Poisonous Friendships

 Every time the flames flickered and weakened, a small part of the dying hope within Quinn extinguished itself. She and June both knew that the warmth of their fire wouldn’t last them another hour, but refused to ponder on their fate after that. The lack of oxygen was just the icing on the cake.

Quinn glanced at the meager pile of dry firewood they had remaining. Very soon, they would be left with only their jackets as protection from the freezing cold. The jackets which were completely soaked through, and were currently hung to dry above the flame.

Bitter anger surged within her as she glared at the glowing embers of their temporary fire. The whole situation was a mess. What was originally an expedition to explore a mysterious cave alone had been completely turned upside down when she’d met June and Harvey. She had originally arrived while following rumors of treasure, but had made what she believed to be lifelong friends along the way.

And now she was cold, miserable, soon-to-be hypothermic, lost, trapped in a cave with a collapsed entrance, was already taking shallow breaths from the lack of air at the high altitude, and had a dangerous predator waiting outside the cave to eat them.

As Quinn thought about the snow leopard that had chased them into the dangerous situation, her hands tightened into fists. The occasional sound of crunching gravel and soft growls, beyond the thin wall of boulders that prevented their escape, told her that the beast hadn’t left yet. Even if they managed to create an entrance to escape, they would be eaten immediately.

Sitting across from her on the cold stone floor of the cave, June finished the last of their water supply. To be precise, it was Quinn’s water supply. 

She had shared it with Harvey and the other girl when they first met, both groups struggling to survive the harsh conditions of the mountain. The other pair had given her the food and warm clothing she desperately needed, and she gave them the water she had collected from a frozen lake. They had relied on each other, and grew closer in a way only people who survived death together could. But good things rarely lasted.

Harvey had died a few days before they had been trapped in the cave. In the end, the freezing tundra got to him and he perished after a long period of weakness. Quinn was left alone with June, who was completely heartbroken at the death of her husband.

Even now, the spark in her eyes refused to reappear. Once a woman who could inspire anyone around her, she was left an empty husk of a person. Quinn observed her lifeless gaze as June placed the empty flask on the ground.

“We can’t stay here,” The widow said softly. Her matted brown hair fell into her dull grey eyes, but she did nothing to stop them from obscuring her vision. “The only way we can survive is by escaping from this place and getting back on the trail.”

Both women remained silent for a moment. Quinn looked up with a strange glint in her green eyes, assessing her temporary-travel-partner-turned-coffinmate. “And death by vicious claws and teeth is better than dying painlessly?”

No, she knew that June didn’t want to experience that sort of pain. Which is why she had come up with a plan. A wary feeling grew in her as Quinn watched June get up with a slight struggle, one hand bracing against the sharp rock walls. Even as her palm came away bleeding, red smeared over the grey stones, she only grimaced and suppressed a flinch.

The emerald-eyed woman couldn’t get to her feet even if she wanted to. She’d twisted her ankle during the desperate sprint from the wild leopard, and could feel it throbbing even then. She was left craning her neck to watch as June towered over her in a way that would have been impossible for the short girl to do if they were both standing.

“If one of us acts as bait, the other can escape,” She murmured, a wild look on her face. She staggered over to where Quinn sat helplessly, even as the one sitting tried to move away. “I have a family, you know. I’ve told you about them. My sons are waiting for me at home.”

Quinn laughed hysterically, watching in fear as her friend approached her. “Don’t make excuses! I have a family too,” She spat, an image of her frail old mother flashing in her mind’s eye. “Just be honest. You want to survive, even if that means leaving me to die in cold blood.”

June shook her head with a look of faint regret. They both knew she was faking it. “I never knew you were so heartless, Quinn. Well, at least I won’t have a guilty conscience. My sons have already lost their father. I can’t let them lose their mother too.”

This was unbelievable. Quinn was powerless, injured as she was. If June wanted to kill her and leave her as bait for the leopard while she escaped, there was nothing she could do about it.

“Let’s make this fair,” The psycho said softly, pausing in her steps. “Whoever wins in a fight between the two of us can escape. The other will become bait. Deal?”

They were silent for a moment as the soon-to-be murder victim processed these words. “You seem pretty confident. How do you know I won’t win?” Quinn questioned, a strange look in her emerald eyes. 

The other woman chuckled in response. There was no need to answer, they both knew exactly why. Only one of them was younger, thinner, weaker, and injured, and it wasn’t June.

“I’m really sorry about this,” She whispered with false sorrow, and stepped up to where Quinn sat. She looked down at the woman who had recently become her friend and felt not an ounce of compassion.

Just as she was about to pick up a stick from the fire, June paused in her steps. A cough forced itself from her throat, and she grimaced. They had grown used to the occasional sniffles from the cold weather, so she ignored it.

But it didn’t stop with just one. She kept coughing, and even covering her mouth with her gloved hand didn’t stop them. It continued to the point where June’s face began to turn blue, and her hand was scratching at her throat. It was difficult to even take a breath amidst the choking coughs.

She collapsed to the ground as she convulsed, fingers twitching at her throat and blood slipping out from the corner of her lips. She looked up, this time being the one to crane her neck as she glared with fear and anger at Quinn, who was looking down at her with a cold gaze.

“I’d poisoned our water supply days ago,” She whispered gleefully, her voice clearly heard amidst the faintly crackling flames and incessant coughs. “Remember the poisonous berries Harvey stopped me from eating a few days ago? I added those to all the flasks except for the one I had on me.”

June’s eyes widened in horror, but she couldn’t gather her thoughts for long enough to string together a coherent understanding. If she could, she would have realized that the coughing and weakness she was undergoing was eerily similar to her husband’s behavior before he died.

Quinn smiled widely. “I ran out of safe water a day ago. But it was worth it. I knew it would come to this eventually.” She ignored the twitching woman on the ground, almost dead as she was, and continued speaking to the air.

“I know that you were after the same treasure I was seeking. And I know that you two were going to kill me and steal it when I found it. So I took proactive measures.” She recounted with a sigh, even as the body on the ground grew still. “Now, I’m going to escape and find that treasure. And you will forever regret wanting to stab me in the back.”

The corpse did not reply.