. “You knew I was coming up after you. Tell me what you’ve found.”
Lynn’s heartbeat settled to a strong thumping, ready for battle, a powerful pulse that steadied her. She straightened slowly and pushed the tip of the spear aside before stepping past it, into Dani’s personal space. The motion rendered Dani’s weapon ineffective, but Lynn didn’t need much room to swing her tomahawk. The smooth wood of the handle settled against her skin as she tightened her grip.
Dani’s eyes widened; she knew it too.
Lynn allowed only a fraction of the smirk that tugged at the corners of her mouth. That’s right, Dani. Don’t forget you’re in my world now. She pushed forward.
Dani had to attack, take a step back, or fall over. She stepped back.
Lynn’s blood ran hot in her veins, victorious. Her dominance established, she relented. “Something used this as a lair, but not for a while. So yes, we are going to bar whatever we can, and then we’re going to stay. Agreed?”
“Y-Yes.” Dani broke the eye contact. She turned and walked away, shoulders slumped. “I’ll start on the door.”
Lynn considered protesting. Could she trust Dani to build adequate defenses? She’d said herself that she hadn’t spent a night out in the Wilds for years. But Lynn was so tired. Hauling heavy with her weakened arm would worsen the injury, and she knew it. “Don’t fuck up.”
Dani tensed and she slowed her step, but only a second. Then she tilted her head up and marched off without looking back.
Lynn watched her slip down the slope until she disappeared completely. She loosened the grip on her tomahawk and deflated with a slow release of her breath. Dani’d had a point, she realized; Lynn should have never let herself be caught by surprise like that. Of course Dani would follow her up. Stupid. She shook her head. At least Dani now remembered who held the power between them. Lynn wondered why that mattered so damn much to her, but it did. Maybe it was because she’d let Dani push her until sundown was upon them instead of setting up camp when light had still been abundant. Lynn liked to have everything set up to perfection before darkness fell. Now she would have to scramble to get that done. She cracked her neck on both sides and rotated her sore shoulder with care. Time to make the best of it. First step: clear a spot to camp down.
A short time later, she added twigs to a small fire built on dried scat and leaves. It would take more time and more wood to build the fire up to one stable and hot enough to heat up some food or water, but even this crisp, little fire offered relief from the rapidly encroaching darkness.
Sounds of grunting and dragging reached her ears again. Dani had been busy too.
Skeever barked, but it was his happy bark.
What is she doing, anyway? Lynn added a few more twigs and bits of bark to the fire. She tightened the ring of stones around it and got up. Tomahawk in hand, she walked back to the slope and stared down into the twilight. Her eyes adjusted quickly.