The Wilderness

Chapter Eight

"Alex," Stephan called out, his voice shaking. More rustling and Stephan could only think of one thing. The bear was back.

Alex ran back to Stephan, curious as to why he had been called back. Then there was more rustling and Alex looked into the trees just as Stephan was. The sound of leaves crunching grew louder and closer, but neither Stephan nor Alex could get themselves to move. Instead, they drew close together, holding up their hands in case they needed to defend themselves. Than the sounds stopped, and Stephan and Alex tried desperately to see what was behind the trees and shrubs beside them. There was the sound of a couple more steps being made, than a nerve wrecking silence...

"Boo!" Jason jumped out of the tall bushes.

"Aaahhh!" Both Alex and Stephan screamed, stumbling backward. Stephan tripped over Alex's foot and the two fell down.

"Hahaha!" Jason laughed hard, holding his stomach as he sat down. Ally appeared from behind him, also laughing.

"That was not funny!" Alex exclaimed, obviously mad.

"Haha, yeah it was!" Jason laughed. Stephan, realizing it had all been a joke, started to laugh, but it was a nervous laughter. Satisfied with his prank, Jason helped the two boys up.

"Why'd you guys run away?" Stephan asked Jason and Ally. Ally looked at Jason, since she wasn't quite sure why they had run away from Stephan and the others.

"Well, we were just trying to get away from the bear," Jason answered, not mentioning it was also because he hoped the bear would go after Stephan's trio and not him and Ally.

"Okay, don't do it again," Stephan commanded, "We can't lose track of each other. There're only four of us left, we can't afford to lose anyone else."

"Four?" Ally asked confused. Jason looked just as puzzled.

"Yeah...Chris led the bear away from me after I tripped," Stephan explained, "I don't think he's coming back." Everyone became quiet, as though to have a moment of silence for their fallen companion.

"What we do now?" Alex asked. "Follow the river? Go back to the mountain?"

"Go back to the mountain," Jason stated. "They must still be sending planes there to look for us, we need to get back."

"What if they aren't?" Stephan asked. "What if they think we're all dead?"

"They don't," Jason replied, "C'mon, we still have some time left till it gets dark. We should get moving." Stephan looked up at the sky, than sighed. He didn't want anyone else to die, and he wasn't quite sure if going back to the mountain was the best thing to do. But maybe it was.

"Okay then," Stephan finally said, "Let's get going." With that, Stephan led the remaining kids back to where they had come from, back to the mountain.

By noon the next day the kids were quickly approaching the mountain. Going to the mountain had been much easier than leaving it had been, or perhaps it was just because there were fewer kids in the group than several days before.

"We're almost there," Stephan encouraged his companions. "We should be there by tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning."

"That's a relief," Alex said, "My feet are killing me." With that Alex sat down and removed one of his shoes. A foul smell reached his nose, and he quickly put his shoe back on.

Jason glanced over at Ally, than shook his head. He had wanted to return to the mountain with her alone so that he could tell her his feelings for her. He hadn't always felt this way for her, but these last few days had helped him to realize how much he cared for her. He wasn't sure whether or not she felt the same way, but perhaps if she knew he liked her, than she would realize she liked him too.