Chapter 9 #4
I was surprised to see that Martin, of all people, seemed more hesitant to follow through with Kyle’s instructions, and he didn’t immediately take his backpack off or follow the group.
Instead, he stood there and stared hard at Kyle and Clarisse while they waited for him to concede.
“Go, Martin,” Clarisse finally said impatiently, and it wasn’t until she said those words that Martin finally shrugged off his backpack, set it down in the clearing, and trudged along behind us.
I wondered if perhaps Martin had developed a bit of a crush on Clarisse and didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone with Kyle. I couldn’t think of any other possible explanation for his actions, because he’d been glued to Kyle’s side since we were first taken for the games.
So, what had changed?
I waited until we were further into the trees before I paused to tell the women my plan to do all the tasks together, and just as I suspected, they all readily agreed.
Even Martin didn’t seem to care. He was too busy brooding.
With the plan set, we first made our way over toward the sound of flowing water. As we moved through the trees, I was careful to pay extra-special attention to our surroundings.
Not just to watch for potential threats and predators, but also to keep a mental note of the path we’d taken so we’d be able to find our way back. I watched out for oddly shaped trees and bushes as well as any wildflowers or multicolored dirt patches.
Everyone was cautious as we moved, but Parker seemed to be in her element. Despite the potential danger, I could see the way a smile continued to play along her lips, and she moved with a level of freedom I’d never seen from her. It was intoxicating to watch.
Sadie remained close to my side, and even though I knew she was uncomfortable in our current environment, and she’d much rather be indoors somewhere, she kept a steady pace and even footing as she moved beside me as if she, too, were a seasoned adventurer.
I was impressed by the both of them.
As we moved closer to the sound of running water, I realized it wasn’t a stream at all but actually a massive, slow-running river.
The water looked clean, but that didn’t mean it was safe to drink, and I could see a few spots where massive fish would randomly jump out to catch the hovering insects.
“So, what exactly did Mr. Know-it-all want us to do here?” Claire asked once we’d reached the water’s edge.
“No clue,” Tyler said.
I assumed when he told the women to check out the river, it was to see if there was fresh water, but there was no true way to tell if that water would make us sick or not just by looking at it. So, this entire venture felt sort of pointless.
“Let’s just go get the firewood, I guess,” I murmured, and we all moved back into the dense trees of the forest.
It turned out finding firewood wouldn’t be hard to do. There were plenty of dry and dead branches laying around that had broken off and fallen from the trees above.
We spread out but made sure everyone was always within sight of each other as we collected as many dried twigs and branches as we could. I also kept an eye out for any larger branches that looked longer and were straighter than the others.
Things were calm now, but I knew of plenty of predators that liked to hunt at night, and I wasn’t confident in my ability to fend them off with a little pocket knife.
But if I could whittle some of these branches into makeshift spears…
I gathered as many as I could, because the predators I knew about on Earth were bad enough, but what if the aliens had their own versions roaming these woods as well?
I very badly wanted to find a moment to speak with Parker alone, but I hadn’t found an opportunity to do it yet. I was relieved to see she seemed to be in much better spirits now than she had yesterday, and I wondered if maybe I’d misread her disappointment.
We’d all just narrowly escaped death, and we had also watched Zade and Annabelle get vaporized right in front of us, so perhaps her expression had been for something else entirely.
I quickly refocused my thoughts on the task at hand and away from the lost competitors. I tried to avoid thinking about them whenever I could, because whenever I did, I was filled with a sense of sadness and dread.
I moved to a different section of trees and started to collect more sticks from the damp, leaf-strewn ground.
I lifted one particularly large stick, and I thought I spotted something shiny beneath it.
I crouched down to get a closer look, and when I brushed a few of the damp leaves aside, I realized it was another small metal part.
What were the odds I found one out here in the middle of nowhere?
About as good as finding one buried in the sand or in the middle of a cluttered supermarket, I supposed.
I quickly shifted the sticks to my left arm, so I could use my right one to quickly pocket the item.
Based on past experience, I knew I probably wouldn’t find another piece, but I took a moment to search anyway.
Just in case.
And I continued to keep my eyes peeled for more once I stood up and continued my stick collection.
But I didn’t find any other metal pieces.
Once we’d collected as much as we could carry, we all headed back toward the campsite.
We moved as a group toward the large clearing where we’d left our stuff, and we were all quite pleased with the amount we were able to collect.
But that pleasure stopped the moment we stepped out of the treeline, and I nearly dropped the stack of wood I’d collected when I saw the state of our camp.
Our backpacks and the supplies inside had been strewn all over the clearing, and most of the fabric was torn and ripped open, while other supplies looked like they were either missing or had been squashed.
“What the hell happened here?” Tyler’s voice was filled with the same shock we all felt.
The entire place looked like it had been ransacked. Who or what could’ve done that?
And where the hell was Kyle and Clarisse?