Chapter 24: Gift
"Oh, you are both alive," Elizabeth mumbled, sitting back down. "I was wrong." Her eyes wandered to the four Ostrich they carried, wondering why they brought more.
"You would have loved that," Andrew said, already knowing she would react this way. His eyes turned to the roasting Ostrich in the campfire. "It would be best you rost more. My metabolism has increased. Being the one who hunted it, I should get more than two pieces."
"Why?" Brody antagonized, folding his bloody arm. He stood beside the campfire, staring down at Andrew.
Andrew sighed, holding back his anger. "I am happy because I am now a level three, so please, don't play with fire. I would gladly kill you."
Brody scoffed, shaking his head. "You keep trying to use your level to scare me, but let me tell you, kid, I ain't scared of you. To me, you are just a spoiled power-hungry brat who thinks any little advantage he is worth something."
At this, Andrew's face contorted to rage. He dropped both Ostrich, anger boiling through him. "I don't like you, old man."
"Sadly, I don't like you too. What are you going to do? Use your level three strength to kill me?" Brody mocked, a smirk growing through his face.
"Ok, no more arguement guys!" Leonardo chuckled, running between the two of them before a fight broke through. He doesn't believe Andrew had reached level three, but there was a chance he have. Knowing Andrew, he must have put all his stat points into strength once more. "Just calm down. We are teammates here. Brothers-in-arm."
"Not with him if he won't get his act together." Brody stood his ground, arm still folded. "You are unique, but not special. So get your act together, boy. If I wanted, I would be a level three like you, meaning your level isn't nothing here."
"Maybe after I cave in your chest you will know I am special," Andrew growled, stepping forward only to be stopped by Leonardo. "Calm down," Leonardo whispered, holding him back.
"There he goes again." Brody laughed, not a hint of fear present. "I can give two shit for your strength. The fact stands, I don't respect you. How can you expect respect if you don't give one?"
"You--"
Ezekiel walked away from the tree, now standing beside Brody. "I agree, a big man over here, level 3." He mocked, snarling at Andrew. "You haven't entered the real world, so don't think we will fear or respect you because you are a level three. I respect Leonardo more than I do you, and he is the weakest amongst us."
"Hay. I am not that weak." Leonardo grumbled. Yes, he hates confrontation, but that doesn't mean he is weak.
"Excuse me." Edward's voice cut through the tense atmosphere, drawing all attention to him. "I would like to include I am now a level 5. So..."
"What?" Elizabeth asked, tilting her head. "Why did you mention that?"
Edward shrugged, "I just wanted to say I am the strongest amongst us." He casually said, walking away, dragging the Ostrich with him. "So yeah. Respect me!" He shouted.
The six of them stirred as he walked away from the two, all confused. " Is he wrong in the head?" Ezekiel asked, looking at Leonardo and Emma.
"No." Emma shook her head, "He is a chill guy. I guess he didn't like the tense atmosphere?"
"I met someone like him in jail," Ezekiel said, shaking his head. "They are the scariest of all criminals."
"You went to jail?" Emma asked, turning to him. "How come?"
"I will tell you later." Ezekiel looked at the two Ostrich beside Andrew. "Who are those for?"
Andrew didn't respond and picked up both dead Ostrich and walked away, following Edward. They both walked through the grass, going towards the place they woke up at. There, they saw ten or so lit campfires with a group of people surrounding them. Andrew and Edward stopped in their track, staring at the group of people.
"Seems like they have split into 11 groups," Elizabeth said, walking up behind them. "Just like we split from the group of 100, they have also split to form smaller groups."
"Why did you follow us?" Andrew hissed, glaring at her.
"I was curious about where you two were going with these ostriches." She smiled, turning to Andrew. "What a good boy. You want to apologize for killing her baby."
"Shut your fucking mouth." Andrew fumed, turned away, and continued walking.
"I can help you with that." Elizabeth said, walking ahead of Andrew, going towards a specific campfire. "Just follow my lead before you and your anger mess everything up."
Andrew knew she was right about this fact, so he decided not to say anything but follow her in silence. Edward followed the both of them, inspecting the campfires.
Some campfires were roasting what seemed like snakes and other rats. The one they were walking toward was instead roasting a bird, which he quickly recognized as Flamingo.
"So there are Flamingos here," Elizabeth muttered, also recognizing the bird. "So there must be water nearby."
Edward nodded at this. The flooded grassland was not the only source of water. Maybe he could ask them where they found the Flamingo.
The woman that slapped Elizabeth was part of this group, and she was the first to notice the trio walking toward them. "Why the fuck are you lots here?" She asked, getting on her feet.
Her words made her other five campfire members notice the three of them, causing them to all stand up in hostility, except a woman. She stood still, staring into the burning campfire, her brown eyes glassy, perhaps losing their luster. She focused on something unseen in the fire, never once blinking.
Those in the other campfire group also turned to them, staring. More specifically, they were staring at the four dead Ostriches with them.
"We came to apologize." Elizabeth gave a friendly smile. Elizabeth's smile grew after noticing the woman's swollen left chick where Brody had slapped her. Even though she tried her best to hide the mark with her hair, it was still visible.
She noticed Elizabeth's stair, causing her to cover it with her hair. "Get lost."
Elizabeth kept her smile, gesturing to Andrew and Edward then at the Ostriches. "These four Ostrich are four her." She said, pointing at the woman staring into the fire. "We are sorry for killing her unborn child, but we don't regret it. So take this as a sign of our apology."
"Are you trying to antagonize me?" The woman asked, folding her arm.
"Now, why would I do that?" Elizabeth folded her arm, looking hurt. "I am not here to start trouble, just here to deliver my gift."
'My?' Andrew thought, looking down at the Ostriches and then Elizabeth. 'MY!?' He was about to say something, but Edward shook his head. Gritting his teeth and holding back his anger, Andrew decided to stay still.
"These four birds would be enough to feed you guys for about three days," Elizabeth explained, gesturing for Andrew and Edward to put the Ostriches in front of the woman. "I hope you all can forgive us. After all, we did save your lives. Oh, and, we will bring more Ostrich for you guys tomorrow."
Elizabeth turned and walked away from the raging woman, Andrew, and Edward following after her. The other groups watched them leave before some people from other campfires went to the woman, asking for a piece of the birds.
When out of sight, Elizabeth's smile disappeared. "You both know they will die, right?"
"Yes." Andrew nodded, knowing that the woman would die due to the baby's death in her stomach. It would rot inside her and kill her from the inside out. If it was back in civilization, a doctor could have operated on and removed the dead baby. But they were in the wilderness, and nothing could remove the baby from her. 'I am sorry.'
Elizabeth looked back at Andrew, his shoulders trembling, staring at the ground as he walked. Turning around, she started walking like she was marching. "That is not what I was talking about~" She sang with a smile on her face.
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