The group of six wasn't in high spirits. However, they slowly adjusted to their situation. Even the pencil pusher calmed down a bit even if he still looked nervously around every few seconds. Until now everyone remained silent and they made their way towards the middle of the tree to climb down. Well or up. It depends on the perspective.
Eventually, they reached the tree stump. The hat-less guy stood 20 meters or so ahead of the group. The group was ascending a small incline so they could not see what was in front of them. Only the hat-less guy. He turned around and called out to the group.
"Guys you should take a look at that"
Will was the first one in the small group to reach the top of the small incline. Ahead of them, six giant roots came together to the point where they were currently standing. So in total seven giant roots came together to form the tree.
It was very unpleasant to look at the roots. From a botanical point of view, it must have been even weirder. There were no small roots that came together to form a bigger root. No, there were just seven single roots.
If Will hadn't seen the leaves down below he would never think that those things were roots.
"Doesn't matter. Let's start climbing down."
The other military guy had finally reached them.
"My partner is right."
The pencil pusher had a different opinion.
"Wait? Are you actually suggesting climbing down? The next tree limb is over 100 meters away. That is too difficult for us."
"You two gentlemen might be able to do that but I am not so sure about the rest of us."
The old lady agreed.
"There is nowhere else to go. You said it yourself. Staying here means dying" Will intervened. He had enough of his group.
"I am staying here." exclaimed the pencil pusher with his arms crossed.
The military guy with the hat gripped the pencil pusher on his neck.
"We are going down. You are going down. We are all going down that tree. Even if I have to cut you apart and throw both sides into the abyss. No further backtalk."
"Hey, let me go."
The other military guy rushed towards his partner and made him let go of the frightened man.
"You can stay but we are going down. So no further protection from us."
The pencil pusher fell to the ground coughing.
"Ok. I understand we have to go down. I am an old woman I can't come with you. However, please take the little girl with you. She won't be safe here."
The little girl still clung to the old woman.
The hat-less military guy nodded.
"I understand but my partner and I have to be ready to fight. So, in my opinion, it would be unwise to give the girl to either of us."
"I can't take it either. I am not strong enough to support her and my weight while we climb down the tree. It's already hard for me to support my own weight. Additionally, we have to grip the bark which is even more exhausting."
The pencil pusher charmed in again. 'He already changed his mind.'
Will could see where this is going.
"Alright, fine, I'll take her."
"Thank you."
"You are doing the right thing kid. I would have done the same if I were you."
The old woman and the pencil pusher thanked Will. Yet, he didn't care about them. He didn't want to help the girl but did he have a choice? If he said no as well, the group would take longer to start moving.
'I can't just leave her here, right? I don't want to take her either ... I also don't have an excuse to leave her here. The others would get mad. But why should I care? It is not fair.'
"Alright same formation. Be careful where you step. We don't know how durable the bark is."
It would be a hard descent. The girl slowly went away from the old woman. She gave her a few short words of encouragement and then pushed her towards Will. She slowly walked towards Will. Only now, did Will notice her dirty clothes. Her right shoe even had a hole.
'Alright, I'll try but I won't trade my life for hers.'
The little girl climbed on his shoulders. That was not the optimal way to hold her but she was to weak to cling to his back. She did not feel that heavy but Will knew that would change soon.
The hat-less guy started to climb down and shortly afterwards Will started to climb down as well.
The bark was hard as rock but luckily one could easily hold onto it.
'Don't look down focus on the next step.'
Will kept on repeating that in his head. At first, it was not that hard. He was athletic and had a bit of endurance.
'Don't look down focus on the next step.'
'Don't look down focus on the next step.'
'Don't look down focus on the next step.'
His back grew heavier and heavier. He tried to shift his focus away from the rising pain.
He breathed heavily. As he was trying to ignore the pain, a soft voice whispered into his ear.
"You don't have to do this. You can just let me go."
'Am I hearing things? Does this girl not care whether I let her go or not? Maybe she is suicidal. Yeah, that could be true. Now that I think about it, she was wearing dirty clothes. So, She might not have a pleasant life.'
Will took another step.
'It would be much easier without her and I don't know how much further I have to go. Do I even have the strength to look?'
His thoughts became slow.
'Perhaps I imagined her saying that. But it felt so real. Come on. I can take a bit more pain.'
"I am not there yet."
However, Will could feel how the weight of the girl slowly shifted.