Nobody could stop the pair from falling to the ground together. Caitlin allowed herself a shocked gasp before bending to help Sierra, who was already shamelessly sliding between the fighting boys, replacing Ryan with herself. To an outsider, Caitlin thought, the scene would've looked like love-making, but with knives instead of kisses. Well, Sierra wasn't using her knife – just her long fingernails, and the person was unarmed. She had succeeded in pushing the man (who was significantly larger than Sierra in size) off Ryan, who stood up and aimed a kick at the guy, but Caitlin caught his arm.
"You could hit her," she said. It was true; the two on the ground were almost a blur of arms and legs and Sierra's tangle of hair that had come out of her tight bun. It wasn't clear who was superior. Sierra was a lot better at fighting, but she was also smaller. "Let's go to the cave. There were two sleeping bags, remember?" When he hesitated, she squeezed his wrist. "She's fine, I promise."
He gulped and followed her down the stream.
Her ribs were on fire. She'd never been in this much pain; at least one was broken. She couldn't move. Water from the stream was seeping into her messy hair. The guy had stumbled back and was now on his feet a meter or two away, catching his breath. He was human, alright. He'd called her a hundred different names that sounded like "worm" or "centipede," so obviously he had only seen the one eye with the contact.
Somehow, Sierra had a feeling that he was preparing himself to kill her. This knowledge motivated her to heave herself to her feet (good lord that hurt) and stagger towards the man, switching on her lamp with bloody fingers and pulling it off her head. He squinted in the light that illuminated the auburn stubble, tightly would curls and tough features. He was developing a black eye from where she had punched him. Before he could move, she brushed her fringe out of her human eye and shone the light at her own face.
"Don't even bother," she spat, and immediately regretted speaking when her chest roared in protest, but it was necessary to say something. "I'm human and you just beat me up."
After a moment of stunned silence, the man chuckled. "Well, you fought back. Why is –"
"You ever heard of eye contacts?" Sierra was in no mood for humour. "How many of you are there?"
"My best mate's asleep," he said. "Are your friends gonna attack him too?"
"Sit down." She only said it because she needed to do so herself, but thankfully the guy obeyed. Before she spoke, she took off her backpack and pulled out a jar of Heal. She started smearing it on her injuries, not caring whether or not this man looked away when she pulled up her shirt to fix her ribs. Without No Pain, the healing process burned like a bitch. Sierra quickly put some of the stuff on her tongue before she said, "Provided that Caitlin and Ryan continue to be their charming selves, your friend has nothing to worry about. Unless he is like you, and attacks people without explanation."
If it were Caitlin sitting there, she wouldn't have bothered saying more than two words of reassurance. The man would have been bombarded with questions about how he'd gotten there, why he was hiding close to the enemy, what his name was, how old he was, what his grandmother's first pet was, but Sierra didn't care about that sort of thing ninety percent of the time. By hearing a story meant telling one in return and for the past three weeks, anything other than the present was a touchy subject with her.
"So?" she asked. "Is your friend likely to strangle my friends or not?"
"Probably not. You'd have been luckier if you came when he was on guard duty."
"Yippee," Sierra said sarcastically.
The man opened his mouth to answer, and then his nose started to ooze blood. Viciously, she tossed him the jar of Heal but not the No Pain, because he'd broken her bloody ribs. They sat there in a surly silence until Caitlin and Justin came back, carrying some of the stuff from the cave. Between them was a scrawny figure and they seemed to be talking and laughing with him, from what Sierra could make out in the moonlight. Laughing?
"Dibs not driving," Sierra said immediately, taking the hand that Caitlin offered to help her stand up.
"Are you okay?" her friend asked, not missing Sierra's wince.
"Broke something," she muttered.
"Are you able to walk?"
Sierra forced a smile. "Is this an offer to carry me?"
"I'm not carrying her," Justin said.
Meanwhile, the new humans were talking in hushed voices. It seemed that the one who'd fought with Justin and Sierra was reluctant to go anywhere with them.
"We'll only be with them temporarily," the other one pleaded. "Then we'll be at a safe place."
The big one eventually agreed. Nobody spoke on the way back to the car. Once everybody was inside, with the boys squished together uncomfortably in the back, Caitlin pounced on Sierra with a quiet but acidic tone.
"What happened? Why didn't he want to come with us?"
Gingerly, Sierra pressed her hand to where the Heal was doing its work and felt a faint tingling. She couldn't think of just one short answer, so she allowed herself to let out a string of babble. "I don't know. Maybe because I'm pissed that he broke my rib -"
"Your rub?" Ryan interrupted. He was leaning forwards to listen properly.
"Shut up, Ryan. Anyway, it was either that, or he's embarrassed to have been beaten up by a girl. Or he's just naturally a prick. Or I just have that effect on people. Ask him."
Caitlin sighed. "Did you tell him anything?"
"Not really, no."
"Ryan." Caitlin glanced up in the rear view mirror at her boyfriend. "You tell him, please, while Sierra cleans herself up."
"I don't need to clean myself! It's dark."
Someone in the backseat choked back a laugh while Sierra wiped the blood, dirt and paint off her skin. Luckily her dark clothes made it hard to see the rest of the grime. Ryan and the big dude did the same, but Caitlin and the skinny one were pretty clean anyway and there was no need.
Sierra decided to name the newcomers Jumbo and Junior. Back at the motel, after everybody was showered, they were all too tired to make further conversation than sorting out sleeping arrangements.
If she were in a better mood, Sierra would have announced that she felt awkward in that situation. It was too much of a hassle to move Caitlin and Ryan out of their room, plus Sierra could sense that the pair was nervous to share a bed now that they were dating. So she had to either share with Jumbo or Junior. When she opened her mouth to suggest that they fight for it like real men, all that came out was a yawn. If she was in her fully conscious mind, she would have chosen who herself, and that who would probably have been Junior; simply because he didn't seem to want to snap her neck in the dark. Fortunately, Caitlin seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"Alright, Ben, just go," she said, struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Which one's Ben?" Sierra slurred.
Junior raised his hand slightly. Sierra couldn't help but notice that he had very pretty eyes; they were a shocking blue against his coffee coloured skin. He was taller than Jumbo, but still quite a lot skinnier. She narrowed her eyes and said, "Well, just remember that if you touch me, you'll be dead before you can say 'rude,'" before she flounced out of the room.
