Salamander

  Chapter 7

  We strolled through the forest, aware of our dangerous surroundings. Dardian was in the back and Tim was in the middle as I lead the charge. They were too engrossed in the fresh air and surroundings to lead anything.

  The evergreens around us grew high into the sky, stretching far past our heads and closer to the clouds. The luscious forest was all around us, I was alert but I still took in the fresh air, the way the bark smelled, and how the soft ground felt under my feet. The forest was dense, the trees were packed close together, if we came across anyone, I’d be able to see them before they saw us.

  “It’s so colorful, I swear I never want to see an inch of that grey metal wall again.” Dardian said, staring up at the sky.

  “It really is gorgeous.” I replied, I had to agree, I loved it out here. Living underground gave me a certain appreciation for the outside world. I took a second to notice my surroundings before moving on, I didn’t let a minute go to waste.

  “How much further?” Tim said.

  “At the speed we’re going, at least a few hours. The sun’s going down so we should probably make camp soon.” I said. I was worried about sleeping out here, but I hadn’t spotted any large tracks. Plus, it’s usual path was far enough that we didn’t have to worry.

  “Well let’s do it soon, I want to sit down.” Tim replied.

  We continued walking through the dense forest, hopping over downed branches and logs. The farther we went the harder it was to traverse the land, we encountered more downed trees and broken limbs. Then we finally reached it, something that wasn’t on the map.

  A large indent stood in the ground in front of us, about forty feet across and stretching down to my left and right as far as I could see. Trees had been pounded into the ground over and over again. It was an uncharted path, absent on the map.

  “He must’ve been here hundreds of times for it to be this bad. He’s destroyed half the forest.” Dardian said. He did more than destroy it, he carved a path for himself through the trees.

  “Come on guys, let’s move through, I’ll put it on the map later, we have to get as far away from this as we can before we camp out.” We hopped down onto the path, crossing it quickly in case he was closer than we thought. We approached the tree line on the other side and pushed through the forest. The farther we got, the easier it was to walk, we didn’t have to jump over logs and downed trees. When he moved through the forest, his feet must’ve created shockwaves knocking down nearby trees. Most of the trees near his path were dead or broken down.

  We kept walking for a few hours, trying to get as much distance between us and his path. Eventually, when the sun was at its lowest point, we stopped to make camp. I stared up at the sun as I pitched the tent, it left just a little of its head above the horizon, saying its final goodbyes for the night. It illuminated the sky with a red and orange glow, I couldn’t help but feel that this was my favorite moment in a long time.

  Tim made the fire, I pitched the tent, and Dardian made the food. He put a pot of beef stew over the fire. The smell of it wafted through me, taking me by surprise, I hadn’t realized I was starving. We sat and ate, trying to think of the good times.

  “I think this was one of the best days I’ve had in a while.” I said.

  “Me too.” Tim replied.

  “Same.” Dardian said.

  “I mean, the sunset, walking through the woods with no sign of that thing. Just being out here makes me feel better, I don’t have to deal with the feeling of death and responsibility.” I said, shoveling another spoonful of soup in my mouth.

  “Going from such a small place, to this big world, It’s almost overwhelming.” Dardian said.

  “I love it.” Tim added, smiling at the sky.

  “What’s your favorite memory?” I said. “From before, before we all saw the videos and wielded guns. Before all of this.”

  They were silent for a second, thinking about what to say, finding the words.

  “Well, back then I still wielded a gun, but it was when I was in the army.” Dardian said. “I was with my battalion, we were stationed in Afghanistan. It was just one moment that only lasted a few minutes, but it was amazing. We’d been fired on for days, we were hunkered down in our shelter, firing back every few seconds. We’d been calling for backup, trying to get some help, but no one responded. We thought we were going to die.

  “But just as we were ready to give up, the firing doubled up, it started harder than ever before. We thought they were making their final charge, getting ready to end it. But the firing stopped, there was nothing. The first silence we’d heard in days. I popped my head out and my commander was standing with a gun pointed to my head, it was the best moment of my life. They pulled us out of that small bunker, we sat in our own sweat and tears for three days straight.” He stopped, and finished his soup, spooning the rest into his mouth. “Your turn” he said, pointing to Tim.

  “Let me think for a minute.” He said, setting his soup bowl down and getting out a cigarette. He lit it up and took a drag. “Well, I was twelve years old, Christmas morning. I ran downstairs, hoping to see something huge under the tree, maybe a bike or even a new video game. There was nothing, my dad was too drunk to think about Christmas and mom, who actually cared, didn’t have the money.

  “I spent Christmas watching movies on T.V. and drinking eggnog on the couch. Until, my grandma came over, she strolled in the door carrying bags and bags of presents. Toys, video games, comic books everything I could’ve wanted. I guess the disappointment was bad, but it made the real thing feel so much better.” He took another drag on his cigarette and stared at the ground. “I ended up living with her after my old man killed my mother.”

  “Jesus Christ, Tim I never knew that.” I said, wondering what other terrible things could’ve happened in his past.

  “It makes all this not seem so bad.” He took another drag. “Either way, it’s your turn.” He pointed at me, cigarette in hand.

  “Favorite Memory” I said, trying to think. “All of them.”

  “No come on, that’s cheating.” Tim said.

  “No seriously, every memory is my favorite. There is no single memory for me, it’s just all one endless, thing. It goes on and on and it never stops, so why do we have to splice out pieces here and there. I love it all. Can’t I love it all?”

  They were silent, staring at the ground. Tim was still smoking his cigarette and thinking, Dardian looked lost in thought.

  After a while of sitting in the circle around the fire and talking about then, thinking about now and wondering about the future, we packed it up for the night and headed to sleep. Tim decided to be on first watch.

  Me and Dardian went in the tent, I curled up with a blanket and rested my head on the hard ground, gun at my side. I was still worried even though we’d had so much fun, and nothing had disturbed us, at any point someone could come out and attack.

  I laid there, staring at the thin fabric in front of me, flapping in the wind. I felt a shift of weight and an arm wrap around me. His body was pressed against mine, behind me he laid with his arm wrapped around my side. He said nothing, he only held me. It was the only thing I needed.

  I turned to face him, putting my hand on his side.

  “Karia, I just have to say-“

  “Shh!” I put my hand over his mouth cutting him off. Someone was outside and it wasn’t Tim.

  I slowly removed the hand from his mouth and pointed towards the front flap of the tent. We opened the zipper, poking our heads out to check on Tim. He stood beside a tree, pointing his gun out into the forest.

  “Tim.” I whispered, getting his attention. “What is it?”

  He waved his hand towards himself, ushering us to move ahead. We got out of the tent slowly, trying not to make a sound. I could hear the sound get closer and closer now. They were people, chattering among humans. They were being as loud as they wanted, yelling, whistling and laughing.

/>   I could see them now, about five of them walked across my field of view. Two were in the front and two were in the back with the last person being in the middle. They all wore red and black clothes with bits of body armor all of over them. They all wielded assault rifles, strapped over their back. Everyone looked generally the same, except for the one in the middle, a woman. She was naked and her hands were tied together with rope. The man in front was pulling her with a long rope.

  She was beaten, bruised, and battered. I felt sorry for her, I even felt scared. Then I saw their faces, laughing, smiling, teasing, and that’s when I got angry. I was pissed, they didn’t see me but they were about to. I took my gun out of it’s holster and started towards them.

  Before I knew it, a large arm held me back, pushing me towards the tent. It was Tim, he held me back trying to keep me quiet.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I whispered, I didn’t have time, they were moving faster and walking through the forest, they were getting away.

  “You don’t want to do that. Their guns are bigger, their body armor is better. We’ll just end up killed.” He whispered.

  “Tim, seriously? We need to save her.” I could see the look in her eyes, she was dead already, nothing was left inside her. She stared blankly out into the open space, looking far past the teasing and poking and prodding. “Dardian, back me up on this.”

  “He’s right.” He said. How could he side with Tim, those bastards needed to die, and I wanted to be the one to do it.

  “I don’t care, I’m going.” I tried again, advancing forward into the dark forest. Again, I felt arms hold me back, this time it was two pair. They sat me down on one of the stumps and made sure I didn’t go anywhere until they were far enough away we couldn’t hear it.

  I went into the tent by myself, zipping up the front. I didn’t want to see anyone or hear anything from them. I wouldn’t be able to sleep, it was just another image to haunt my dreams.