Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. I'm sorry to say that i won't be updating very fast anymore. Cheerleading practice started for me and i have practice everyday and then starting right away in September i'm busy every weekend with pep rallies, dances and football games. So i'm sorry that i won't be updating fast. I'll try my best! i hope you all stick with me and read still!
When I woke up this morning, Austin was no longer next to me. I sit up, and no one is in here. I hate when they all let me sleep like this, it sort of pisses me off really. I get up and walk out of the plane, and I see Austin, Frank, Thomas and the twins sitting at the fire pit. The others must be gone swimming. I walk over to them and they all look at me. I glare at everyone, "Why doesn't anyone ever wake me up?" I ask them.
The twins give me a confused look, and Thomas starts to laugh, "I didn't know we were your alarm system." He says.
"Well, everyone else gets up together, why not I?" I ask.
Frank shrugs, "We all sort of just wake up at the same time. You're just a heavy sleeper." He says. I sigh and turn around and walk away. Austin gets up and follows me instantly, "Where are you going?" He asks.
"I don't know; no where I guess." I say and stop walking.
"Want to go to the river with me?" He asks.
"Sure." I tell him. I'll be fine if I don't go alone I assure myself, though I won't be able to swim or do much.
He runs into the plane and grabs his backpack, and when he comes out he says he packed us some jerky, I nod, and I follow him into the woods. It creeps me out a little, because I keep getting flashbacks from being here in the dark, alone, with something chasing me. But I feel safe because Austin's with me, so my nerves stay calm.
When we get there, Austin jumps in and cools himself down, while I watch him from the familiar comfortable rock. The air isn't as warm today, but warm enough. Austin doesn't swim long, and when he gets out he joins me on the rock, only in his shorts. He shakes his head, making his hair fly everywhere and water splashes right in my face. He notices my face full of anger and he giggles, "Thanks." I say sarcastically.
"You're welcome." He says.
I look around, and the surroundings are really quiet. I realize there really aren't many different small animals in the area, so there aren't many food sources for the bigger animals that are around. That creeps me out slightly…
"Did you hear that?" Austin asks me, looking in a far off direction.
"No." I say.
He looks around, his face totally alert, and we're both silent. After a few minutes of silence, he shrugs, "Never mind I guess." He says.
But now I'm sort of freaked out, because what if there's something out there? "What if it's a wolf?" I whisper.
"Frank says its fine during the day." Austin says.
"But I've seen one out during the day Austin, remember?" I ask him, facing him now.
"Oh. I forgot about that." He says, his face full of disappointment, "So I guess Frank isn't as smart as he seems?" He asks me.
"I think he means well, but, I don't know." I say.
"All he is doing lately is staring at the same plant. How can you figure out where we are by the one stinking plant?" Austin asks, staring off at the river.
"I have no idea. It doesn't seem to be working though." I say.
"I could go for some different food, like fish, or deer or anything." Austin says, changing the subject.
"I saw a whitetail deer when I was here alone yesterday." I say.
"Wow really? If only we had something to hunt with." He says.
"Well, I don't know what we are going to do when we run out of jerky and dried fruit." He says.
"I know; we will be screwed." I say.
"That's for sure." He says.
We stop talking for a little while, and just listen to the sounds of the water, and listen for any other sounds that might be dangerous for us. Eventually, I get hungry and ask Austin for the jerky. He breaks off two pieces of jerky and hands one to me. We eat the pieces slowly, savoring each bite. It's definitely not filling, but it will last me the rest of the afternoon. We have all lost a few pounds already I assume.
I hear a noise from behind us, and Austin turns around at the same time I do, so I know that he heard it too. The noise continues for a while, until one small grey wolf appears in the direction we were looking. It stands there, still and alert, staring at us.
"Shit." Austin says.
I spot another one walk up behind the other, and there right in the direction we need to go. How is this going to happen? Two smaller ones appear now too; it's the pack.
"Shit." Austin repeats.
"There right where we need to go." I say. I'm standing right off of his right shoulder, slightly behind him. His arm is away from his side slightly, almost like he's going to hold me back, but where am I going to go?
One wolf howls, a long loud howl. The others don't respond or anything and it gives me an eerie feeling, an all around bad feeling about it. Austin continues to stay still, and so do the wolves. Their just staring at us and it's starting to really freak me out. What if they're hungry enough to just attack at any moment? There are more of them than us; we'd get killed for sure.
"What are we going to do? There in our way." I say to Austin.
"Run the opposite direction." He replies.
I look at him in disbelief, "We can't do that." I tell him.
"Run, or go in the opposite direction?" He asks, not taking his eyes off of them.
"Both." I tell him.
"Have any better ideas?" Austin asks.
I think for a moment, but nothing comes to mind. My thoughts are too flooded with what's in front of me, "No." I say. But if we go to the opposite direction, we'll get lost. How will we get back? And if we run, won't they chase after us?
"I'm going to count to three, and on three, we're running. I'm going to grab your hand, and we are going to turn around and run, and we're not going to stop until we know it's safe. Got it?" Austin says.
I don't say anything. I just freeze and look down at my still swollen wrist and remember just last night when I ran through these woods. What if I get hurt again or worse, what if Austin gets hurt? I'll be screwed for sure.
"Did you hear me Ally?" Austin asks, and I know he would have yelled it if he could.
"I do." I tell him.
"1…" He says. I cringe, my body starts to shake. If they do run after us, we could get attacked. We could get hurt, killed, eaten.
"2…" He says next. The shaking becomes worse, and I sweat starts to form on my forehead. If we do make it away from the wolves, we'll be in the wrong direction. We won't be able to find camp tonight, it will be too dark. What will we do?
"3!" he yells then, and he grabs my good hand. He pulls me around and we run, we run fast. Neither of us look back to see what's going on, we just look forward and run. We make sure not to run into trees, and other things, and I make sure I don't trip on anymore roots. I hear noises behind us so that makes us think we might be being chased. We keep running until my lungs feel like they just might explode.
I stop, and Austin hadn't got the picture so he pulls my arm, but I don't start to run again, "Ally what are you doing?" He asks me, he's out of breath himself.
"I can't." I say, and try to breathe, "Run anymore." I finish.
He lets go of my hand and looks around, "I guess it's safe." He says and walks over to the nearest tree and leans against it on his hand, trying to catch his breath himself.
We both take a moment to get ourselves together, and Austin stands up straight. I look around at our surroundings. I know I haven't been here before, and the sun is starting to set. This is not good.
"What are we going to do?" I ask him.
He shakes his head, "I don't know. I don't think we should start trying to find our way back. It's going to be dark soon."
I nod at him in agreement. But how are we going to sleep out here? We have no shelter, and we will be out in the open for any animal to eat us. I get a chill up my spine at just that thought; I hold back a shiver.
He removes his backpack off of his shoulders and sets it down next to him. He looks around the small clearing we're in. He studies different things, and I stare at him in confusion, "What are you doing?" I ask.
"Trying to find a comfortable flat spot we can sleep." He says.
"What are we going to sleep on, the nice dirt and sticks?" I ask him.
"I brought my blanket, and we can use my backpack as a pillow." He says.
"Why did you bring your blanket?" I ask.
"I thought of using it as a towel, but that didn't happen." He says.
"We'll have to sleep really close to each other…" I say, eyeing the back pack.
Austin lets out a loud laugh, "And has that mattered the last two nights?" He says, giving me a big smile.
"I suppose not." I say and a small smile creeps its way onto my lips.
Austin grabs the blanket out of his backpack and lays it down on the spot he picked. He sits down on it and pats the spot next to him. I walk over and take a seat. He grabs the other pieces of jerky he brought and gives us each a small piece, saving the other for the morning I assume. He sets the half full water bottle out too, and with that, we eat dinner.
After finishing my piece of jerky, a sudden sting of pain shoots through my wrist. I squirm uncomfortably and Austin notices moments after, "What's going on?" He asks me.
"My pain killers wore off." I say with a sigh.
"Shit. We don't have any with us." He says.
I nod, "I know."
"You're going to be in pain." He says; his voice full of distress.
"It's fine, really." I tell him and pat him on the leg.
"Okay." He says, but he knows I'm full of it.
The darkness surrounds us quickly, and I start to feel very uncomfortable. No way am I going to be able to sleep like this, out in the open. We don't have a blanket to cover us, only one to lie on. This is going to be beyond weird and freaky. What if we fall asleep and something comes, and kills us?
Austin lies down and stares up at the stars. I stay in my seated position, hugging my knees. I watch Austin study the sky and then I speak, "No way am I going to be sleeping tonight."
"Me either." He says.
