I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.
[A/N In retrospect, this should have been part of Chapter Seven. Then again my planning got messed up when my writing got derailed.]
The Price of Freedom – A Changing Situation
Zack spent the next two weeks moving south through the forest that shaded the foot of the mountain range. It was pleasant enough, there was plenty of game and the last of the fruit was still good enough to eat. They were also making good progress, the afternoon walking had upped to about three hours. While they still had to take a long midday break, Zack was happy with the overall speed they were making. At first, Zack had dozed where ever they happened to stop but it soon lead to him not being very tired when it came to sleeping at night and the nightmares started coming back, and the noise of the forest didn't help. Waking in the middle of the night to the sounds of scurrying animals reminded him of the rats in the mansion. It wasn't the rats that concerned Zack, it was the memories of the mansion. He didn't want anything to remind him of that. With sleeping out of the question, Zack fell back into his old time passing routine – doing squats.
Halfway between down the mountain range the forest thinned out and disappeared. Still wanting to remain hidden from view Zack moved up into the mountains and continued south. The mountain path would take them much longer but it was less likely someone would see them. Zack was hoping to create a big enough time difference in sighting so that the Turks wouldn't be able to predict their next move. Zack was sure the Turks were concentrating round Gongaga but Zack knew that word would eventually get to the Turks that they had been sighted in Arda. The Turks would have to follow any lead initially as they had none. Zack was sure Lucas wouldn't say anything to the Turks but he wasn't so sure about the other people in Arda, certain plantation workers sprang to mind.
Leaving the forest not only made the journey longer, it made it harder. Zack had to be more careful of where he went and food wasn't as readily available as it was in the forest. On the morning of the third day in the mountains, about an hour into the day's walking Zack thought he heard a helicopter. He glanced around but couldn't see anything. He stopped and listened but there was nothing.
"Maybe I'm going crazy," he muttered aloud. It wasn't the first time Zack had spoken his thoughts aloud. The constant quiet was somewhat unnerving for Zack and while Cloud had never been one for chatting, Zack was sure he appreciated the fact that Zack spoke.
Zack chuckled to himself as he remembered past conversations with Cloud – Zack had done most of the talking as he recalled. There had been this one time when Cloud had talked extensively about –
Zack's foot met empty space, he had stepped into a pothole. He stumbled forward but couldn't right himself with Cloud's weigh hanging off his shoulder.
Without meaning to, he dropped Cloud as he began to slide off the narrow path they had been walking on. He heard Cloud grunt as he landed heavily on the ground but Zack was more concerned by his increasing sideways slide. Much to Zack's dismay, he lost the struggle to maintain upright and started to tumble down the mountain slope with no control at all. Zack knew it was going to hurt as he saw a boulder rushing to meet him.
It was late afternoon when Zack woke. His body was bruised and scrapped – he felt like he had fallen down a mountain. After a series of small movements followed by larger ones, Zack guessed he hadn't broken anything but that didn't mean moving was easy. His shoulders and back burned with pain at any movement. Zack could make out his downward path, he had fallen a long way. What he wanted to do was continue lying for the rest of the night but he couldn't. He didn't know what had happened to Cloud, and even if he knew he was alright he couldn't leave alone in he wilderness. So with slow deliberate steps Zack started his assent.
It took him hours to reach Cloud. The sun was setting behind the mountains when he finally made his way back. Cloud lay on his side staring at nothing, Zack wanted to think he had moved based on how he lay but it was more likely he lay as he had fallen. In the fading light Zack noticed that Cloud was slightly sunburn and some rodent had bitten his hand a few times. The hand that was bitten was pulled up against Cloud's body. It didn't make sense to Zack, wouldn't an animal go for the hand not lying against the body.
With the sun setting, Zack didn't have time to think about it. They were nowhere near a decent campsite even if it was light enough to travel. As painful as it was to move about, Zack couldn't leave Cloud where he lay and with some effort managed to get him into a relatively comfortable position. After moving Cloud Zack leaned back against the rock and closed his eye, forcing himself to relax for a moment, to ease the pain across his shoulders and back. The warm sun woke him the next day.
Zack was annoyed that he had slept so late but he also knew that sleeping was best for healing. However, there was no way Zack would be able to continue that day. His shoulder muscled had stiffen during the night resulting in limited movement and much pain. Checking that Cloud was still okay, Zack set about the slow process of making a fire. Mercia had given them a few useful items including some headache tablets. Zack didn't think they would help much but he took two anyway. Dulling the pain was better than nothing at all.
As he waited for some kind of pain relief, Zack glanced at Cloud.
"I hope you don't remember this," he said. "It's embarrassing."
"But with no broken bones, I'll be fine by tomorrow," continued Zack.
"Better make sure you rest up and recover your strength, we have a lot of ground to cover," he added. "What am I saying… I'm the SOLDIER."
Zack wasn't sure but it looked like Cloud was keeping his injured hand close to his body. Or had he just put Cloud's hand close to his body because it was injured. The more Zack thought about it, the more he was able to convince himself that Cloud had moved his hand on his own. Moving over to where the blond lay Zack pick up his injured hand, and met with no resistance. Zack chewed his lip for a few minutes as thoughts swirled in his head. Decided, Zack pulled free his knife and pricked the back of Cloud's hand with the knife, no response. A quick nick did produce a response – Cloud pulled his hand away quite strongly. Zack smiled, so Cloud had moved his hand when it was bitten. This was a good sign for Zack. If the pain was bad enough, Cloud would react, try to protect himself.
A genuine smile spread across Zack's face. Cloud was still in no way capable for looking after himself but he was making definite progress in his recovery. At the moment all Zack could look forward to was progress. And no matter how small that progress was, he felt supremely happy when it occurred.
"As a reward, you shall have the day to rest," grinned Zack.
It was then Zack noticed the bruise on Cloud's forehead.
"Ah, really hope you don't remember that," he said. "Sorry about that – I'll take better care of you, I promise."
Rock, Zack decided, was not comfortable in any way. How he had slept last night was beyond him. There was no way for him to be comfortable on the ridiculous path where they had made 'camp'. He was beginning to rethink his mountain strategy. Keeping out of sight was good and all but he would like to get to Midgar eventually and in one piece. It was also harder to find food and water among the mountains.
His thoughts on his somewhat limited options were interrupted by voices drifting up from below. At first Zack felt panic rise but squashed it down. He would have heard a helicopter before he saw any Turks. But had he not heard one yesterday? Or had he really just thought he had? He could make out words as the voices got closer. He didn't know who the voices belonged to but they sure didn't belong to Turks. Zack had heard the Turks moan about various things but never about the lack of people that could be robbed. Well, the lack of completely innocent people robbed at knife point in the middle of the mountains.
Zack listened to the men, four by his guess, as they made their way past them. From the speed they were walking and what they were talking about he thought it safe to assume they didn't know he and Cloud were there. It didn't sound like they were headed anywhere particular either. Just drifting round the mountains looking for travellers to rob. Another reason to leave the mountains – Zack didn't want to tangle with bandits and try to protect Cloud at the same time. His experience with the lawless was that they wouldn't hesitate to take down the weak first.
Once they were out of earshot, Zack gathered up their stuff and got Cloud to his feet. But Cloud made no effort to help him and hung from Zack's shoulder causing him some pain.
"Spiky, come on man, you can't be tired."
Zack was loath to stay so pressed on anyway. After an hour Cloud's weight became too much for him so he set up a second camp. They were further down the mountain side and on a more secure area – both in comfort and in defence. Zack didn't make a fire that night and didn't sleep much. As soon as it was light enough to travel Zack was gone. Cloud hadn't been all that helpful in the morning either but after lunch he was stumbled along with Zack as they continued downward. Late in the afternoon Zack caught the sound of running water and changed their downward direction so that they were heading for it. They needed fresh water and they could both do with a little bit of a cleanup. It was a bit chilly but Zack was looking forward to a dip in the water. He hadn't had a wash for a while and his tumble down the mountain had left him pretty dirty, as well as bruised. He was also looking forward to a good drink of fresh running water.
There was one thing he hadn't counted on as they made it to the river – people.