Chapter 15 - A Dead End?

They only stayed there for half an hour, mourning Elke before they set up to move again.

"How long are you planning to conceal yourself so horribly?" Fayette sighed in annoyance after they left the clearing.

"..." Valentine kept his silence, waking forward looking for any threats, but there were none.

From a three a fidgeting woman came out and stared deeply not at Valentine, but at Fayette.

"Please, I'm not going to try anything with him if that's what worries you... I just, want to keep living, let me go with you, I won't be a freeloader... I will fight if necessary! You don't need to feed me when I'm hungry, I just want to follow." Vera begged.

If there is anyone capable of leaving this damned forest, if such a thing is even possible, is them.

And although she deeply envied Fayette for finding such a man here, that was the least of her concerns presently... Right now she only wanted to survive and she wouldn't be staying in that cave by herself until someone came to abuse her.

At least these two would ignore her and show her the way out...

"You can follow us, but you're totally responsible for your own security." The man asserted and Fayette was okay with that condition, as long as she stayed far enough, there shouldn't be a problem.

She threw Vera a knife.

"Use that to defend yourself, that's my last wisp of humanism towards you...If you try something funny..." Her words grey progressively colder!

"I won't!" Vera took the knife showed her appreciation, at least now she had something to use to defend herself!

***

After deciding their arrangement, they kept going ahead... Several days went without an important event taking place.

At some point, they stopped spotting green leaves again, with the forest getting charred... A Black Cloud must have passed by here, but there wasn't a single burning three to point the way.

"Should we get going straight?" Fayette asked having eaten a piece of his flesh daily, and he too tasting hers once every two days.

Vera stumbled behind them, with her sheer will, hungry as hell. But not daring to ask them for their flesh... She even considered taking her own flesh, but the thought seemed so... Disgusting, for some reason eating other's is okay but not her own.

Still, she's determined to follow them!

Valentine stopped in his tracks, they have no way to tell if they're going straight or not in this forest.

At some point, he had actually hoped to catch a glimpse of a black cloud only for the sake of following it for directions, but none has appeared so far, maybe three people are not enough to attract it.

He even thought about staring at the trees and seeing the way they burned. Hinting at the fact that if the flame was leaning, there should be a part of the tree that's more burned than the other.

Such an experiment was inconclusive as if they were not allowed to 'cheat'.

The whole tree was burned to the crisp maybe even the root.

They're running out of options.

"Why don't we just wait here? If a cloud was here before, maybe there are people or creatures that managed to survive it and they will come to either this section that's still untouched or the other..." Vera stuttered a suggestion that caught their interest.

"... That's not a bad idea, though there is the chance that there are no survivors. If the black cloud's purpose is to 'hunt' for living beings, then I believe getting caught in them is surely a death sentence, it wouldn't make sense otherwise." Fayette reasoned.

"..." Valentine acknowledged both of their opinions.

"Let's stay here for a day or two, I'll keep scouting above the healthy trees to see if we catch a glimpse of one, if we don't... then we will keep going straight."

The women nodded and that was it.

***

Three days later, they had yet to catch a glimpse of one... Their mental health had started to deteriorate drastically.

Vera spent most of the day laying on the ground, it's clear the hunger is killing her, she didn't dare eat her own flesh.

The two noticed that their regeneration is starting to slow down every time they take a chunk of flesh and give it to each other.

Something is happening that they don't know!

"Valentine, we have to do something, we can't stay here for much more..." Thirst and hunger had taken the best out of Fayette, the only thing she could do, was to comfort herself by hugging him as hard as she could.

Valentine knew very well...

"I will go, you two stay here, I'll make sure to bring food..." He stood up only to be harshly grasped by his partner whose' gaze was as cold as a frosted lake!

"DON'T YOU DARE... LEAVE ME HERE, VALENTINE WAGNER!" After giving him 'the look' that a woman gives her man when he's in deep shit, all she received was a deep kiss on her lips!

"Hmn!~" She moaned slightly into the kiss, answering with a fervour of her own as the two rolled on the ground!

Vera stared at all this and bit her lips before turning to the other side.

"This won't work for you forever!" After their kiss finished, Fayette yelled in outrage, but her blush was more than apparent.

Valentine kissed her nose and placed her on the ground with a smirk, "Trust me, it will~ You don't need to worry, if I feel like I am about to die... I'll come here, that way we can leave together."

"Promise?" She asked with a smile, dying no longer holding so much meaning or fright, as long as he's with her.

"Promise."

"Sounds like a death flaw to me." She pouted and evaded his gaze.

"It isn't! When have I lied to you?"

...

She wanted to find an instance but couldn't! 'Dammit!'

"I just want to know something."

"...?"

"You and I... We are a thing, correct?" Now she was truly not looking at his eyes at all!

"... Pft!"

"VALENTINE WAGNER, DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT MY EXPENSE!" Once again she received a kiss, much tender and a lot more possessive.

"Is that even a question? I love you, Fayette Blanchet, Commander of the French Army~" His kind gaze said it all even if the words didn't leave his mouth.

*THUMB!*

A loud palpitation, a deep connection.

She bit her lips and regarded him with myriad feelings, however, in the end, Fayette Blanchet is still Fayette Blanchet!

"Fuck! Couldn't you say it when we were at that beautiful clearing!? Don't say it when we're about to die dammit!"

"Better late than never..." He smiled wryly placing their foreheads together.

"... I love you too, Valentine Wagner, Bringer of Euthanasia... Come back to me or I will haunt you!" tears left her eyes at that moment, she's happy, but she's worried and also scared...

When had she ever felt scared? She's not afraid to die... She's just afraid, that either of them dies... And the other isn't present.

For months they've been together and now they're going to separate because she's too weak to help...

"Hide if you see anything abnormal, also..." He gave Vera a brief glance, "Don't be too hard on her... there is strength in numbers, she might be a very good subordinate... so far, she's shown willpower."

He stood up leaving an annoyed Fayette, left the bag of stones and crystals he had been carrying and only remained with his rags and two knives.

With a fast sprint, he ran towards any particular direction while cutting signals on the trees, probably to lead his way back to them.

When he was far enough, she suddenly heard it.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

He started to shout, loudly!

'So that's your plan...' She smirked in resignation, 'I also have to, work hard!'

He said he would come, so he will definitely come back with food!

She sat up and walked towards Vera, stumbling several feet beside the bewildered girl.

The two stared at one another, Fayette didn't lack female subordinates when she was alive... In fact, most of her subordinates were females.

In order to reach her commander spot, she had to be thrice as strong as the male officers in her generation.

Thrice as intelligent, thrice as smart.

Living in a society where political and military spots were mostly given to men, she always had to do thrice the effort.

And she asked the same from her subordinates, no, she asked more!

Taking a knife, she cut her flesh in the same spot where she had done dozens of times!

"UGGH!!"

Vera understood what she was trying, but didn't expect her to do it for her.

Taking a big enough chunk, Fayette gasped in pain, probably one of the biggest ones she had ever taken, still, she didn't lower her guard in front of Vera.

"Eat it..." She threw the piece of flesh on the ground, they had been eating raw for the past few days, she had truly never lived in such harsh conditions, and hoped this would end soon.

"Why?" She didn't understand, right now... Why would she help her after everything that has happened?

"Just shut up and eat it... This doesn't mean anything, I still want you far from him, understand?! But if we want to survive, we have to help each other."

"... Thank you very much." Vera nodded and grabbed the piece of flesh, then ate it... Like she had done a lot of times before.

Fayette just sat on guard restraining the painful waves that came from her arm, intending not to stare at Vera too much, a part of her was still reluctant to do this, but if Vera turned out to be a total waste, she could always just reproach Valentine for his choice...

"He's a very wonderful man, you're truly lucky to have him..."

"...?" Fayette lifted her eyebrows and stared at the eating Vera.

The latter's red eyes snickered at her, "He's such a wonderful man, I wonder if he's that good in bed, you don't deserve him~"

"What did you say...?" Fayette thought she heard wrong, yes, she must have heard wrong.

"I said, he must be a big stud in bed, can't wait to test him. Aaall the way... up to my uterus where only Shaquille has reached~" As if to make sure this woman heard her words properly, she moved the piece of flesh from her bloodied mouth with a wicked smile and drew lascivious circles on her belly.

!!!

With unprecedented wrath, Fayette forsook the pain coming from her arm and tackled Vera!

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Her hands squeezed Vera's neck as the latter struggled fiercely, but a smile never left her face!

"You didn't want to take... me... Because you know, I can replace you easily... All he needs is to taste me once, slut!" Vera's maniacal laughter didn't correspond with her gradually paling expression, she couldn't overpower Fayette at all!

The ex-commander's eyes turned blood red, her waist itched like never before, it almost hurt! But she couldn't she couldn't let this bitch live!

'I will kill you, I will kill you before he comes back!'

Vera's irises seemed to leave her eyesockets but she never stopped laughing!

'Just a little more, just a little more!' Fayette's mind rejoiced at the thought of this bitch finally leaving them be, for the last few days she's been constantly walking beside them, training to get HER man's gaze, she's tired of it, she will get rid of her now!

Her waist itched, so hard! IT ITCHED!

***

***

"Is anything wrong?"

"Huh?"

Fayette opened her beautiful eyelids and stared at the eating Vera, who in exchange gave her a concerned glance.

"You just froze there for a minute, is there a problem?"

"... N-No, keep on guard."

'Is that really... what I am thinking?' Fayette's eyelids fluttered in worry and she scratched her itching waist, it felt so good to scratch it....