Chapter 10 - The River

It took them three more days to get out of Baltimore safely. They moved slowly, avoiding armed groups of hunters and dark alleys full of infected. The city seemed endless. Relena had a feeling that they were going round and round in the labyrinth of brick houses. They were moving from dusk to dawn, spending days on hiding in random hideouts like drains, garages, warehouses. Relena mostly slept during that time, trying to recover the strength lost during the night, but Heero didn't seem to need sleep at all. He was guarding their hideout when she was falling asleep, and he was the one to wake her up when the dusk came.

They hadn't talked much before, yet now their conversation was limited to the absolutely necessary minimum. For the most part of each night, Relena stared into Heero's broad shoulders as she tried to follow him and keep his march's pace. That wasn't easy. Heero was stopping only when she was far behind him; he turned and waited for her, looking at her with indifferent eyes.

They left the city, entering the forest beyond the Patapsco River. The forest appropriated for itself both banks of the river, slowly pouring in green floods into the abandoned suburbs. Now it was much more challenging to wade through its tracts, but it was far safer than in the city. There was a slighter possibility of encountering infected or hunters in the forests. People, even after the extermination, as well as the infected, still gathered in clusters such as cities.

It was already dawning when they reached the other bank of the river. Heero leaped over the last fragment of the bridge span and offered her his hand. They seemed safe from that moment on.

"We'll rest by the river," Heero announced. That was pretty much everything he spoke to her since they left the city mall after the encounter with the Clicker. He simply communicated her his decisions and didn't wait for any of her reaction.

Relena nodded, feeling the relief flooding her chest. Never mind Heero's odd behavior, they got through another city, and they were still alive. Each day closer to Houston.

They stepped off the bridge and turned into a thicket, moving away from the concrete skeleton. Soon they arrived at a small glade, separated from the rest of the forest with thickets and from the riverside by a strip of bulrush. An ideal place for camping. Relena smiled at her childhood memories.

"We'll stop by here," Heero said, dropping his backpack to the ground and sitting on the ground. Just then, Relena noticed that at some point in their walk through the forest, he had to pick up a few long, thin branches. He rested the longest one on the ground between his legs, then pulled a hunting knife and began to cut the wood.

Relena found herself staring at him only when he raised his still gaze at her, sending her a questioning look. "What are you doing?"

"A bow." Heero bent the stick, so it imitated the shape of the weapon, then ripped the inside of the pocket of his backpack and used the remaining string to form a bowstring.

Relena raised her eyebrow. "Why do you need a bow when you have a gun?"

Heero didn't look up at her. "We need to eat some meat. And that river is certainly full of wild animals," he explained, then tried to draw a newly created bow. When he let go of the bowstring, the whole construction trembled and made a characteristic sound. "Bow is the best weapon for silent hunting," he added, then put the bow off and started to sharpen the remaining sticks that had to be his arrows.

Relena blinked at the skillfulness and speed with which he was crafting his new weapon. This guy is intriguing. "Is that what your father taught you too?"

Heero didn't reply or react in any other way, completely ignoring her question. It didn't surprise her either, though she couldn't say that she was getting used to it. Meanwhile, Heero finished sharpening the arrows and then stood up, zipping up his backpack.

"Stay here," he said. "You can gather some dry branches for the campfire. We're covered by rushes, so you're safe." Then he turned toward the trees and left the glade without looking back.

For the first time in over a month, Relena was all alone. She was surprised how much she got disaccustomed to it; the first second after Heero's leave made her feel almost uncomfortable. Ever since Duo was killed, she spent days and nights in the company of this surly, mysterious guy with Prussian-blue eyes. Though they didn't share any physical contact apart from that moment in the corridors of the mall in Baltimore, they were practically inseparable.

Relena sighed quietly, getting on her feet and looking for branches. The memory of that event was still sprouting seed of terror in her heart, along with a surprising lightness in her chest that she couldn't name anyhow. She just felt it, and it made her ponder over herself. Never for too long, though. Because there was always something they were struggling for. Struggling to get on the other side of the building, to the other side of the street, across the band of armed hunters… She was always following him, and so far, he was saving her life every single day.

When Relena collected a stack of branches, the sun was already high in the sky. The day was beautiful and bright. She loved the relaxing, peaceful atmosphere of the glade. She looked over the rushes at the lazily flowing river. Then she wondered when the last time did she take a bath…

She looked around the glade. They were safe. And Heero surely won't be back soon. An idea came to her mind.

Relena took off her shoes and socks and then stepped with her bare feet on the lush green grass. She almost sighed with pleasure. She couldn't remember when she was walking barefoot the last time. This carefreeness disappeared twenty years ago, along with the outbreak. This innocence, with which everyone was usually born, was now denied to everyone. Along with freedom...

She directed her steps towards the rush. Tall plants gently whipped her skin, whirring to the rhythm of light, warm wind heralding the coming summer. In a few steps, her feet touched the water. It was cold but refreshing. Relena needed no further encouragement. She turned back again, but seeing the still empty glade, she took off her clothes.

Staying only in her underwear, she confidently got into the water, plunging up to her neck. The feeling of cold, forest-smelling water enveloping her body was so overwhelming that she dived immediately. She held her breath under the water, cutting herself off from everything. For a moment, she was simply a part of the river, floating with its current. When she emerged, Relena felt her face contort in an involuntary smile. She opened her eyes, enjoying the greenery surrounding her from all sides. For the first time in many months, Relena Peacecraft was genuinely enjoying life.

The current carried her away from the glade, so she began to swim back. Then she decided to swim a bit farther. She noticed a beaver seed situated on both sides of the river. Relena swam in its direction, relishing the pleasant coolness of the water and the sound of birds singing above her head.

Suddenly, she noticed Heero.

She abruptly stopped swimming and submerged over her nose in the water, hiding in a nearby rush, trying to make as little noise as possible. She peered at him through the rush.

Fortunately, although he was always so alert, Heero didn't seem to notice her. He was climbing on the top of the buckled bough over the river, taking small steps, like a cat. He frowned at the water below him, holding his bow and one of the arrows based on the chord in his hands. Although the bough gently creaked under its weight, he didn't lose his balance. He didn't take his eyes off the beaver dam stretching just below him.

Relena watched him in silence. Staring at his smoothy moving, slender body, she unconsciously bit her lower lip. What she actually felt, when she was watching him like that, was unexpected.

Finally, Heero froze in his crouched position over the water, then pulled the arrow on the bow. For a moment, which seemed an eternity, he watched his target, correcting the flight path of the shaft by millimeters. When he eventually released the arrow, it flew at a tremendous speed, and the forest reverberated with a painful, animal moan that terrified Relena. There was no doubt that the shot found its target.

Relena felt she had had enough bathing. She dived in a rush, floating with the current of water back to their hiding. As she approached the place, she made sure that Heero had not returned yet and emerged from the river. She quickly rifled through her backpack to get out her jacket, then she put it on. She was still dripping wet, and she didn't want to put all her old clothes just yet. She sprawled her biggest T-shirt on her lap, covering her bottom and her legs. This should work.

A few seconds later, the bushes around the glade rustled, and Heero came back with his trophy in his hand - a beaver. Relena smiled nervously at him, feeling uncomfortable as she was only half-dressed. She should have thought this matter through before she made that jump into the water.

"You did it," she praised him, clutching her hands to her chest. Just how miserable she must have looked like right then, all dripping wet. "Well done."

Heero's cautious, steely eyes were scanning every inch of her skin from the top of her head to her feet, stopping right on her bare thighs that were protruding from under her jacket and shirt. "What…?" Relena asked nervously, squirming and trying to prevent him from staring so resolutely at her. She joined her legs reflexively even tighter.

Heero put down the beaver on the ground and crouched in front of her, so close that he almost breached her private space. Without taking his eyes off her, he pointed his finger at her body, precisely at her right thigh. "You'll have to remove them."

Relena raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wha-?" she gasped, then she looked sideways at her thighs and moaned in shock and disgust simultaneously. Three shiny black leeches were attached to the side of her right leg, just over her knee. Curving like small snakes, those little monsters sucked her blood, and she didn't even feel it. The view was disgusting. "Oh God!" she moaned, slipping her leg from under her as if she wanted to move the disgusting sight as far from her as possible. "Take them off me!"

As Relena looked up, she thought she saw a glimpse of awkwardness and chafe in his look. She didn't care; she was determined to get these nasty parasites off her body as soon as possible, anyhow. And maybe a spirit of a spoiled high-class only daughter awakened in her. "I can't do this alone," she snapped at him angrily, giving him an ominous look. "Help me, or I will never speak to you again."

Heero looked up at her as if he hesitated. It occurred to her that it was the first time when he wore such a look. Then he walked up to her, sat down cross-legged next to her legs, holding his backpack. He rummaged in it for a moment, then pulled out his second knife and a bottle of alcohol. He rinsed the knife with liquid. The sight of the blade in his hand, so close to her flesh, made her panic, but she swallowed and said nothing, watching his movements closely.

Then Heero looked up, his Prussian-blue orbs meeting hers. "Lie on your side."

Relena nodded hesitantly and leaned backward, laying on the grass on her left side. She couldn't clearly see his actions from this position, and she nervously kept adjusting the shirt which she had wrapped around her hips to cover herself. She had her both legs bent at the knees.

Heero scooted closer to her knees, then gently grabbed the ankle of her right foot and placed her knee on a footing of his own knee. Relena held her breath at his touch, getting goosey and hot simultaneously. Heero grabbed each of the leeches and pulled them off, running with a knife just over her skin. After a short moment, three leeches were thrown back to the river. Relena blinked out of surprise; he did it so gently that she didn't feel the slightest pain.

When she wanted to remove her leg, she felt his hand clasp on her ankle again. "Wait. I have to disinfect it," she heard his firm voice.

"Sorry," she whispered, then laid still, allowing him to do his job. When Heero finished, he lifted her leg up by holding her knee from below and gently leaned it on the other one. Without saying anything, he stood up and walked away from her.

Relena sat down again, looking down at her leg. Only three little wounds marked the place where leeches sucked her blood minutes before. "Thank you, Heero."

"Hn," he grunted. He knelt and began lighting up the fire. Relena tightened her jacket around herself, suddenly realizing that all the clothes on her were already dry.

To be continued...