Survivors of the Sun

by Kingslie, Mia

  The dark shadowy creature was back and this time Georgia could clearly make out its wings silhouetted against the sky as it darted in for a drink. With a tiny thrill, Georgia realized it was a bat. There was a slight rustling of leaves as the gentlest of breezes sprung up, rippling the silvery surface of the stream, as before her, the tiny creature dipped and swooped on silent wings. It was one of those perfect moments, Georgia decided, when nature shyly lifts her veil and allows you a brief glimpse of her true hidden beauty.

  There was a sharp crack, a little ways to her left and Georgia sat up startled, realizing that she had fallen asleep. Badger was no longer with her and the sky must have clouded up as she slept, because now it was very dark. Nervously she stood up, acutely aware that she had left the shotgun behind, as she strained to hear any other noises, but the only sound came from the gentle burbling of the stream. It must have been a dead branch falling, she decided as she made her way back up the hill, stumbling across unseen obstacles. Finally, she reached the others, and more by feel than anything she slipped back under the blanket.

  ‘Is everything okay?’ Lola murmured as she moved over to make room for Georgia. At least, that is what Georgia thought she said, it sounded more like, ‘is ev thin kay’.

  Georgia suspected that Lola was actually fast asleep, but even so she replied, ‘Everything is fine.’ To which there was no reply. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep herself, was Badger clambering over Lola and curling up, head under her chin, the dog’s warm breath tickling her neck.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  July 21, Day 11

  There was loud cawing overhead and Georgia finally surfaced groggily, not fully awake, not wanting the night to be over and desperately needing to sleep a little longer, but it was already quite late judging by the considerable heat in the sun. She pushed the blanket off her face, feeling sweaty, blinking in the bright sunlight. Her tongue felt furry and her eyes felt gritty. Oh, to be able to turn over and go back to sleep. However, the kids were already awake and….

  She suddenly became aware that Lola was nowhere to be seen, and as she looked around the campsite, she noticed that the fire had not been lit. Normally the first person up, lit the fire. A thread of fear ran through her. She sat up abruptly.

  ‘Wondered when you were going to get up,’ Deedee greeted her cheerfully.

  ‘Have you seen Lola?’ Georgia asked.

  Deedee shook her head, ‘nuh uh’ she replied, her face one of blank innocence. ‘Perhaps one of her ‘bars’ ate her.’

  That’s not funny. Georgia pushed the blanket aside, ‘Deedee, I am serious, has any one seen her?’

  Rebecca gave Deedee a withering look, before turning to Georgia, ‘Don’t listen to her, Lola is fine, she only woke up a few moments before you, I think she went to the toilet.’

  ‘She went that way,’ Jamie pointed up the track, the path they had originally taken when they had first discovered the oasis. Relief flooded through Georgia.

  ‘Yeah Badger went with her,’ Jamie added.

  ‘Badger always goes with her,’ Rebecca said pushing up her glasses, and there was the faintest touch of resentment in her words. She came and sat down next to Georgia, leaning in for a good morning hug.

  Georgia hugged her close and Millie and Ant decided that it was time for a group hug, leaping up and licking furiously. ‘Never mind, that’s Badger for you, you know how she is.’

  ‘Yeah, totally disloyal.’

  Georgia couldn’t help but smile at Rebecca’s indignant tone. ‘Very true, but at least Millie and Ant love you.’

  Rebecca giggled, ‘well if dog slobber is an indication of love, then you are right.’ She wiped her face with exaggerated movements, much to Millie’s delight, who apparently decided that Rebecca needed even more love.

  ‘Well, I guess I had better get up and get the fire started, and then we will have to start packing up.’

  Deedee who had been relatively silent up until now, probably miffed at Rebecca’s withering look, suddenly asked, ‘can’t we stay another night?’

  ‘No, sorry Honey, it has been good here, at our little oasis, but we need to get moving, Bethel awaits.’ Georgia stiffly got to her feet, pulling up the waist of her pajama bottoms as she tried to ignore the look of disappointment on the children’s faces. Need to tighten the elastic, if I lose much more weight they are going to fall down.

  ‘Shall I go and get some fresh water,’ Rebecca asked, leaning down to pick up the pot.’

  ‘Sure, that would…,’ Georgia did not finish what she had been about to say for all of a sudden the air was rent by a horrific scream.

  Georgia’s blood seemed to freeze in her veins.

  ‘That was Lola!’ Rebecca exclaimed.

  The screaming continued, and in the distance, they could hear Badger barking frantically.

  ‘What the hell!’ Georgia exclaimed as she sprung into motion, scrabbling the bedding aside, grabbing at the shotgun, then she was running, her pajama bottoms threatening to slip down. ‘Wait there,’ she yelled back at the kids, ‘and hold onto the dogs,’ fear running through her veins like ice water. She yanked at her pajamas again, leaping past fallen branches, bounding over the rocks.

  Ahead of her, through the trees, Lola had fallen silent, then Georgia heard Lola yelling, ‘gawd dammit, let go of me you piss-arsed monkeys,’ interspersed with Badgers barking and yowling.

  ‘Oh my God, what the hell is happening?’ Georgia wondered. Her heart was thudding in her chest, terror seeming to clutch at her legs, trying to slow her. As she reached the edge of the scrub, she tripped over her pajamas, and went flying forward; rolling down the slope, and awkwardly crashing down into the dry dirt of the cotton field.

  Before her, about forty yards away, partially hidden by the cotton plants she could see Lola running, her blonde hair streaming out behind her, two men were after her, one almost reaching her, his lanky black hair half covering his face, his hand stretching out, making a grab for her and missing. Georgia instantly recognized them as the strangers who had approached them a few days earlier.

  Then Lola stumbled and the man was on her. His hands entwined in her hair as he began roughly dragging her. The other man, of much heavier build, his beer gut obvious even from this distance, was bending over, hands on his knees breathing heavily. She caught sight of Badger in amongst the plants, black and white glimpses as she stood barking.

  Lola was kicking and writhing, her hands trying to free the man’s grip on her hair as she screamed in pain and fury. Then Beer-gut joined the first man, hoisting Lola to her feet.

  Georgia scrambled to her own feet, half running, and half stumbling over the dry earth, the thin hard crust of the surface crumbling beneath her steps, slowing her down; the cotton bushes tearing at her skin.

  Still some distance away, Georgia screamed, ‘you let her go,’ but they did not seem to hear her.

  Now Lanky-hair was struggling to keep hold of Lola, he had his arms laced under her armpits, pulling her back against him. For the first time Georgia saw blood streaming down Lola’s face, there seemed to be blood everywhere, the other man, Beer-gut was grabbing at her hands and at the same time kicking out at Badger who had come flying at them, hackles up, teeth bared. Nimbly, Badger leapt out of the way and then launched herself at Lanky-hair’s leg, sinking her teeth in and tearing at the denim and the flesh beneath.

  The man howled with pain. ‘Never mind the fucking girl, just get the fucking dog off me, kill it,’ he screamed, as red bloomed darkly across his outer thigh and Badger shook her head savagely, all four paws of the ground, teeth still buried deeply.

  ‘Kill it, Chaz, kill it,’ Lanky-hair screamed again, nearly loosing grip of Lola who was still struggling frantically. The man Lanky-hair had called Chaz, half turned, planting a vicious kick in Badger’s ribs. Badger went half-skidding, half-flying. She righted herself in one sure movement and rounded back on the men.

  All this happened in mere seconds, but t
o Georgia, it was as though time had completely slowed down. As she ran in that slow motion of nightmares, Badger now flew at Chaz. In the split seconds, before her bared teeth fastened themselves to his arm, Georgia saw the glint of the knife that had appeared in his hand, saw the blade slashing, slicing across the flesh of Badger’s flank in one savage movement. Badger gave a dreadful piercing scream, so loud and filled with agony, that scream was the only way to describe that sound, then she fell back on her haunches, tried to get to her paws, staggering, all the while making that terrible sound.

  Chaz kicked her again, his boot making contact with Badger’s head, a sickening sound, sending her sliding across the dusty ground and Badger was silent.

  Lola was twisting and turning in Lanky Hair’s arms, trying to free herself. ‘You fuckin’ morons, you fuckin morons,’ she was screaming, ‘you’ve killed her.’

  Chaz turned back to her, bringing his fist back and Georgia felt her stomach rise at the sound it made as it crunched into Lola’s face.

  Lola’s body sagged, hanging limply for a moment, then as Lanky-hair let go, she collapsed into a heap on the ground; looking for all the world, like a discarded uncared for rag doll. Georgia was nearly upon them. She reached for her shotgun; she would blow the motherfuckers apart, but her fingers found only emptiness, and to her horror, she discovered that she no longer had it.

  Oh shit, it must have slipped off when I fell, too late now. As she flew through the air covering those last few feet, she kept thinking, ‘he’s got a knife, he’s got a knife.’

  She flung herself on Chaz, expecting to feel the cold hard steel slice through her, but she caught him unawares, and in this slowed down moment, she realized that they had been so intent on Lola and Badger that they had not even seen her coming. Chaz staggered under her weight, and they fell to the ground, hitting it hard.

  Like a wild animal, Georgia sunk her teeth as hard as she could, into the hand holding the knife, her heightened senses aware of the rank body odor coming from him and then tasting the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. Chaz screeched in agony as the knife fell loosely to the ground.

  Georgia grabbed for it, her fingers closing round the handle as out of the corner of her eye she saw Badger, lying on her side, her flank smeared with blood and dirt, more blood seeping from her muzzle, her back paws twitching erratically. Her fury now knew no bounds, for the first time in her life, she fully understood the meaning of ‘white hot rage’. Then there was searing pain, as someone yanked her upwards by her hair.

  Instead of fighting against the pull, she instinctively moved with it, whirling round on the ball of her right foot, her arm stretched out, the knife slashing across Lanky-hair’s throat as she completed the pirouette.

  For a split second, they stared at each other, then a great gout of blood sprayed outwards as the man’s hands went to his throat, almost as though he was unsure about what had just happened. As he staggered backwards, she dropped the knife in shock and revulsion.

  Then Georgia felt a huge blow on the side of her head, an explosion of white stars. ‘Forgot about Chaz,’ she thought somewhat stupidly as she fell, half stunned to the ground. Then he was on her, he sat straddled across her chest, his hefty weight pinning her helplessly to the ground. Straight-armed, his fingers round her throat. She clawed at his hands, desperately trying to loosen their murderous grip, but they were like hardened steel.

  His eyes staring down at her, burning with rage. ‘Die you bitch,’ he screamed, his spittle hitting her face, his vice-like grip stopping her air.

  She felt nothing but the pain of his thumbs gouging into her windpipe, and then, a terrible helpless fear. She tried to scream, but no sound came, her lungs shrieking for air. Her struggles became weaker, she seemed to have lost the strength in her arms and she knew that she was going to die.

  She felt somehow remote from the situation. Yes, she was aware of his deadly touch, his presence, but even so, she felt as though she were a spectator and not really part of this. She closed her eyes. She did not want to die looking at that man. To have come so far just to die in a cotton field, and what would happen to the children? Would they….

  Suddenly there was a peculiar phut sound and the grip loosened upon her throat. Gasping for air, Georgia opened her eyes. Chaz was clutching at his own throat. Vivid green feathers seemed to have sprouted between his fingers as he made a peculiar rattling sound.

  She racked in deep breaths, staring in bewilderment at the feathers, and then recognized them for what they were. Chaz had an arrow sticking right through his neck. It had pierced his throat and the tip and shaft stuck out the other side. Her chest heaving, Georgia pushed at the Beer-gut man. He slid sideways onto the ground and lay oddly still. She wriggled backwards away from him, noticing a slowly spreading dark patch on his trousers.

  Half-turning, she staggered to her feet, her mind was in a whirl. ‘Who the…’

  Jamie stood there before her. His hunting bow stretched at the ready, another arrow already knocked into place. He looked down at the two men.

  ‘I think they are both dead,’ he said simply.

  ‘Jamie?’ She croaked, disbelieving, watching him as he walked over to Lola. Her legs felt as though they would give way beneath her. Shakily she followed him, crouching down next to the bloodied mess that was Lola. With trembling hands, she reached over to feel her throat, looking for signs of life, not expecting to find any.

  Lola rolled over and groaned, then struggled to sit up. ‘I dink I fainted,’ Lola said weakly.

  Relief flooded through Georgia, ‘I thought you were dead or concussed. You look pretty beat up.’ This was an understatement. Professional boxers came out of the ring looking unscathed in comparison to this. The bastards had even broken her nose. Of that, she had no doubt. ‘But I think you will live,’ she added with an attempt at a smile.

  Lola weakly waved a dismissive hand. ‘Neber mind me, where’s Badger, is she okay?’ Lola asked.

  ‘No I don’t think she is,’ Georgia said. Her voice was calm; belying her inner feelings, her need to stand with her fists clenched at the sky while she screamed, ‘Why? Why? Why? Instead, she stood up and walked a little way off, she avoided looking at the two dead men, instead looking over to where Badger lay; her blood soaking into the parched soil beneath her. Georgia’s stomach heaved and without further warning, she vomited.

  Her head was spinning. Shock, and horror and grief threatening to send her mind right out of this world. She did not feel as though she were going to faint. Instead, a jagged white harshness seemed to vibrate in the air around her, a sensation of extreme reality. As though, everything was way, too much in focus. The air crackling, as she imagined it would, in that split second before a mega explosion. Get it together woman, there is no room for falling apart now.

  Struggling to keep her voice level, she turned to Jamie. ‘What do we do? Rebecca and Deedee cannot see her like this.’ Her voice sounded cold and remote to her ears. Then she sank to her knees next to Badger’s still form, stroking her, ‘my poor baby, my poor baby,’ she whispering. There was just so much blood. She scooped her limp body up into her arms, laying her against her chest, rocking her back and forth. Jamie crouched down next to her, his face empty of expression as he carefully placed his bow on the ground and began stroking Badgers ears. ‘You were a good friend…, the best ever,’ he whispered, his voice ragged.

  ‘Yes she was,’ Georgia said, her own voice was low, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘She was the best.’ She reached out and ran her fingers across her muzzle, across the funny wrinkles of fur above her black nose, the road hardened pads of her paws. All of a sudden Badger gave a gasp and then sneezed. ‘Oh my God, she is alive,’ Georgia gulped, ‘I can’t believe it. We have to get her back to camp.’

  Together they leapt to their feet and hurried back over to where Lola sat, relief clear on her face. She stared up at them, her face swollen and bloody.

  ‘Oh God’, she stammered, ‘I am so sorry, I di
dn’d know, didn’d know dey were dere. I…,’ she was struggling to speak clearly, her nose sounding completely blocked.

  ‘We’ll uh, we’ll talk about it later Lola, right now I, we have to get back, do you think you are okay to walk?’

  ‘Yeah, I dink so, my legs are fine, jud my head is so sore, and my whole face hurds, I feel like I have been chewed up and spid oud.’

  ‘You kind of look that way too, Georgia said, as she wondered if Lola realized her nose was broken.

  Jamie held out his hand. ‘Here let me help you up.’ Lola took it and slowly the four of them, slowly made their way back to the oasis; Lola clinging to Jamie for support, and Badger, panting erratically, in Georgia’s arms.

  Georgia’s first instinct, had been for all of them to flee, get as far away as possible but it became very quickly apparent that Lola was in no shape to travel, not yet anyway. Her nose was still streaming blood. Could someone bleed to death from a nosebleed? Georgia had no idea, but she didn’t think so, but she did know that it was important that she didn’t lie down, she had read of someone drowning in their own blood. And then there was Badger, she needed to be tended to, and they had to see how badly she was injured.

  Rebecca and Deedee were beside themselves when they saw the Badger’s condition, barely giving Lola a second glance, as they set to, rushing around, under Georgia’s instructions, collecting the medical kit and then a towel and boiled water from one of their bottles. She carefully lay Badger down, and was relieved when the Boston terrier attempted to sit up. Millie and Ant rushed over whining softly.

  She pushed them away and carefully ran her hands down Badger’s body, checking for broken bones before tending to the jagged cut on her flank. Once the blood and dirt had been carefully removed, it was a relief to find that it was not quite as bad as she had first feared. She liberally sprayed the area with antiseptic, and then covered it with a cotton pad, taping it in place; all the while murmuring comfortingly to Badger.