Iridescent: Chapter Two

Iridescent

Chapter Two

~Big Brother~

After the Fall

Chaud jerked awake. He looked around the temporary camp. There was his pack near the fire and another smaller white bag near it. The fire that was lit the night before was now nothing but ashes and bunt wood. Chaud sat up quickly immediately wishing he didn’t as a wave of dizziness fell over him. He forced himself go to get over it quickly and got to his feet.

He looked around franticly. His heart was beating a thousand miles an hour. He forced himself to calm down, breath, and listen. The birds in the forest were chirping. The little wind that there was rustled through the wilting leaves. Without any direct sunlight the trees were starting to suffer. Then there was something else. He listened closer to the sound. There was a type of pattern to it, something that he was very used to.

Chaud took off, suddenly. He dashed through the woods toward the sound. The sound of trickling water grew louder and louder. Soon he broke through the tees onto a sandy patch by a river. A ten year old girl by the water stood up quickly and backed up to the water’s edge, her singing cut short by his sudden appearance. She wore a loose white sweater dress, black leggings and tennis shoes.

When she saw him, she ran toward him. Chaud caught her in his arms.

“Sorry,” the girl cried, “There was a deer and I followed it, and I—”

“It’s alright,” Chaud said, “Just don’t go wandering off by yourself again, okay? We don’t know who might be out here. Come on, Amber, let’s get going.”

Amber nodded and started off a head of him. They made it back to their camp and started to pack their things. Chaud dug around in his bag and pulled out the last bit of bread they had. He sighed.

“Hey, you hungry?” Chaud asked his sister.

“No,” Amber lied.

Chaud shook his head, “You know you twitch your nose when you lie, right?”

Amber looked at Chaud, “But we don’t have a lot left.”

“You let me worry about that,” Chaud said, “you just tell me when you’re hungry alright. Here.”

Chaud gave her a piece of bread. She accepted it from her brother’s hand. Chaud tore himself a smaller piece to make the food last longer. He had barely anything to eat the last week. Most nights he went to bed without eating only after Amber went to sleep so she wouldn’t see him. But she wasn’t stupid. She could tell he was skipping meals.

“That was a great breakfast,” Chaud smiled, “Shall we go?”

Amber nodded. She set off singing a lullaby that mother had sung to them both when they were younger:

“Over in Killarney, many years ago

My mother sang a song to me
in tones so sweet and low.
Just a simple little ditty
in her good old Irish way
and I'd give the world if she could sing
that song to me this day.”

She sang it over and over again as she skipped through the forest. Her short orange hair bounced as she sand and skipped along. She seemed so at peace in the midst of what was going on. It was hard to believe that she had nearly fallen to her death four weeks ago from the helicopter. Chaud managed to get under her and soften her fall.

Originally she was meant to join the rest of the family while Chaud stayed behind and look for his friends. Now his priorities changed slightly. He still wanted to find Zara and the others but his for most priority was to find a safe place for him and his sister.

Chaud walked a few paces behind his little sister. His eyes were constantly scanning the area for any threat and his hand was always on his weapon. His ears were always tuned to any noise that was out of the ordinary.

“Amber, could you tone down your singing?” Chaud asked.

Amber did so without complaint. She and Chaud had an understanding. It was discussed that she had to listen to what he said in order to keep her safe. A lessoned learned early on in their travels. Something didn’t feel right to Chaud. He might be starved and hungry but his intuition was as sharp as ever.

“Hey, Amber, come here,” he said

Amber turned and went back to him. Chaud put a finger to his lips and she stopped singing. She turned and looked around trying to see what her brother was seeing. Chaud quickly drew his gun.

“Get behind me!” Chaud said.

A man ran through the trees just a head of them. The man was carrying something and stopped suddenly when he saw something. He raised his arms in the air and dropped a sack that he had over his shoulder.

“Don’t shoot, man, don’t shoo—” the man’s sentence was cut off as a gun shot rang through the air.

The man fell lifeless on the ground and Chaud looked into the dense forest. Amber shot forward before Chaud could stop her toward the man who got shot. She grabbed the sack that the man was carrying as another gun shot rang through the air. Chaud returned fire into the trees.

“Amber!” Chaud called for his sister.

Amber turned and ran into the woods with the sack. Chaud followed her. They ran down hill away from the shooters. More shots rang outs they were pursued by whoever was following them.

“Don’t run straight!” Chaud advised.

Amber zigzagged in between the trees. She felt her heart pounding in her chest. Her feet carried her swiftly. She paid no attention to the branches as the scratched at her face and body. Her brother ran parallel to her a few feet away.

“Left!” Chaud called in between firing shots, “Veer left!”

Without protest, Amber did as she was instructed. She tripped over and exposed root. Chaud grabbed her shirt and brought her to her feet. Amber ran beside him. They ran out into a small clearing. The ground ahead of them ended into a cliff face. From the angle they were, there was no way to tell how steep the cliff was. Chaud swore underneath his breath.

“We should have gone right!” Amber said breathlessly as she ran.

“You trust me?” Chaud asked.

“You’ve kept me alive this long,” Amber tried to smile.

Chaud grabbed her hand and together they ran off the edge of the cliff. Amber’s heard felt like it leapt into her throat. Everything felt stuck in slow motion for her. Far below them were the heads of threes. She looked at her brother and noticed he looked calm. He looked at her and said something. Blood was roaring through her ears so she was mostly reading his lips.

“We’ll be alright.”

Amber nodded. They crashed through the canopy. Amber was tossed about as she tried to grab on to branches and leaves as she did her best to break her fall. When she hit the ground she fell on her back. Chaud fell close to her and cried in pain.

“Chaud!” Amber cried.

Chaud groaned as he held his shoulder. He took a deep breath before popping his dislocated shoulder back into place. Chaud let out a long groan of pain. Amber got to her knees to assist him.

He shooed her away, “I’m fine. I just need a minute. Oh, jeez, that’s going to hurt tomorrow.”

“You okay?” Amber asked.

Chaud looked at her with a smile, “Just a bruised ego. I’ll live.”

Amber had to smile and almost laughed.

Chaud looked around. He saw a tree close by, “Could you help me get over there?”

“Sure,” Amber nodded.

She helped Chaud to his feet and walked him over. She sat him down against the tree. Chaud sighed as he sat down. He closed his eyes and opened them again.

“Are you going to be alight?” Amber’s voice was shaking.

Chaud smiled, “Yeah, I’m still on an adrenalin/endorphin high. I think I might pass out but that’s just about it.” He reached for one of the signature guns on his belt, “Will you be able to take care of yourself while I take a little nap? Just point and shoot, okay?”

Amber looked at the gun and shook her head, “I can’t.”

Chaud was having trouble staying awake, “Please, Amber…I need you to take it okay? I’ll…get it back…later, alright?”

Amber reluctantly held the gun. She held it like a foreign object. Upon her mother’s insistence, Amber was going to be a lady and not dabble in the ways of her brothers. She looked at Chaud. He lay against the tree, passed out. Amber forced herself to breath calmly. What would her brother do?

She strapped the gun to her waist and looked around. The first thing she would have to do would be to collect their items. There would be no fire that night because of the people chasing them. Maybe she could find some food! She wouldn’t stray very far. She wanted to be around when Chaud woke up.

Amber nodded, “That sounds like a plan.”

She hoped Chaud would wake up soon. She didn’t know how to continue on without him.