The sun had fully set, and night was upon them. It was a dark night, but the sky was clear, and the sliver of moon there was seem to light their path. Camo's legs ached, her head had begun to throb once more, and she was hungry and thirsty. All together she felt like crap. Which probably meant that Damien and her father were feeling ten times worse.
Camo finally sighed. She was going to turn around and tell them to make camp here, when she made out a huge patch of darkness in the distance.
"Hey Damien... Look ahead, is that what I think it is?" Camo asked, looking back at Damien briefly.
"If you think it's trees, I think you're fucking right." Damien said, disbelief in his voice.
"Keep a look out, Damien. I'm going ahead to scout the area out. " Camo said, already walking ahead faster.
"Be careful." Her father called after her.
She heard and acknowledged by waving her hand quickly, not bothering to look back.
She began to jog, eyes scanning the area, never lingering in one spot long. It was an effective way to catch even the slightest thing out of place.
She never once let her guard down, always ready for action.
As she neared the treeline, she stopped. Peering into the trees, she tried to make out distinct shapes, but the lack of light made it difficult. It all looked like one giant patch of black.
A little unnerving...
She shook the thought away. After a few more minutes of trying to search the darkness, she have up, and signaled back towards the others. Realizing they wouldn't see her, she turned around.
"All clear!" Camo called back, heading back towards them, no longer on alert.
"Damn it's dark." Damien commented when he and Camo's dad finally made it to the forest edge.
"Tell me about it." Camo replied.
"It won't get any brighter if we stare at it." Her dad told them, indicating he wanted to keep moving.
"Right. Move out." Camo said, readying her gun once more.
"It's only us, no need to be so soldiery." Damien teased.
"Is that even a word?" Camo asked, a grin teasing her lips.
"Is now." Damien said, smiling.
Camo turned away before he had a chance to see her smile. No matter the situation, how awful it was or how hopeless it seemed, Damien always managed to bring a smile to her face. It was something she both hated and loved about him.
Her father cleared his throat, and Camo started walking, wishing once more for a flashlight or something to give them light. Looking into the deep darkness of the forest, she realized clouds had covered the small moon, their only source of light. She nearly lost her nerve there, but she steeled herself and took a step into the sparce forest.
The crunching of her shoes on the Rocky ground seemed to be the only sound. Then two more sets of footsteps joined in. The farther they got into the forest, the more absolute the darkness seemed. Finally her father said something.
"Okay, I have to stop. Let's make camp."
Camo nodded, more than a little releaved to stop.
Damien leaned Camo's father against a tree, and began to gather Kindle for the fire. Camo helped as well, ears alert for any sound.
When their pile was large enough, with some more on the side to keep it alive, Damien took out a Flint and steel striker and lit the fire.
"Where'd you get that?" Camo asked, startling herself.
Until then, they had been silent, straining their ears for the sound of animals.
"Off a cow boy. " Damien replied, his voice sounding very loud in the silent Night.
Camo nodded, crouching down by the fire, grateful for the light it produced. Little could be seen beyond the fire, but what could be seen were skinny but tall trees, and very few shrubs.
A groan from her father made Camo look back. He looked pale in the firelight. A glance at Damien showed him to be exhausted.
"I'll take first watch." She offered.
"Okay, wake me up when you get tired." Damien said, laying down.
"Will do. Now get some sleep." She replied.