Great Heads

5: Still Running

Kaleb

We were still on the run. To confess, for a moment I became grateful for having such a brother.

 As my eyes closed, trying to already accept death’s embrace, my brother was using that brain of his. I could beat him countless times in fighting, but when it came to critical thinking skills, I was not a match.

He thought of a plan for us to get rid of the chasers.

“Listen to me!” he called my attention. He spoke out loud enough for me to hear. “They’re not shooting at us yet! Maybe their orders weren't to kill us but probably capture! We just might be able to escape! Kaleb, this may sound foolish but might as well be our only option! We’ve got loose the horse!”

“What?” Indeed it sounded foolish.

How were we going to make it on foot? Was he saying we could run faster than horses? I blindly followed his orders. It was either die doing nothing or die following Alec's eccentric idea. We were going to die anyway. I had already concluded in my mind.

We kept riding on the horse until we got to the forest. Alec tried his best to give us distance between the riders.  As we went deep into the forest, depending on the moon to light our way, we then threw ourselves out of the horse. We rolled down the rocky ground sustaining painful injuries. There was no time to react to the painful fall.

We quickly hid and began running. One, two, three…four, I counted the men as they swiftly passed with their horses. One horse was attached to a carriage. 

Surprisingly, they still rode that way. We were glad but knew we didn't have much time till they discovered they were actually chasing an empty horse. Alec's so-called wonderful idea felt great, but it lasted for just a moment. More and more questions with no possible answers started popping up.

How were we going to escape on foot?

What if they caught us?

How far could we make it?

Should we have stayed on the horse?

Were we going to die?

We ran, hiding in the bushes, still trying to avoid the riders tracks. While maintaining my speed, I took glances at Alec who still looked like he was onto something. If he didn't know, he was our now leader and as a follower, I needed some answers to ease me of the anxiety I felt.

“What now?” I inquired. I didn't know if he heard me or just snubbed. It angered me. “Alec, what are we gonna do?!”

He did it again. He didn't respond. I was starting to suspect that he didn't have the answers I was looking for. My eyes dilated at that realization. He seemed to have led us to a blind alley. I gave up once more. I stopped running, pushing Alec to fall to the ground.

“What are you doing?” 

“We're going to die, aren't we?” I asked in a crying voice.

He avoided my eyes. He hoisted himself up and tried running again, but I pushed him down not thinking for a moment, and began hitting him on the ground. We started to fight. We both weren't okay. He was just trying to run away, while all I wanted were answers. I wanted him to tell me where we were running to. It was his fault for leading in the first place. 

We rolled in the dirt, exchanging some punches until we both gave up. We sat on the ground, panting and realized how foolish we looked. We were fighting each other instead of trying to survive together. We were our own enemy.

“Just tell me. Answer the darned question, Alec!” I sobbed. Alec also cried. He covered his face with his right palm and sobbed into it.

“I don't know!” he bellowed out. “Maybe we will, maybe we won't! No one knows! Even I! One thing I do know is to do something. As long as we do something, we may have a chance. No one's ever sure of these things. So please, just please…let's do something.”

He stood up and stretched out his hand towards me. The moonlight reflected his eyes gleaming with sincerity staring at my own eyes. I grabbed his hand and he hoisted me. We resumed running. Maybe we needed that after all.

“Nile,” He said as we ran. “She’ll come back for us. I know it.”

I didn't bother to ask what he was talking about, or who he was referring to. 

We waded in the forest stream to avoid being traced. You could call it a miracle, we walked all through the night without being caught by the men. 

After a long walk, the sun was now out and we could see our way clearly. We both collapsed on the ground, heaving a loud sigh of relief. I raised one of my hands to the blue sky. 

A smile of freedom plastered across our faces as we looked at each other. We had a moment of rest, then continued our journey heading south. Our legs were tired from running and our mouths were as dry as sandpaper.

We made a stop to drink water from the stream.

While I washed my face, Alec busied himself with whistling. Something which was quite weird, wasn't it?

 I gave him an awkward look, being confused with why. I would've asked him why he did that, but chose to mind my own business. He kept on doing it for a long time, making it seem as though it sounded louder each time he did it.

I couldn't bear the noise and felt like I had to end it.

“Quit it.” I warned, “They may trace the sound to us.”

He decided to anger me once more by repeating it. Then he gave up after doing it again for the last time. Farther and farther, we walked despite the tiredness we felt. Still dragging our legs in misery and trying so much to catch our breaths, we were suddenly distracted by a noise.

It was the neighing of a horse.

Alec and I thought it was the riders, but something unexpected occured. 

“Nile!” my brother exclaimed, delightedly running towards the horse while whistling.

Looking at the whole dramatic show right before me, I was greatly surprised to see it was our horse galloping our way. ‘So it even had a name.’ I thought.

We both mounted the cream-coloured horse and rode at a canter. We journeyed in a direction we felt was on track. We kept on jerking alongside the galloping horse—still in the forest. The journey was grueling and we needed rest.

We decided to camp. We made sure we were far enough before settling at a particular place in the woods. The day had darkened once more. We managed to set a fire, well… Alec did. I also contributed as well. I served as a watchman so my brother and Nile could sleep.

Well, to be honest, I just couldn't get myself to sleep and so couldn’t my brother. He just kept on waking up as he heard the slightest sound, and we both were watching out for danger. 

We couldn't help but worry about what was going to happen next. It was like danger wasn't far from where we camped.

Rocainians that once slept in individual neatly arranged rooms on comfortable beds, encompassed with soft fluffy pillows and nice quilts, now laid on this rough ground. We stayed out at night, partially awake. 

When I struggled with adjusting my body, trying so hard to find a comfortable position— which wasn't possible, Alec continuously jerked up as though an earthquake had occurred.

“It’s just me.” I said, calmly, assuring him with a lowered voice tone. My voice still was loud because of the emptiness of the forest.

He looked around for confirmation first before finally resting his body on the ground again. It wasn’t once it happened but continuously until it became annoying. No one would blame any of us for acting that way. We were too cautious, if one may say. I wouldn't even say “too” in such a situation.

 Alec abruptly jerked up again and looked around.

Feeling it was too much done too many times, I advised, trying to assure him of what I was not even sure of myself,

“Alec, I know you're worried, but it's just us. We need to rest and save our strength. There's no one there. They probably don't even know we're here.” I slurred, showing tiredness from walking. I was so sleepy and laid facing the other way. I didn't even bother turning to him when I spoke. When I said this, my tiredness showed in my voice.

He said to me firmly, standing  up, “I have a terrible feeling. We should get going.”

“But our feet are tired and Nile’s exhausted too.” 

I lazily hauled myself up and we trotted on the horse again. We kept on moving for as long as I can remember. It was as if we had no destination. 

Where did mother say we should go?

I was beginning to think that place never existed.