Page 7 of Fall

He too started to walk away.

But now Lenna understood. She was allowed to go with them. And, inreturn, she had to fill up this sack with berries.

She would have preferred to be a welcomed guest, but this was better thannothing.

At least she’d have some chance of survival.

So she jogged after them, hoping that she’d find enough berries, now thatshe’d cleared the forest. The ones she’d found before were all in the forest. Therewere clusters of trees around, though, even in the grassy plain, so she stillhad some hope.

They walked for over an hour, and Lenna had to work to keep up. Now thatthey’d started, they didn’t even acknowledge her existence, except for theHairy Man, who glanced back at her occasionally and made impatient gestures forher to hurry up.

Under normal circumstances, Lenna walked just fine. But she’d been on herfeet for almost three days, and she had cuts and bruises all over her body. Plus,she kept having to stop whenever she recognized the leaves that hid the berriesshe was supposed to collect.

Frankly, it was very annoying to be constantly rushed under these circumstances.

The large cut on her shin from the wolf’s fang was burning so intenselynow she had trouble focusing on anything else. So, when she saw another patchof berries beneath a tree, she didn’t kneel down or crouch, but rather sat downcompletely in the hope of relieving some of the strain on her skin.

She started picking the berries, relieved to see how many there werehere. In a few minutes, her sack was almost three-fourths of the way full.

She was about to get up when she felt strong arms on her sides, haulingher up from behind.

With a startled shriek, she kicked her legs out and jerked her head backto see who it was.

The Hairy Man. His big hands were spanning her ribs, and one of them wasin direct contact with her skin, just under her breast, since her torn shirthad fallen open.

It wasn’t a sexual advance, though. She realized that almost immediately.He was grunting at her again, his tone rough and bossy.

Fed up with this treatment, Lenna snapped. “Let go of me, you asshole.I’m tired and injured, and you’re making me pick these damned berries!”

He’d lifted her up to her feet, but he hadn’t released her yet. Her angryvoice appeared to surprise him. He paused briefly before he grunted some more.

Lenna felt a little hysterical, and she had to stifle a laugh. This wasabsurd. They couldn’t understand each other, and yet they were bickering as ifthey could.

She struggled in his grip, gasping when she felt one of his fingersagainst the underside of her breast.

He let her go, so abruptly that her knees buckled.

She fell forward, crying out at the pain in her feet and legs.

His face was really hard to read because of the ridiculous beard, but hiseyes narrowed now, and he lowered himself onto the ground beside her.

They had a brief scuffle as he tried to take possession of one of herlegs—the one with the throbbing cut.

He was snuffling when she finally let him look at it, and it was freakingher out. He’d leaned over, like he was smelling it.

Disgusted, Lenna looked away. If he did anything too weird, she was goingto have give up on him.

But he didn’t even touch the cut. Instead, he just stood up and walkedaway.

“Well, fine,” she muttered. “Go ahead and leave me here. I’ve never metsuch an ugly, selfish, smelly, rude…”

She was still listing her grievances when the Hairy Man returned.

He was carrying some leaves, and he was muttering under his breath too. Ifhis expression was anything to go on, he was as annoyed with her as she waswith him.

“I don’t know what your problem is,” she said, although she knew hecouldn’t understand, “I’mthe one at a disadvantage here. It wasn’t likeI got hurt just to slow you down.”

He ignored her and crushed the leaves in his palm. Then he took hold ofher ankle and stretched out her leg.

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