-Chapter 8-
Karith was basically running on auto-pilot as her body moved on its own, relying on muscle memory to get her golem to continue moving. Foxhound Squad had evaded their pursuers, but they had nowhere to go. Where could they go, she wondered. So they kept running, and run they did, heading in no particular direction other than away from Morrios' forces.
Eventually, Leena came on the radio after about thirty minutes of complete silence, save for the sounds of their golems striking the earth as they ran and jumped. "We need to find somewhere to rest for the night. I'm not about to go wandering around in the dark with two hostile armies in the vicinity," she said as she came up beside Karith.
Hearing her voice over the radio, Karith came to a complete stop as she skidded across the dirt, standing still as she came out of her musing. Kale and Leena nearly ran into her as they halted themselves as well, sliding to a stop behind her.
"Hey, what's the matter, Kar?" asked Kale as she stepped towards Karith.
With a heavy sigh, Karith turned towards her teammates, the setting sun illuminating the sky a deep orange and red behind her. She gripped her stomach as she began to breathe heavily. As she felt a sickly feeling begin to arise in her gut, she quickly opened up her cockpit and hurried out, running to the edge of her golem's shoulder and blowing chunks over the edge. She had her hands on her knees as she hunched over, heaving as she voided the contents of her stomach onto the ground below.
Seeing her leader in a vulnerable state, Kale held out her golem's arm next to Karith's golem's shoulder and locked it in place. She then got out of her cockpit and walked across the arm over to Karith's golem, jumping over to the shoulder she was on. "How're you feeling?" she asked as she stood by her friend.
Karith wiped her mouth with her sleeve as she recovered from throwing-up, slowly catching her breath as her stomach slightly remained queasy. "Urgh, that was gross," she said as she gradually stood up straight. She then glanced over to Kale and gave her a slight smile. "Pretty pathetic, huh?"
Kale patted her gently on the back. "Think you can make it? Leena's spotted out an out-cropping over there where we can hide our golems for the night. Can you make it there on your own or do you need a ride?" she asked.
Stretching out her legs, Karith looked towards the location as she observed Leena already making provisions for a camp. Leena had already departed from her golem, which was in a low, kneeling position to hide as much of it as she could underneath the trees and behind the rocks. She was in the process of making a fire in a small cave nearby. Karith sighed and looked back to Kale. "Yeah, I can make it. Just gimme a second," she said.
Giving a nod, Kale acknowledged her and went back across her golem's arm and into the cockpit. She started it up and went over to the adjacent camp, parking her golem down next to Leena's and putting it in a similar pose.
Karith took in a deep breath and let it out little by little, attempting to calm her achy stomach. She then went back into her cockpit and piloted her golem over to the camp too, kneeling down and parking her golem behind cover. Before getting out and joining the others, she retrieved her survival bag, complete with rations, medical supplies, and other useful resources.
The sky was still illuminated, but barely as the sun continued to retreat behind the sanctuary of the horizon. Karith excited her golem with her bag in tow, shakily making her way over to the cave where Kale and Leena had set up camp for the night. Before entering the cave, she looked back over her shoulder at her golem, a sudden chill running down her spine as she continued inside.
When she stepped into the cave, she saw Kale and Leena huddled around a small campfire. Leena was tending to the fire while Kale was poking around inside her survival bag, a small pile of objects situated beside her.
Seeing Karith enter, kale waved her over and patted on a spot on the ground next to her. "C'mon over. The fire feels so good," she said as she placed her hands out towards the fire for warmth.
Karith gave her a nod and made her way over to them, sitting down on the ground beside her. She laid her bag in front of her and opened it up, searching for the bottled water. After finding it and taking a swig to wash out the unpleasant taste in her mouth, she glanced over to the other two to see how they were doing. For the first few moments while they sat by the fire, the three of them remained silent, listening to the crackling fire echoing in the cave as they tried to collect themselves.
Then, after finally coming to terms with herself, Leena broke the silence and turned towards Karith. "You happy?" she asked in a direct tone, eyeing her from the brim of her glasses.
Looking away from the fire and towards Leena, Karith shook off her blank stare and refocused. "What?" she asked.
Leena sighed and readjusted her glasses on her nose. "I said, are you happy?" she asked again, her tone firm as the venom from her words could almost be seen through her teeth.
Karith gave her a confused look almost as if she was hearing a whole totally different language. "What are you talking about?" she asked, feeling weak and worn out.
Kale looked between the two of them, concerned about where things were going as she popped open a field ration. The basic military ration contained: salted meat, crackers, peanut butter, pretzels, napkins, salt, pepper, and a few other amenities. She wanted to intervene, but she then spotted some chocolate in her package and completely forgot about the tension in the air.
After clearing her throat, Leena put don her own emergency ration and glared at Karith. "You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place. You just had to be Ms. Humanitarian and go after the general directly. Well, hope you feel better. You definitely came out of that better than you did going in. The world is such a better place now," she said, sarcastically applauding Karith's misfortune.
Becoming aware of the argument brewing again, Kale set down her chocolate bar and looked to Leena. "Hey now, there's no need for that kind of talk at the campfire," she said, trying to defuse the situation. Even though Karith was unresponsive for the time being, Kale was concerned a squabble might erupt between her and Leena.
As Kale spoke on Karith's behalf, Leena scoffed at her and gave her a look of disgust. "Why are you defending her? In case you haven't noticed, but you're in the same catastrophe as well," she said, nearly spitting her words in spite at her.
Kale grimaced at her and tried not to feed her angst with a rebuttal. Instead, she scooted closer to Karith and helped open up her food ration. "Here ya go. Eat up. You're looking a little pale around the face, she said, moving her food and supplies closer to her new seat.
Leena rolled her eyes and gave up, returning her attention back to her rumbling stomach as she picked up her food and began eating. She sat across the campfire and ignored Kale and Karith, quite tired herself from the day's stressful events.
Karith was too weary to put up with Leena and gave Kale a thankful nod, nibbling on some of the jerky and rubbing her shoulder with the other hand. It was getting dark outside and the air around them began to get chillier with the slight breeze. Warmed by the fire, she smiled slightly at the taste of the salty, yet savory meat snack, licking her lips to try and relish the flavor.
Finally getting her friend to eat something, Kale smiled as well, taking a hearty bite out of her jerky. Holding the piece of jerky between her teeth, she removed her piloting gloves and set them aside, flexing her fingers as they breathed the fresh air.
The three of them continued to eat their meals by the fire, Kale and Karith occasionally exchanging a few words while Leena kept to herself. Once they were done, they all decided to get some shut eye. Before they went to get comfy, Leena stopped them as she put out the fire.
"Hold up, you two. Here's how this is gonna go," she said, stomping out the remaining lit embers with her boot. She then pulled out a flashlight and turned it on. "Normally, I would make our Fearless Leader take watch first, but seeing as she can barely feed herself properly, I'll take it upon myself to conduct the first watch tonight. We'll be taking two-hour shifts, so Kale, you're up next, then Karith, and then we'll keep going in that order until sunrise. We can't let our guard down, even for a second. It's just too risky for us right now, agreed?"
Kale gave a nod, having no qualms about the arrangement. Karith gave a nod as well, but more out of the fact that she was too tired to complain. As a result, she let Leena have her time in the limelight as acting leader until she was feeling well enough to take over again.
Leena smiled with content as no one contradicted her orders. Having gotten that out of the way, she kept up the leader charade and began making her way to the mouth of the cave. "I don't care where you sleep, just as long as you're somewhere close within the cave. And if you need to relieve yourself, please… take your business outside," she said over her shoulder as she used her flashlight to light the way back to the entrance, which was just a few yards away.
Karith let out an exhausted sigh as she set her sleeping mat on the hard, rocky ground. She found as much of a flat surface as she could and battened down for the night, lying on top of the mat without a blanket. To substitute for the lack of a pillow, she took off her jacket and rolled it up, using that instead to cushion her head. She held a hand to her forehead as it continued to pound, her headache starting after they had escaped Morrios' camp and only getting worse as the day went on. As she lifted her hand off of her head, she noticed it was shaking slightly as she held it out in front of her face. With a slight frown, she put her arms down beside her and exhaled deeply, trying to put her mind to rest.
"Hey, mind if I sleep here?" asked Kale as she placed her bedroll right beside Karith's. She set her flashlight down on the ground so that the shining end was pointed up, illuminating the cave's ceiling above them to give themselves some light.
Karith jadedly looked over and gave her a nod, watching as Kale got comfy beside her. "Go on ahead. I ain't your ma, so do whatever you want," she said, her body feeling achy all over.
Getting adjusted to the hard surface, ale took the flashlight and turned it off. Fortunately for them, there was just enough moonlight reflecting into the cave not to make it pitch black. Kale was still able to clearly see Karith lying beside her, noticing the discomfort on her friend's face. "Are you okay?" she asked, scooting closer to her.
"It's a tad cold in here," said Karith as she turned on her side, her back facing Kale. "I'm frickin' shivering, it's so pathetic." She folded her arms across her chest as she rubbed her arms to stay warm. The nighttime air nipped at her exposed arms and head, making the hair on the back of her neck stick up.
Noticing Karith shivering beside her, Kale scooted closer to her in order to offer some assistance. "Is it too cold for you? Anything I can do to help?" she asked as she peeked over Karith's shoulder.
"Don't worry about me. Just get some rest before Sunshine back there gets you for your shift," said Karith through her slightly chattering teeth. She adjusted her head on the makeshift pillow as she let out a tired sigh, shivering slightly on top of her lightly padded mat. The cold, rock ground beneath her didn't help at all, only adding to her increasing levels of discomfort.
Concerned about her colleague's welfare, Kale tentatively pressed her body against Karith's as she wrapped her arms around her from behind, hugging her close. "This should make you feel better," she said, unconsciously cooing at the feeling of Karith's tender body against her own.
Immediately upon feeling a soft, warm person against her back and the welcoming sensation of heat radiating from her body, Karith tensed up for a second, confused as to what was going on. "Uh, Kale? What are you doing?" she asked in an alarmed tone, attempting to look behind her.
Feeling Karith's body go rigid in her embrace, Kale gently caressed her upper back with her cheek and chin, trying to reassure her that it was all right. "I'm just trying to keep you warm so you can get some sleep. We're in this together, so we all need our strength," she said, hugging her closer with her arms wrapped around her midsection. She thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of their bodies touching, both of them wearing nothing but their short-sleeve shirts to cover their torsos.
Admitting in her head that the new addition of the body heat was indeed much more comfortable, Karith let out a sigh and allowed Kale to do as she pleased. "All right, if that's what you really want to do, I won't stop you," she said as she tried to get more comfortable in the new position she was in.
A content smile tugged at the corner of Kale's mouth as she closed her eyes, savoring the loving embrace. "Thank you," she said under her breath so Karith couldn't hear.
Meanwhile, Leena was positioned by the mouth of the cave, keeping watch for any threats outside as she sat reclined against the cave's wall. "Those two idiots. Karith I can understand, but Kale as well? Don't they know the severity of the situation they're in? I should've figured they were in cahoots with each other, being classmates from the academy and all," she said, mumbling to herself in the dark. Having nothing else better to do to preoccupy herself with, she let out an excessive yawn as she found herself getting more comfortable in her seated position. Before she knew it, her eyes began to get heavy as her fortitude began to wane, just as the sunlight did not so long ago.