18

Stella

There were still hours left of light when we reached the top of the waterfall, but we would go no further today. About halfway, the burning pain in my thighs had turned into a cold numbness, and the stunning view often pitched to the side with my dizziness.

But I had made it to the top, with my walking stick and Max and Boden. Even with all my aches and pains – and they were numerous and severe – I still had not suffered as much as Samara.

She had eventually gotten moving again, after crying for a very long time. After that, she had lapsed into an eerie, vacant silence, but she kept on going.

Castor was taking care of her, and when we reached the top, he brought her over to rest in the cool shade of a tree. I sat down on a flat rock right near the path simply because I didn't want to walk any farther. I leaned against my walking stick and tried not to think about anything at all.

Everyone took a break, because we all desperately needed it. Instead of the usual chatting or disagreements, we hardly spoke.

"We need to find somewhere to camp out for the night," Lillian said, the first to break the long silence. "Those of you that need to continue your respite, you should do so, but the rest of us need to get firewood and find somewhere that we aren't so exposed."

"There's trees and a rocky outcropping over there," Remy said, motioning to the cluster just off to the west of where she sat.

So, she, Boden, Serg, Lillian, and Castor went off in search of a safe haven for the night. That left me, the nearly catatonic Samara, and the sickly Polly, along with Max who stayed back to help us.

"Are you okay?" Max asked me softly. "Do you want something to eat? You haven't had much today."

"I'm fine," I said, because the mere thought of food made me want to retch. "Why don't' you check with Samara or Polly? They need help."

"No, I don't need any help," Polly snapped. She was laying on the ground with her hooded sweatshirt bunched up underneath her head like a pillow, so she lay in a tank top on the dirt. "I just need to get some sleep."

"Go ahead. We won't bother you," Max said, sitting down beside me. "I'll just take in this view while I can."

I glanced over at Samara, staring off at nothing, and I hoped that she would be okay. But I didn't know how to help her, especially not right now when I could hardly even think straight.

Ripley had a much easier time than the rest of us, but even she seemed tired, laying nearby and licking her paws.

The others had only been gone a short while when the lion suddenly perked up her ears and stood up. Max got up more slowly, and he grabbed his billhook knife.

Ripley growled, and Serg walked out from the trees with his hands up. "Easy, kitty. It's just me."

"How are things?" Max asked.

"Good. I'm actually here to get you all because we found a nice little cave to shelter in for the night," Serg explained.

That all sounded good, except that Ripley still hadn't relaxed, even when she saw that it was just Serg. She was staring past him, into the trees, and her tail swished in agitation.

"Something's wrong," I said, but then we all heard the crunching branches.

A huge grizzly bear ( Ursus arctos horribilis ) came barreling out of the woods, running toward where we were resting by the waterfall.

"Oh, shit," Serg said, and he dove out of the way just as the bear took aim at Ripley.

The lioness was half his size, but she ran at him, fearless and ferocious. That seemed to startle the bear. His eyes were already wide and bulging, and he stumbled backwards.

Ripley kept running at him, and when he turned, she swatted her paws against his backside.

Remy with her crossbow and Boden with his machete came out of the trees as the lion chased the bear off. Remy took aim, but she didn't fire, and soon, both Ripley and the bear were out of sight through the trees.

"So that's why they call it Grizzly Falls," Max said.

"Are you all okay?" Boden asked. "Was anybody hurt?"

"I think we're all okay," I said.

"Let's get back to the cave and get a fire going," Remy said.

The cave was nestled in the small thicket of trees about five meters from the waterfall, and the rapid river that fed it. It wasn't that large – maybe half the size of a school bus – and the ceiling was just tall enough that Boden and Serg could enter without ducking.

The roof of the cave was covered in a downy-looking moss, and when Boden saw it, he commented, "It looks like a hobbit hole. "

Lillian, Serg, and Max all laughed at that, and later Max told me it was from the big fantasy book he'd read last summer.

"Careful, there is bear scat and diarrhea around here," Lillian said.

"Are we safe here if this is a bear's home?" Samara asked. The charging grizzly had snapped her somewhat out of her stasis.

"We'll make a fire, and we'll have Ripley to scare them away," Remy assured me.

I wasn't sure if that was safe, but I was in no place to argue. Max laid out my bedroll in a flat spot near the back of the cave, and I laid down as soon as I could.

On my side, with an old shirt bunched up between my knees, I watched as Ripley returned a short time later, looking no worse for the wear. Samara, Max, and Castor "cleared" the cave as best they could, sweeping out debris and chasing off the spiders. The others gathered firewood and got the fire going near the mouth of the cave.

Except for Polly. She lay down on the ground across from me. Her brother offered to roll out her bedroll so she'd be comfortable, but she insisted that the cold ground felt better. Her skin was red from an apparent sunburn, so she had that on top of everything else.

At least Polly fell asleep almost right away, and fortunately, I wasn't very far behind. Max woke me up once, trying to get me to eat, but I just couldn't stomach food then.

"You need your strength. You should eat," he pressed. The flames flickering across his face amplified the worry in his gray eyes.

"I need my sleep," I insisted. "We're going to Emberwood tomorrow, and I'll make it until then."

"Okay. Get some rest." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "I love you." Then he bent down and kissed my belly. "I love you, too, little one."

"We love you, too," I murmured and closed my eyes again.

Thanks to the baby sitting on my bladder, I woke up plenty of times to pee. Mostly, everyone else was asleep through the night, except for whoever was keeping watch. First Remy, then Boden, followed by Serg, and lastly, Lillian. Ripley lay just outside of the cave, sleeping under the stars.

Once when I woke up, Samara was crying softly while Castor rubbed her back. The next time I got up for a bathroom break, Serg was having a nightmare, and Boden was waking him and comforting him. The time after that, Polly was tossing and turning, so I asked if she needed anything, and she just snapped at me to leave her alone.

The final time I woke up, and I crept outside to do my business in a nearby bush, the sky was showing the first hint of the approaching dawn. Lillian was tending the fire, and she gave me a tired smile as I went by her on my way back to my bed between Max and Polly.

When I had left, I'd thought that Polly was asleep, but now she was moving around, almost as if she was writhing.

"Polly?" I whispered. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly, she lifted her head and glared at me with feral, bloodshot eyes. " No! " Polly snarled.

"Oh, no, you're a zombie," I realized, and she dove at me. I swung at her with my walking stick, and she fell backward against the wall of the cave.

"What are you doing?" Castor yelled in dismay.

"She's a fucking zombie!" Remy shouted, and she was up and racing across the cave with Lillian's axe in hand.

Everything after that happened so quickly. Max grabbed me and pulled me back out of the way. Castor tried to stop Remy, but Boden grabbed him and held him back. Remy went at Polly with the axe, hitting her three times with a slick, wet whacking sound, and I threw up in my mouth.

"What did you do?" Castor was howling as Polly's body lay on the ground twitching.

Remy bent over and pulled up Polly's pant leg, revealing a festering bite wound on her ankle. Then Remy straightened up and glared at Castor with his sister's blood splattered on her face.

"She must've been bitten on the boat," Remy said. "Did you know about that? Did you help her hide it and put us all in danger?"

" No ! I didn't know!" Castor collapsed to his knees after Boden released him. "I didn't know. I just thought she was sick."

Remy dropped the axe and wiped the blood off her face with the sleeve of her shirt. "Sorry. But it had to be done. She wasn't your sister anymore."