"It's quiet out here," I said to Coal, my own voice low.
"It's Creeper country. Nothing goes near them if it's smart enough. Even the trees seem unhappy here," he replied, his voice quiet too.
"So I take it we aren't smart enough?" My fingers shifted to touch my pistol for reassurance.
"Coming here wasn’t a decision I made lightly. Let's just hope the distractions work and the Creepers stay well away from us," he said, raising an eyebrow.
“What should I do if we see one?" I tapped a finger along the row of knives at my belt. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven-
"Run. Shoot if you can, but there's never just one. If you see one and it hasn't seen you, just get the hell away."
"Where to?" That hadn't been the answer I was expecting. Eight, nine, ten, plus one in my boot and one strapped to my right forearm. Twelve.
“Anywhere. Anywhere at all so long as it’s a fucking long way from those monsters.”
A shiver ran down my spine at his words and I found myself seriously hoping that we didn’t end up having any contact with those things.
The air felt heavy, dripping with moisture that ran from the branches above us and splashed to the ground. It was cold, a kind of cold that ignored how thick your coat was and made a beeline for the centre of your chest.
A sudden flash of light split the darkness in half and I dropped into a crouch with a shriek of alarm. Laurie did the same next to me, throwing her hands up over her head. My eyes darted back and forth into the gloom between the trees as I searched for the source of what the hell that had been and couldn’t spot a dammed thing.
After a beat, I looked to Alicia and Coal who were staring over at us, their mouths slightly open with shock. It lasted for a fraction of a second before they started to laugh.
“Haven't you ever seen lightning before?" Alicia asked, her eyes sparkling with humour.
“What?" I asked, slowly standing a little straighter and relaxing the hold on my gun. I glanced at Laurie, feeling embarrassed but just as I did so a huge crashing, rumbling sound filled the air and I ducked down, clapping my hands over my ears, sure that we were under attack.
Alicia laughed out loud while Coal covered his mouth to try and hide his amusement. Even Kaloo looked entertained, tilting her head to the side and watching Laurie and I as we tried to recover our composure.
“What?" I demanded.
Alicia bit her lip but didn't reply right away.
Feeling very embarrassed but not sure why, I straightened up again and pulled Laurie with me. She was looking at the trees suspiciously as if they’d made the noise and light appear.
"Explain." I folded my arms and frowned, feeling like an idiot. Coal caught sight of my expression and managed to stop grinning at us.
“We are sorry." He gave me the puppy dog eyes but I wasn't convinced. I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for the explanation
"It's thunder and lighting, when a storm- do you know what a storm is?"
"I understand the principals of weather, we just haven't experienced them," I snapped. "It just took us by surprise. We're fine aren't we Laurie?"
“Sure," Laurie replied but she was still looking at the trees as though they were to blame somehow.
"Let's get going, I'm sure it won't be so funny if the Creepers discover us because you two find us so hilarious," I snarled, pushing past Coal as he tried to reach a hand out towards me.
Alicia shook her head and started on through the trees, her machete held ready as she went. I was freezing cold, covered in mud and furious.
I kept up my bad temper for a solid fifteen minutes before the surroundings distracted me enough to forget about it. The thunder and lighting continued but thankfully there was no rain yet. I'd been informed that it was going to be wet and cold. I didn't feel like experiencing it for myself would be particularly enlightening beyond that.
The ground was covered in a green moss. It was springy under our feet and squelched with each step I took. I was glad that my boots were so well made and my feet stayed warm and snug inside.
Alicia held the GPS in front of her and guided us forward with purpose.
The land started to slope down, slightly at first but getting steeper and steeper so that it became hard not to slip and slide on the spongy ground.
We soon found ourselves at the lip of a rock face which jutted out over the steep hill. Alicia held out the GPS and it clearly showed that our destination was beyond the cliff.