Feeling the love

“Laura?”

Anton was the first to speak again. She let the rock fall from her hands and looked up at him.

“Yes?” she asked, her voice coming out croaked. She licked her lips.

“Are you… What did you do?”

All three of them were staring at her as if they never seen her before. She barked out a short, humorless laugh and shook her head at how ridiculous this all was.

“I just solved a lot of problems for us, that’s what. But for some reason I’m really not feeling the love right now, guys.”

“What? The love?” asked Rob, punctuating his outraged tone with a sweeping gesture down at Geoff’s crumpled body.

“Yeah, for doing everyone a favor. He was slowing us down. Adding nothing useful,” she exclaimed. Anton was drawing in breath to speak and she quickly raised a hand towards him. “And, and!”

He waited as she wracked her brain for the many other good reasons she had for killing a member of their expedition. They were on the tip of her tongue but she kept being distracted by the bright crimson at her feet.

“And our food is running out,” she said finally, her words coming out in a rush now that she’d struck on something. “Our rations were already so small, and we only have two more days before we have to turn back or we’ll never make it. But what if it takes more than that? I just bought us another day, and that’s even if we don’t… You know.”

Billie had stayed silent until then but now she moaned softly and brought a hand to her mouth. Of course Rob was there in an instant to wrap a strong arm around her shoulders in comfort. Not that Laura would’ve wanted him touching her, Anton was much more her speed, but Rob was pathetically predictable in so many ways.

She certainly wasn’t planning on killing anyone else in their expedition, but if she did, it would definitely be Rob, no question.

“We should probably make camp,” said Anton.

“What, here?” asked Rob. He was staring down at Geoff, but Anton was looking over towards the fading daylight.

“By the time we…we do something with him,” said Anton, “it’ll be full dark.”

“Good point,” agreed Laura, eager to get busy with something else.

She grabbed Billie by the hand pulled her along towards a sheltered depression. Billie went willingly enough and no-one else said anything. Maybe once they’d set up the tents and had a hot drink the worst of the situation would have blown over.

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This is a continuation of Lucky Find, inspired by the #freewrite prompt by @mariannewest: feeling the love.

Image by NRKbeta.