BLACKOUT; JR [1]

1.3

We walked until the sun went down and decided to camp beneath the cover of some low branches. Felix managed to start a fire despite the rain having wet everything in the forest. 

I looked to Sam as he shivered, sighing with a sadness I could relate to. "I'm freezing." He mumbled, hugging his knees tightly to his chest. No replies came his way, and after a few seconds he spoke again. "Do you think we'll starve to death before we're even rescued?" He asked us, glancing to Felix before anyone else. The Goth only shrugged in response without bothering to look Sam's way. 

The conversation was dead after that, not that it was very exciting to begin with, but we were all too exhausted to speak to each other. Besides, there wouldn't really be anything to say. 

Right as I began to doze off, a deep growling sound echoed around us and seemed to shake the trees. All five of us perked our heads up, now peering between the trees for any danger that was coming our way. 

"What was that?" Jake asked, clear worry to his words. 

The rain got a little heavier as each second passed, and thunder now cracked in the sky above us. I got a quick glimpse of the boys when a flash of lightning zipped through the dark sky; they appeared just as scared as I felt. 

Andy cleared his throat and coughed into his open palm. His eyes narrowed in fear as he met my gaze, and then he turned away. "Have you guys heard that story about the giant panther living in this forest?" 

"Andy, you know that story isn't true, right?" I told him, feeling my eyebrows involuntarily quirk at his thought. 

"Yeah, it's totally a myth, dude." Sam agreed, looking over at me across the small fire. The rain had nearly put it out, and since there wasn't anything we could do to save it, we just watched it die. 

"How about some music to cheer us up?" Felix suggested, pulling out his phone before giving us the courtesy of answering. Clearly none of us other than him wanted to listen to whatever he was about to play, but he went right ahead anyway. 

"Water, Fire, Earth, Air.
Water, Fire, Earth, Air.
Elements that we all share.
Water wash our sins away.
Earth guide us to a place.
Wind brings with it fear.
Flames of Fire we must face.
Walk upon this Earth again, walk upon this Earth again, walk upon this Earth again.
Walk upon this Earth again, walk upon this Earth again, walk upon this Earth again."

"That was supposed to be cheerful?" Andy questioned when the song ended, sending Felix a glare that the boy didn't acknowledge. 

Then, almost on cue, the small flame in the fire finally died out, leaving us with tiny wisps of smoke and an eerie darkness. 

Not long after that, Sam curled us against a tree but remained awake. 

"I can't believe this." Andy muttered, shooing small bugs away with his wet hat. I let out a quiet yawn, resting my head on my knees. I struggled for a while to get comfortable, as our bed of leaves and mud was not as soft as it seemed. 

Felix was the first to fall asleep, and I was pleased to hear that he didn't snore.

I was aware of the fact that I was wriggling around on the ground, but I was unaware of the fact that I was making so much noise. Jake noticed, and I found he was the only one other than me who was still awake. 

"Hey..." He mumbled from his place next to me. I looked at him through the darkness, sitting up slightly. "You can lean on me, if you want..." He offered, his voice quiet. I was about to politely reject his offer when Felix rolled over, nearly squashing my leg with his back. I had no choice but to accept Jake's sheepish offer, as it was either him or Felix, and I wasn't really in the mood to be suffocated by him. 

God, I just wanted to go home.

I didn't say anything as I slowly scooted closer to the blond boy, a small fit of butterflies flying around inside my stomach. Very reluctantly, I let my head rest on his chest. "Thank you..." I whispered to him, closing my eyes.