Contemplative as I ponder her request, I nod. “I will not be funny.”
She lets out a small laugh. “Strangely enough, I know that.”
Silence descends as Julia pulls her legs towards her, still making sure she does not accidentally touch me. I sense her tension, noticing the concerned curiosity in her hooding gaze.
“Will the girl be okay?” I ask after a moment, trying to ease the sudden, stifling quiet between us.
Julia blinks, her eyes widening then softening. At half-mast, her stress and exhaustion is beyond evident now that I am looking closely at her.
“I don’t know,” she says, reaching up and rubbing her eyes. “Her wound is pretty deep. We need to get her someplace she can get treatment. I wish I could do more for her but my knowledge is limited.” Her voice lowers. “Do you think Zaku will let her use the Yulen?”
“The supplies for it are limited,” I remind her.
“I know…”
“After all he has been through with Daisy, I do not think he will be keen to let a stranger in his home to use it. He asked me to take you with me.”
She is silent for a moment. “I’m not surprised. Not with the Boa showing up and all.”
“We can try Laura if you prefer,” I suggest. Laura is in the opposite direction of the closest human encampment I know about. It would add days to my journey north but I can at least speak with Azsote, Syasku and the others.
“She’s in the opposite direction of the encampment.” Julia yawns, warning me about something I already know. “And might not know how to treat her without the Yulen to begin with. She’s a tech operator and psychiatrist. She might be able to sew Olivia’s wounds shut but then, so can I, if I had the right supplies.”
“We continue on to the encampment then…”
Julia burrows her cheek deeper into her pack, nudging it with her head until she is comfortable. I want to coil my tail closer around her and pull her into me but I do not.
She yawns again. “Yeah. Just give me thirty minutes first…”
“Ssssleep,” I whisper with a purring hiss. “I will ask you no more.” Humans, especially females, are frail. And despite how strong Julia tries to make herself out to be, I see the stress gleaming in her deep brown eyes, and the uncertainty of emotions playing out in her expression. She will wear herself out if I am not careful.
As she nuzzles further into her pack and tentatively closes her eyes, I also realize I can no longer trust that she will not leave when I ask her not to. If I do not keep a close eye on her, she might try to save more humans without me. Settling back against the tree trunk, I watch as her breathing slows and her inhales deepen. Seeing slumber take over her expression, the worry lines between her brows straighten out and her pursed lips part.
Once she is asleep, I cross my arms over my chest, feeling, and not for the first time, a building pressure deep within. It frightens me…
Hearing her shallow breaths, I close my eyes but do not let sleep take me, instead, listening to the very distant sounds of gunfire and shouting. There is a lot more to worry about than just soldiers or amorous nagas now. There are more humans, desperate ones. And if I know anything about desperation, it does not make a situation, any situation, safe.
I will have to be doubly vigilant despite my hope that with all the new activity, we will be able to journey to the encampment unnoticed. It is also my hope that with the arrival of so many new humans, the nagas at Zaku’s will not come after us. That they and the Boa will be distracted by all the chaos and never come across our trail to begin with.
It will only take us a couple of days to get to the encampment, even with the extra humans in tow.I will not have to worry about the nagas for long.
A couple of days…
Tearing my eyes off of Julia and her peacefully slumbering form, I peer out over the trees that are now brightening with middle morning sunlight. Ready for anything, I am also beginning to understand that the remainder of our time together will soon come to an end.
ELEVEN
A DESPONDENT RETELLING
Krellix
Watching the humans,Julia fusses over Olivia, reassuring her everything will be okay. It is a softer side of her that I do not get to see often, only when she is around Daisy’s children and I happen to be there. The pressure in my chest grows as she wets some clean cloth with her water bottle and wipes the girl’s face, patting it dry afterward with another article of clothing. Neither of them have their masks over their noses and so I remain a short distance away, across the small clearing of moss and grass between us.
Hearing the two males pick up a hushed conversation to my left, my attention shifts to them. They flick their eyes between the trees and their hands as they discuss returning to the crash site to collect the bodies of their deceased loved ones. The older one is more animated while the other seems unsure.
We have yet to leave the little camp from this morning despite my eagerness to keep moving. But I do not share with them my concerns—always watching out for the other nagas thatwere at Zaku’s—knowing how weary everyone is, and how weary Julia is.
But they want to return to the crash site? I shake my head. I smelled a significant amount of blood coming from inside it last night.
