"What is this?" Vince questioned, running a hand through his hair.
"I-I don't know. I never expected him to stoop so low." I was on the verge of tears. How can Brandon be so childish? I can't believe he left us stranded in the forest without any means of survival for what? A few moments of glory?
This was the wild, for god sake. We both could get lost.
"I'm sure Daniel will come for us as soon as he realises we aren't there. And when we get back, Brandon will be sent to jail for attempt of murder and everything will be alright. He is so stupid. I can't believe-" Before I could continue my rant, Vince caught hold of my shoulder and shook me.
"Relax, Jinx." He had bent down to be eye to eye with me. His blue eyes bore into mine, and calmed me down though the heat from his hand on my shoulder started to cancel that affect.
"We'll find our way back." He reassured, understanding my reason of panic.
"We will." He repeated.
I sat down on the ground. The straps of my backpack slid off my shoulder as I cursed my luck, all of the evidences leading to this staring back at me. His smirks, countless threats and unending stretch of underlying words all made sense now. He had been planning this for a while. It made me wonder if being partnered with Vince was also just a part of his plan.
"I'm so sorry." I mumbled, embarrassed by how Vince who had done nothing was pulled into my mess.
"It's not your fault, let's just get going." He shrugged offering me a hand to stand up.
"I think we should stay here till someone comes to get us. Do you have Daniel's number? We can call him." Upon remembering the electronic device resting in the backpack a little hope sparkled in me.
I looked impatiently as Vince fetched out his phone not wanting to point at how my hand was still in his.
"No signal. I think if we move a little over to that side, we will be able to get some. I don't have enough charge and it's already getting a little dark." I hadn't noticed until Vince spoke up that it was getting darker, he let go of my hand in a jerk as I felt myself miss his warmth.
I glanced at my watch, concluding it was already six in the evening.
"How are we going to stay alive?" Usually the wild always caught my attention for the good. The smell of fresh soil and birds chirping brought a small smile on my face. But now, the chirping had changed into creaking of crickets and howls of the suspected wolves which didn't sound too far away.
"Okay, let's start with the most important thing." Vince said, stopping and facing me.
"How much of food do you have?"
I looked into my backpack and counted the amount of energy bars and packed food I had.
"To last me a day or two, if I eat really less every time." I replied, "What about you?"
"One with me eating a birds diet."
We both looked at each other and one thing was clear.
"We really need to get back." We both said in sync. There was no sure short answer to when we'd be rescued so we had to prepare for the worst.
I had no training in killing a wild animal with only minimal knowledge from watching man vs wild.
"Well, I had gone to a survival camp when I was younger. They had taught me how to hunt. But they carried heavy equipment with themselves. I guess we have to figure out how we'd do it." Vince didn't seemed too happy when he mentioned his time at the camp and it got me curious.
Vince kept walking into some direction and it set alarms off in my head.
"I really think we should stay here till they come to us or wait till tomorrow so we can retrace our steps back to campsite." I said, loud enough for him to hear and strong enough to show my dominance.
"We need to reach a clearing so we can light up a fire, the cold will freeze us." He replied, his voice much more assertive and sensible that mine.
Vince was still holding his phone in his hand, checking for reception but every time his face held a look of great annoyance.
"There is no signal here," He continued his rant with a few colourful words making an appearance every once in a while. "My phone will soon run out of charge. What then?" I think Vince meant that to be a rhetorical question but I answered anyway.
"We die."
"Well, aren't you a ball of sunshine." He snorted. I was walking behind him so when he made an abrupt stop, I couldn't help but walk into him.
"Sorry." I muttered, for both walking into him and my grumpy attitude.
"I think we can set camp here." He said, putting down his backpack.
The place he had chosen had a little area on the ground clear but it was surrounded by the dark forest. The cold breeze of the night was already starting to send shivers down the back, or maybe it was the spread of darkness around me which creeped me out.
Vince soon started walking again.
"Where are you going?" I asked him in a scared voice. I was terrified beyond measure, the idea of staying here without him didn't sit well with me.
"I'm going to get some wood for the fire, Jinx. Do you want to freeze to death or starve to it?" Vince threw a smirk in my direction, his silver lip ring shinning under the light from the flashlight.
"I think my positivity passed on to you." I crossed me arms on my chest sending him a cold stare.
He just rolled his eyes and turned around to walk again, seeing his retreating back I swallowed all the pride I had and called out after him.
"Please don't leave me, I'll come with."
"You have to stay here, so I can come back. If we both leave, finding this place again would be near impossible. I'll see you in ten minutes, relax." He said in a calming voice. I let his words sink in and it actually soothed my worries.
I gave him a hesitant nod and he walked on.
I stared at his back till I couldn't see him anymore, that's when I realized how alone I truly was.
Not letting my mind think on those tracks any longer, I dragged Vince's bag beside me and kept it in the estimated distance from the fire, right beside me.
Arranging the backpacks and sleeping bags took me fifteen minutes and Vince had yet to return.
I sat down on my sleeping bag, wrapping a blanket around myself.
The hunger soon got to me and I took out yet another energy bar. Eating only these will give me no strength to do anything further than sleeping. But I needed fire to prepare any other food item.
It made me wonder how these inventors thought hot water is an easily available entity in a forest.
I was soon shivering, not out of cold but fear. The howls of the animals of the night now seemed to be getting closer.
It had been half an hour. I was sitting here, alone, with all kinds of wild animals around me for thirty entire minutes.
"He'll come. He will." I reassured myself. I knew he wouldn't leave me here to die alone but I was scared I'd die before he returns.
"Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything is on fire. The war outside your door keeps ranging on." I sang, my voice distracting me from all the horrible stories coming to my mind.
I continued singing and soon my voice is all I heard, everything else merged into the background.
But the sound of dry leaves rustling got my attention and I took my flash light and tried seeing the cause of it.
The noise increased and my heart beat did the same.
Before a scream could leave my mouth, I saw Vince emerging from the forest.
Seeing him standing there with wood tucked under both his arms, I let out a sigh of relief.
I couldn't stop myself from getting up and hugging him, letting my face bury itself in his neck and breathe in his scent mixed with the smell of cigarettes. Somehow he wore it well.
My arms were wrapped around his neck in an iron hold. I had thrown myself on him which caused him to drop the wood and stumble back a little. The height difference between us was the cause of my feet being off the ground.
I felt his arms wrap around my back after a while and the feeling of safety flowed through me. It was as if with him here, I knew I could do anything.
It had been quite a while since I was in his arms and I didn't care.
"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late, Jinx. You'd think finding wood on the forest would be easy." He chuckled, his index finger drawing circles on my back.
He put his hand on my waist, and made an attempt to put me down, but I wasn't having it.
I just got him back and I'm not letting go.
******
Can they get any cuter? Yeesss they can.
Comment on the progress!
Love,
Rojesta 💜