Stranger in the swamp

Her brother holds out his shaking hands and takes his share from her hands.

''Now, repeat after me,'' she starts.

''Thank you forest,'' they both say in unesion. Rather than digging in right away, they blow softly on their meals, waiting for it to cool off.

It's been an especially cold night. Today isn't looking better than yesterday. It's drowsy and grey. It's been raining for days on end, and she feels as though they haven't moved forward at all.

They desperately need to get out of this forest. Her brother's button shirt is completely torn, as are her own boots and jacket. They won''t survive the upcoming winter in these clothes.

It's quiet. It's been like this ever since their youngest sibling died.

Her brother starts sipping at his soup, and immediately hisses as he burns his mouth. She snorts.

''We've done this for weeks, how come you still don't know when it's cold?''

''I'm just hungry.''

She sighs, and puts down her cup to dig in her pocket for a pack of cards.

''You wanna do a tarot reading to pass the time?''

Her brother shakes his head immediately. ''No, you're never right and it takes ages.''

She feigns indignance and shoves her cards deep into her pockets.

''Screw you,'' she says without any heat.

Her brother smiles and grabs his cup, finally able to drink his soup. She joins him in silence.

She's halfway done when she hears a branch crack somewhere behind her. Though she can't see far due to the thick fog, the sound sends a shiver up her spine. The look on her brother's face says he heard it too.

She downs her soup and puts everything back in her bag, tying the kit up with a rubber band before shoving it down her bag. She motions at her brother to do the same.

Sound cracks again, this time closer, and when she looks up to see where it's coming from, she's met by a tall individual she hasn't seen before.

That freaks her out.

''Run!'' She taps her brother's arm and immediately jumps up to start running. She hears two pairs of footsteps following behind.