At first Nara thought they both died, until she placed her ear over there chest.
She exhaled a breath of relief after feeling there chest rise and fall and hearing there heart beat.
Then she dragged them to the entrance of the cave. Away from the corpses. Away from the blood.
The rest of the day mother and son slept.
Unju didn't stir, I didn't move.Not even my in dreams. Nara kept watch. Awake. Alert. Hollowed out.
Every gust of wind at the cave mouth sounded like footsteps. Every snapping twig outside sounded like another Greyson. Another man come to drag them back into chains.
But none came.
Still, her heart refused peace.
After her second hour, she stripped the dead men of their weapons.
Tom's pistol.
Mitchel's belt knife.
Greyson's rifle-heavy, but clean.
She checked their bodies for bullets. For flint. For food. There wasn't much. A few dried jerky strips. A canteen half-full. She took it all.
Her belly felt hollow the moment she saw the jerky so she scarfed them down the moment she saw it.
That night Nara sat with her back against the wall, Gresyons rifle clutched in her hand, eyes locked on the mouth of the cave.
Every breeze that touched the entrance made her flinch.
Every creak of the stones made her grip tighten.
She barely breathed.
Time didn't move.
Only her fear roamed the dark like a predator. What if another catcher came? What if they weren't done hunting? What if the last three were just scouts?
She played the thoughts over and over like rot in her brain.
Sleep had found her in the end, God only knows how. She just remember waking from the sound of her stomach growling.
After checking if unju and I was still alive She tried to hunt.
she followed the narrow path down the creek. Moving like her brothers used to when they chased rabbits barefoot in the brush.
But no rabbit came.
She reset the traps. Waited. Came back to nothing.
That whole day
By the second night, the hunger clawed her from the inside.
She chewed tree bark. Dug for roots. Tried to remember which berries weren't poison. Her hands shook. Her breaths grew shallow.
Still-she endured.
Because Unju and the child wouldn't wake.
And someone had to protect them.
That whole day Unju didn't stir. I didn't whimper. We just... slept. While Nara had to fight her survival instincts to find slumber.
By the next morning, her stomach felt like it was collapsing in on itself.
Her legs were weak. Her eyes sunken.
But her grip on the rilfle never loosened.
She sat at the edge of the cave, arms wrapped around her knees, watching the forest for shadows.
Unju gasped awake.
Pain lit up her body before thought could form. Her chest throbbed, her stomach was tight with hunger, and her skin was slick with sweat and milk. Her breasts were heavy, painfully full, leaking warmth through her dress in thick, sticky trails.
She curled inward with a hiss, cradling herself, then felt me. Still beside her, still breathing, still silent.
For now.
Nara sat near the cave mouth, slumped against the rock wall with dark circles under her eyes and a rifle clenched in her lap. She startled at the sound of movement and rose instantly.
"Unju?"
Unju's voice was dry, cracked. "He's hungry. I... I need to feed him. I need to eat too."
"You've been out for two days." Nara's voice trembled, relief battling exhaustion. "I-I tried. I tried to catch something. Rabbits. Squirrels. Anything. But..."
She shook her head, eyes welling eith unshed tearsm. "I couldn't."
Unju gave a slow nod. No scolding. No blame. Just understanding. "We'll figure something out."
But even as she said it, her arms trembled under the weight of me.
Nara had scavenged. She'd stripped what she could from the bodies. Weapons, A canteen, flint, salted jerky long since gone.
Now there was no food, no fire. No strength. Just the cold of the cave and the weight of fear. And now, a sound, a sharp sudden cry.
Me.
Unju didn't panic, she didn't flinch.
She pulled him to her breast, despite the ache, despite the hollow in her own stomach, despite the feeling of being cracked open and drained. Milk still came.
I drank, my little mouth latched fast, desperate and all the while, I smiled wide. Too wide.
Too knowing.
The sound of the wind outside filled the silence between the women. Crackling leaves. The drip of cave water.
And that baby, feeding in silence. Eyes open. Watching.
Nara sat close, clutching her knees. "I thought you were dead. Both of you."
Unju didn't answer.
Her eyes were distant-drawn not to the present, but somewhere deeper. Somewhere darker. Somewhere behind my black, ancient eyes.
But mother was determined, she made a promise I would survive no matter what. She would make sure of it.
The forest gave nothing. No berries. No roots. No game. Just endless trees and mocking silence. Even the birds seemed to have vanished. No matter how far they wandered, how carefully they searched, everything remained just out of reach - as if the woods itself were working against them.
The sun had started to fade by the time they gave up.
Unju and Nara returned to the cave with sore feet, hollow bellies, and empty hands. Their limbs hung heavy, like weights tied to their shoulders. Neither spoke. There was nothing left to say.
Unju held me in her arms, too tired to even adjust her posture. Nara curled beside her, face buried in her knees.
The hunger was becoming loud. Not a sound, a feeling.
It lived in the mom stomach. In nara's shaking hands. In the way their eyes lingered too long on the river as if hoping food might simply rise from it.
I didn't like it, their fear was bad, but hunger was worse. It made them smaller, slower.
The cave had become a place of waitingbut waiting felt wrong. To me the answer was obvious. At least it was obvious to the dead men living inside my head.
Their memories floated through me in broken pieces. Boots. Whips. Anger. Hate.
So much hate.
I didn't understand most of it. Why did they dislike skin? Why did they look at people who looked like my mother and become angry?
It made no sense. But their memories remained. And because of them i was able to understand what mom and nara was saying. And in those memories horses.
The dead men had left horses, strong horses caring food and resources.
I could see them standing by the river. Smell them. Feel them. The memory wasn't mine. But the answer was.
I pointed. But mom didn't notice. So I pointed harder. My tiny arm trembled.
Still nothing.
Frustration swelled inside me. The horses were right there. Couldn't they see them?
I made a sound. Not a cry, not quite.
A push. "Hh..."
Both women looked down.
Good.
I pointed again. Toward the cave mouth, toward the river, toward the horses. Nara frowned then followed my finger.
Silence.
Then confusion. As they tried to piece together what i ment. I grabbed mother's sulied tunic and pulled while I pointed at the exit. "Gggaa!" I try to say go but it came out garbled leaving me frustrated and near tears.
This made unju even more confused. "Not right now baby its to late to go outside." Mom said while turning to face nara. But nara was already moving to the exit.
"We're you going?" Unju asks as she looks at Nara quizitavly. I pulled mom again and pointed to nara who stood at the caves entrance waiting.
"That baby's not normal and he's saved our butts more then once so im inclined to listen to him." Nara proclaimed as she walked to the exit.
My smile widened in response as I nodded yes at naras words.
"But!! But he's only 5 days old." Unju said confused but she still followed nara outside.
The moon was high when they reached the creek. Water gurgled steadily under the stars, black and silver in the dim glow. The forest whispered and creaked, as if trying to talk them out of what they were about to do.
Unju looked down at her son. "Which way?"
Sol didn't hesitate. He pointed downstream - back the same way they'd come, the same direction the slave catchers had tried to follow them. Nara stiffened.
"Not back there!" Nara complained knowing thier old plantation was in that direction.
My smile disappeared replaced with angry frown as I point down stream over and over again as my eyes stay glued to my moms.
Unju clutched Sol to her chest. Nara hugged herself, stepping into the cold water with hesitation. It reached their knees, then their thighs, then higher. The current pulled, reluctant to let them pass.
"You're kidding," she muttered. "You want us to go back? Back to were we ran from?" She said fear making her forget what she said earlier
Unju didn't answer. She had already made up her mind so she just started walking.
Nara groaned and followed.
They moved slowly, the water making every step a strain. Branches clawed at their arms, rocks bit at their feet through soaked boots. Every now and then, the wind would shift, and they swore they could hear voices ghosts of the men they'd left behind in the cave.
Every nerve in nara's body warned against going anywhere near there plantation so every step backwards wore her confidence in this child down to a nub.
After thirty minutes, Nara let out a long, sharp breath.
"This is a wild goose chase," she hissed.
"There's nothing down there but death." Nara mumble mostly to herself.
"I don't hear anything," Unju muttered.
"That's the point. There's nothing. No signs. No sound. Just freezing water and dark trees."
"I dey feel like mumu. What was i thinking following a baby." My smile faded the moment i heard nara.
"Gahga." I pulled on my mother's tunic stealing her attention. My black eyes were wide open, my face serious now, no smile. I raised a chubby hand and pointed downstream again.
The women looked at one another. Neither said a word. They just kept walking.
Another hour passed. Their legs were trembling, their arms scratched and stinging, and their bellies hollow. The forest seemed endless. Mocking. Every shadow looked like a trap.
"I swear, if this baby's just playing gam..." Nara started.
"Look i get it, this feels weird. Trusting a week old baby with our lives sounds mad but I do trust him. So you either follow or go back to the cave." Unju's words made me smile smugly.
Nara kicked at the water but followed begrudgingly.
Luckily only thirty more minutes they saw them. Three horses. Tied to a wide tree near the bank.
They stood silent, their reins looped carefully. Packs still strapped to their backs, saddlebags stuffed with food, tents, and medical supplies everything the slave catchers needed to spend a weak in the woods.
Unju and Nara froze. They didn't dare breathe.
It was like stumbling onto a dream. Or a miracle.
Unju said nothing. She just knelt in the shallows, held her baby close, and whispered, "Thank you."
Nara looked at Sol, eyes wide. "He knew. He really knew."
Then came the scream.
"YEEEEEEES!" she howled, fists in the air. "WE DID IT! I TOLD YOU-!"
"Shhh!" Unju hissed, nearly dropping Sol in the process. "Do you want to get our heads blown off?! You forget you're a runaway?!"
Nara clamped her mouth shut, suddenly remembering the world they lived in. Her victory turned to panic, and she sprinted toward the nearest horse.
"I'm not letting this thing escape," she muttered, reaching into her waistband and pulling out a knife. She grabbed the horse by the bridle, preparing to slit its throat
The horse immediately felt different. Its heart sped up.
Fear.
I knew that feeling. The dead men inside my head knew it too. One of there memories surfaced uninvited.
A horse screaming, a gunshot then laughter. I hated that memory.
The horse jerked against the bridle.
No, not food, not yet. The answer was obvious.
The dead men had left three horses because three horses were useful
"STAGH....." made a sound, a loud one, Not a cry. A demand.
Both women flinched.
Good.
I pointed at the horse. Then at the woods. Then at the horse again.
Unju blinked. "Did he just-?"
"Yes," Nara said breathlessly, turning to stare at the infant. "Again."
They exchanged another wide-eyed look before slowly turning away from the frantic horse.
I just stared at them, expression unreadable, that eerie little smile dancing on his lips.
Without another word, the women began to check the bags slung over the horses. Their fingers trembled as they opened one of the saddlebags.
Cans. Packaged meat. Nuts. Dehydrated fruit. Protein bars. Crackers. More food than they had seen this weeks.
Before they could count or plan or ration-they ripped into it.
Tearing open packages with dirt-stained fingers, they devoured everything in sight. Food disappeared in seconds, shoved into their mouths without pause. The hunger that had stalked them for days finally gave way to animal need.
And i just watched. Still, silent, smiling. He looked at them not with pity or confusion-but with pride.
Like he had done something. Like this was all part of a plan.
Once their bodies slowed down and their stomachs caught up to their desperation, the two women sat back in the dirt, chewing slowly, crumbs all over their faces.
Unju wiped her mouth and stood up, dazed.
"We're taking two."
Nara nodded.
They chose the two healthiest looking horses, packed the food carefully, then unstrapped the third malnurished looking horse's bags and gave it a gentle smack on the flank. It bolted off into the trees, silent and swift, leaving them alone again.
No longer on foot. No longer starving.
Unju looked back at the direction of the cave in the distance. The place that had hidden their fear, their blood.
It was time to move forward.
"Let's go deeper," she said.
And they rode deeper into the woods, away from the world that wanted to keep them trapped.