Children of Dawn

Jake’s POV
I sat with my back against the rock watching the fire dwindle slowly down to ashes. CC was out getting more firewood, I was on babysitting duty, watching the two sleeping beauties. The suicidal one had only woken up briefly before falling asleep curled up in the corner without speaking to any of us. The one who was all beat up had passed out not long after we cut the noose. He’d been asleep since. Based on the extent of his injuries it was probably better that way. As snow started to tumble down outside I was glad that CC and I had spent the last of our daylight rebuilding the remains of the shelter that they had had. I was also glad that they had a few extra blankets. I held my hands out to the struggling flames trying to get the tips of my fingers warm. The one thing that CC and I hadn’t really thought of was how much colder it was going to be in Missouri than on the west coast.
I heard the quick crunch of footsteps and CC appeared with his arms loaded with sticks. He shook the snow out of his hair as he laid the fuel next to the fire. I started putting smaller twigs on the stack.
“Still asleep?” CC said looking at the two of them. As childish as he was, he was also very caring. He had been methodically checking to make sure both of them were still breathing throughout the day.
“Yep, neither of them have even moved,” I said. CC sat down across from me. Everything was silent except the crackling of the fire.
“I wonder what their story is,” CC said.
“I don’t know, but I’m glad that we showed up when we did. It looks like they’re in pretty bad shape, but how long are we gonna stay with them? We have to move on at some point, the cops will find us here eventually,” I said.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think they’re gonna be able to get on together for very long,
I mean he’s hurt real bad,” CC said.
“I guess we’ll just see how it is when he wakes up,” I said nodding at the suicidal one.
“Please don’t leave us,” A soft voice said. I looked over and I saw that the one with the broken leg was awake. He was looking at me and shaking his head.
“How much of that did you hear?” CC asked.
“Enough to know that Jinxx and I aren’t the only one’s running from the cops,” He said. I looked at CC in surprise.
“No kidding?” CC said.
“No kidding,” he said, sitting up slightly.
“Wait, what’s your name?” I said.
“Ashley,” He said slowly propping himself up on his good elbow.
“And that’s?” CC asked pointing at the suicidal one.
“The only name he’s given me for himself is Jinxx,” Ashley said.
“Like that’s his real name,” I snorted.
“So you said the cops are after you two, what did you guys do?” CC asked. Ashley sighed.
“I killed a guy, in self defense, but I still killed him,” Ashley explained quickly, then he looked at Jinxx and shook his head, “As for him, I think he killed someone. I found him by this river and he was all covered in blood having some sort of mental breakdown. That was when I stopped him from killing himself the first time,” As Ashley trailed off CC and I looked at each other.
“You mean that wasn’t the first time he tried to end it?” CC said pointing at the branch.
“No, he tried to blow his own brains out right in front of me,” Ashley said. I let out a breath and ran my hand through my hair.
“I stopped him that time, but this time. Let’s just say that I’m really glad you two showed up when you did,” Ashley said.
“Yeah, I’m glad we did too,” I said. We fell into a silence, it seemed that the air itself was tired.
“What happened to your leg and arm and all that,” I said gesturing widely at Ashley’s entire body. He sighed.
“We got into a fight and he threw me off some rocks into the water not far down from here,” Ashley said. My stomach twisted.
“Holy shit, he tried to kill you?” I said.
“No, no. I don’t think he meant to do it. I don’t really remember all of what happened but I think he pulled me out of the water and brought me back here so that I didn’t freeze. Also it’s not like I didn’t provoke him, I was being an ass, and he kept apologizing before he, you know,” Ashley explained jerking his chin at the branch.
“Damn, poor guy,” CC said shaking his head.
“Poor guy?” I exclaimed, I couldn’t understand having sympathy for the guy who seemed to be causing most of the problems.
“It seems like he’s a decent fellow. He must have been through something awful to make him so hell bent on dying,” CC said. We fell into silence again.
“Guys, please don’t leave us. If he tries to hurt himself again I’m in no position to help him. It’s a miracle that you two showed up when you did this time. If not he’d be dead and I’d be freezing to death right now,” Ashley said. CC and I looked at each other.
“What if we stayed here with you two until until you can walk again, then we can all move on together,” I asked.
“I’d be cool with that, but in the coming days, don’t let Jinxx out of your sight. I’m pretty sure he still has a deathwish,” I said. They both nodded and the fire continued it’s noisy chatter.
“You know what, I think in the morning I’m going to try to make you a splint and maybe some crutches so you don’t have to just lay here for three weeks or however long that takes to heal,” I said. Ashley nodded as CC threw another twig on the fire.
“I’m gonna go get some more firewood so that it’ll stay lit through the night,” I said pushing myself to my feet. CC nodded and Ashley laid back down with his good arm under his head. I walked out of the shelter and into the falling snow. I didn’t know if I was making the right decisions. As I walked out into the dark woods I thought about my parents for the first time. Had they been worried when I hadn’t shown up at my grandparent’s house. My throat tightened, I wanted to go back to them, at least to let them know that I was okay. I looked back in the direction of the shelter. I could see CC’s shadow stretching out over the pebbly beach that was motionless in the white snow. He was counting on me to come back with the wood that would keep the four of us warm through the night. I would let him down if I didn’t come back, the same way that I let down my family. I kept walking into the woods, still unsure of what I should do. I stood in silence listening to the soft patter of the snow as it landed on my jacket. That was all I could hear. I saw no city lights, the only source of light was the orange glow from the campfire that still filtered through the trees.
If I decided to walk away right then I would be on my own, in the woods, for miles. The wind picked up a bit and blew the snow around. I shivered, the warmth of the fire and shelter from the wind was going to be nice when I went back. I bent down and picked up a stick. I decided that all things considered things were pretty good. I had food, a roof over my head, and a few friends. I wasn’t about to let down another group of people.

Notes

I hope you enjoyed this weeks chapter, I had a great time writing it. I put a very subtle reference to another band in this chapter. If any of you can pick it out and tell me what song I was blasting while writing this chapter I will be your best friend. Anyway, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter. Have a good week!