6.4
The squad's footsteps could be softly heard as they crunched the ground beneath them, navigating their way through the foothills of Mt. Hood. Corvus had been holding Jelani in a fireman's carry the entire day, and the sun was finally nearing the western horizon.
The pine forest glowed in a golden light, and each member of the group looked out to the right, where the terrain dropped, to admire the setting sun.
A soft groan. A shift of the head. From him, who hadn't shown a single sign of consciousness.
"He moved!" Nikki yelled, dashing over to urge him awake. "Put him down, Corvus!"
She patted his cheek repeatedly. "Jelani, hello? Jelani? Jelani?
Eve snatched a water bottle from one of the backpacks and ran to Nikki's side, seizing the opportunity to pour some water down the dying man's throat. He coughed lightly once or twice, but the majority of the liquid made it down.
"Come on! Hello?!" Nikki's slaps increased in both frequency and power, and a distinct red area began to form on Jelani's face.
As Nikki's hand was coming down for the hardest impact yet, she found her swing rudely interrupted. Eve's fingers grasped her wrist tightly, holding it firmly in place a few inches above Jelani's skin.
"Stop," she whispered softly. "If he was going to wake up, he would have done it already."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Nikki said, looking apologetically at the young girl standing next to her.
When she saw Eve's eyes, Nikki's face was wiped blank. Her mouth opened slightly, and she instinctively reached out a hand to place on Eve's shoulder, but the girl stepped away before Nikki could do anything.
Jelani had fallen motionless, and after a few minutes had passed, they decided to give up on him coming back to life.
Corvus hauled him off the ground, and they moved on.
The final few hours of the day passed with each one of them staring ahead, never looking to either side. Nikki had finally begun to lose her spark.
They walked long after the sun had set, and the moon was high in the night sky when Blake finally gave the word to set up camp. Jelani's ragged breaths were the only sounds that could be heard as the tent was wordlessly erected.
Forty hours.
It was the thought that consumed each of their minds.
– – – – –
The next day's travels were going mostly the same until around mid-morning, when Nikki began to feel uneasy, sensing some danger up ahead. They adjusted their route, but it wasn't long before she felt another sense of foreboding, forcing them to change direction yet again.
Throughout the entire day, the same tedious pattern continued, and as a result, they were practically going in circles.
Just like the day before, there was a single, fleeting moment of hope.
It was the one time that Jelani showed signs of life, but again, they couldn't do anything to arouse him.
The day felt like ten.
They all knew it: the situation had gotten to a point of concern.
As Jelani hung limply over Corvus's shoulders, it was impossible to even tell whether he was alive or dead. In fact, the same fear hung over both Nikki and Eve in every passing moment.
Was Corvus carrying a dead corpse?