Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

The Hot springs

It was two days later. Everyone was hurdled close to the main campfire. The levity from two days ago was long gone. And it wasn't just misery now. Fear permeated the group. The cold bit harder and reached deeper with every unsuccessful day they hiked through the rainforest. Hadley was being crushed by the pressure to deliver. There was mumbling and grumbling around her, but even now, no one was brave enough to come up to her face and say it: she had condemned them to death.

The last two days had been hell. Rain had woken them up two nights ago and it had continued raining for two days straight. They were wet, cold, muddy, miserable, scared and sleep deprived.

And they were so hopelessly, hopelessly lost.

"Hey you? What are you thinking about?" Teroi cheerily asked, jumping over the log she was leaning on, crouching next to her and putting his hands out close to the fire.

He'd been out in the woods with Drew looking for Brownie. A few days ago, the dog started disappearing into the woods, hunting for rabbits and squirrels, draining them of blood and bringing the bloodless corpses to Crystal and Billy. They were freaked out when Brownie first did it, but now they looked forward to it because it meant an easy dinner. But Brownie hadn't been back for two days, and Drew was inconsolable. He decided to go after the dog, and they had to force him to stay with the group. To ensure Drew wouldn't run into the woods on his own the first chance he got, Teroi eventually agreed to accompany him on a hike to search for the dog. A quick bark from the other side of the fire confirmed they had found the little rascal.

Hadley sighed, blowing into her hands before reaching for the fire again.

That happy bark was the one good thing from the last couple of days. And if it had come back with a carcass from another hunt, it meant hot broth to chase away the bone chilling cold in addition to hugs from the loveable canine.

"I'm thinking about how I want to crawl into this fire." Hadley grumpily replied to Teroi, pulling damp tablecloths tighter around herself, extremely annoyed by his bizarre cheeriness.

"I've got just the thing," Teroi whispered conspiratorially. He made Hadley face him. "Come on. I found something that you'll definitely want to see."

"I'm not leaving this fire, Tee." Hadley insisted.

"I promise, you won't regret it, Lee." he said with an annoyingly smug, happy, lopsided grin.

Not having anything else to do, Hadley relented. She dropped the damp tablecloths and followed Teroi. They walked for about five minutes and just when Hadley was about to start complaining, she saw it. The full moon was showing off tonight in a cloudless sky, and its white glow lit billowy, swirling clouds floating on the little lagoon ahead of them to create the most whimsical image.

"Is that...?" Hadley couldn't say the next word because she was afraid to have the illusion cruelly shattered if it wasn't true.

"Yup! It's warm!" Teroi confirmed, bubbling with excitement.

He giddily skipped towards the little steaming pool, stripping off his clothes one by one with each step.

"What are you doing?" Hadley called out, caught up in the whimsy.

"I'm going in, obviously!" He called back, laughing. Finally naked, one of his hands covering his crotch, he waved for her to follow as he gingerly made his way over the rocks and into the water. "Come on!"

Hadley laughed and pulled off all her clothes too, following his tracks. The moment her ice-cold foot hit the water, she moaned. It was heavenly. She carefully waded in, eager to submerge her whole body into the warm, almost hot, water. Despite the steam, the water was crystal clear, moving gently beneath and around them. Teroi called her over to him.