A Candle in the Dark

If it was Snatchers across the river, Astrid didn’t know what she would do. They were bad people, from what she’d heard, but could she really kill another living human being? There were so few of them left in the world, and to her, every last person counted regardless of who they were. Astrid had a feeling that Maddie wouldn’t be able to shoot to kill either, because of Brady.

While she lay in her sleeping bag, dawn rising through the trees, she glanced over at her sleeping tent mate. Maddie had taken her dreadlocks out of their usual bun to sleep, and some of the strands fell into her face. Her caramel skin was smooth and free of the creases caused by stress that all of them tended to develop these days. Astrid had even noticed some of her own in the reflection of the river when she washed her face, forming above her eyebrows and marring her alabaster complexion.

As a girl, Astrid was shy. She didn’t socialize much in school, only having a few friends. Her only real friend was her father, who’s knife she still carried with her to the present day. Astrid’s one regret was that she couldn’t save him.

Monroe stirred outside the tent and Astrid sat up. Judging by the sun’s position, just peeking out from over the treetops, they should leave soon. If the last few days were any indication, today would be sweltering hot. Astrid picked through her backpack for a relatively clean tank top that hung loosely from her shoulders so that any breeze could get through. She clambered out of her tent and went about putting on her boots by the fire.

Emily poked at the embers to stir a new flame into life, and glanced over as Astrid sat down. Astrid figured that the woman must feel some relief that her husband wasn’t in the party that would be heading out to search across the river today.

“You’ll need a good breakfast, if you’re gone all day,” said Emily.

If there was one thing that Astrid really appreciated about being in a camp, it was the stockpile of nonperishable food. Of course, she would always go on the runs to get more, because she was an expert at finding anything edible in an abandoned house. She’d survived alone for months before she ran into Maddie in the forest. But being able to walk over to their supply and pick out a can of beans was the most heartwarming feeling in the world.

While she ate, Jack came along and sat down next to her. He’d been doing that an awful lot lately, she’d noticed. The way that Jack looked at her was nothing like the way Ezra did. Jack always had a faraway look in his eyes as he watched her, as though he was thinking of somebody else when he did it. Ezra seemed to look at her as if she was something completely new and interesting, and every time he studied her face it was although he were doing it for the first time.

“Are you nervous about today?” Jack asked, nodding a ‘thank you’ to Emily when she handed him a thermos lid of beans.

“I’m used to being in the forest,” Astrid replied with a shrug. “Being on the offensive is what’s new for me.”

“You’re pretty good with that bow of yours,” Jack said. “Did you know how to shoot before?”

“My dad taught me. But shooting deer is a bit different from shooting those things.”

“I guess you weren’t always a Solitary then? If you had your dad.” Jack said.

Astrid froze. Jack’s tone was conversational, as though the idea that her father just wasn’t there any more wasn’t that big of a deal. Maybe to him it wasn’t, but losing the most important person in her entire life was, in Astrid’s eyes, even worse than the freaking apocalypse.

So she didn’t spare Jack a reply to his comment, and promptly got to her feet. She gave her half finished beans to Emily and said she wasn’t hungry anymore, so somebody else could have a little extra. Monroe on her heels, Astrid snatched up her bow and quiver and marched into the forest.

It felt as though she was on fire. Jack’s words had brought back the memories of that awful day when everything bad that could have possibly happened all seemed to come at once. Astrid’s heart was racing and she was finding it increasingly more difficult to focus on where she was going. When she finally stopped she was amidst the trees, under the shade of the canopy.

It was quiet, but her mind wasn’t. Astrid only knew one solution to the problem, she needed to focus on something that would take all of her energy and attention. So she loaded her crossbow and focused on a fir tree some twenty feet away.

Astrid inhaled slowly, letting her eyelids flutter shut. She adjusted her stance and raised her bow, opening her eyes once more. The tree, which seemed to have been swaying in her vision before, stood still and calm. Astrid pulled the trigger and loosed the arrow, finding comfort in the dull knock as the arrow lodged itself into the trunk. She fired three more arrows, before she heard the sound of footfalls coming from behind her.

In her alert state, Astrid was hyperaware of every noise. So she listened to whatever was approaching and was able to judge that it was not one of the creatures. The footsteps were too steady and consistent to be an ungainly Walker. But that didn’t rule out the chance that it was a Snatcher.

With her crossbow loaded Astrid spun around, target locked on the approaching figure. She almost loosed the arrow, but realized that the honey brown hair belonged to Ezra. It was a wonder that he’d found her at all, she didn’t even know how far from the camp she’d wandered in her frantic, angry state.

“We’re getting ready to head out,” Ezra said, his eyes flickering to her bow. She hadn’t yet lowered it.

Astrid realized this in the same moment, and dropped her arms. Ezra’s posture slackened and he smiled at her, then peered over her shoulder at the arrows embedded in the tree.

“Target practice?” Ezra joked. Just like with Jack, Astrid found his tone infuriating. This wasn’t a game, everything was life and death. Shooting arrows at a tree to relieve her frustration wasn’t something to joke about.

Astrid stalked over to the fir and yanked her arrows out, depositing them back into her quiver. “What are you waiting for?” she asked Ezra in an annoyed tone. “Let’s get going.”