Indigo pulled the straps of her backpack and stretched her legs. She looked at Sugarcoat, who stood next to her, adjusting the hose of her hydration pack. Sandalwood tied his hiking boots, staring in disbelief at Flash’s trainers.
“If you slip and fall, we’re not gonna carry you around,” he said.
“Not a big difference.” Bulk looked at his enormous backpack. “Though I think they have a helicopter in Tall Tale and can save us in case we get lost.”
“Yeah,” Indigo muttered. “I’d like to fly a helicopter one day... But maybe not in such circumstances.”
“How long a helicopter from Tall Tale would fly to us?” Sugarcoat asked. “I mean, I’ve never heard of such a city before.”
“It’s somewhere near Castle Rock, I guess.” Bulk shrugged, looking at the sky. “The weather seems nice, at least.”
They saw a small, battered jeep approaching them. It seemed that it survived here since the war, repaired with duct tape and wire by endless generations of McColts. Indigo wasn’t sure how it didn’t fall apart after stopping.
“Hello.” Hacksaw got out of the car. Indigo noticed that the driver’s seat had been removed, but the girl was tall enough to drive it while sitting in the back. Hacksaw stood next to her and smirked.
“What’s up?” Indigo asked. “You’re obscuring the sun, you know.”
“Should’ve grown more,” Hacksaw muttered. “Really, there’s too many of you in the town, so you’re all runts!” She patted Indigo’s head.
“Don’t do that,” Indigo said.
“Chill out, Hacksaw.” Bulk cleared his throat.
“Oh please…” Hacksaw rolled her eyes and patted Indigo’s head once again. “Aargh!” She jumped on one leg when Indigo kicked her in the shin. It didn’t end there; Indigo darted forward, ramming her head against Hacksaw’s stomach, knocking her off-balance.
With a loud thud, Hacksaw fell on the dusty path. She tried to get up, only to see one of Indigo’s boots right above her solar plexus.
“Who’s shorter now?” Indigo chuckled.
“Indigo!” Bulk exclaimed.
“What?” Indigo asked. “She started it.”
“But she’s still my cousin,” Bulk said. “Let’s not start a family feud already, okay?”
“Not to mention that she was supposed to drive us to the beginning of the path,” Sugarcoat muttered, watching Hacksaw trying to get bloodstained sand out of her hair. “I guess she’s not fit to do that now.”
“Don’t worry, there’s nothing important in her head,” Indigo said.
Hacksaw stood up and looked at Indigo. “Okay, you’re not such a little shit I thought you were,” she said. “Two more miles of walking will do just fine for you…” With these words, she sat in her car and drove away, leaving them in the cloud of dust.
“Just great,” Sugarcoat muttered. “More walking, just because Indigo is short and can’t suck it up.”
“Yeah, because you’re so tall,” Indigo said. “Also, a little walking can’t hurt. Let’s go.”
For the next two miles, they walked in complete silence. The village soon ended, replaced by the meadows located on hillsides. Indigo smiled, looking at them. Sandalwood also seemed to enjoy the view, until he looked at Sugarcoat, who looked as if a cloud of black smoke was about to burst from her ears.
The dusty road soon changed into a narrow switchback leading upwards between the pine trees. Bulk and Indigo walked in front of the group, followed by Sandalwood and Flash. Sugarcoat stayed a bit behind, panting heavily.
“Wait a minute,” Sandalwood said. “Seems that my girlfriend can’t catch up.”
“Shut up,” Sugarcoat muttered. “I’d catch up if it wasn’t for my asthma.”
“Since when do you have asthma?” Indigo asked. “I mean, you’ve never mentioned it before and you’re pretty good at sports.”
“It’s because of the altitude, idiot.” Sugarcoat coughed. “Also, since my parents are dentists, they’re freaks about hygiene and I spent most of my childhood in a sterile environment, so my immune system got bored of being a rich lazy fuck and started behaving like your sister.” She opened her backpack and dug out an inhaler. “Also, I was born via a c-section, so I had a bigger chance of getting asthma right from the start–”
Indigo groaned. “We really didn’t need that information.”
“I most certainly didn’t,” Sandalwood muttered, looking around. “Girl, this is gonna haunt me now… Can we enjoy this beautiful forest instead?”
“Yeah, and hope Sugarcoat gets lost in it.” Indigo turned to Bulk. ”While I enjoy the view.”
“That wouldn’t be responsible,” Bulk said. “Sugarcoat should go first, so we can adjust to her pace.”
“That’s something I can get behind.” Sandalwood chuckled.
“You wish.” Sugarcoat inhaled her medicine and smirked. “Tonight, I’m gonna be behind you…”
“That’s most definitely something I didn’t want to know…” Indigo sighed.
They walked up the mountain. The sun was high above the horizon when the forest ended, replaced by small bushes covering the rocky ground. Down below them, they could see the distant villages, looking like scattered toy houses in the sea of green and yellow. There was a bigger shape like a dark sun towering above the faraway horizon and surrounded by grey rays of roads – Tall Tale, the biggest city and the capital of the township.
It wasn’t, however, that big. With about fifteen thousand inhabitants and no tall skyscrapers that could be seen from the mountainous path, it looked to Indigo like a glorified village. As far as she knew, there were more people living in midtown where Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest lived than in the whole Tall Tale. Such a town definitely had its good sides, but for now, Indigo preferred the countryside; her boots drummed an even beat on the path as she climbed higher and her arms hurt because of the weight of her backpack. Despite that, she continued to march, wiping sweat from her forehead.
The road was getting more and more steep, even though it was meandering from one hairpin turn to another. Dirt and sand were replaced by large, uneven rocks, some of them moving when Indigo stepped on them. A few miles in front of her, she could see two greyish mountain tops against the blue sky, joined together by a narrow pass. She shuddered, seeing how big they were and how small and insignificant she felt in comparison.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Bulk asked. Indigo only nodded in response. She was only partially aware of Sugarcoat muttering something about the danger of spraining her ankle; Sandalwood said something about carrying her, but for now, Indigo was too busy admiring the view to pay attention to him.
“Earth to Indigo,” Flash whispered into her ear. “And to Bulk too. When you stop staring, you may join us at the lunch.”
Indigo turned back and saw Sugarcoat and Sandalwood sitting on a large boulder and unpacking the food. “Good idea,” she said, taking off her backpack and rubbing her arms.
Bulk sat by the boulder. Indigo joined him, opening a bottle of water and grabbing one of the sandwiches she’d made back in the cottage.
“Just imagine,” Flash said, staring at the clear sky. “If at this moment a nuclear war broke out, we’d be the last people on Earth…”
“Are you high?” Sandalwood asked.
“Look who’s talking.” Bulk chuckled. “But to think about it, that’d be scary…”
“We’d just repopulate Earth, no matter how it’d kick and scream.” Sugarcoat shrugged. “Don’t worry about incest, the radiation would provide quite a genetic variation in our offspring.”
“I’m not sure radiation works that way,” Indigo said. “The guys would just fire blinds. As for me, I’d just stay here, watching the mushrooms. What else would be left to do?”
“Starting a new civilisation?” Sugarcoat shrugged. “If only there’s a stream somewhere here, we’d probably find some resources.”
“We’d never see Lemon, Sour, and Sunny, though.” Indigo sighed. “Or our families.”
Sugarcoat chuckled. “I’m not worried about Sunny. The war would start with her hacking into the nukes and deciding that nuclear winter is the only way to fight global warming.”
“Great job, Sunny Flare,” Indigo swallowed a large bite of her sandwich. “She’d probably sit in the ruins of that ridiculous mansion of hers, watching the world burn.”
“I need to meet your friends one day,” Bulk said. “I mean, I’m not sure which one is Sunny Flare, actually. It’s not that crazy one, right?”
“Who do you mean?” Sugarcoat asked. “All Indigo’s friends are crazy, myself included.” She smiled, baring her teeth.
“The one with a bow,” Bulk replied.
“Hey, she’s hot.” Flash smiled. “How can such a girl be crazy?”
Indigo and Sugarcoat looked at each other. “To think about it, you two would suit each other,” Sugarcoat said. “You two should totally meet.”
“I’d like to see that.” Indigo chuckled. “Also, we should totally get Lemon Zest to organise some wicked party next weekend, before school totally eats our brains.”
“I can get Pinkie Pie too,” Flash said. “First you wouldn’t remember that party, then you wouldn’t be able to forget it.”
Bulk turned to Indigo. “You’ve mentioned dodgeball once. Maybe we can finally play it...”
“I’ll pass, then,” Sandalwood muttered. “I played against Bulk once and then the doctor said that I was lucky my dreadlocks cushioned the blow.”
“You should play with Sugarcoat,” Indigo said. “We call her Blind Justice, since she plays without glasses. No one knows who she’s aiming at. Not even her.”
Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and it’s totally funny when you all aim at me because I can’t see the balls.”
Sandalwood chuckled. “And now repeat that without the context…”
“Oh, shut up.” Sugarcoat stood up and jumped off the rock. “Okay, I’m ready to go.”
The rest stood up too and walked up the mountain. Soon, the road got even more steep; often, they had to help themselves with their hands to climb further. They could see the pass closer now; the rock was cracked, full of jagged edges, covered with patches of lichen in some places. The path became rather narrow; they had to walk in line. Indigo looked to her left and shuddered, seeing a deep chasm below her, its almost vertical walls littered with rubble. There were some white patches on the rocks; Indigo realised that it was leftover snow that somehow survived until August.
“We’re close,” Bulk said. His arms were covered in sweat, although he was shivering slightly due to cold wind at this altitude. He climbed on the top of the pass and grabbed Indigo’s hand, helping her stand next to him. Soon, they were joined by Flash, Sandalwood and Sugarcoat.
“We did it!” Flash exclaimed.
“Yay.” Sugarcoat rolled her eyes.
“There’s a really nice view down there,” Indigo said, opening her backpack and grabbing a camera.
“If it’s so nice down there, then why did we climb here?” Sugarcoat sat on a large stone and rubbed her leg. “I swear, I won’t be able to walk and you’ll have to carry me around the school.” She grabbed a violet hoodie from her backpack and put it on.
“That’s what happens when all you do is treadmill running,” Indigo said. “You’re just not used to rough conditions.” She put on her jacket. “Though I must say it’s a bit cold out here.”
“Well, the temperature usually drops with altitude, after all,” Flash said. “But I don’t remember how much.”
“In these conditions, one degree Celsius per a hundred metres up,” Sugarcoat replied. “According to that fancy thermometer in our cottage, today in the morning we had twenty one degrees Celsius or seventy Fahrenheit.” She turned to Bulk. “How high above the village are we?”
Bulk scratched his head. “About a mile, I guess.”
Sugarcoat nodded. “That’d be five degrees up here, then. Or…” She furrowed her eyebrows. After a moment of thinking, she just took her phone and tapped her finger against the screen a few times. “Forty one Fahrenheit.”
“Damn.” Sandalwood shuddered. “I prefer warmer climate. Where do we go now?”
“We can either get back the same way, or climb on that mountain over there,” Bulk said, pointing at the massive peak on their left. “There’s a way down on the other side of it.”
Before they reached the top of the mountain, the temperature dropped by another degree. Everyone was already dressed in whatever they brought with them; Sugarcoat nearly fell, trying to fit her hair under the cap, but Sandalwood caught her hand, helping her regain balance. Loose pebbles were slippery, especially for Flash, whose shoes were no match for boots the rest were wearing. He walked behind them as any of his attempts to catch up could result in falling.
Finally, they reached the top. Indigo dropped on the ground, taking deep breaths and trying not to look down due to vertigo. “I’m not scared of heights,” she said when Bulk walked to her. “Seriously, I’m not.”
“You look a bit pale.” Bulk sat next to Indigo and hugged her.
“I’m not scared of heights,” Indigo muttered. “I’m scared of falling… Or not even that. I’m scared of hitting the ground.”
“That’s still like being scared of height,” Sugarcoat said. “Where’s Flash?”
“I see him.” Sandalwood looked beyond the edge of the rock. “He curses his shoes and salutes me with his middle finger.”
“Classy as always,” Bulk muttered, turning to Indigo. “Everything okay?”
“More or less,” Indigo replied, grabbing her camera. “How about a selfie on the top?”
Sugarcoat sighed. “If you really want Lemon Zest to scream and go all like ‘aw’ when she sees it…”
Indigo raised her hand and took a photo of herself and Bulk. “Could you say that again?” She looked at the screen of her camera and took another photo.
“Say what?” Sugarcoat asked.
“‘Aww…’”, Indigo replied.
Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. “Aw.”
“Lemon doesn’t say it that way,” Indigo said. “It’s more like ‘awwwww…’.”
“Ah, I get it,” Sugarcoat muttered. “There’s not enough oxygen here for your brain to function properly.”
“Shut up, Sugarcoat,” Indigo said.
Before Sugarcoat could come up with some witty comeback, Sandalwood turned to them. “Look who’s here!” he exclaimed.
“Shut up, Sandalwood,” Flash muttered, joining them at the top. “I swear, that last bit was the worst. Are we doing any more climbing today?”
“No, just going down.” Bulk pointed at the path starting on the other side of the mountain. Flash looked at it and his jaw dropped when he saw an almost vertical road. There were chains on its side, attached to the rocks with metal pegs.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Flash asked.
“Of course,” Bulk replied. “That’s what the chains are for. Just don’t let go off it and don’t yank it like a baboon when someone else is holding the same one.”
Flash raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, that’s surely safe.”
Ignoring his concerns, Indigo and Bulk began to walk down slowly, waiting for each other to reach one of the pegs before grabbing a chain in order not to yank it. Sugarcoat and Sandalwood followed them. Flash shrugged and grabbed a chain, swearing under his breath and trying not to look down.
Indigo hissed, slipping down on the chain, leaving bits of her skin on it. “I could’ve taken some gloves,” she muttered.
“Yeah, those would be helpful,” Bulk replied. “Don’t worry, I have bandaids and hydrogen peroxide.”
“I’m fine,” Indigo replied, carefully choosing which stones to put her feet on. Behind her, Sugarcoat decided that dignity couldn’t save her life and was sliding down on her butt, holding the chains so tight that her knuckles whitened.
Indigo slipped down slightly, finally finding a firm rock she could prop her feet against. She wiped sweat from her forehead and inched forwards, carefully looking at the path before her. After a while, she noticed that it got more even. Still, her shins burned with every step and her scratched hand was sending small waves of pain across her arm, not letting her forget about it.
“Don’t worry,” Indigo said, looking down. “It’s better in here. If one of you falls, they won’t die but break their legs on the path below.”
“Still, I think we should’ve gone the other way around,” Sandalwood said. “Like, climb here and then go down the easier way.”
“This is the easier way, on average,” Bulk replied. “Like, after the chains end, there’s a long, boring path that leads across the fields to the village.”
“You do realise that ‘average’ doesn’t work that way?” Sugarcoat groaned. “Also, it’d be easier if I wasn’t scared that Flash or Sandalwood fall on my head.”
“Well, I already fell for you, so falling on you wouldn’t be much worse,” Sandalwood replied.
“Maybe for you.” Sugarcoat sighed and shook her head.
Just like Bulk said, they soon left the wall with chains. The path was still narrow, spiralling down the hill, but it was again surrounded by small bushes, the avant-garde of the pine wood. Indigo walked by Bulk’s side and even Sugarcoat grabbed Sandalwood’s hand, causing Flash to suddenly become very interested in the landscape.
Indigo stopped for a moment to rub her legs and noticed that her muscles were trembling. “I’d never say that walking down is so hard,” she muttered, resting herself against Bulk.
“I can carry you.” Bulk chuckled, grabbing Indigo and putting her on his arm with ease. “Where do you want to go?”
“I’ll walk myself!” Indigo exclaimed, waving her hands. “Let me go!”
“Don’t.” Sugarcoat chuckled. “I like to watch her blush and pout like Lemon Zest.”
“Oh really?” Indigo relaxed in Bulk’s arms and kissed him. “How about that?”
Sugarcoat took her glasses off and turned to kiss Sandalwood. Indigo chuckled, seeing that the romantic moment was somewhat ruined by Flash, who covered his mouth, pretending that he’d puke.
Sugarcoat broke the kiss. “Okay, enough of this faggotry. Let’s go.”
They walked across the forest. The sun moved to the west and nearly disappeared over the horizon before they reached the village, sweaty and exhausted. When they stopped by the cottage, Indigo dropped her backpack and rested herself against the fence, panting. Sugarcoat stood next to her and grabbed her phone.
“We need to take an ‘after’ photo,” she said, looking at the screen. “The natural beauty of unwashed bodies, or whatever hippies fancy… Wait…”
“What?” Indigo asked.
“Apparently we were out of reach in the mountains,” Sugarcoat replied. “I have seventeen missed calls from Sour Sweet.”
Indigo reached to her pocket. “Hmm, she called me twenty one times. Did she get crazier than usual, or what?”
“What’s going on?” Bulk asked, kicking the gate to unjam it.
“We’re about to find out.” Sugarcoat raised her phone and tapped the screen. “Hey, Sour, what’s up? We just came back from a trip and–” Suddenly, Sugarcoat staggered, grabbing the fence and taking a sharp breath. “Holy shit…” She sat on the ground, covering her face and whispering something into the phone.
“What happened?” Indigo asked, shuddering.
“Lemon’s mom died,” Sugarcoat replied.
Flash looked at her. “What?”
“She had leukaemia,” Indigo replied, her voice trembling. “Lemon was still afraid she’d get it too... B-but her mom was getting better...“ She turned to Bulk. “We need to get back!”
Sugarcoat put down the phone. “Sh-she caught cold.”
“A cold?” Sandalwood asked. “How–”
“She had acute myeloid leukaemia, moron,” Sugarcoat replied. “Her immune system barely worked, she got septic shock and–” She sobbed. “Sour s-said that…”
“Damn.” Indigo’s eyes widened. “Lemon was sick...”
“That’s what Sour said,” Sugarcoat muttered, standing up. “We have to go back to town.” She turned to Sandalwood. “Now.”
Sandalwood stifled a yawn. “Unless you want to get us all killed in a crash, we have to wait till tomorrow. There’s that Sour with her, right?”
“And Sunny Flare,” Sugarcoat replied. “And that’s worrying.”
Indigo wiped her eyes and opened the gate. “Everything about it is worrying,” she said. “But we’ll only make things worse if we have an accident while rushing to her.”
“True,” Sugarcoat replied. “Tomorrow morning, then. Though I’m pretty sure I won’t sleep tonight…” She sighed and walked towards the cottage.