The men from V1 rushed to the water tank, frantically attempting to stabilize it. Angel also hurried over to the vehicle, joining the efforts. It was disheartening for everyone to discover that half of the water tank's contents had spilled onto the sand.
Captain Neil's voice was filled with concern as he addressed the group, "We have to find a water source soon. The remaining water supply could only sustain us for three days at most, unless we ration it."
"How can you find one in the desert? We have been traveling for days, and all we see is the endless desert. It is that woman's fault. She led us to the wrong direction." Emily shouted harshly as she pointed her fingers to Angel. "She is a jinx that would kill us all."
"Emily!"
"Emily!"
Both Leoric and Alec shouted at the same time. They glared at Emily, who was still looking smug, but when she saw the look on Leoric's face, she kept silent.
Angel did not react at all. She acted as if she heard nothing. She chose to walk in the direction of the eagle lying on the ground and ignored the people who were discussing how to fix the problem with the water tank. She squatted beside the eagle and placed her hand near its beak. The eagle was still breathing. It was still alive. She checked the eagle's body and noted that the wound was on its right wing, not the lower body.
Angel touched the eagle's wound and channeled her energy into it. Two days ago, she accidentally discovered that she somehow acquired the ability to heal. It was the middle of the night when she woke up because she felt pain in her left lower arm. When she touched it, she felt something warm and sticky. She did not want to wake up the people beside her, so she used the penlight to check what caused the pain. To her horror, she found that there was a three-centimeter gash on her arm just below her elbow. She looked around, but everyone was sleeping.
She looked at the person sleeping beside her, and she was not surprised that it was Emily. Leoric was nowhere in sight. She gritted her teeth as she sat down. She contemplated whether to wake up Dr. Reeves, sleeping in the driver's seat. Ultimately, she did not wake him because she knew how tired he was. She placed her right palm over the wound and applied pressure on it to stop the bleeding. As she shut her eyes, she sensed a gentle warmth emanating from her palm, soothing the pain in her arm and causing it to fade away.
"What's the matter? Why are you up?" Leoric, his hair damp from a recent shower, stood at the vehicle's entrance. Holding a flashlight, its beam cast a warm glow on his face, making him appear ruggedly handsome. His hair has grown longer and so his beard.
"When I woke up, I noticed a wound on my arm. It seemed as though someone had deliberately cut me," Angel said with an air of indifference. She didn't want to keep it from Leoric, so she answered his question openly.
Leoric's brows furrowed as his eyes fixated on the hand that appeared to be concealing something on her left arm. He then shifted his gaze to the sleeping woman by her side. With deliberate movements, he hoisted himself into the vehicle, positioning himself on all fours as he cautiously made his way to Angel, eventually crouching down beside her.
"Show it to me," Leoric commanded her.
Angel frowned. She detected that something was off with his voice. Was he angry, or was he worried?
'Worried? How can he be worried about me?' Angel gave herself a deprecating smile. She showed her injured arm to him, but Leoric looked at her strangely.
"We are already in this situation, and you still dare to pull a prank like that? What? Are you trying to get my attention for such a small scratch?" Leoric words were icy. He shifted his position and sat beside Emily.
Angel was startled. How could he say things like that when she was injured? Angel lowered her eyes to the area where Leoric had directed his flashlight. She was startled when she looked at a small scratch. It looked like she had scratched herself. She wanted to argue that the wound was deep and there was a lot of blood, but how could she explain when the wound disappeared?
"I am sorry." She murmured.
Leoric shot her a piercing look before finally deciding to lie down on the spot next to Emily in order to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
Angel carefully laid back on the cold metal floor of the vehicle. The cold was bone-chilling because she only used a thin blanket as her mattress. She wondered what happened to her wound. She groped the space beside her and felt something sticky. It was her blood. She was convinced that it was not an illusion, but she was inflicted with a deep wound while she was sleeping, and the only person who would do that was the vicious woman sitting lying down beside her.
She hastily straightened up, clutching the thin blanket, and scooted away from Emily. She chose to curl herself beside Rose who was beside Alec.
Angel was lost in her thoughts as she held the wounded wing. She only snapped back to reality when she felt the bird flap its injured wing.
"Do not make any sudden movements as the wound is still healing," Angel cautioned without much consideration. Surprisingly, the eagle obeyed and ceased its movement.
As the bird raised its head, its gaze locked onto Angel, seeming to study her closely. Angel reached into her pocket, retrieved a biscuit, and crumbled it into tiny pieces in the palm of her hand. She then extended her hand to offer the crumbs to the bird.
The bird pecked at her palm gently, and Angel felt tickled.
Suddenly, Angel heard a hissing sound and felt a sense of danger. When she turned around, her eyes widened in fear.