He slowly awoke from a deep sleep. Even before he opened his eyes, he could tell something was off just by the feeling of cold earth beneath him and the breeze on his face. Once he did, however, he was even more confused.
He found himself lying on the forest floor surrounded by trees. Through the branches shone a good deal of sunlight, stinging his eyes. Looking down at himself, his heart rate increasing, he found he was dressed in an unzipped red sweatshirt, a plain black t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and hiking boots. None of these were clothing items he could remember owning, with the exception of maybe the jeans. Reaching up to his neck, he felt a metal band wrapped snugly around it, though not tight enough to restrict breathing. Right next to where his head had been lying, there was a full black backpack, which he also couldn't remember owning. On the front of the backpack was sown a white patch with 3 black letters, "IDC." Opening it up, he found a high number of individually bagged sandwiches and a box of granola bars. The fact that he wouldn't starve was comforting, although the situation as a whole still unnerved him.
After a minute or so of gathering his senses, he noticed in the distance what appeared to be the sound of a river flowing. Hoping it would lead to somewhere he could recognize, he followed it. The trek proved quite difficult due to the thickly grown vegetation and lack of any clear path.
Eventually, he reached the river. It wasn't too large, probably about 10 feet wide and 2 feet deep, he estimated. Standing on its banks, he looked off into the distance and saw large mountains rising out over the horizon in both directions. He recognized this forest, but he had no idea how had ended up there. He knew people didn't just teleport, so either he had come here under his own will, or someone had placed him here.
Suddenly, he heard a sound that made his heart stop.
"Hey!"
He turned around and saw a man who had apparently walked out from the trees about 100 or so feet up away from him. The fear subsided and was replaced with relief at seeing another human being.
"Who are you?" The man called out, hurrying towards him.
"W-who am I?"
"Yeah, are you a hiker or something?"
The man looked to be a couple of years older than him and about the same height and build with short, blond hair. He also had a red sweatshirt, black t-shirt, pair of blue jeans, black backpack, and hiking boots, although his sweatshirt was tied around his waist. Looking closer, he too had the same black band around his neck.
"Uh...yeah, I'm a hiker." He didn't want to tell him the truth since really, no sane person would believe that. "You?"
"I know I'm going to sound insane," the man shook his head, "but I just woke up over in the trees, and I don't know where I am or how I got here. Would you by any chance know how to get out of here so I can get home?"
He couldn't believe what he had heard.
"I...I just...so did I." he said "I-I lied, I'm not a hiker. I woke up a little way through the trees. I don't know where we are anymore than you."
The man's brow furrowed in apparent confusion.
"You're serious? You're not messing with me?"
"Why would I lie about something like that? Plus, we're both wearing the same clothes. Maybe the same people put us here."
"Why would they do that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Hey, what's in your bag?"
The man took off his backpack and opened it up.
"Just some first aid stuff. Some band-aids, gauze, a roll of tape, a tube of Neosporin, this water filter device, a bottle of hand sanitizer, and some other things. I also got this hatchet. What about you?"
"I got food." He opened the backpack. "A bunch of sandwiches and some granola bars."
"What kind of sandwiches?"
"Looks like pb&j" He opened a bag and sniffed. "Yeah, pb&j."
"Simple, I guess." The man paused. "What's your name?"
"Till."
"Huh?"
"Till. T-I-L-L. It's German, my parents are from Berlin. I lived there for a while."
"Well, that's unique."
"So I've discovered."
"I'm Aaron."
"Well, it's nice to meet you. Good to see another person." They both shook hands. Aaron still seemed rather tense, with his jaw still clenched and his eyes wide open, looking around.
"So what do you think we should-" Aaron started before he was cut off by a voice from the other side of the river.
"Excuse me!"
Till and Aaron both turned their heads to see two people coming out of the trees. One was a tall, well-built man with a shaved head who looked to be around 40, and the other was a short girl with long brown hair who looked to be in her early 20s. Both were wearing the same things they were, had the same neckband, and had black backpacks.
"I know this probably sounds insane but..." the man stopped and noticed the matching outfits, "Oh god.."
"Let me guess, you woke up in the forest and you don't know how you got here?" Aaron said.
"Pretty much."
"Well, you're out of luck, 'cause we don't know either."
"Damn..."
Nobody said anything for a moment.
"I should probably introduce myself," The man said. "My name's Doug. This is Kate," he motioned to the girl, who nodded, "We ran into each other a couple of minutes ago."
While physically imposing, Till didn't find Doug to be very intimidating. He had a very reassuring way of talking and a friendly enough face. Kate seemed very uncomfortable with everything going on, judging by the way she stared at the ground, barely acknowledging the rest of them.
"I'm Aaron, and this is Till spelled T-I-L-L."
Till chuckled.
"What's in your bags?" Doug asked.
"I've got a bunch of sandwiches and granola bars, and he has first aid stuff and a hatchet. You?"
"I've got a flashlight, some rope, a flint and steel, some firestarters, a jackknife, a tarp, and some other things."
"What about you?" Till asked Kate, who had kept silent this whole time.
"I've got..." she took off her bag and opened it, "A spade, this Nerf football, four flashlights, and a fishing net."
"A football?" Aaron snickered.
"Could be useful. You never know" Doug countered.
Till had other questions he felt they needed to discuss.
"Alright, what do guys think we should do?"
"You all can do what you want, I'm gonna try to get out of here!" Said Aaron.
"Wait, don't you want to see if there's anyone else nearby?"
"They can fend for themselves."
"He's probably got the right idea." Doug added, "We don't know how long it's going to take us to get out, and I'm not sure how long a backpack full of sandwiches and granola bars is going to last the four of us."
"That's not our only food. Kate has the fishing net."
"I've never fished before." Kate quietly said.
"Besides, Kate has four flashlights, one for each of us. If there was another person for us to find, there'd be more." Aaron pointed out.
"Alright, I'll come along. We'll be better off in one group, anyways. Let's follow the river. Rivers usually lead to towns and such."
The three guys turned towards Kate.
"Sure, I'll come," she shrugged.
"Perfect," said Doug, turning to the others. He and Kate then walked to their side of the river, stepping on stones sticking up from the water."Let's try to get as far as we can before the sun sets."
"You really think we won't be out of here by the end of the day?" Aaron said, visibly concerned.
"Hopefully we will, but it's always good to not get your hopes up."
"Well, let's just get moving, then."
With that, they began walking along the river.