Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The smell of smoke fills my nostrils.

I squirm, twisting and pulling to try to get away from the suffocating black cloud that rises towards me but I can’t move. The ropes are too tight.

The aftermath of the Ice Beast attack is a bloody one, but the hunters have managed to begin getting their damaged sleds in order. Ben, still unconscious, lays safely wrapped in a blanket where he is kept warm by some of our dogs who were ordered to stay with him, curled up around him in the snow.

Ben is safe, but I wish I can say that about myself. Out of everyone here, he’s the one I need the most, and he’s the only one who actually seems to have suffered any true injuries in the attack. Now that the chaos of the previous hour has dissipated, most of the attention is on me.

Randall, a hunter around Chris’s age, kneels at my feet with a stick in his hands. He is of a medium build, muscular like all of the hunters, with a thick head of hair that was once black, but is now beginning to go gray. His yellow-green eyes are trained on his task of creating friction with the stick between his palms in order to start a fire. So far, all he’s managed to summon is the smoke that chokes me and makes my eyes water.

“Is this really necessary?” Chris nervously twirls a finger around his curly beard, his faded blue eyes wide as he looks on, watching Randall.

Randall stops to wipe a bead of sweat from his brow with his sleeve before returning to the grueling task of starting the fire, “It’s absolutely necessary.” He growls with conviction.

Maurice puts a hand on Chris’s shoulder and gives him a small nod as if to tell him that everything is going to be ok. Although he’s supporting Randall, he doesn’t exactly seem too thrilled about it himself. In Ben’s absence, Maurice had originally been the first person to chew me out for my heinous crime. But Maurice’s kind nature makes it impossible for him to carry out punishment. Randall, with his extremist views, took over from there.

“The law does say she needs to be punished.” A hunter named Nathaniel adds, his expression neutral. He doesn’t really seem to care what happens either way.

“Punished. Not burned at the stake.” Dustin, who stands beside him, rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably.

Randall growls again and springs to his feet, turning on Dustin without warning, “For the magnitude of her crimes, I think this is fair enough punishment!” He snaps, “She’s been defying the natural order of things for so long anyway that she deserves what she gets!”

Everyone falls silent. Nathaniel flinches away from Randall and Dustin squints a little. Neal takes a protective step closer to his son, ready to come to his defense. Maurice’s mouth is a thin, straight line. Chris just looks pale.

“You don’t understand. I’m doing what has to be done. She’s a danger to us all!” Randall continues to speak, pacing between the other hunters and I, “Now, are there any more objections?”

His words are greeted by silence. Even if they think he’s being a bit extreme, a woman sneaking out of camp to join the hunters on a dangerous trip is a very serious crime. They’ve probably never dealt with this situation before, and drastic situations call for drastic measures. It doesn’t help that their leader is lying unconscious, unable to guide them on the matter.

“Maybe we should wait for Ben…” I try saying, but Randall turns around so fast that I don’t get to finish my sentence before he slaps me across the face.

The impact of his hand across my face makes my cheek sting and I cry out in pain. Everyone else, particularly Dustin and Maurice, stiffens, but still no one makes a move.

“Shut up woman. You’ve lost your right to speak.” He hisses before kneeling again to return to making the fire. This time it doesn’t take him so long before a flame ignites, and slowly the fire begins to spread at my feet.

I thrash against my restrains again but it’s no use. Randall had tied the knots well, barely allowing me enough room to even breathe. The log that I’m tied to stands firmly upright, embedded into the deep snow, unmoving. I feel the heat of the small fire and know that it’s only a minor sample of what I will feel once it engulfs my body, burning me alive.

This is it. This is my tragic ending. I suppose it’s the price I pay for wanting things, for allowing myself to feel. If I had known that loving someone so much would eventually end my life, I would have never allowed myself to feel love in the first place. For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, I find myself face to face with death.

Except this time there’s no way out of it. I got lucky when Ben threatened me. I got lucky when the Ice Beast charged at me. But there seems to be no escape from this fate of mine. Death keeps following me, and it will not stop until it has me, it seems.

Randall stands upright now, facing me, and watching the fire hungrily eat away at the sticks and twigs gathered at my feet. Soon they will run out of fuel and search for something more substantial. Like me. He crosses his arms over his chest and the corner of his mouth twitches ever so slightly as if he’s fighting a smile.

I can’t say I’m surprised that he wants me dead. He was one of the first people to shun me on the day that I became a guard, and he’s refused to work with me on the tower ever since I started. In his eyes I am a cancer that needs to be cut from the group before my ideas start to spread. I feel too hollow inside to summon up any fresh hatred right now, however.

I’m just trying to resign myself to my defeat, and hope that it’s over with quickly. I will not give him the satisfaction of dying as a coward.

“Any last words, Lilith?” Randall asks me with a smirk.

This is such a stupid thing to die for. I really want to tell him that, and I’m about to, when something catches my attention. I see movement behind the line of hunters watching me, and when I realize what it is, I find that it’s my turn to smirk.

“Just one word. Duck.” I grin.

Randall looks puzzled, but the confusion doesn’t last long. He gets the punchline just in time for Ben’s fist to smash into his face, knocking him to the ground.

Randall tumbles backwards and groans, holding his jaw. He spits something bloody onto the snow. I think it’s a tooth. Ben looms over him, breathing heavily, awake and alive. A dry trickle of blood stains his forehead from where he had hit his head, but he seems to be more alive than ever.

“Idiot.” He hisses before turning to the fire and hastily kicking snow onto it to put it out. It had already begun to singe the fur on my boots. The heat instantly disappears with the death of the fire and I can breathe again, my lungs no longer oppressed by the smoke.

The line of hunters stands there in shock, before Maurice joyfully cries out “Ben! You’re ok!”

They rush in unison towards their leader, but Ben brushes them off irritably to cut the ropes that tie me. Weak from a lack of circulation to my body, I begin to fall, but not before Ben grabs me by the elbow and jerks me up to my feet.

“Who authorized this?” Ben releases me and takes fast, threatening steps towards the others. Everyone retreats as if pushed back by a force field, and they all point to Randall, who still sits in the snow, cursing.

Ben turns to Randall, hands balled into indignant fists, “Is this what we’re doing now? Setting people on fire?”

“You know the law.” Randall mutters, stumbling to his feet.

Ben knocks him down again with his boot, kicking him in the chest. Randall curls up on the floor, holding his ribs painfully, “The law doesn’t give you the right to murder!”

“Well what am I supposed to do?” Randall wheezes, “Return her to camp and waste precious time? Keep her here as a prisoner where she’ll slow us down and put us in danger?”

“She’s here under my authorization, so you do nothing, Randall.”

A moment of shocked silence passes when everyone hears this, and I’m reminded once again of the fateful day when I became a guard. Their expressions are not any different from what they were back then. Ben, of course, hadn’t been there to experience that day, three years ago. But if he had been there, he probably would have been more careful about admitting something like this.

I step away from them and let my hair fall in my face again, wanting to curl up into a ball and disappear. I know the anger that comes next. The rejection. It’s time to build my walls.

No one really seems to know what to say. While Ben has his eyes on the row of slack-jawed hunters before him, I see Randall get to his feet again.

“Traitor!” He yells, outraged, and suddenly rushes at Ben.

I don’t know if it’s my gratitude to Ben or my hatred for Randall that drives me to action. Before Ben has any time to react, I rush forward and intercept Randall, driving my shoulder into his ribcage. Although I’m significantly smaller than him, my momentum and the element of surprise manages to knock him away from Ben’s path.

Randall grabs me by my long, loose hair and drags me to the ground with him. My head hits the ground so hard that I almost black out. I lash out with my hands and feet, landing random blows on him, although I can’t see because of the way he’s twisting my head back.

Instantly all hands are on Randall. The other, mostly confused, hunters try to keep the peace as they pry the enraged man off of me. Maurice, Chris, and Dustin drag him away, but not before Randall manages to rip out a handful of my hair. I feel the warm trickle of blood somewhere on my scalp and bite my lip, fighting back tears.

Nathaniel and Neal grab me by the arms, pulling me to my feet, all while Ben watches in silence, arms crossed over his chest. His metallic eyes are locked on Randall. I recognize the monster within that I’ve been seeing a lot of lately and hold back a shudder. It’s clear to see that he reached his limit of patience a long time ago.

Randall yells a string of curses at both Ben and I, kicking up snow and forcing the three men holding him to use all of their strength. Ben looks to me for a moment, his stony expression softening only the slightest bit, before he turns to Maurice.

“Tie him to the log.” He orders.

The three men in possession of Randall hesitate, and Ben repeats himself with an impatient snap, “I said tie him to the log! Now!”

The men follow Ben’s orders obediently, and soon Randall is hoisted up in the same way that I was only moments before.

Neal and Nathaniel’s fingers are digging into my arms. They’re so nervous that they’ve forgotten to let me go. I can’t really say that I notice the pain though, because I’m just as nervous as they are. I never know what Ben’s going to do when his dark side emerges, but I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end.

It's not that I pity Randall though. He deserves what he gets.

Ben stands before Randall, Maurice and Chris on either side of him, while Dustin checks to see if the ropes are secure. A small trail of blood dribbles down Randall’s chin, and there are deep scratch marks on his face. I think I put those there, and it makes me feel the tiniest bit of triumph.

“So tell me…” Ben paces around Randall, like a predator does when circling its prey, “Since you know so much about the law, what is the punishment for someone who attacks the head hunter?”

Randall doesn’t reply and stares off blankly into the tree line, refusing to answer. He’s trying to appear nonchalant. I know he’s afraid. I can see him shaking.

“Anyone?” When Ben doesn’t get a response from him he turns to the others

“The punishment for attacking someone in authority, sir, is solitary confinement for twenty-four hours.” Nathaniel says in a weak voice. Everyone else nods, agreeing.

“Very well.” Ben seems to look disappointed  when he turns back to Randall, “Looks like you’ve been spared. For now. But next time you decide to pass judgment without consulting me first, you won’t be so lucky.” That dark look enters his eyes again, before he waves to the rest of us, “Let’s go make camp. Leave him here.”

“What?” Randall gives way to panic, struggling against the rope, “Come on guys! You can’t leave me here!”

But his pleas fall on deaf ears, and we all turn away. I know why he’s so frightened. Randall might have escaped the burn of the fire but that isn’t the only thing a man can die of out here. The Ice Beast was only the beginning of our problems. There are still many more creatures out here just like it. Creatures that crave human flesh. We might not have burned Randall to death, but we might be sentencing him to a much worse fate.

I can see that some of us feel guilty. It shows on Maurice’s face, and in Chris’s unsure walk.

But as for me, I don’t feel a thing, and I don’t think Ben does either.

I only look back once at Randall to flash him a small smirk of satisfaction, before flipping my hair, and strutting off.

 

An hour later, we sit in a semi-circle around a small fire, trying to warm our bodies up after being exposed for so long to the intense cold.

We didn’t stray too far from where we had left Randall. I can see him off in the distance, in the place that had almost become my grave. He makes no sound, and wisely so, as that would only make it more likely that a predator would find him. I would think that someone would interfere before Randall’s life is actually in any danger, but knowing myself, I don’t forgive. And I won’t be saving him.

I wonder how long Ben will keep him there. The law says twenty-four hours, but I don’t think it was created for this specific situation. Left out that long, Randall would die of the cold even if nothing got to him first. I’m assuming Ben will save him before he freezes to death.

And yet, it’s been an hour, and Ben still hasn’t told anyone to cut him loose.

I can’t imagine standing immobile for an hour out here with no fire and no warmth of any kind. If he’s still alive, he’ll have frostbite for sure.

I sit alone on my end of the fire, except for Ben who sits beside me, probably to act quickly in case anyone else tries to kill me. Everyone else is on the farther end, huddled together. None of them speak or look at us, probably because they’re afraid to. Nobody wants to risk making Ben angry and ending up in the same position as Randall. As a result of the silence, Ben hasn’t offered them any explanations as to why I’m here either. They must be feeling a wide range of emotions right now, from confusion to indignation to rage.

I wish I could clear everything up but I don’t know what to say. Even if I did try to explain, I’m the last person they would want to listen to. My voice would just get carried away by the wind.

All I know is that I’m part of this team now. But I still feel so alone. Even Ben, who is the only reason I’m even alive right now, isn’t exactly my friend. After all we’ve been through in the past two weeks, I’m not even sure what to call him, but it’s not like he’s overflowing with warmth. We shared that one hug by the campfire a week ago and that was it. And it was weird.

I’m reminded of how much I used to hate him. Ever since I spiraled into my depression I’ve always resented how little he seemed to care about my feelings. I was jealous of his power, his confidence. And then, he managed to turn that all around when he offered me the chance of a lifetime. It was as if that door of hatred and bitterness had slammed shut, and another one had opened. But I’m not sure what that other one leads to just yet.

Positive emotions are rare to me these days. I’ve forgotten how to handle them. And that’s why I begin to feel a bit panicky when I notice that I don’t dislike Ben anymore. If I can’t be mean to him, then what the heck am I supposed to do?

 I hold a stick over the fire with a piece of meat on the end of it, just like everyone else. Ice Beast is on the menu for dinner tonight, and the ravenous crew isn’t going to waste any of it. In a way, there was a silver lining to this cloud. Not only did the Ice Beast provide food for us tonight, but it also gave us its fur for life-giving warmth. The large animal had more than enough fur for us to divide the pelt among ourselves. I have my piece draped over my shoulders.

I take a bite of the warm meat when it’s been cooked well and finish my small meal in silence. When there’s nothing left, the hunters begin to grow restless, the awkward stillness around the campfire filling the air with tension. Dustin is the first to leave.

“So… I’m going to fix the sleds that were damaged.” He speaks up, and his father follows after him, the two ditching the uncomfortable scene together.

I’ve been trying to make eye contact with Maurice this whole time to see if he’ll speak to me now, but once Dustin and Neal are gone, he too gets to his feet, avoiding me, “While they do that, I’m going to scout out the area. We don’t want to be surprised again.”

Nathaniel leaps to his feet almost immediately, “I’ll take this half, you take the other.”

Finally it’s just Chris, and he doesn’t even try to make an excuse. All he does is give us a sheepish grin, “I’m going to… just… go.” He shrugs and practically runs to his sled.

That leaves just Ben and I behind, and it’s no coincidence. We’re possibly the two most hated people here right now.

Ben looks at the fire and I fidget, tugging at my sleeves and trying hard not to look at him because I don’t want to be weird. But I don’t have anything or anyone else to look at either, so it ends up being weird anyway. He seems uncomfortable as well, narrowing his eyes as if thinking.

He still has one piece of meat left, and he holds it over the fire for so long that it chars at the edges.

“You know, they used to call this polar bear.” He finally speaks.

I’m confused. It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking about the Ice Beast, “Really? I’ve never heard that before.” That’s such a strange name to give to an animal. Ice Beast is clearly much more fitting, in my opinion.

“Yeah well… it’s based off of a polar bear, anyway.” Ben pulls the burnt piece of meat out of the fire and tosses it to one of the dogs who sits nearby, begging hungrily.

“What do you mean?” I ask him curiously. The only stories I’ve heard of the monsters that plague the wasteland were stories of horror and blood. No one’s ever really explained to me anything else about them.

“Before the whole world froze over, there used to be all kinds of animals.” Ben explains, “But they started to die off when humans stopped taking care of the earth.” He gestures to the wasteland around us, “That’s also why it eventually turned into this. The ecosystem started to crumble, and when the more important animals started to go missing, like polar bears, there were men- scientists, they called them- who tried to recreate their DNA in order to replace them.”

“DNA? Scientists?” These words sounded strange on my tongue, and they confused me. They didn’t teach us this in the village.

Ben sighs and rolls his eyes, “Goodness, you people don’t know anything. DNA is the code that makes you who you are. Every living creature has one. A scientist is a person who studies science, and some of them know how to read that code.”

“Whatever you say…” I pull back my sleeve and stare down at my arm, wondering if I’m supposed to have a code written on it somewhere. I don’t see anything. It all sounds kind of silly to me, “Why would anyone want to recreate an Ice Beast anyway? I say we’re better off without them.”

“The animals that our ancestors knew weren’t like the ones that we know now.” Ben frowns, “DNA is extremely complicated and it was never entirely understood. While the scientists managed to write the important parts of the code correctly, there were mistakes that they didn’t know how to fix. Their creations were too aggressive. They had some kind of neurological imbalance. And their eyes always came out red. The Ice Beast is one of those creations.”

I let this information sink in, and wonder how I never knew that before. They don’t have that written down in our records. “How do you know all of this?” I raise a brow at him.

“My father taught me.” He shrugs, and gets a distant look in his eyes, “My ancestors were scientists, I think. Much like your village, we wrote our history down too. Except ours goes back further than yours.”

I forget sometimes how Ben doesn’t originate from my people. I never questioned before what his past was, but now I find myself wanting to know.

“Hey Ben… where did you come from? What happened to your family?” The words rush out of my mouth before I can stop them.

But Ben doesn’t answer me and suddenly gets to his feet, frowning, “What are you doing?”

He’s not looking at me anymore, but at Maurice and Chris, who approach the campfire.

And with none other than Randall between them.

His arms are thrown limply over their shoulders because he can’t stand on his own. The hunter looks weak, tired, and half frozen.

“We went to go untie Randall. I think he’s paid for his indiscretion. If he’s away from the fire for much longer, he’ll die.” Maurice explains calmly.

Ben’s nostrils flare. He’s clearly displeased by the fact that they released him, but the logical side of him must recognize that Maurice is right, and he keeps his calm, “Well he’d better warm up fast, because we need to move. The sleds are almost ready, and I want to get out of here before sundown.” With that, he stomps away from the fire, leaving me behind.

I watch him leave, disappointed, and stare at Randall. His skin is pale like paper. I could have mistaken him for a corpse from close up. The sight of him unnerves me. I don’t think he would have lasted another half hour out there. I kind of wanted to not have to deal with him anymore.

I wonder how long Ben would have kept him there if no one had done anything.

Not wanting to be anywhere near the man who tried to murder me, I stand up and say, “I’m going to assemble the dog teams.” And I walk away, hoping that Randall has learned his lesson.

But I’m not stupid enough to think that it’s over.

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A/N: From this chapter onward, you may need to consult the page titled "The Experiments" for some extra information not explained in the narration.

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Author's Note

I lied about the cookie. But you should still leave a comment. :)