Status: Redo of my old story

Silence Falls

Chapter 53: Scout Ahead

You couldn’t see where the sun soared with the fog that settled in soon after they made camp in the abandoned camping ground. The fog was so densely thick that all you could see was the swamp illuminating on all sides in a faint glimmer. Hermanni watched it all take effect the very next morning, turning his head to take in everything living around him and witness the swamp be coated in various shades of green, yellow and black. A tranquil smile crossed his lip as he took in a deep breath of the fresh swamp air who’s odor had been permeated out by Hermanni’s doing. The surface had truly been so close yet out of reach from them all along at the same time. Everyone else was still asleep either in the tents or the sleeping bags set outside for the others that couldn’t fit, but by the sound of their breathing and the movement of their bodies told Hermanni they'd be up soon enough. At first the group all agreed that some of them had to keep a watch out for trespassers in shifts throughout the night, despite the fact they were all thoroughly drain from the life threatening situation that took place only yesterday. Hermanni volunteered first, never intending to wake up Connor, Bam, or Bert for their turn. The humans had done so much already that Hermanni knew that they required sleep to refuel their strengths, unlike him. It didn’t take long, but he was growing to care for his new friends, his new family. With nothing else to live for, they were now his everything, and he would do whatever it took to protect each one of them. Hermanni let out a soft steady sigh, and tilted his head skyward. Connor was the first to wake up. Sitting up, he let out a big yawn and scratched the back of his head, ruffling his long black hair up even further. What time was it, he meditated briefly to himself before his eyes extended with horror at the dim glow of the sun? "Holy shit, my fucking shift!" Connor panicked as he bound up and scouted out a slumbering Hermanni only to find him wide awake relaxing on top of one of the boulders, surveying their surroundings. Sighing in relief at the fact he hadn't passed out during the night, Connor strode over to him and scaled halfway up to speak with him. “Hey, you!” When those vivid blue and green eyes darted to him, Connor began to grill him. “Why didn't you wake me up, dude? You could’ve had your chance to get some sleep too.”

Hermanni beamed down at him, turning himself around to face him, so he could savor his first exchange of the day. He answered back in his foreign accent. “No sleep.”

“Yeah, it’s obvious you got no sleep. If you would have woken me up I would've taken watch for you. It was my turn next anyway.” Connor expounded, only to earn a puzzled look in return to his explanation. Connor sighed again and shook his head, recalling that Hermanni didn't speak English all that well so it's not like he could understand everything he said. “Never mind, man. Forget it.”

“Forget what?” Bert called up from down below as he trekked over, stretching out his back and letting out a felicitous yawn.

“Hermanni didn't wake us up for our shifts.” Connor hailed back while descending back down from the boulder to meet up with Bert. “I think he stood up all night as our Guardian Angel.”

“Seriously? You could have let us take a shift or two, Hermanni. We're all in this together, after all.” Bert hollered up to Hermanni from down below. Hermanni peered down at him inquisitively.

Connor put his hand on Bert's shoulder to stop him. “Dude, don’t. I tried, he doesn't understand what we're saying. He only gets a few words, but not all of our longer responses.”

“Ohhh yeah.” Bert murmured in reminiscence to what Cris had voiced last night before bed.

Meanwhile, Otep was already up and joining them. She yawned before looking to the men with her hands on her hips. “So, what’s going on today?”

“We should keep moving. Those soldiers might still be out there looking for us, and if not they might dispatch another team to search even deeper into the swamp. They could find us this time around and I'm not sure if we'll see them coming, or feel their bullets first.” Connor proposed, crossing his arms and leaning against the big boulder Hermanni sat on.

“I just don't get why they have SOLDIERS tracking for their patients in the swamps in the first place! We're just a couple of insane people, not terrorists!” Bert mulled over this. “But I guess when you think about it it definitely has to do with the huge number of us they held underground and the short supply of able police officers in town. The council never did feel that they needed a huge department of police officers since 'God was in everyone's hearts and minds, turning their sins into ashes.' Still, the military!? That seems a bit excessive, don't you guys think?”.

“There’s no time to question anything anymore, Bert. We can do that when we're out of this godforsaken town. Let's just focus on getting there instead.” Otep advocated, preferring to leave rather than stay and seek out a motive to the sudden pandemonium they were in.

“You're right as always.” Bert drawled with an eye roll before submitting his plan. “I think some of us should probe ahead and see if it's safe to even advance on without hiking into one of their camps. I don't want any of the girls to go out there though, they had a tough time getting to sleep last night so they'll be drained still. I think some of us should stay and three of us should go on ahead for a while to be sure the coast is clear.”

“I'll stay and watch the girls with the foreigner up there.” Connor pointed up to Hermanni, who merely dipped his head in confusion as to what their strange words meant.

“We can take that idiot Bam with us.” Otep said to Bert, who groaned and let out a curse. Otep felt his suffering, but she wasn't about to let Bam stay here and cause trouble. If there is danger close by, then this camp was their only safe haven from it. They didn't need Bam creating a fuss and getting everyone arrested.

“We just gotta be super nice, Otep. He just has a bad temper, is all. Nothing we can't handle this early in the morning.” Bert spoke more to himself than anyone.

A freshly roused Bam finally joined the group. “What's up, assholes?”

Otep rolled her eyes, Connor clenched his fists and looked away, while Bert kneaded his temple then replied. “What's up, is that you, Otep and I are going to scout ahead today to make sure we're safe to leave this camp. So grab something to protect yourself with. We don’t know what we might find out there in the swamps.”

“Why do I have to go!?” Bam griped, crossing his arms over his chest. “It's too damn early to go exploring now.”

“Shut up, Bam!” Otep called behind her shoulder as she accompanied Bert to load up on some supplies, not keen in standing around and listening to Bam whine like a little wuss.