Blood

Forwards (33)

This may be the chapter before last! 0_0  I hope you enjoy it!

Sorry for the tardy in my publication. This week I have been incredibly busy and I also have to write a speech which I was having great difficulty with. Thankfully, I'm now on top of that (though not finished >.<) and I was able to write this! I would also like the note that I'm relocating Blood to Normandy when I start editing. I have wider knowledge of that area and it will work better for this plot.

Thanks!

Enjoy!

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“I need to stop,” I heaved to Monique, panting under the midday heat.

I had been walking for at least five or six hours and the sun was now at its highest, perched just above me in the clear blue sky.

Monique sighed mentally, for I had already paused for respite four times previously that morning, and I wasn’t covering nearly as much land as she would have liked.

We need to eat something I suppose. Go into the shade and stay out of sight.

I nodded, wincing as the shoes rubbed my already heavily blistered feet, and limped into the shade of a wall, collapsing against it with a sigh. My cheeks were burning by now, the skin sore and red, and my feet felt like they were on fire from the long walk.

Take off your shoes – let our feet air, Monique advised.

Peeling off my socks, I grimaced at the large blisters that had gathered on my soles, heels and toes. I prodded one gently and gritted my teeth at the pain.

“How much further do I have to walk?”

Preferably the same amount we did this morning.

“I can’t manage that!”

Half then! Or at least till dark.

I grunted and started to fumble around for one of my water pouches, getting more and more flustered by the minute. Pulling one out roughly, I took a swig of the now warm water, and then started chewing on a baguette.

I ate very little, seeing that I did not have much of an appetite, and barely touched the ham.

Glugging a bit more of the water, I put the lot away and unbuttoned my shirt a little, allowing the fresh air to cool me.

You’re eating too little – you saw how thin we are, Monique urged.

I ignored her and rested my head against the moss-covered stonewall, gazing up into the empty sky.

Taro, she chastised.

“Monique!” I groaned back, squeezing my eyes tightly shut.

You’re worrying me, Taro!

“And you’re annoying me.”

Please, Taro! We need to eat.

“Just let me be!”

Taro! Pl-

I shut her out, pushing her consciousness way from mine and blocking her words and thoughts. I didn’t want to be hearing this. I didn’t want to be treated like a child, and much less by her. I wanted to be alone. Couldn’t she understand that?

I stood up, slinging my bag over my shoulder, and tried to ignore the weight in my mind as my head ached.

Since the morning, I had walked some distance, following the road wearily for the majority of the trip. Monique occasionally decided to make up some small talk but otherwise, I walked in silence with only the occasional sound of birdsong or livestock somewhere in the distance. I had seen no traffic and no houses or signs of civilisation either for that matter but every time I stopped, Monique insisted on my finding somewhere out of sight to sit and rest.