Chapter Text
Collin hoisted himself up onto the reinforced balcony, watching Elaine and Kevin mill around in the campsite below. The two were a good team, considering the circumstances; Elaine kept the vines clipped back and tidy, and Kevin made sure the firewood was always stacked up to the top of the log shelter.
"Collin," Kevin shouted, dropping his splitting maul. "Time for your shot."
Collin sighed dramatically. "But I just got up here."
"Get down here," his uncle said firmly. He strode over to stand just under the balcony's edge, folding his arms over his chest.
The teenager grumbled and slithered down onto the packed dirt. He sat down beside Elaine's medical station and rolled his pant leg up.
Elaine gave him a weary smile while she unpacked the needle and vial. "These are getting harder to find," the graying woman commented. The shot was over fast, to Collin's relief, and Kevin had gone back to splitting wood by the camp entrance.
"Thanks, Auntie," Collin said, shoving his pant leg back into place and getting to his feet.
Elaine smiled again, patting his cheek. "Any time, honey. You know you can ask me for help with anything."
Collin nodded and wandered over to the camp's back exit, looking for his brother. The setting sun glinted off the barrel of Matthew's rifle by the riverside.
"Matty's almost back," The boy announced, scampering out into the field beside the crumbling apartment wall.
Elaine shouted after him to watch his step, but Collin barely heard her. He was already sprinting to his brother's side, tackling the older man in a hug.
"Hey, Collin!" Matthew greeted, laughing and patting his younger brother's back. "You miss me that much?"
"Shut up," Collin grunted, shoving Matthew's rifle out of the way of his face. "Where have you been? It's been two days!"
"I was tracking a mimic out by the old convenience store," Matthew answered. "It gave me the slip after I made it past the tackle shop."
"That's like, half a mile from here," the teen scoffed. "Did it really take you two days to walk half a mile?"
Matthew didn't reply, pushing past the younger man to get to the camp.
Collin trailed after him, shivering when a cold breeze struck his side. "It's almost winter," he commented.
Matthew nodded curtly. "Mhm."
Kevin greeted both of them with a gruff hum, shoving the last few bits of wood into the log shelter and hanging the maul on its braided hook. "Good to see you back, Matt."
"It's Matthew," the young man said quietly, not meeting his uncle's eyes. He dropped his rifle by the slate-shelf armory and made a beeline for the campfire.
Elaine, to her credit, seemed relieved Matthew was back safely. "Oh, good lord, boy, you had me pulling my hair out in clumps," she teased, pulling her nephew in for a hug. "I'm glad you're safe."
Collin noticed that Matthew was leaning on his right leg, keeping the weight off his left. "You look like a constipated penguin," he commented.
"Yeah, and you look like you just climbed out of the Rift," Matthew snapped. He slung a brace of rabbits off his shoulder and offered them to Elaine, who passed them off to Collin.
"At least you got something to eat," the teen said, grabbing the skinning knife from their makeshift kitchen. "Better than wandering for two days and coming back with nothing."
Matthew finally pulled away from Elaine, giving her a soft pat on the shoulder. "Any news?"
"A team of UTRUM operatives passed by, but they didn't bother us," Kevin said. "They were tracking something, I think."
Matthew frowned. "Which way were they headed? East?"
"Seemed like it," the older man agreed.
Collin tried to make it seem like he wasn't eavesdropping, but he nearly cut his thumb off trying to skin a rabbit without looking. He winced and looked around frantically for something to wrap around the wound.
"You fuckin' dunce," Matthew scoffed.
"Yeah, laugh it up," Collin retorted. He stole a few Lamb's Ear leaves from Elaine's little garden and folded them around his bleeding thumb. Once he was finished, he got back to working on the rabbit, setting the pelt aside for later. Elaine had already set up a pot of water to boil over the fire, bless her heart, and she'd moved on to help Matthew with his leg.
The meat was easy enough to cook. Collin just had to make sure none of the pieces stuck to the bottom of the cooking pot, and he added a handful of salt to the water. He caught faint snippets of his uncle and brother talking.
"...by the river. It might have..."
"...don't want to think about that right now, Mathew..."
The boy scratched at his forearm nervously. He wasn't sure what the older men were talking about, but it worried him.
After about 5 minutes of hushed chatter, Kevin realized Collin was listening in and dragged Matthew into one of the sleeping tents. Collin sighed quietly and turned around to face the cooking pot again, grabbing one of the wooden spoons Kevin had carved months ago.
The world faded in and out while he worked, narrowing and expanding around him. It felt like he'd dunked his head underwater.
Collin pulled the meat out when it looked done, dropping the pieces onto the four plates Elaine had set out. She'd made them herself during the summer, using clay she'd dug out of the riverbed and a few smoothed pieces of shale.
"Matty, food's done," Collin announced, looking back toward the tent he and Kevin had disappeared into. His brother didn't respond.
Now worried, the young man grabbed his brother's plate and strode over, brushing one of the flaps aside. "Matty?"
"Thanks," Matthew said, grabbing the plate and tugging the flap shut again. He'd done it so fast, Collin didn't have time to look at him.
☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆
Collin jerked awake in the middle of the night, his skin prickling. He wasn’t sure what had woken him until another scream sounded.
Looking around, he realized nobody else was awake.
The boy scrambled to his feet, grabbing one of his brother’s hunting knives on his way to the camp’s exit. The thought that it might be a mimic didn’t even cross his mind, too focused on looking for the source of the screaming.
“Where are you?” Collin shouted, his voice cracking. He sprinted for the river and paced along the bank for a good 5 minutes, his chest heaving.
“Help!” came the cry. This time, Collin spotted a man clinging to a rotting, waterlogged trunk, hanging on for dear life. He waded in without a second thought, the knife forgotten on the pebbly shore.
“Hold on,” the boy called out. He felt the rocks slipping from under his feet, and almost went under before he reached the man. “I’m coming to help, stay there!”
Once Collin was within grabbing range, the stranger latched onto him, dragging him under the water. He thought it was an accident at first, trying to fight his way back to the surface, but the feeling of sharp nails digging into his skin told him otherwise.
He thought it was over for a few seconds. The boy scrabbled at the riverbed and thrashed as hard as he could, but the stranger wouldn’t let go. Murky water flooded his mouth and nose, and what little vision he still had went blurry when his head hit the sharp rocks.
Collin felt the weight lift off him just before he fully blacked out, and he coughed out a mouthful of river water.
“Idiot,” a voice beside him grunted, dumping him on the bank. “Do you want to die?”
Collin finished vomiting up the rest of the water and turned to stare at his rescuer. “...what?”
“I said, do you want to die? Because that’s how you fucking do it,” the man snapped. He yanked the bronze gloves off his hands and wrung the water out of them with a grimace.
The boy shook his head dazedly. “He was screaming for help. I just thought-”
“Clearly not,” the stranger cut in. He folded his arms across his chest and stared down at Collin.
Collin blinked the residual water out of his eyes and tried to stand up. He was shaking so hard he almost collapsed, resigning himself to sitting on the rocky shore.
Do you have a camp nearby, or are you really stupid?” the man continued. He had black and gold stripes and swirls lining his forearms and reaching up his neck, and Collin assumed there were more patterns under his shirt.
“None of your business,” Collin replied, his teeth chattering. The rift had changed their weather since it opened, and warm nights were rare, even during the summer.
The stranger huffed a laugh, turning to scan the rows of kudzu and ivy. “At least you have some common sense.” He glanced back at Collin, scanning the boy for any severe injuries. “You’re bleeding.”
Collin looked down at his midsection, his eyes widening at the sight of his injured stomach. The river rocks had dug into his skin and left cuts all over him, apparently. “Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’.”
The two stared at each other for a long, uncomfortable moment, and Collin finally struggled back to his feet. “I need to go.”
His acquaintance didn’t offer help, but he did watch the boy carefully as he staggered back toward his camp. The kudzu swallowed him like a smoke screen after a few steps.
☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆
Naturally, Elaine was pacing around when he got back, her face drawn in a worried frown. She lit up when she saw Collin shuffle in, rushing to his side.
“There you are,” the graying woman whispered, grabbing her nephew by the bicep and shoulder. “Where have you been?”
“I went for a walk,” Collin lied, crossing his arms over his torso. “Slipped on the riverbank.”
Elaine scowled at the lie, dragging Collin over to her tent. She didn’t press the matter further.
The boy sat patiently while his aunt chopped up a few weird-smelling leaves and ground them with a rock. “You’re not gonna make me eat those, are you?”
“I might,” Elaine said, smiling wryly. “Go find another shirt before you freeze to death."
“Yes ma’am,” Collin mumbled, shuffling over to the clothing pile and digging out a dry shirt. It was as clean as Elaine could get it, and had a faded album cover on the front. He peeled off his soaked, tattered shirt and dropped it carelessly, pulling the dry one on with a quiet sigh.
Elaine had finished grinding up the weird herb pulp when he got back, and he let her smear it on his skin. “That feels weird,” the boy mumbled.
“Better than an infection,” his aunt replied, patting his cheek. “Be more careful, capisce? No more midnight adventures.”
Collin nodded and went to sit by the fire, shaking water out of his hair. He slumped over on one of the log benches and dozed off.