"Bugger!" Zoe looked down at her newly scratched leg, mournfully. "I'm getting a bit bloody tired of all this holly everywhere; the leaves are cutting me to bits."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Zoe pulled at her French plait, twiddled with her earrings and looked at the ground uncomfortably.

"Um, sorry. That was insensitive…"

Ari cut her off; "Don't worry about it. Anyway, you're the one who apparently knows where we're going. We must have been walking for ages... Are we nearly there yet?"

"I think it's just up ahead."

They carried on walking in silence for a while, Ari cradling her arm so as not to pull at her injured shoulder.

"Actually, yeah I can hear water now!" Ari smiled slightly at Zoe and quickened her pace. "Wow, this is crazy. How on earth did you know that?"

"I guess I'm just more in tune with my surrounding than you are!" She poked her tongue out at Ari, teasing her. She really wanted to keep Ari's spirits up – no matter what Ari said, Zoe knew they had done the right thing at the time, even if it was terrifying to think about. Fighting to survive wasn't a crime. She'd had to do it before, after all. "Maybe this place is just magical?"

They cleared a line of trees and came upon an idyllic picture – a stream curved gracefully amidst the foliage that had aggravated them earlier. It was crystal clear and quite fast running, though not very large. Birds which had been twittering blissfully, took off at their approach, landing reproachfully in trees further downstream. The weak sun glinted off the water, warming Zoe for the first time since stepping through the door.

"So, how am I doing this?" Ari looked to Zoe expectantly.

"What am I? Your Mum?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"No, but you are the only one here with any medical training. And I know you have a first aid kit in there," she said gesturing at the bag.

"What would you do without me?" Grinning madly, Zoe put the bags on the floor and began to rifle through hers.

"Soap, soap, soap… Where is it? Ah, here. Ok, let's get your top off carefully, you really don't want to aggravate that." Together they gently peeled the top off Ari's uninjured arm. "It would be incredibly helpful if your clothing wasn't so damn tight!"

"And just what are you implying?" Ari said playfully, wincing slightly at the movement.

"I'm not implying anything; I'm saying that you're lady of loose morals."

"Oi!" Ari laughed and poked Zoe, who was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. They eased the, thankfully quite stretchy, material over her head.

"Just need to get it over your shoulder now, ok? No big deal, she's cut most of your top up anyway."

"And most of my shoulder…"

Zoe shushed her. "Don't be a wuss, it's not that bad. As they say in one of my favourite movies, 'nut up or shut up'."

"Was that supposed to be some kind of inspirational pep talk? Ow, shit!"

"Sorry, I think the fibres fused with some scab when it was drying. But hey, at least it's healing."

"Well, it was!" Ari craned her head painfully and discovered that her wound had cracked open in places and a small line of blood had started to ooze out of her arm again.

"I was trying to look at things positively…"

"I will dunk you in this damn river."

"Aha!" Zoe held the t-shirt aloft triumphantly. "Done it. Good thing she missed your dungaree strap, otherwise this would be kind of awkward."

"It's not like you haven't seen me topless before… Anyway, I am wearing a bra, it's just strapless!" Zoe snickered and used the freed top to apply pressure to Ari's shoulder to stop the renewed bleeding, making her hiss in pain.

"Yes, but we're in the middle of the woods… It's a little different. Now, obviously take your shoes off first, and then into the drink with you. Maybe sit on that rock. It's a bit wet and pointy but I'm sure you'll manage."

"This is super not fun." Ari hobbled through the stream, cursing over the small pebbles she encountered, the water rising to just above her knees and just below her dungarees.

Zoe toed off her own boots and socks and came into the stream with her, carrying soap, their plastic bottle and a flannel. "Oh my God, this water is freezing!"

"Really? It's not bothering me."

"Are you feverish or something?" Concerned, Zoe felt her forehead. "You are pretty hot. Here, have this for a minute." She pressed the now wet and cold flannel to Ari's forehead, which she continued to hold with her uninjured arm.

"Just so you know, I feel alright… Other than my shoulder radiating the fiery pains of death, that is."

With Ari sat on a rock in front of her and leaning back, Zoe carefully poured water onto her shoulder. She cringed slightly at the sensation.

"Are we sure this safe? What if I get cholera or something?"

Zoe snorted. "What, are we living in 19th century London? This is running water and it looks pretty clear anyway, so I really doubt cholera will be a problem. Anyway, I have antibacterial soap and it's not like we have much choice. Beggars and choosers, etc."

After gently washing the now mostly closed wound, Zoe dabbed at it with the flannel to remove excess moisture and any bits she missed.

"Done, I think. You should stay here for a bit though and cool down. You're still a bit hot." Zoe made her way out of the stream and sat on a dry patch, wiggling her feet in the air to dry them. They both sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about nothing in particular. It was quite a pleasant sort of day really: mild weather, beautiful scenery and the sounds of nature rustling and splashing merrily along. It was just a shame about the murder.

...

"You know you were talking about dying your hair a different colour? I don't think red-y-brown really suits you."

"What?" Ari looped her multi-coloured waves around her hand and brought the resultant mess of hair in front of her face. "Ack, that's gross. Dried blood…? Got any shampoo?" At Zoe's head shake, she groaned. "Fantastic. Guess I'll use the soap."

She waded over to Zoe, took the proffered soap and dunked half of her hair into the stream. "Not much point doing all of it. Especially not without conditioner."

Zoe murmured her agreement and let her eyes close of their own accord. It was cool, but she was very comfortable, and the sound of the water lapping past her lulled her into a light doze. That is until the sound of Ari squawking pulled her back to reality with a jolt, causing her to snort awake in surprise.

"… the hell?"

"… wash that man right out of my hair, and send him on his waaaayyyyy!"

"Really?!"

"What? I always sing in the shower."

"You're in a fucking stream!" Zoe cried in exasperation, "And really, South Pacific was your musical of choice? Poor show, A. Being bent over doesn't particularly help your singing voice – you sound like a bag of cats. Just FYI."

"Cheers." She flipped her hair back and began squeezing out the excess water. "Did I look like a hair advert then?"

"Nope."

"Ah well. I live in hope." She waded back over to Zoe and sat beside her.

"Right, shall we get you patched up?" She pulled out the small lunchbox that served as her first aid kit – foisted onto her by her dad just before they left – and pulled out the necessary materials.

"Damn, no scissors. Who packs a roll of bandages but no scissors to cut it with?"

"I have nail scissors in my makeup bag, hang on." Ari began searching through her backpack – a task made difficult by how full it was.

"Aha!" She handed the small case over to Zoe who got to work, first cutting a suitable length of bandage and various bits of medical tape and then, with some help from Ari's other hand, they got inventive with the bandage, wrapping it diagonally from her underarm and then taping it so that it was sturdy.

Thank God for fathers. Actually, she didn't know if she should be thankful he was so prepared or annoyed that he thought she was such a disaster area.

Ari leant back onto Zoe's bent legs and closed her eyes.

"Ugh A, your hair is dripping down my legs." Disgruntled, Zoe gathered the half wet, half dry, wavy mass of colour that was Ari's hair and draped it across her uninjured shoulder. She grumbled as she swept a hand down her legs, brushing away the droplets of cold water.

"Oh sorry, I forgot how amazingly grumpy you get, especially after I interrupt a nap." Ari said with a small smile. "I don't suppose we have a towel in our bags, do we?"

Zoe dragged the two backpacks closer to her and began rummaging around in them. "I don't think we do. They must be back in the car. Clearly we needed a Mary Poppins type bag for this adventure."

"If only. Can you imagine how much stuff we could get in there?" Ari wistfully said.

"And just think, then you could have brought all those books I so meanly forced you to leave behind!" Zoe teased, as she started putting her boots back on.

"Don't remind me – I can't believe that we're road tripping and I don't have a bloody thing to read!"

"When we eventually find the car, I'm going to point out the five or so books you stashed away in the boot and raise an eyebrow. Much like this." Leaning forward so that Ari could see her, Zoe put on her most teacher-like expression and, pointing towards her forehead, raised an eyebrow in a disapproving manner.

Ari grinned. "Very stern. Expect for the smudges all over your face."

"Ack, what?! My beautiful face!" Zoe cried dramatically, pulling her fingers across the skin of her face. "Oooh, ows! That was silly." She rubbed her neck gently, having got a bit carried away and accidentally pulled at the bruised areas of her neck.

"Come here, moron." Ari dabbed at her face gently with the damp flannel. "Maybe you should leave this on your neck for a bit. It might help with any swelling?" Zoe nodded and led back on the bank of the stream, covering her neck in the damp and cold material. She trailed her fingers through the water lackadaisically and sighed.

"Blargh, I feel rough. Do you kind of feel like you're just getting over the flu? My neck is throbbing too."

"I think that I kind of win if we're going to talk about neck pain. Red definitely trumps black and blue. But yeah, I get what you mean. Probably an after effect of all that adrenaline."

"Yeah, probably." Zoe agreed, her eyes closed. "It's getting chilly again. We should come up with some kind of plan. What do you think we should do? I could try the phones again, but something tells me not much will have changed." She paused, waiting for Ari to respond. "A?"

"Can you hear something?" Ari sounded agitated. Zoe squinted up at her and smiled.

"Birds and a babbling brook. Almost poetic I'd say…"

"No seriously, I think there's something out there." Ari whispered, interrupting her.

"Are your spidey senses tingling?" Zoe said weakly, trying to raise a smile.

Ari stuffed her feet back in her shoes, all semblance of tranquillity gone from her face. Tense and alert, she stood up, grabbing the nearest backpack and slinging it over one shoulder.

"We should leave." Ari was watching the surrounding trees intently.

"And where are we going to go exactly?" Zoe murmured, pulling herself up to stand next to her friend. She shouldered the other backpack and picked up the sleeping bag, tucking the wet flannel into a strap.

"Anywhere. Just away from here."

"So much for a plan then. What if this thing follows us?"

"… Then I guess we'll have to deal with it… if it comes to that. Come on." Ari said haltingly and then pulled Zoe into a quick walk, away from the river and back in the direction they had walked not three quarters of an hour ago.

After a few minutes of looking over their shoulders and skirting patches of forest debris, Ari frantically whispered; "It's still following us!"

"You walk on ahead." Zoe said, looking determined. "I'll have a look at what's following us and try and surprise them."

"Are you mental? We're not splitting up!" Ari hissed.

"You're injured and we only have one weapon. Don't walk too far though, I want to be able to find you again. Climb a tree if you can, just stay out of the way. Go on, now!" Zoe shoved her ahead and dashed to their left. Attempting to obscure herself, she leant on an obliging tree and watched where they had been walking through a gap in the large, low hanging branches. A minute or so later, two figures strode into sight, their eyes intent on the ground before them.

Well shit, Ari was right. What the hell is going on?

More importantly what was she going to do now?

Wow, it's been a while! I think about this story a lot but due to starting grad school and having a laptop without any kind of word processor (yeah, I know!), I may have let things slide a lot. No excuse, but anyway I have written quite a bit now so hopefully updates will be more frequent than twice a year…

Let me know if you liked it / have comments on where this story should go!