Kiss of Death

The pine needles crunched underneath Scout’s feet with each step she took. She tried to step lightly, so she wouldn’t make much noise, but it didn’t seem to help. Reed didn’t seem to mind the noise, instead, he kept urging her to go forward.

The two approached a large grey rock, marking the end of the mountain’s slope. The rest of the climb from that point on would be steeper, and more rugged.

“I think this is a good place to rest,” Reed said, placing his hand on the rock.

Scout’s burning legs thanked him, as she collapsed to the ground. Reed took a seat next to her, his back pressed to the rock.

With his pack thrown in front of him, he flung his legs out, stretching them. Scout faced him and reached her hands out to the bag.

“What do you think is in there?" Reed asked, his head resting against the rock.

Scout shrugged. “We’re about to find out.”

Her hands moved to the bag’s zipper, and she slowly opened it. The bag had only one pouch, where all of the contents were kept.

Reaching her hand inside, Scout pulled out a large rope, placing it on Reed’s lap.

“That will come in handy,” he said, wrapping his hands around it.

Her hand reached in again, pulling out two empty canteens. She placed them on Reed’s lap, next to the rope.

When she reached her hand into the pack this time, she pulled it out quickly. Blood pooled at the tip of her finger.

“Ouch," she said, clutching her hand.

Reed grabbed her hand, looking at the finger. “What happened?”

Scout shrugged. “Something poked me.”

She pulled the finger away from him and shoved it into her mouth. Reed pulled the pack open and looked inside.

With a smile, he reached his hand into the bag. When he pulled it out, he held a knife, with a very sharp blade.

“This is perfect,” Reed said, flipping the knife around in his hand.

Scout glared at him. “I’m glad you think so, because my finger doesn’t.”

Reed laughed, pulling her hand from her mouth. “Let me see it.”

The finger was still bleeding, but only slightly. He held it up to his face, giving it a look over. He pressed it to his lips, and gave a light kiss.

“There, all better.”

Scout rolled her eyes. “Thank you, so much.”

Reed nodded, reaching back into the pack. He pulled out some matches and a large folded blanket.
With the items spread out in front of him, he turned to Scout.

“We got really lucky. There’s some pretty useful stuff here.”

Reed shoved the knife into his jacket’s pocket, keeping it safely tucked away. He placed the canteens gently onto Scout’s lap. Her hands wrapped tightly around them, while Reed threw the rest of the things back into the pack.

“We should try to find water,” Reed stood up from his place on the ground. He turned back to Scout and stuck his hand out to her. She latched onto it, as he pulled her up from the ground.

Reed looked around at the foliage, trying to identify the different plant types. Despite having grown up in the forest, Reed knew nothing of the science behind it. He didn’t know which types of plants were edible, or which signaled that there would be water up ahead. He only knew that they needed to be destroyed before any trees could be chopped down.

His hand moved to his hair, fluffing it around. With a deep sigh, he turned back to Scout.

“Let’s head this way," he said, pointing off to the left. “It looks the most promising.”

Scout looked down the path, which was filled with more trees and shrubs than the opposite side.

“Plants mean water, right” Reed asked, a small smile on his face.

Scout nodded “One would assume.”

“Let’s go, then.” Reed held out his arms, motioning for Scout to move ahead of him. She stepped past him, as he slung the pack over his shoulders.