I shook my head, smiling. It had bothered me yesterday, that she didn’t use my full name. Not anymore. She could call me whatever she wanted, and it would sound delicious coming from her lips.
We were close to the edge of the forest. I could see light behind the curtain of trees, and I let out a sigh of relief. Angelica had carefully avoided stepping into even the smallest puddle of mud, so she was happy and in one piece.
“We’ll stop here to eat,” I said once we emerged from the forest.
She looked up at the rocky mountain. “Good call.” She dropped the bag she stubbornly carried on her back and took out the water bottle. “I need to pee first.”
I blinked, confused as to why she felt the need to tell me that. And then it hit me. Maybe she was scared to go alone, and she wanted me to come with her. So, when she disappeared back into the forest, I followed her.
“What are you doing? I said I need to pee.”
“I thought you wanted me to...”
“No! I won’t go far.”
I furrowed my brows. “It’s still dangerous.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine. Now, go. I have no intention of peeing with you watching.”
“I wasn’t going to watch,” I mumbled as I returned to our camping spot.
I prepared her food and waited for her. Five minutes, ten... I glanced at the tree line and listened closely, hoping I would hear her footsteps. I convinced myself that she was fine.
And then the screaming started. She screamed once, and I was on my feet. She screamed a second time, and I was on my way to find her, running through the trees and bushes, not paying attention where I stepped. I found her in a clearing, facing a wild beast.
The beast stood on six legs, its body was covered in black fur, its beady eyes were filled with calculated rage, and it was snarling at Angie as it paced up and down, sniffing the air and getting ready to attack. I’d never seen such a creature before. It must’ve been native to the planet, or to the island.
“Shh, I’m here,” I whispered.
She whipped her head in my direction. Once again, drops of water ran down her cheeks. “It came out of nowhere,” she whispered back.
“Angelica, I need you to listen to me. Slowly back away.”
“What?”
“I will distract it, so you can run.”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“Do as I say.”
She wanted to protest again but thought better of it. She stepped back, but when the animal saw that, it lunged at her. Apparently, it wasn’t impressed by my presence there. It wanted her. I pulled out my gun and shot it three, four times. Angie ran like her life depended on it. Because it did.
Then, the beast turned to me. I shot it again and again, until I was out of ammunition. It didn’t seem to do anything to hurt it. All it did was to enrage it even more. It lunged at me, and I barely had time to take a few steps back and pull out my daggers. As it snapped at me, I blocked it with my arm and tried to look for a spot where I could stab it and it would matter. Its skin seemed to be rough and impenetrable. The bullets had barely grazed it, even from such close range. As it tried to bite me and tear me to shreds, we rolled on the grass, and I inspected its neck. There were a few patches of skin that weren’t covered in the thick fur that covered the rest of its body, and it occurred to me that the fur was like an armor. All I had to do was stab the animal in the neck.
We fought for a while, the beast kicking me with its many legs and managing to bite a chunk out of my arm. I grunted and growled, tackled it to the ground, and finally drove a dagger through its neck. It let out a long howl, and I twisted the blade and pushed it deeper. It stilled finally, and when it gave its last breath, I rolled off it and onto my back. I stared at the thick canopy, letting the eerie darkness of the woods envelop me.
I closed my eyes just for a moment, and when I opened them, Angie was by my side.
“You were out for twenty minutes! I was worried!”
She was doing something to my wounded arm, and it hurt. I tried to get up.
“No, wait. I’m not done.” She had her bag with her, and she was rummaging through a small box. “I used the ointment from yesterday. You packed so much medicine, but I don’t know what any of it does. I have my own first aid kit, though it’s very small. But it has bandages...”
“Bandages?”
“Yes. And I also have some antibiotics... I don’t know if they’ll agree with you, since they come from Earth. But it doesn’t hurt to try, right? With a little luck, the wound won’t get infected.”