The Prophet's Daughter

by Kilayla Pilon

  “Hi little guy,” I murmured, glancing over at Isaac’s tent before I picked up the kitten, holding it in my arms. It didn’t protest and instead curled up in my arms, touching its nose to my chin, purring.

  I carried the kitten into the tent, crawling onto the makeshift bed Isaac had made up with my foam and the spaceship patterned blanket from the house. The kittens head shot up at the sound, ears perked and pupils round. It stretched its maw open, yawning, before bounding out of my arms and clambering over towards the blankets, pressing against fluffiest parts.

  “Come on little guy, time for bed,” I murmured, zipping the tent closed, leaving it open at the bottom. I stared at the small gap, hand hovering on the zipper. No, other animals could get in. I’ll let him out in the morning.

  Pulling the zipper so that not even a fly could squirm its way into the tent, I huffed and dragged myself over towards the blankets. The kitten squeaked at the movement, jumping up and scrambling towards me, burying itself against my chest. I laughed and ran my fingers through its fur, surprised at how tame the small kitten was – he must have been young, he was just about the length of my foot.

  “I’ll call you Jumper,” I sighed, laying my head against the pillow, listening to the crickets outside and closed my eyes. “We’ll see what to do with you tomorrow.”

  Chapter 5

  Thunder rumbled above, sounding every few moments. I sat up, pulling the blanket off and shot towards the mouth of the tent. Jumper’s eyes flung open with a start, jumping up and letting out a loud wail of surprise.

  “Sorry, buddy,” I gasped, scooping up the little guy in my arms. He crawled into my shirt; ears pinned to his skull as I zipped open the tent and poked my head outside, looking up. Darkness greeted me, the sky covered in rolling dark clouds. Somewhere to the east of us, a flock of ravens called out, loud and raucous.

  “Crap,” I grumbled, pushing out of the tent with Jumper burying deeper into my shirt, clinging on to my shirt with his claws. Isaac’s tent was open, the door unzipped and I could see he wasn’t inside by the lack of movement and shadows being cast against the side.

  “Dad,” Isaac’s voice carried toward me and I scanned the area for him. He was leaning into the cart, his torso hidden from view. “Dad, please…” Desperation was clear in his voice.

  “Isaac?” I called, hesitant as I approached him.

  “Arin, he hasn’t woken up,” Isaac whispered, his voice tight. “There’s so much blood.” I could see the alarm, the intense fear he felt bubbling inside of him, sparkling in his wide green eyes, and I wished I could do something, anything to comfort him, but there was not a thing I could do. I wasn’t going to fill his head with reassuring lies that his father was going to wake up, that the wounded man was going to be fine when it was obvious that he wasn’t that he was wounded far beyond anything I knew how to fix. I just hoped the bandage would be enough to keep infection away until we could figure out what it was we were going to do – and if there was anything we could do.

  “Is he breathing?” I said after a long while, leaning in to look at the man. Jumper hissed, squirming and scattering out of my shirt, thumping against the ground and skittering towards the fire pit, ears pinned to his skull and pupils dilated.

  “What the hell is that?” Isaac asked, spinning around to look at the outraged feline.

  “Jumper, I found him last night,” I answered, shaking my head and turning back to Seth. “Leave him be for now, we’ll talk about him after.” I leaned towards the man, silent, trying to listen to his breathing.

  I noticed it, and heard it – his breathing was quick and ragged, a scratchy sound emanating from him with each weak rise and fall of his chest. I stepped backwards, shaking my head, chewing on my lip. I could taste blood.

  “Isaac, he doesn’t sound good and I don’t know what to do. I’m not a doctor,” I stated, putting my hands up in front of me. “My hands are tied. I wish they weren’t and I wish I knew what I could do, believe me, but I don’t.”

  “There has to be something we can do,” Isaac spat, shoving me out of the way. “There has to be.” He moved his hand towards his father, resting his palm on the man’s limp arm, eyes darting back and forth, searching.

  “Isaac, I wish I knew what I - what we - could do,” I repeated, exhaling a heavy, frustrated breath. I glanced up at Isaac, turning my gaze to his hand grasping his father’s arm. It reminded me so much of my mother and how I had clung to her for the night, crying myself to sleep.

  I turned away, tears springing to my eyes, a lump forming in my throat, making it hard to even bring in a single breath. I missed her; I could feel it in my bones and the churning in my stomach at the realization that she wouldn’t be there to comfort me if Seth didn’t make it. I could never describe, never word just how much I yearned for the presence of my mother and father. I didn’t want Isaac to feel the same way; I doubted he could handle the loss.

  Isaac turned to me with tears in his eyes as he let out a cry of surprise, pushing away from the cart in a sudden, rushed movement, pulling his arm to his side. Wide eyed, the both of us pivoted to see Seth’s hand clenching into a fist, a low groan escaping his mouth.

  “Dad?” whispered Isaac, taking a step towards his father. My heart fluttered with excitement and I followed him. In response to the soft whisper the boy had emitted, Seth shot up fast, eyes snapping open. Jumper let out a screech of fury, skittering backwards, back arched and fur bristling.

  “Seth,” I began, reaching towards him. “You can’t move so fast, you’ll tear your wounds open again.” Isaac and I shared a glance, both of us stepping towards the man, preparing to lower him onto his back. However, as each of our gazes moved to look into the unfocused, bloodshot eyes of the wounded man, it was obvious that something was amiss.

  I peered at his side, cringing. His abdominal wound had begun to bleed again and the soiled bandage had become useless, the crusted brown blood being overcome by a flow of crimson. There was nothing I could do, not if he had reopened the gash in his stomach; he had lost too much blood as it was and the chances of him surviving had been slim enough before.

  Seth turned to me and narrowed his eyes, a low guttural growl emanating from deep within him. He stretched his mouth open, releasing a horrid, ear-splitting scream that held a rage that had never before pierced my ears. He lunged towards the two of us, becoming entangled in the plastic wrapping that had been above him. Howls of rage echoed throughout the air and he began thrashing in desperation to remove the plastic encasement, blood smearing against the tarp.

  “Isaac! Get your gun!” I cried, turning to stare at the wide eyed boy who stared in horror at the man before us. “Isaac!” His gaze shifted at me, then back to his father, mouth agape as he stared. He blinked, taking a step towards me, before he shot off towards his tent, stumbling along the way.

  Please find it, please, I begged, turning back to Seth. I cried out in surprise as he lumbered towards me, the plastic covering smeared with blood and tossed to the ground. Jumper let out a wail of terror and took off like a lightning bolt into my tent. I didn’t have enough time to take in everything that was going on, for within a moment the man was lunging at me, his weight shoving me towards the ground.

  We both smacked against the ground, a loud thump echoing. All of the air within my seemed to leave within a moment and I lay against the ground, gasping for breath. Seth lay on top of me, ragged breathing hot against my face. I pressed my fists against his chest, closing my eyes as I felt his hands grasping for my hair, and shoved – to no avail. He was in too strong of a rage to focus on what he was doing and far too heavy for me to shove on my own.

  Panic tore through me like a tidal wave, my breath catching in my lungs, every part of my growing limp. I looked around me, trying to see Isaac or anything that I could use to help me out of the situation I was in – but there was nothing, no weapons, nothing. A pinching pain stung in my stomach and I swallowed the overwhelming urge to vomit tingling in every vein in my bod
y.

  “Isaac!” I screamed, squirming and pressing my legs against Seth’s abdomen and pushing. I couldn’t get him off me – he was far too big and stood at least half a foot taller than I did, and he was half a dead weight, trying to crawl off of me himself to no avail. Blood oozed from his wound, coating my leg – I could feel my foot sinking in to the gaping lesion, the warmth of his body obvious. I felt bile rise to my throat, swallowing hard to keep myself from vomiting. I had to get him off me.

  Bang. Bang. Bang.

  Three gun shots rang out and the flailing, growling man on top of me went limp, blood splattering against my face. I froze and screwed my eyes shut, my body tensing in shock, mouth gaping open. I lay; chest heaving, unable to move. I didn’t have the guts to open my eyes until after Seth’s weight began to move off of me, the warmth of his body gone in an instant – and I was glad to be rid of it.

  “Oh, God,” I groaned, pushing away from the corpse of the older man as Isaac pushed him off of me with his foot. Three bullet sized holes, a dribble of blood accompanying each one, protruded from the side of Seth’s head, patterned in a slight triangle. I turned away; my throat and chest constricting as I felt the urge to vomit overwhelm me.

  Isaac stood above me, the gun trembling in his tensed, beat red hands. Tears streamed down his cheeks, but he didn’t make a sound and instead he just stared with his empty green gaze locked on the limp body of his father. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

  “Isaac,” I croaked, wracking my brain for any words I could use, but nothing came and I stood staring at him, mouth open and no sound coming out.

  “Don’t. Just, just don’t,” he breathed, raising his hand as he spoke, throwing the gun to the ground and storming off. Thunder rumbled, accompanied by a clash of bright lightening. I hadn’t been paying attention to the weather much or seen the approaching gray clouds that hovered above us then. We needed to figure out what the plan was – keep going or wait out the storm. I watched as Isaac disappeared into the trees and sighed, placing my head into my hands.

  Leave him, talk to him later. I doubted he would want to talk about the next, anyway. He would still be hoping his father would walk up behind him, alive and healthy; it would be like that for days. He would be pinching himself, begging to wake up from the nightmare he was living. He needed time and I couldn’t help him until he was ready to move on.

  I crawled back to the tent, greeted by Jumper within moments of my arrival. The small tabby kitten purred in greeting, rubbing against my legs and crawling onto my stomach as I lay down, running my fingers through his fur. We stayed there for the next few hours, peering outside the tent and watching as the rain poured, turning the dirt around to mud.

  “Hope it doesn’t get in here, hey buddy?” I murmured, picking up Jumper and rubbing his head, pressing my face against his fur. It’d be hard to get the cart out of the forest with all the mud, and that was just assuming it didn’t sink into the mud. I leaned back against the bed and closed my eyes, listening to the wind howling outside along with the pattering of the rain. Isaac still hadn’t returned and my stomach seemed to twist with fear every few minutes.

  It wasn’t longer later that the rain had soothed me back to sleep. By the time I woke, it didn’t appear to be raining anymore – the pattering of the rain no longer echoed throughout the tent.

  I peered out of the tent, looking up to see the clouds were a paler gray and a few small sections had broken to reveal bright blue sky. The sun, however, was still hidden from view and the wind continued to howl, trees creaking and groaning at the movement. Isaac was nowhere to be seen, but his tent was zipped up and swaying in the wind.

  I pushed out of my tent, dragging myself out with Jumper clinging to my arms and testing the ground – it was moist and the ground shifted beneath my feet. I shuddered, taking small steps towards his tent, and stood a few steps away from the entrance. He didn’t want to be disturbed, I figured, but we had to talk – we had to decide on what to do next. That was what kept my mind off my parents – where to head next, what to do, and perhaps it would help him keep his mind off of his father.

  “Isaac,” I called, waiting. No answer. “Isaac?”

  “What do you want, Arin?” Isaac grumbled from inside, his voice low and hard to make out. I had a feeling he’d been crying, not that he would ever admit it.

  “We need to talk,” I said, trying to keep my voice monotone. I didn’t want to order him around, I didn’t want him thinking I didn’t care – but we couldn’t stay there, not with winter on its way. The tents were not proper shelter for cold nights.

  “What is it you want to talk about?” His voice was a little louder, as if he knew I hadn’t heard him well before.

  “Can you come out?” I asked, biting my lip and staring at the tent entrance. I waited, crossing my arms as he remained silent, not a single word in reply. “Please, Isaac,” I pressed, watching as the tent zipped open the moment I finished saying his name. He climbed halfway out of the tent and glowered up at me, his face red and eyes swollen.

  “What do you want?” He grumbled, looking at Jumper, who attempted to leap towards Isaac.

  “We need to decide where we’re going next.” I clung onto Jumper, holding tight to him and shaking my head. He mewled in protest.

  “Why?” He snorted, shifting so that I could just make out his face through the tent.

  “Please look at me, Isaac,” I said, trying to hold back a sigh.

  “Just tell me why.” He didn’t move.

  “Because we can’t stay here, we won’t survive,” I said.

  “So? It’s not like our survival matters; we all die in the end.” His voice was gruff, and I sighed. Reaching forwards, I grabbed his shirt and tugged on him.

  “Look. At. Me,” I ordered, pressing my lips together.

  “Are you going to tell me why it matters?” he spat, his gaze locked on the ground – but at least he was facing me and I could make out most of his features, that was an improvement.

  “Look at me, Isaac,” I insisted, reaching towards him and tilting his head upwards. He glared at me, green gaze full of loathing. “Happy?”

  “Yes, I am. Now, you need to realize that your father didn’t just do everything he did in his life to keep you safe just for you to quit now that he’s gone. Tell me where you two were heading,” I demanded, crossing my arms.

  “We were heading north.” Isaac turned his gaze away, frowning.

  “Why up north? It’s warmer down south,” I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

  “There’s a salvation up there, a place where we’ll be safe,” he said.

  “Are you still going?” Jumper squirmed, trying to leap out of my arms towards Isaac.

  “I don’t see any reason not to; I mean my father is dead, what else do I have to lose?” Isaac snorted, reaching forwards to take Jumper from my arms. “Who’s this little guy?”

  “Then get ready, we’re leaving in twenty,” I ordered, turning away from him and heading towards my tent. “His name is Jumper, by the way. He decided to sleep with me last night and hasn’t left since.”

  “Alright, I’ll take it down. You just… Pack our stuff; make sure we’ll be able to carry it and uh...” Isaac said, walking up behind me and putting his arm across my chest to stop me in my path to the tent.

  “What do I do with him?”

  “Carry it?” I asked, looking at him and then over at the cart, which stood lopsided, half of its wheels sunk into the mud. “And I’ll carry him, don’t worry.”

  “We’re not bringing the cart. It’s too heavy and it will just slow us down,” He muttered. “Just go pack up.” I nodded, though I couldn’t quite say I agreed with him and headed over to the cart. There were so many valuable things to take, like water bottles filled with clean water and packages of food that we could take with us. I sighed and began sorting out our stuff, hoping Isaac would be fine with what I had chosen for us to take with us and what we would leave behind.

  By the
time we had finished packing all of our things, or at least what we could carry with us, the sun had begun to peak out of the clouds and the ground was not as horrid to walk upon, no longer squelching beneath our footsteps. Our tents were covered in mud, but the plastic wrap was smeared with blood, so after a lot of debate, most of it involving me whining about the trade value of the tents, we settled on leaving them behind. We wouldn’t have much use for them anyway – we wouldn’t be doing a lot of sleeping until we got to Cobalt.

  “So, this community we’re going to, how far is it?” I asked as I finished zipping up a backpack filled with food. We’d packed all the food and water we could carry – we decided to leave behind any clothing we had, making room for more necessities like medical supplies and weapons. We didn’t have many bullets left, and I was running out of arrows, but I was more hopeful that we wouldn’t need to use them.

  “It’s about a four or five day walk from here,” Isaac said, sighing. “It’ll be worth it though, don’t worry.” His voice was soft, as if he wasn’t speaking to me at all.

  “What’s it like up north?” I mused, tilting my head. I had to wonder what it was like – we had never gone far up north because of how cold the winters got. We had bounced between provinces and spent days down south, but we had never really gone too far north – in fact, we had never gone further north than in the house we had been living in.

  “Cold winters, beautiful scenery, but… I don’t know how bad it is up there. It could be crawling with bandits, some infected may even remain, I don’t know. I thought most of those infected were dead by now, but that dog…”

  “We’ll just have to see,” I said and patted his back.

  “I guess so,” he murmured in response, shying away from my touch. He took a side step away from me, beginning to walk towards the path we had taken from the road without me. I jogged after him, making sure I was a few steps behind him.