Chapter 21 Recap: Tish, Chandra, Nyssa, Peter and Viola reached the college. But instead of the open arms of friends, they met an armed guard blocking their path. Due to Peter's bite, they refused to allow Peter entrance. When a struggle ensued, Peter was shot dead, Viola attacked the shooter, and was also killed.
Tish retaliated one of the college guards and was knocked unconscious.
Reid stretched from the low bough and cracked his neck. Waiting in the tree was wearing on him. It was afternoon, and they had a few more hours of daylight, maybe three at this time of year before they’d need to hide for the night. Looking over the children in the tree, Reid still found it hard to believe so many of them had made it. Children were often the first to go and yet five of them were safely tucked in the canopy of the forest. Four slept soundly but Ethan wouldn't shut his eyes. Twice exhaustion had pulled at his lids and Reid watched him struggle to stay awake.
“It's okay, kid,” Shannon called with a slight yawn but Ethan didn’t dare shut his eyes.
The kid was changed. Whatever he saw, whatever happened out there, he wasn’t the same. Probably never will be.
Ashley turned in her sleep. Her arm dangled limply and her frame leaned precariously into the trunk. Don't fucking fall and break your neck this close to the end. His lips curled into a slight, brief smile.
After a few more minutes they couldn’t put it off any longer. Reid stood and knocked on Shannon’s boot. It was time to move.
The kids were quick to wake and Ashley, although groggy, didn't snap at Reid when he shook her shoulder. She looked like hell; bags under her eyes, lids barely opening, a heavy yawn and delay in her movements. But her eyes were sharp and scanned the forms in the tree.
“We should leave while we have daylight,” Reid said.
Ashley nodded. Her first instinct took her to her pack. Food went out, the last of it she told them. Reid watched her every move and made note of the winces and tugs. Pain flashed before she clearly tried to hide it.
She was a lone wolf, so to speak, and she tried to maintain a distance from the others. Physically she didn’t sit near them, but emotionally? How many more times would she stick her neck out? The jovial prods, the making light of it all endeared her to them but not the other way around. Or at least she made no show of it. And she didn't really smile. Not real ones anyway.
Closing his eyes, Reid reminded himself why he was out there. It wasn't to save her or to protect these kids. It wasn’t even the people back at the university. Getting away. Getting the fuck out of this hellhole. Remember what has to be done. The words repeated in his mind but it didn't steel his resolve any more than it had before. He wasn't Laurence, he hadn't lost the same way the others did and he wasn't so filled with rage that he was blind to the facts.
We need her help.
“Ready?” Reid asked and nods answered him.
He offered Ashley a hand but she ignored it and dropped nimbly to the ground.
After rolling his eyes, Shannon climbed down, taking Reid's outstretched hand and then each kid after.
“We'll need to carry the younger ones,” Ashley insisted and Shane scooped up her hand.
“She can't carry you.” The words slipped from Reid and disappointment shrouded the young boy’s face. He expected her to shrug it off, pick up Shane, and walk on but instead, Ashley agreed.
“If you drop him-” she stepped into Reid, her body threateningly close- “You’ll wish the wendigo’s got you.” Her lips twitched with a practiced smile but her eyes were nearly murderous.
Shane reluctantly climbed up, with a little help, onto Reid's back. Wendy clamoured to Shannon’s and the other kids collected beside Ashley.
“There's only one pace,” she started, and they thankfully maintained their silence. “If you can't keep up, raise your arm just don't yell. I'll stay in the back but if you fall, don't make a peep.” More nods. “Not a sound.”
Shannon, who knew the way best, took up the front and started to jog.
They had gone over the plan earlier: run to the river, follow it downstream, take the rubble up and get on the bridge. From there it was a straight jog to the campus and safety. Once they were close enough to the university, Ashley would go her own way. It was simple, dangerous as hell, and could end with them all dying.
Reid tried to tell himself it was their best option and it was, but every bone in his body ached to hide as they met the river and sank into the cold water.
Ethan was doing a good job of swimming and Ashley kept a hand ready for the other two kids. They could handle it, he knew that much, but it was another obstacle these kids should never have known.
It was slow going at first, but despite the falls, scrapes and the trips in the water, they were relatively silent. Ashley kept a fake confident smile plastered while they moved on downstream. Shannon occasionally shot up a hand to halt them at some sound. Reid hadn't realized how useful Shannon was until now. His mind wandered as they travelled in silence, thinking of Tish and Laurence. Had they made it? Were they looking for them or just Ashley? For such a large portion of their journey, he'd spent keeping his distance or tending to the wounded, his comrades in arms a mystery even now.
Looking up, he watched Shannon's hand shoot out and then his body lowered into the water. Each followed suit as something fumbled in the bushes. It was about a minute before Reid heard the distinctive heavy breathing and groan of the wendigo. Shane hugged his's neck tighter until they were nearly submerged in the water.
Ashley let go of the little hands and bobbed towards the edge of the river, and the took her closer. When she reached the edge, her fingers laced into the thick grass and held her in place without splashing. With her good arm, she lifted herself up and peered over the edge. Reid watched her shoulders tense and forearms flex at holding herself up and against the current of the raised river. She was strong and her arms just as skillfully lowered her back into the breach. Turning, but keeping her good arm in the brush, she motioned for Shannon to continue moving. He let the current pull him downstream, head just above the water. They could see the bridge and it would only be a few minutes.
But Ashley didn't join them. As he followed the group, Reid watched her watch them. She nodded encouragement when needed and locked a glare in Reid's direction when he hesitated.
What is she doing?
He didn’t stop though. Instead, he followed Shannon.
For three to no more than five minutes they bobbed until again, Shannon put on the breaks. His body stopped in the river and he collected the children before they were carried by. Crossing to the west side of the stream, Shannon motioned for Reid to close the distance.
“It's up ahead,” he whispered. “I can't fuckin’ see what's around. Can you take her?”
Reid, with one arm holding the bank, looped the other around the shivering Wendy and held her against his chest. Ethan was quick to slip in beside and held Wendy’s hand.
Shannon gripped the bank and prepared to lift himself until the sound came again. The low guttural moan and shuffling in the brush. The sound lumbered closer to the ledge and Reid’s heart pumped fast.
We can travel further down the river. They can't swim but... where will that take us? Floating further into the valley and from sanctuary was a signed and sealed death warrant.
Shannon knew it too and locked eyes with Reid. He could see the resigning look in his eyes, the acceptance and the fear all speaking volumes in silence. He was still going to crest the bank. Reid wanted to reach out and stop Shannon, his heart pounding.
I can't do this alone! Not with all these kids! But he was holding Wendy. Ethan seemed to pick up and reached out instead, gripping Shannon's arm for just that extra second. Above the bank, a moan cut short, a small shuffle and then a heavy thud in the grass. There was a definite exhale and then more steps towards them. Shannon braced himself and Reid tried to inch away to give space.
Ashley knelt down by the river’s edge, wiping the hatchet off on the bank's wet grass. She replaced it in her belt and extended a hand to Shannon. “Pass me one of the kids.”
Shannon pushed Cally out of the water and into Ashley’s arms.
The fear that had shadowed each face was left in the river as one by one the kids left the water. Ashley collected them in a small patch of tall grass beneath the rubble of the bridge. With heads tucked low, they went unseen by anything that wasn't in the river itself. A few feet from the edge, the wendigo's body lay still and cold. The head a few feet further away, the thin stringy neck of sinew hacked through.
“You scared the shit out of me,” Shannon said with a smile, reflected for a moment in Ashley. She seemed to relax a little but there was blood all over her hands and hips, the stench overpowering.
“I need to clean up, but this will attract them soon which could work to our advantage.” Ashley looked at herself before turning to the bridge. “Get the kids to the base of the rocks through the grass. From what I could tell nothing is hiding in there.”
They nodded, broke the small huddle, and Shannon took some hands and led them through the brush.
Ashely came up behind Reid, her hand resting on his shoulder. “Run for the rubble and don't stop. Same rules,” she whispered looking to the kids. “If you fall, get up and don't make a sound.” They all nodded and like little soldiers looked ahead to their task. Ashley turned to Reid, her hand sliding from him. Her eyes softened when she looked on Shane and she pressed her finger to her lips and mimicked a 'shush'. But that tender moment drained her just as quickly.
Reid pulled Shane and Cally to their feet, Wendy and Ethan beside them and Cooper with Shannon. Ashley held the rear, her eyes turning from side to side as they went in full sprint towards the rubble. There weren't any wendigo's, not any they could see but Reid wasn't looking and was sure Shannon was in the same flight mode. They reached the rubble and started climbing, silent the whole way.
Wendy slipped. Her lips parted to squeak out a yelp that carried through the air. Ethan lost grip and when he turned for her she had tumbled back. Reid and Ethan froze on the hill.
Ashley was pulling Wendy to her feet as the low groans echoed from the surrounding brush they'd just crawled through. Figures emerged from all sides, some converging on the dead wendigo by the river but more lumbered to the bridge. From halfway up it was as though the brush was teaming and Reid’s heart leapt into his throat.
“Don't stop,” Ashley commanded, the whispers from earlier abandoned.
“You heard her!” Shannon echoed and he urged the kids on.
Ashley pulled Wendy up until they reached Ethan. “Pick her up, kid.”
Ethan obeyed, pulling his sister onto his back.
Ashley stayed behind, the hatchet in her hand as the wendigo's slowly began their climb.
Every foot Reid turned to see if she was still there, if the things hadn’t climbed up and pulled her down. It wasn't until he felt a tug that Reid looked forward.
“She said don't stop,” Shane scolded. Reid nodded and put his back to Ashely.
As Reid and Shane crested the crumbling bridge, the rest were huffing and puffing. Sweat streamed down their faces. The climb hadn't seemed so bad before but looking at the distance down Reid’s stomach lurched at the height.
“I said don't stop!” Ashley snapped as she reached the top.
Shannon and his troupe had had a moment to catch their breath and were the first to react while Ethan, Reid, and Shane panted. But she was right, there was no time to breathe as the wendigos seemed to be making their way up after them.
“They'll follow us,” Reid murmured.
“My leg hurts...” Wendy whined.
“We don't have time,” Ashley huffed and, despite her injury, she picked up Wendy. “I got her, kid,” she told Ethan. “Just keep an eye on the others.”
