Page 7 of Heart of the Hunted
It wasn't something they shared with the rest of the group though. Donovan knew about it, but he was the only person other than Natalia and Amberly.
"Anyway, let’s go and eat before Donovan shouts at us for letting it go cold," Amberly said.
"You go ahead,” Natalia told her. “I'll be through in a minute."
"Okay, see you in there," she said on her way out.
Once Natalia was alone again, she opened her satchel and pulled out the book in question. She wanted to write it down before she forgot. They were fast running out of space on the paper, it wouldn't be long before they needed a new one.
The problem with that, was it's not something they come across often. All three of them looked for a book to use whenever they were scavenging, but so far nothing. They couldn't ask the others to keep an eye out for one without telling them why, which none of them were prepared to do.
It wasn't that they didn't trust the others, they wouldn't be traveling with them if it was a matter of trust. You couldn't survive this life if you didn't have any trust in the people you were with. It wasn't even that they wanted to keep the remedies to themselves, either. They were more than happy to share the information, they just didn't want the others touching their book.
None of them wanted to lose it or for it to get ruined in any way, but the more people who had access to it, the more likely something like that was going to happen. Not only that, but the three of them started it together long before they met up with the others in the group, and they wanted to keep it between just the three of them.
A pencil was their only means to write. It wasn't the most reliable way, since it often faded from overuse and disappeared completely when the paper was wet, but it was all they had. Natalia knew people used to use things called pens, but none of the ones they found had worked.
Natalia copied word for word onto the paper, before returning it to the book. Natalia put it all back in her satchel when she was finished. Leaving the satchel on the pile of blankets she was using as a bed, Natalia stood and stretched before joining the others for dinner.
"What took you so long?" Donovan asked as she sat down. "Your dinner is nearly cold."
"Sorry, I was just packing up ready for tomorrow," she lied. Later she'll tell him what she was doing, but for now, that was all she was going to say.
"Amberly said we're moving on tomorrow," Rafe said.
"What if the others aren't back by then?" Bella asked.
"Then we'll leave them," Natalia told her.
"Why can't we wait? Or better yet, go looking for them?" Bella asked.
"You know why. If we wait, we stand more chance of being caught, and you know we don't go looking for missing people. If we did and they’ve been caught, then we would likely be caught as well. It's this way so the majority of the group stays safe," Natalia reminded her, "Which is why whenever we go out, we go in pairs and not as a whole group. It's bad enough moving between camps when we're all together."
"Yeah, I know. It just doesn't seem right to leave without them," Bella said.
"I know. I wish there was more we could do, but there isn't," Natalia said, shaking her head. "So, we have to go on without them."
"So, where are we going next?" Rafe asked.
"Amberly mentioned heading north. We don't know what's up there, but after thinking about it, I agree with her," Natalia said. When they all moaned, she added, "Does anyone have a better idea? If so, I'd like to hear it."
When nobody piped up with a better idea, Natalia said: "That's settled then. We'll leave at first light, so get plenty of rest after dinner, if you can."
Natalia hoped she was making the right decision in heading north, but only time would tell. For now, she was going to try to follow her own advice, and get plenty of rest. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
