"Tilly!"

Should I have been screaming my lungs out while running toward who-knows-where? Probably not. There were probably people with knives in their hands chasing me right then. I wasn't thinking about that, though. I should have, but I wasn't. I had other things that were more crucial to worry about than my life.

The image of the dainty girl running off of the path replayed in my mind. Not in the sixteen years that I had watched the Pestilention had anyone ran off the trail. It was unthinkable. Rumors said that they disintegrated into thin air. Others said that there were blades that would shred flesh and bones as easily as paper. There were many others, but they were all too gruesome to even think about.

"Tilly!" I shrieked again. There was no answer. My lungs screamed in pain, pleading for me to take a break. I refused to stop, though. Any second I wasted would be a slimmer chance of Tilly being alive. And that would mean more blood on my hands.

My foot caught on a branch. I went tumbling to the ground. I rolled onto my back with a groan. My shoulder, which took most of the blow, pounded underneath my fingertips. I forced myself to my feet, reminding myself to keep going. I wiped my nose with my sleeve. I wasn't crying, though. I didn't have enough strength to do that.

I found it surprising to see the sudden amount of trees around me. The hills I had gotten so used to had disappeared in what seemed like seconds while I was running. The earth looked strange without them.

A faint whisper came from behind a tree. I stopped immediately. My other senses seemed to have activated at the sound. Leaves crumbled under boots, and the gentle breeze brushed my hair against my cheek. The soft sound came again, and it took me forever to spot the tiny figure with her fingers tightly gripped around a tree.

"Psst," Tilly hissed. I forced myself to not run and throw my arms around her.

"Tilly," I tried to keep my voice even, but it only made my voice sound harsher. "You can't just run off like that." You could have died. It would have been my fault.

Instead of turning red or apologizing, Tilly blinked emotionlessly. Chills crawled up my spine as I stared at her blank face. It was as if she was looking through me instead of at me.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she snatched my wrist. "I have to show you something."

I hesitated. Was this girl okay? I didn't realize that the course could affect someone this much. Then I remembered that she was two or three years younger than the minimum age. I would have been scarred if I was that young, too.

Tilly ran quickly for a small girl. I nearly stumbled a few times, but I caught up to her in no time. I better get an A in P.E. for this. Dead or not, I deserve one less B on my report card.

We didn't stop until the sound of running water was audible. Tilly crouched, silently walking towards what I could see was a stream. A smile stretched across my face. "Water."

She pressed her finger to her lips. I closed my mouth in response, admiring her serene yet alert expression. For such a young girl, she looked very grown up. My heart ached at the sight. No one deserved to experience this. Especially not a girl who was still in middle school.

Tilly pointed a delicate finger at the water. I squinted to see what she had spotted. Across the stream, there was a frail creature with its head bowed down. A gasp escaped my lips. It was an animal.

And it was drinking the water.

The image of Ben drowning and his body being swept away immediately came to my mind. "Stop!" I cried. It snapped its head towards me. A pair of black beady eyes locked with mine. There was no expression in them. It was as if it wasn't even alive. That it wasn't real. It looked real, though. It looked just like the white-tailed deer I had seen in New York once or twice in my life. It couldn't not be real.

As if someone clicked the resume button on a remote, the deer turned its head and leaped gracefully into the air. We both stared at it until the deer was only a little speck on the earth.

"What are you doing?" Tilly snapped. My eyes rounded. I never expected this terrified and shaken-looking girl to raise her voice above a whisper.

"The...the water," I stammered. "It's not safe."

Her expression went back to its terrified one before her tense muscles relaxed. Tilly grabbed my hand. "See the way the water's moving?" I nodded. "If it's moving right, then it's unsafe. If it's moving left, then it's fresh."

I shook my head. It couldn't possibly be that easy. How had I never noticed? Tilly recognized my doubtful expression and bent down towards the liquid. She cupped her hands and dipped them into the water. Before I could protest, she forced the fluid into her mouth and down her throat.

We both stood there, staring at each other for what seemed like hours. I was too afraid to touch her. Tilly could have choked and died at any second. She didn't, though, causing my muscles to relax.

I plopped the backpack down and rolled my shoulders. Everything's okay. Everything's fine. I repeated the words in my head. Okay. Fine. The water couldn't hurt us. No obstacles could hurt us.

When my heartbeat had finally slowed down to its average pace, I sat down next to Tilly. She had already made herself comfortable next to the backpack. I grabbed a few bottles and dipped them into the stream, trying to focus on screwing on the caps and placing them in the backpack. I couldn't let every little thing get to me. It's what they wanted. It's what they expected.

"How did you find this place?" I finally asked when I trusted my voice again.

Tilly shrugged. "Raya taught me."

"Who?"

"My teammate," she hesitated, "my old teammate. We were running from these creatures when she decided to take a turn off the path. I thought we were going to die. But then we found this."

I nodded in response. It was difficult to ignore the way she talked about her dead ally. She spoke about her with pride and respect, as if she was Tilly's heroine. As if she needed to do everything for Raya, or else she would jump into that water and allow herself to drown.

I examined the dirt under my fingernails. It had built up to where they weren't white anymore. Just a brown mess that probably described the rest of me. My gut warned me not to look at my reflection in the water. I would probably have another meltdown, and I already had one too many of those already.

"I'm going to clean myself off," I announced. Tilly nodded and continued nibbling on a cracker.

I slipped the sleeping bag out of the pack and snatched a blanket. I then walked a couple of feet away from Tilly, finding a few bushes to keep me hidden from view. Just in case, I flung the opened sleeping bag over a stable branch. The bag precariously dangled from it, and I knew that it would slide sooner than later, but at least it kept my privacy.

I nearly ripped the suit off, then placed it on the floor next to me. I shivered as the air brushed against my exposed body. I dipped my toe in the water. It didn't seem too cold. At least warm enough not to get frostbite. With the reassuring thoughts, I slid my feet into the water. There were a few rocks littered around the bottom, but besides that, it was just dirt. I found a shallow spot to sit on and used my hands to wash the dirt off of my skin.

The water soaked into my flesh, causing me to sigh with pleasure. It felt good on my spider wounds. I had forgotten to take the bandage off of my stomach, but I didn't mind. I could reapply a new one once I got out, and it wasn't like I was bleeding intensely anymore. The pain had to be gone in only a few more days. But who was I to say? I wasn't a doctor.

By the time my fingers had pruned, I was finished and had wrapped the blanket around my torso. The material differed from a towel, but it would have to do. Once I was sure my body was dry enough, I wrapped the blanket around my tangled hair, forming a beehive on my head. I slipped the suit back on and dipped my feet back into the water before I slid my boots on.

Feeling clean and refreshed, I went back to our small camp, prepared to offer Tilly to soak herself, too. When I got there, though, I saw her bundled in the blankets that I had left out. Her hair covered her face, but I could see her thin lips pressed tightly together and her fingers digging into the floor.

I walked slowly to not wake her up. I looked up at the sky. The sun was still high, being blocked off by the trees. I sat next to Tilly's sleeping figure and into the woods. Into the sky. Into nothing.

"Sleep well, Tilly," I whispered. Without realizing it, I had rested my head on the floor and had fallen asleep myself.

Hello! Sorry that I didn't make a chapter last Sunday/Monday. I had tons of school work that weekend. I know that's not an excuse, but I hope you will forgive me! I will update on Christmas, so don't worry! It'll be my Christmas gift to everyone. :)

If you don't celebrate Christmas, then happy Winter Break, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Bodhi, Kwanzaa, and anything else you celebrate. This month is just the month to celebrate and be happy. No matter what you celebrate.

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. They finally found a safe spot and Tilly! What do you think will happen? Can they stay there forever? Keep reading to find out! Also, don't forget to comment, read, love, and share with your friends or family. Don't forget to vote with your blanket (because everyone loves sleeping). Stay amazing!

To celebrate their finding of water, here's Water by Jack Garratt.