Chapter Sixteen
The green swallowed us. I blinked furiously, unable to adjust to the new colour after a life spent in tones of grey, white and brown. The air was moist and everything dripped with dampness that created a constant changing melody and movement amongst the foliage.
It was so alive. There were sounds of scampering and scurrying as all manner of things moved about unseen. A movement above us caught my attention as a chipmunk, no bigger than my hand, darted up the rough bark of a giant tree, chattering away as it went. I couldn't tear my eyes away from its progress, I'd never seen any animals in the flesh before.
My feet squelched on a layer of springy moss that carpeted the forest floor. Trailing vines brushed my hair and shoulders, hanging from outstretched branches and connecting all of the trees.
The chipmunk was joined by another and I watched as they used the vines like a pathway, zipping along them as they chased each other in circles and ran out of sight.
Coal was just visible ahead of us between the trees, with Taylor still slung across his shoulders. Laurie pushed her way through the resisting vegetation towards me. She hadn't moved for several moments after entering the tree line and looked as though she would still rather turn back.
Coal stopped and lay Taylor down on the soft moss amongst the roots of a monstrous tree which reached up high above our heads. I had to crane my neck to see where it disappeared into the canopy.
"I can't carry him the whole way and he doesn't seem keen on waking up any time soon," Coal said. He moved away and took a lethal looking dagger from a sheath at his hip. "We'll need to make a litter to transport him the rest of the way." He started climbing the tree with the knife between his teeth and was soon high above our heads.
"Where are we going?" Laurie asked me in a low voice.
"I have no idea."
Coal was hacking at the stem of a gigantic leaf. He was straddling a large branch above it and sawing at the resisting stem. His muscles flexed through his shirt as he worked and I felt a faint blush reach my cheeks as I tried not to stare.
It finally gave way and the leaf sailed down towards us, catching on an updraft and floating lazily before coming to rest at my feet. I stepped forward and ran my fingers along it, the leaf was firm and waxy to the touch. It was nearly as big as a bed and set in a domed shape which didn't flex under pressure but was soft enough to feel like a firm cushion.
Coal had moved to an outer branch of the tree and was cutting away some of the long, trailing vines which snaked down to the ground next to the leaf. He moved around the tree with such ease that it almost looked like fun.
I crouched down next to Taylor and pushed his hair away from his eyes. He mumbled something but didn't wake up.
Coal caught hold of an uncut vine and swung back down to the ground in a move that made me feel self conscious about my general clumsiness. He landed in a crouch on his feet and set to work, putting holes along the outer edge of the leaf and threading the vines through them to create a litter.
Finally, he picked Taylor up and dumped him unceremoniously inside it. I scrambled forward to rearrange him more comfortably and felt Coal watching me as I worked. I turned to look up at him and he folded his arms.
"Are you injured?" he asked me as I stood.
I could feel the sting of several bruises and cuts but nothing serious.
"No," I replied.
"You're covered in blood," he said, looking unconvinced.
He stepped towards me and reached out slowly to run a hand over my cheek which was still smeared with Evan's blood. His touch left a burning line across my skin.
"It's not mine." I looked into his eyes for a moment before brushing his hand away.
"Oh." He stepped back and dropped his gaze. "We need to get back to my camp." He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, twice.
"Where is your camp?" Laurie asked. "I need to report in." She fingered the walkie talkie in her back pocket.
"Can't let you do that." Coal had somehow drawn a gun and levelled it at Laurie's forehead in the space of a blink. "Hand it over with your weapons."
"I thought you were helping us?" Laurie protested but she handed over her weapons and radio all the same.
"I am, but helping and trusting can't always keep the same company and you were a Warden after all."
"I still am." She frowned.
"If you think you'll still be welcome with them after running off into the contamination zone with a convict, then by all means head back. I get the feeling you may end up seeing SubWar from the inside if you do."
"I didn't have a choice, those convicts were going to kill me," Laurie protested.