Lorraine's POV
The sun had been a blunt, relentless thing all day, and by the time it sank low enough to gild the treetops we all felt like we'd been scrubbed raw. We'd been walking for hours, miles that stretched in the form of never ending paths. The woods around us had been a rolling sea of green and brown, birds hiding from our passing, shafts of light slicing through the canopy.
We walked mostly in silence. It was easier that way. The quiet allowed each of us to listen for things that might otherwise be lost in chatter, the snap of a twig that wasn't ours, the thin metallic whisper of armor too close, the soft scuff of a boot trying to mask its approach. Silence made you sharper. Silence kept you alive.
Every so often the silence broke because Felix couldn't help himself. His complaints started as small grumbles and swelled into full tantrums.
