“So, tell me how you’d find water if you were out here all by yourself.” Bryson inquired as they trekked through the underbrush, Zach ambling ahead of them.
“Well, I’d probably look at a map.” she retorted, earning an exasperated look from him.
“Okay, pretend you don’t have the map, and you’re in unfamiliar terrain. You don’t have anything with you. And the first key to survival is finding water. How would you do it?”
She mulled this over in her mind, not sure how to respond. “I don’t know, I guess I would just gather rain water or something.”
He shook his head, obviously not the answer he wanted to hear.
“That could work. But what if it doesn’t rain?”
She huffed at him, not liking this game. “I don’t know.”
He slowed down, holding his finger up to his lips to silence her. “Do you hear that?”
She didn’t hear anything but Zach’s footsteps as he came to a halt, obviously wondering what the holdup was. But as she listened closer, more noises came to her attention; she could hear insects chirping, and the wind in the leaves. She heard the rustle of animals somewhere near them.
“I hear animals. And bugs. And… the wind.”
A large smile lit Bryson’s features, brighter than the sun ever could be. “Very good! Just remember, if you’re ever looking for water, listen to the world around you. It’ll tell you more than you think.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’m listening, and there’s still no water.” She quipped, not really sure what Bryson was getting at here. It was obvious he was trying to prove a point; but what that was, she was having a hard time figuring out.
“Animals are always attracted to the water. Watch which direction the birds fly. Listen to the creatures around you. Look for animal trails, and footprints. The more animals, the closer you are to a water source.”
Huh. She’d never heard that before. Her whole life, she’d lived in the city; she’d been born in Phoenix and then moved to Portland when she was a kid. And sure, Portland had been surrounded by lots of trees, but unlike Bryson, and even Zach, the woods were not a second home to her. They were a foreign land, an anomaly, a very strange place. They were dark and dangerous and a bit scary if she was honest with herself.
“Wow. I never knew that.”
“Well now you do. And if you watch your surroundings, you’ll notice that the foliage is much thicker where there’s water. More vines, and thicker leaves. Lots of trees.”
She glanced around. “There’s lots of trees anyways.”
“You know what I meant.”
“I know. So what you’re saying is, judging by our surroundings, we’re pretty close to some water?”
“Yep. When I was out scouting this morning I found a creek. Now it’s your turn to find some water.”
He earned an incredulous look. “You’re being serious?” A small smile played around the edge of his lips as he nodded, anticipating her reaction.
She knew Bryson didn’t think she could do it. He was testing her. This might be her chance to prove that she did have what it takes to survive out here all by herself. She just had to take his advice to heart and apply it.
“Alright, well we don’t have all day. Let’s find us some water.”
She’d be lying if she didn’t spot the brief look of surprise that flitted across his features, but just as soon as it was there, it was gone, replaced by pure interest, and a smidge of skepticism.
“Okay, lead the way.”
She could hear Bryson and Zach talk in hushed tones as they trekked behind her, letting her lead the way. She didn’t want to know what they were saying. She walked for a while, looking closely at the underbrush that grew throughout the forest. She wasn’t having any luck spotting animal trails, though.
Turning to the sky, she was disheartened to see that not a single bird flew past the openings of the trees, giving no indication of which direction water might be in. After half an hour, she was more frustrated than anything, especially when Bryson and Zach began to seem bored with their little game.
It wasn’t until the ground started sloping slightly downward that she got an idea. Turning from her original path, she began trekking downhill, careful to avoid any loose earth. The last thing any of them needed was a sprained, or worse, broken ankle. She knew how long that would take to heal, and without the proper equipment, the bone could set wrong. She cringed at the thought.
When the slope became even steeper, almost too steep, she just about cheered for joy when she heard the slight tinkling of water hitting stones. There, at the bottom of the crevice they’d hiked down, mountain runoff drained into a tiny stream, flowing downhill to join a distant creek or river.
It wasn’t a lot of water, but it was enough.
“Ha! I did it! I found water!”
Bryson almost looked like he was about to laugh as he strode toward her, looking at her mountain stream incredulously.
“I believe we agreed on finding a creek? Not some mountain runoff.” She couldn’t believe this. After all her hard work, he was going to act like she hadn’t accomplished something? She’d found her own water source. Water was survival.
“No, I told you I’d find water. And I did. Just because it’s not a creek or river doesn’t mean I couldn’t live off of it.” She crossed her arms, challenging him to disagree with her. She was damn proud of herself.
Zach stepped forward, filling his canteen with the water as it bubbled over the stone creek bed. “You know, Bryce, I think she’s right.”
He winked at her when she shot him a grateful look. “Hmm. I have to agree with you little brother. We’ve got a survivalist in our midst.”
“Thank you.” She beamed, happy to have his approval. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. She made sure to rest her head on the good side of his chest, which was hard and unyielding as marble under her cheek, but warm at the same time.
His chin pressed into the top of her head as he spoke softly to her.
“By the way, there was a stream, but it was a six mile walk from the cabin. I knew you’d find another water source all along.”
She smacked him on the arm. “You were going to let me walk six miles off course?!” He laughed, dodging another blow from her as she fumed at him.
“Of course not! I just wanted to see what you’d come up with. Don’t worry, you passed the test.” He paused. “Tell me, how’d you know to walk downhill?”
She shrugged, not really sure. Had it just been instinct? Or common sense? “I don’t know, I guess I just assumed water ran downhill. And maybe there’d be some place for it to collect.”
“Well, you were right. Water often flows into crevices.”
“Thanks, captain obvious.” Zach almost spit his water out at her remark, and she turned on him, eyes slitted like a cat about to pounce.
“And you! You were in on it too, weren’t you? That’s what you guys were talking about. How the stream was six miles away?”
His ornery grin gave him away and she flipped him the bird, not finding it the least bit funny.
The rest of the day, Bryson spent a lot of time pointing out animal trails to her. He showed her how the animals tunneled through the underbrush and grass, and how only skilled eyes could pick them out. After a while, she began noticing more and more, which she knew wouldn’t have happened before. She’d never thought to pay attention to what she’d thought to be such minor details.
At one point, he even stopped, pointing out fresh footprints in the dirt. He described a method of hunting called trapping when hunters would look for these animal paths and set up wires to snag the unsuspecting creature as it passed through.
At another time, a different life, the thought of eating a small furry animal would make her squeamish. But not anymore. Now, she knew the cost of survival. And she figured if she could kill a roamer, however inhuman they were, she could do the same for an animal.
Speaking of which… “Have you noticed its been really quiet lately?” She asked, glancing pointedly around them.
“Yeah. I’m hoping it’s because we’re away from the city.” His blue eyes took on a stormy complexion, more grey than blue.
“Maybe the horde drew more attention than we thought,” Zach offered, looking hopeful. “Maybe it caught the attention of other roamers that were in the area.”
This was the only logical reason Paige could come up with. In the beginning of their journey, they’d stumbled across plenty of roamers in the woods, here and there. None of them had been a problem to take care of, until they’d run into the horde. Now, it seemed like they were all alone out here in the woods. The thought was eery, because she couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. Something was up with these woods.
“You’re probably right.” Bryson agreed, but his tone was resigned. Just like Paige, he didn’t know what to think.
“Now that we’re past the city, maybe we should head back to the road and find a car. You know, in case the horde gets turned around and finds us again.”
Zach’s suggestion sent a small shiver down each of their spines at the thought. One encounter had been enough for her, that was for sure.
Bryson pulled out the map, flattening it on a nearby tree. He checked his compass before pointing to a spot on the map. “We’re here. And the nearest road is here.” He slid his finger a short distance to a red line that streaked across the page before splitting off into several directions. A highway. “It’s not close to a city so it shouldn’t be cluttered with cars.”
“Alright, lets get moving.”
Bryson kept his compass out, checking it every so often to make sure they were on the right course. After what seemed like a long time, the brush finally began to clear, and the cover of trees was no longer on their side. The highway came into view, littered with a few scattered cars here and there, some sitting with their doors wide open, others parked quietly on the shoulder like their owners planned on coming back to them.
The closest one to them was an older car, it’s once bright blue paint faded and peeling, giving way to rust. It had a boxy look to it, but as she approached and peered through the window, she couldn’t believe her luck.
“Guys, this one still has the keys in the ignition!”
They all gathered around, Bryson popping the door open to see if their luck would hold out. When the car roared to life, she clapped her hands. With Zach and his unique skill for hot wiring cars (she didn’t want to know how he’d picked that up), it wouldn’t be a problem for them to take any of these cars. But unfortunately, hotwiring took some time, and with the horde still at large, none of them felt comfortable being more exposed than they had to.
“Wow, that was almost too easy.” Zach exclaimed as he climbed into the back, leaving Paige the seat next to Bryson. In a way, she was grateful for that, because usually she found herself in the back while the two brothers sat up front. It was a nice change, and maybe she could even hold Bryson’s hand over the middle console once they got going.
It surprised her how something as small as that gesture sent fire through her belly, millions of little butterflies fluttering against her ribcage. Her hands were even beginning to sweat. Oh, what a schoolgirl she was. But this was Bryson. She couldn’t imagine any girl having their wits around someone so perfect.
Then, she wondered how many of them there’d been. Other girls, that is. Of what little she knew about Bryson, she knew he’d been overseas for at least four years as a soldier before all of this started. He’d only been home a short while before the sickness hit. Were there lots of women available to him over there? What about when he came home? Or in high school? She imagined women threw themselves at him. He could have anybody he wanted. So why had he chosen her?
Maybe because you’re the only female available to him. The voice in the back of her head whispered, turning her thoughts dark. Surely that wasn’t true. If none of this had happened, if they were just two normal people, back the way things used to be, and she somehow met Bryson by chance, he’d still choose her… right?
She’d been alone with her thoughts for a while before Bryson’s warm hand brushed against hers, sending tingles up her arm. She felt the urge to shiver, but stopped herself, knowing that his calculating eyes saw everything. Bryson never missed a detail. Even minor ones.
“You’ve been quiet.” He whispered, taking his eyes off the road to peer at her through long lashes.
“Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“About?”
She blushed as she even considered telling him where her thoughts had been. They were barely even exclusive; she had no right to be jealous of his past relationships. Yeah, he’d started to say he loved her, but the words were never finished before Zach had interrupted them. She glanced at him in the rearview mirror, finding him sound asleep, his breath creating fog on the window where his cheek rested with every steady breath he took.
“It’s nothing.”
“When you blush like that it’s like a sunset.” His words, of course, caused her to blush harder, her face feeling like a furnace. Thankfully it was slowly darkening outside, long shadows stretching across the highway to help hide her body's betrayal of emotion.
“I’ve thought that since the first day I saw you. I think I said something about your shooting skills and your cheeks lit up like a solar flare.” He added, his eyes crinkling in the corner as he grinned sheepishly at her. “What an idiot I was.”
“Yeah, you weren’t very nice back then.”
His hand moved from hers to brush softly against her lip, leaving a trail of heat. She knew he was about to kiss her from the look in his eyes.
“You should watch the road.” She whispered. He’d been staring at her this whole time.
“Why? Afraid I might hit all the cars?”
“Whatever. Just be careful.”
His lips brushed softly against hers once, twice, and she was about to close her eyes and lean into him when something shiny caught her eye. Before she could call out a warning, or even force out a scream, their vehicle hit the long strip of metal spikes that had been laid out across the road. They had been placed there intentionally; she didn’t know why, or by who, but she knew hitting them at this speed was bad.
The car lurched and flipped, giving her the feeling of weightlessness as she clenched her seat tightly, preparing for the impact, fear clawing at her insides. Metal crunched as the car flew through the air, smashing roughly into the ditch on the other side of the highway. But instead of metal hitting dirt, it was metal hitting... metal? That wasn’t right, was it? Something was really wrong here, even more wrong than those wretched woods had been. Almost like it was slow motion, she saw Bryson’s face hovering above hers, but he was upside down. No, wait, she was upside down, pinned in her seat by the seatbelt that bit into her flesh. She tried to scream but Bryson shushed her as he went to work on her bonds, sawing them with his knife until the last strap gave way, sending her straight into his arms before she could crash into the hood of the car. Lights approaching from the trees were the last thing she saw before everything went black.