8 Chapter Eight: Silent Night

Damien woke up, scared. Not for himself, but for Camo. Her voice held something he wasn't used to. It was urgent and scared.  Camo wasn't one to get scared. He'd known her for three years now, and they'd been through the worst crap imaginable. And she'd never once been afraid. She'd look up the barrel of a gun and laugh. She'd de-arm a bomb calmly. She'd run into a four to one fight smiling. She'd never show fear, Damien wasn't even sure she knew fear. But the sound in her voice made his skin crawl. It was laced with terror.

After his brain registered her fear, Damien realized what she had said. Fire. His head snapped to their makeshift fire pit. All that remained were ashes and a few glowing embers.  He heard the crashing as someone made a blind dash through the forest.

Camo went off on her own. Running. After waking me with fear. Something's wrong.

As Damien pieced these together, he was rushing to start up the fire, adding dried leaves and twigs to catch the flame. Once it was started, he rushed to Sergent Storm's side.

"Sir. Wake up." He said.

"I'm already awake. Camo woke me." Sargent Storm replied.

"I'm going to find her. She could be in trouble." Damien said, standing and checking his gun.

Sergent Storm nodded, taking the gun Damien was handing him. Damien turned to leave, about to take a step when he heard the gun shots. Three in quick succession. His pulse quickened.

Camo is an excellent shot. She's in a panic.

Damien realized, feeling as if icy fear was running through his veins in place of blood. Damien thought he heard yelling. No words, but the cry someone makes when they've been injured.

Damien took off into a run, gun at the ready. It felt as if he was stepping on every branch, stumbling over every rock. He was in a panic.

I have to get to Camo. I can't lose her.

His heart twinged in pain. The very thought of Camo dead was bringing tears to his eyes. Although Damien wouldn't ever admit what he felt, the anxiety and fear he was fighting back right now was nearly overwhelming.

A growl made Damien freeze. It was dark, full of maleovence. It made his spine tingle. Whatever made the sound was clearly a creature of evil. He slowly moved his head from side to side, looking for the source of the growl. It was too dark to see anything.

Damn it, I should've brought a tortch.

A weak groan came from his left.

Camo.

His heart beat sped up again, whatever had attacked her was still close. He lifted his gun, slowly backing up in the direction of Camo. His heel hit something, and another groan came up from behind him.

At least she's still alive.

Damien was just about to kneel down, when one of the shadows broke away from the others.  It was fast, black as the night, with blood colored eyes. Shining white teeth hurtled towards Damien's throat. On reflex, Damine shot his gun. The creature yelped and fell. Still growling, in disappeared into the darkness.

Damien was still on alert, waiting for another attack. He slowly crouched by Camo, feeling rather than seeing her. He took her arm, wrapped it around his shoulder, and lifted her into his arms, cradling her like she was fragile.

She was weak, but held onto Damien. Everything about her hurt; her head, her shoulder, her legs, everything. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn't let  herself. Somewhere along the way, Camo slipped into unconsciousness, the living shadow ever haunting her in the darkest recesses of her mind.

The night was once again, silent.