7:30 am, Tuesday. It was raining. Again. For the fourth time in as many days, Jack woke up to the sound of the rain on plastic. The sound was always soothing, a reminder of home. It used to rain a lot where he grew up. At least his tent didn't leak. This tent was a good place to sleep in that way, though it was definitely not as good as his home from childhood.
Since he was awake now, it was time to get going. He folded up his blanket, dropped it in his bag, and stepped outside. It was very wet, and the smell of wet wood, that smell you get in a forest in the middle of the storm, was very strong. He loved that smell. Jack had spent many days of his childhood sitting on the back porch of his parents' home, smelling the rain. To this day, that smell was calming.
Jack looked over at the other tent in this area. It was much the same as his, small, green, two poles and a couple of ropes. Pup tents are nice because they pack small, but the setup time, and the need to use stakes, make them a bit inconvenient. After the four days straight of rain to start this adventure, though, he was glad of anything that kept him dry through the night.
Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he started towards the tent. "C'mon Jon, it's morning now. Time to get going, if we want to get out of here." Jon was his travel companion, for now, though they had only just met. Two days ago, he came across Jon in a small clearing in the woods. Before that, they had seen each other in class, but they hadn't really talked.
"Jon, c'mon man, we've got to get going" Jack said again. Seeing that there was no movement in the tent, and eager to get a start walking for the day, Jack pulled back the flap on the tent. "Are you ok, man? We've got to get moving." Jon was lying there, still, not awake yet. Jack reached in and grabbed his ankle, giving it a good shake. "Wake up, man. This isn't funny."
"Huh, whatsat?!" Jon sat up suddenly, kicking loose Jack's hand. "Oh, it's you. Man, you freaked me." Jack had settled into this routine, having gotten used to waking Jon already, even though they had only traveled together a couple of days. Jon seemed to be having a bit of trouble with it, though, as he wasn't quite used to being woken up by other people.
"Get packed, I want to make it a good ways today, hopefully get out of these woods and into a village. We passed one on our way down here on the plane, so hopefully we can get up there and get a good days rest. Also, it's a bit wet, so be prepared." And with that, Jack went back to his own tent. He started pulling it down, packing it up. He finished about the time Jon got out.
Jon wasn't really cut out for this. He was a bit of a bigger guy, though not terribly fat, just out of shape. He got tired easily, and these days of travel were really wearing him out. Still, he was getting better. He had given up on his hair, which was a bit shaggy, blond, and now speckled with dirt where it stuck out of his black ballcap. He was wearing the same thing as yesterday: blue jeans and a black tee, both of which had gotten a bit dirty.
Jon started to break down his tent. "Ok Jack, what's the plan for the day? We going to keep going south?"
"Yeah, and hopefully we'll find something else to eat. That deer last night was good, and the nuts were too, but we're out now, so we'll have to find something else. There's some berries near here, but I recognized them as something poisonous from class, so no go on those."
"Hmph" responded Jon. "That is unfortunate. We were lucky we found that food. Maybe we'll get lucky again today."
"Sure, just let me be the one to take the shot this time. You have terrible aim, and usually terrible luck." Having both finished packing up, they grabbed the gear and set off southward. With each step, the ground gave a little, the mix of leaves and mud as soft as any plush carpet. The sound of the rain continued all around them, and as they walked, they passed by occasional pools of water, though they were far too dirty to drink.
Within a couple hours, the rain had died off, as it had the previous couple of days. As the rain cleared up, the sun began to poke through the leaves, and the air began to feel warm. The humidity was high, and the air felt muggy. Without the rain cooling things off, they both were starting to feel warmer.
As they walked, there was very little to disturb them. There were almost no animals to speak of, and the few that were around were smaller. The wind was slight, though the heat was annoying. As they walked on, Jack began noticing some things that were off. Some of the fresher tracks looked like footprints, from people, instead of from the usual deer and squirrels. Jack was getting a bit on edge, as this would be the first person he and Jon had run into. And either way, the person was ahead of them. Whoever it was, they had already gotten a lot further along the way to the village, so maybe they could meet up there. There was a good chance that whoever had left the prints was someone else who had been on the plane.
Evening came faster then either of them would have liked, and as the light grew dimmer, they pressed on, hoping to reach some kind of clearing or something. As the woods grew darker, they began to grow creepier, as they did every night, making the woods a place of shadowy beasts, making each dark space a place where something could leap from at any moment. The sounds of the forest began to change, and as the owls started to come out, they both knew it was time. They started just looking for any space large enough to pitch the tents, and that is when Jack noticed the glow. It wasn't much, but it was there. At least 200 yards away, there was a slight glow behind a tree. The thickness of the woods here must have blocked it from view, but it was clear they needed to get there for the night.
"Jon, look up ahead. See the glow? I think that's a campfire. Hopefully, whoever is there will be nice enough to share the warmth." They both started to move on a bit faster, having a renewed energy from this sighting.
As they approached the tree that hid the glow, the woods around grew blacker. The fire was beginning to dim, and the days walk was beginning to take it's toll. Finally, Jack reached the small clearing that held the fire. Sitting beside it was a petite woman with light skin covered with patches of dirt, which matched the dirt on her clothes quite nicely. Her red hair was also a bit dirty, and pulled back behind her head. She was holding a small pistol, pointing it in their direction.
Jack recognized her immediately as Alli J., one of the girls from their class. She seemed to recognize him too, and lowered the pistol. "Jack, I'm surprised to see you. You were towards the back of the line of jumpers, and I was off first. You must have been moving quick to catch up to me."
"Yeah, I have been. I want to get out of here, so I've been up early every morning, trying to make a lot of distance, even in the rainy hours of the morning. Jon and I trekked about 2 hours this morning before the rain stopped."
"Hmph. I try, but it is much easier to stay in the tent until the rain starts to die down. I don't want to get caught in the real bad rain, if I can avoid it. But that would be a lot faster way out of these woods."
"Well, that is true. And the rain isn't too bad if you get under the trees. But anyway," Jack said, pausing for a moment to try and word his next statements carefully. "Would you mind if we joined your campsite here? We need a place to rest for the night. And in the morning, you can join us on our way out of here."
Alli shrugged. "You're welcome to camp here, I don't mind the company. As for tomorrow, we'll just have to see about that. I'm not sure if joining up with you guys will help me, and if we go separately, I don't have to share what little food I find."
Jon looked at the two of them. "Well, that is good enough for me. I need to get some sleep." He grabbed an empty area and started setting up his tent.
Jack shrugged. "You know, that probably isn't a bad idea. I'm going to do that too."
"Well, I'm going to bed then. Put the fire out when you guys are done with the light." Alli climbed into her tent and closed it up. Jack smiled, grabbed his own tent, and set to work. Once he and Jon were both set up, they grabbed the loose dirt that was next to the fire, and threw it on. The fire began to smolder, as the dirt smothered it, and the light began to dim. With the fire mostly out, they covered the firewood pile with a jacket and went back to their tents.
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