7. We struggled to stand up

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When Layne woke up, he felt as if he hardly slept at all. His whole body ached even more so than the night before. The fire had died out, allowing the chilling air sting his face.

The cabin was dark except for the few rays of sun filtering through the gap under the door. Through the silence came the chirping of the birds and the more Layne listened, the more apparent were the sounds inside the cabin. Silent sobbing.

He sat up. The lack of light made it difficult to see the environment, yet looking around for longer, the silhouettes of objects and people stood clear enough. Almost everyone else were still asleep except for himself and Malia, who was sitting on her pallet, hugging her knees. Her back shuddered with every sob.

The man thought about laying back down and pretending to sleep. He didn't do good when it involved someone's emotions. As soon as he moved to get into a more comfortable position, tho, Malia turned her head at him. She immediately hid her face again but there was no escape left.

Layne moved onto her pallet. "Malia?"

She didn't answer. Her shoulders moved up and down but she had stopped sobbing. Layne wondered how much of a dick he'd look like if he left now. Upon assuming that his image among the group has already been damaged, he decided not to risk it.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he whispered.

Malia shook her head. "S-shouldn't."

"It's gonna be ok, we're only supposed to stay inside during night time, remember?"

"I mean, I d-don't want anyone t-to see me." The girl hardly connected the words. Layne sat next to her in silence. It was too late to go away but no words left to say.

"Why don't we go somewhere further away," he spoke after a while. "I'm sure there got to be plenty of places with no one around."

Malia hesitated. In the end, she nodded and lifted herself up. The two of them left the cabin to be blinded by the large amount of sunlight.

Layne blinked, waiting for his eyes to get used to the change. Soon enough, the view was clear enough to see the village surrounding them. The cabins looked even worse with sunlight exposing each of their flaws but little flower gardens, narrow pathways around the buildings and osier fences all around created an almost cozy environment.

The surrounding greenery was still covered in tiny droplets of morning dew. No person was yet to be seen although the noises of chicken and cows didn't allow for it to be too quiet.

Layne and Malia walked in silence. Turning towards the forest, they found a pathway trampled down heavier than the rest and, without giving it much thought, they went ahead to follow it.

The path led them deep into the forest, further away from all the village sounds. The whole way Layne eyed Malia who just stared into the ground underneath them and hugged her chest. Red streaks came down her cheeks but at least she had stopped crying.

"So that's what this pathway leads to." Layne grinned.

Before them, down the hill, opened up a view of a large, clear lake, surrounded by cattails, large rocks and aspen trees. Even Malia let out a faint chuckle before they went running towards it.

The path ended right at the only clear area around the shore of the lake, not outgrown by any sorts of weeds. Following his first impulse, Layne dropped off his shoes, socks and stepped into the shallow water. Chill ran through his whole body and just a few seconds later, he could barely feel his feet. It did help with the pain from his wound, tho.

Malia smiled at him from the shore. "How's the water?"

"Hot like morning coffee."

"Yeah, right."

"Try it."

The girl came closer and dipped her hand into the lake. "Liar," she said and splashed the water onto Layne.

"Now that was unnecessary." He returned to the shore and sat on one of the rocks surrounding the lake. Malia joined him on the next one.

"Thanks. I feel better."

"You're welcome." Layne shrugged. He didn't have a clue of what would be a proper response to that.

"No offence, I didn't have the best first impression of you."

"Yeah, I get why."

"You do?"

Layne laughed. "I do realise I have my faults. Not a lot of them."

"Just a little."

"Tiny bit, yeah."

Malia brushed her long, blond hair to the side and began untangling them using her fingers. Layne followed the insects on the surface of the lake with his eyes. They made little waves around them as they landed on it. He hasn't noticed that before, not that he's spent much time examining water.

"So, what's with the crying?" he asked just to end the silence and immediately wished to smack himself in the face.

The girl stopped what she was doing. Her arms sagged down. "I don't know."

"Oh, ok." Layne attempted to fix his mistake by stopping the conversation.

"I just woke up all sore and realised I haven't been dreaming. Which was a little much for me to handle at the moment."

"Understandable." He nodded, still not looking at her.

"I'll just have to get used to it."

"Yeah, like all of us."

Malia's body tensed up. He spent a few minutes staring at the water, then stood up threw off her denim jacket.

"What are you doing?" Layne laughed.

She turned at him and grinned. "I'm going for a swim."

"You're crazy."

The words alone made Layne wrap himself tighter in his father's jacket.

Malia stripped down to her underwear. "You're not going?"

"As I said, you're crazy." Layne bowed down his head, avoiding looking at her. It wasn't completely his fault that his eyes kept wandering back up.

"Can I borrow your hair band?"

"What?"

"I don't want to get my hair wet."

Still confused, Layne slipped the simple black band out of his hair. He offered it to Malia who took it with a smile and secured her hair into a messy bun.

"Never thought I'd be borrowing something like that from a guy," she commented.

"Stranger things happen. Like, all of this, in general."

The girl laughed and went running into the lake. Once the water reached her shoulders, she jumped a few times and returned, shaking and gritting her teeth.

"All I needed," she said. "I'm definitely not going to cry now."

"Good. We don't have any towels, tho."

"Shit."

"Get dressed and let's run back to the village?"

Malia nodded.

* * *

Layne and Malia were nearing the cabin when they saw Coden and Victor talking beside it. The elder man was smiling, yet Coden's shoulders sagged. Victor motioned him towards the door and walked off.

"What was that about?" asked Malia.

Layne shrugged. The two caught up with Coden and followed him into the cabin. The rest of the group, except for Iker and Zander, were still there. Most of them seemingly just woken up.

"Where have you two been?" Alana jumped from her pallet and came to greet them. "Malia, you're soaking!"

Malia's clothes have turned wet from her skin. She waved it off. "There's a lake nearby, I went in."

"It's so cold out! You can get sick and I doubt they have any real medicine here." Alana turned her eyes at Layne. "And you allowed her?"

"I'm not her babysitter, am I?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Is it hard to be a smart, responsible person for once?"

"So you're saying that Malia is not a smart, responsible person herself?"

Alana's eyes narrowed, she scoffed and pressed her usually thick lips together until they turned into a thin line. "I can't believe you."

"Al, he didn't push me into the lake." Malia pulled off her soaked clothes. Layne still found it weird. Every female he knew would hide from everyone, men or women, even when they were still covered up more than this girl was.

Alana wrapped her up in a thin blanket. "I'm gonna go ask around, there's gotta be some spare clothes you can have."

"Thanks, Alana."

As soon as the woman disappeared behind the door, Malia burst out laughing. The men inside gave her confused looks but no one seemed to be brave enough to question it.

"What were you two doing, anyway?" Coden inquired.

"What do you think we were doing?" Malia replied through the laughter. She was now clutching her stomach. It looked like she was close to suffocating.

Coden's cheeks blushed. He sat on his pallet in silence.

"We were looking for lakes, Coden," said Layne. "You're welcome."

The door handle turned up and down a few times, yet the door didn't move. Layne frowned and opened it, exposing Zander and Iker carrying large trays, four metal bowls on each. Whatever was in the bowls, it was steaming and that alone caused Layne's mouth to water.

"Thanks." Zander nodded.

They arranged the bowls on the table in a swift manner and dropped a metal spoon in each, a couple of them bent in weird angles. Layne approached to see what appeared to be chicken soup with some potatoes swimming around. Far from the most gourmet meal he's seen and yet, the sight made the man's stomach rumble.

"You're gonna keep staring at it?" Coden laughed and carried two bowls over to Remy and Malia. "Thanks, you two."

The brothers smiled at him.

"Layne, fetch me a bowl?" asked Troy, sitting on his pallet.

Layne did so and grabbed one for himself in the process. "What are you supposed to say when you're asking for something, Troy?"

"Oh quit playing, I'm starving."

"Nuh-uh, I don't believe that's it."

"Layne."

"I wish my name worked that way."

Troy sighed. "Please."

"There you go." Layne offered him the bowl with a smile.

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome."

The large man cracked up with a silent laughter. Layne joined him and soon, the whole cabin spread with joyful chuckling, even though at first most of them went as far as covering their mouths trying not to crack.

Layne shoved a spoonful of soup into his mouth, which turned out to be too hot and scalded his tongue. Even so, he didn't mind it. He didn't even care that the dish didn't appear to have any other spice in it but a little bit of salt. Right then, this warm meal was all that's needed to bring the man some so needed happiness.

"Layne!" Malia threw the hair band directly into his head. "Thanks."

* * *

When Layne awoke, the fire burning in the furnace still lit up the cabin. No light was coming through the gap below the door and the man felt as if he couldn't have slept for more than a couple hours. He let out a deep sigh, displeased with such inconvenience.

He had hoped to fall asleep again as soon as possible, yet a weird feeling kept him from doing so. He opened his eyes to see the rest of the group were awake as well.

"What's going on?" he asked, still in a sleepy voice.

"Shh." Alana pressed a finger to her lips.

Layne sat up. Everyone appeared to be staring wide-eyed right in front of them. He tried to do the same but couldn't understand what the deal was. Still, his fate-mates didn't even move, which by itself caused his heart to beat faster. Only Iker and Zander laid on their pallets, awake yet unfazed.

Then, he heard it.

A loud noise darted through the air. It was clear it was coming from outside, not even that close by, still, it was so strong and crisp he almost felt like standing right next to whatever was making it.

As soon as it stopped, a new one came from a whole other direction. Almost like howling, yet deeper and somewhat choppy. They'd stop for a few minutes before a whole new concert.

Each time the sounds would die down, Layne felt like he's never experienced such silence. There was nothing, not even his own breathing.

"You should try to ignore it," said Iker after a few such cycles. "They're probably hunting or something, happens every few nights or so."

Layne turned at his direction. Next to him, Remy sat with tears rolling down his cheeks, open lips twitching without a sound. All of a sudden, it was like back in Eumain. Always fearing of something and not ever fully knowing what that was. Being scared to make a wrong move which was described as 'easy to accomplish', yet so difficult in reality.

Seeing everyone around trying to live their lives to the fullest while in the constant shadow of a doubt, knowing that it all may end without a warning. The next day, even.

Layne clenched his fists. A few more sounds. He jumped and reached for his shoes.

"Layne, what are you doing?" Alana's voice was filled with judgement. Just as always when it concerned him.

He didn't reply. In the corner of the cabin, where they kept their supplies, he snatched a broom and a wax candle which ignited as soon as the flames of the furnace touched its wick.

"Layne!" Troy approached him with his hand out.

Layne rushed through the door and slammed them shut before the man could get to him. The people left inside still called his name but he didn't turn back. Running towards the forest, he heard the door opening again.

Troy called him. He almost wanted to return. The other feelings, however, were stronger.

He wouldn't live surrounded by inapprehensible danger any longer.


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