Three days had passed since I'd left what had once been the city of Paris, and I was finally forced to admit to myself the fact that I had absolutely no clue where I was. I had made the assumption that the maps would give me some idea of where I was and in which direction I should go, and that the compass would show me the direction I was going in. The compass appeared to be working fine, but that was irrelevant... since the maps were no longer accurate. No, the problem wasn't the maps as much as the fact that the landscape had been affected by the contents of the box as well.

"Great, just great... what am I supposed to do now! My maps are completely useless, and the compass isn't much good by itself. I've still got some food left, but I'm running out of water... could things possibly get any worse? I might as well keep moving... there's nothing around here of use." Several hours later as night began to fall, I came upon a forest and decided to take shelter there. After all, trees also need water, so there was a good chance that there was a stream or pond that I could use to replenish my water supplies. There was also the fact that my supplies of food wouldn't last forever, and I might be able to find something to eat. Pretty much everything I could have wished for, right? I was about to discover a perfect example of why a certain old saying existed: "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

Everything seemed fine at first; I discovered that there was a stream in the forest, and the water was more or less clean. I was too tired to try and see if I could catch any fish, but there were wild berries growing on some bushes nearby, and the field guide I'd found back in the ruins of Paris identified them as being edible... although "edible" turned out to be a pretty accurate description of how they tasted, but I wouldn't be in danger of running out of food anytime soon... or at least that's what I thought would be the case as I set up camp for the night. I was about to lie down on the ground and go to sleep for the night when I heard what I THOUGHT was the sound of somebody stepping on a branch and breaking it.

I quickly stood up and drew my shock pistol. "Who's there! Stop hiding and come out where I can see you!" A few moments passed before my demand was answered. At first, I was annoyed, as it appeared that this was some punk's pathetic attempt to scare me away from my belongings. "Nice try, but I won't be scared by a disguise that pathetic. I'll give you 10 seconds to leave, and if you don't..." The "punk" started coming closer, and I figured that he thought I was bluffing. "I wasn't joking, punk... say goodnight!" I fired my shock pistol, and my shot hit perfectly... but with no apparent effect other than a horrific scream. Not only did the scream make it quite clear that this wasn't someone disguised as a tree attempting to scare me, but it also brought several other "trees" out of the surrounding woods (the latter of which I didn't notice immediately.)

I was shocked, but quickly decided that it would be a good idea to switch tactics. "I don't know who or what you are, but I'm not going to let you get any closer to me and my belongings!" I started to head towards the fire in the center of the campsite when I was grabbed from behind by another "tree," which proceeded to start to crush me. I attempted to get myself free, but several moments later yet another "tree" grabbed hold of me as well and joined in with the first one. They didn't seem to be trying to kill me yet, but I figured that they were waiting for their friend to make its way over before they finished me off.

They never got the chance though... one of the "trees" suddenly tightened its grip for a moment at the same time it gave a horrific scream... one that I realized was different from the one I'd heard before. Its grip went slack a moment later, just as the same thing happened with the other "tree." My confusion as to what had caused this turn of events was short, as what appeared to be a bolt of flame slammed into the "tree" that had been making its way over to me. "Well, well... what do we have here? From the looks of it, a fox who doesn't have the brains they were born with!" I turned to see who had just saved (and insulted) me, and saw a middle-aged foxhound dressed in khaki, carrying what appeared to be a crude hunting bow. "Well, I suppose YOU know what those things were since you're so smart?" "No, I really don't have a clue... all I know is that the first time I saw them was the day some big explosion occurred... and that everybody and everything else in the forest ended up how you would have... eaten!"

Under normal circumstances, I would have immediately written off the foxhound as being crazy and probably a danger to the general public. The crudeness of the hunting bow suggested that he had made it himself, and combined with him being dressed in khaki, it suggested that he had been a survivalist or militiaman... both of which were occupations that didn't have a reputation for being practiced by law-abiding citizens. However, the definition of "normal circumstances" definitely didn't apply to someone being nearly crushed to death by "trees," or much of anything since that box had been opened. "Well, thanks for the help... I guess it would be a good idea for me to leave this forest before more of those "trees" show up." The foxhound looked at me strangely, and then asked me: "You got any idea of where you're going?" I don't know why since I'd never met him before (and he'd called me stupid as well), but I answered his question truthfully. "No... I have absolutely no idea of where I'm going, or of where I am right now." When I didn't hear a response, I turned around to find the foxhound gone.

I didn't spend much time trying to figure out why he'd left, as I was more interested in getting out of the forest before I ended up being torn apart when more of those "trees" found me. I was tired and it didn't help that I'd been about one "tree" away from being crushed to death. "The sooner I get out of this forest, the sooner I can go to sleep safely... for that matter, the sooner I can do anything safely!" I had packed up a little more than half of my belongings when I realized something strange... the rest of my belongings had disappeared! "What... where's the rest..." "The rest of your belongings? I've got them packed up already. Who knows when more of those monsters will come looking for us? We should get moving before they do." I turned to see the foxhound wearing a backpack, a knife belt with several knives, and holding his hunting bow. Two knapsacks (one of which was mine) lay next to him, one on each side.

"Hold on... what do you mean WE?" The foxhound smiled at me and said: "There are three reasons why WE should get moving. The first reason is that you have no idea where you are or where you're going. Since you've got maps and a compass, my guess is that things have gotten just as screwed up outside this forest since that explosion.. if that's what it actually was. The second reason is that you clearly don't have a clue as to how to deal with the dangers that we might come across. Oh, you've prepared for them... but your recent experience should have demonstrated that you're not prepared to deal with the dangers that exist in the world NOW." The foxhound picked up the knapsacks, handed over my knapsack and slung the other knapsack over his shoulder. "Hold on... you said there were three reasons, and you've only stated two!" "The third reason... I'm a foxhound. You're a fox... obviously the third reason for us traveling together is that I'm supposed to be around to constantly annoy you.'

As I left the forest with my new companion, I wondered about three things. The first thing I wondered about was if my new companion had any better idea about where to go then I did. The second thing I wondered about was how widespread the damage was from whatever it was that had been released from that box. The third thing I wondered about was how long I would be able to resist the thought of strangling my new companion to death if he had been serious about that third reason. Fortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than his idea of a joke.