Chapter 11
A/N: Heyz, been very busy lately. Sorry... Thnkz for the reviews again!
"Argh…this disgusting mud is making my shoes dirty!" Nicolas complained for the tenth time.
"Shut up…you're tempting me to stuff the mud in your mouth." Katie snapped annoyingly with a sense of sadistic.
Alex laughed inwardly, but Max and Jennifer just burst out laughing.
Nicolas sneered and muttered something under his breath.
"C'mon guys, stop bickering and follow me…we won't be able to finish this trekking on time if we keep on quarrelling."
They all shut up and walked quietly.
"Erm…Mike, are we…kinda lost…?" Katie asked quietly after they have walked further into the wood that has no track, and it got past their meeting time.
"Don't say something so unlucky!" Jennifer whispered and stepped closer to Katie.
"What are you saying? She's such a sinister and sadist person." Max mocked.
"Why thank you." Katie said sarcastically and took a small bow.
"If you guys don't want to be the animals' dinner, just shut up." Alex snapped, obviously getting annoyed.
"Harsh…" Katie and Max said in unison. Then, Katie turned to Mike, who was looking at his map for a long time.
"Hey, so where are we now?"
"We're lost…remember? So how am I supposed to know?" Mike rolled his eyes.
"Touchy…fine…let's see…" Katie grabbed the map. Then, turned it upside down, inside out.
"Erm…do you know how to read a map?" Jennifer asked after seeing Katie hopelessly peering into the map.
"No." Katie answered indifferently.
The rest of them wanted so much to strangle her.
"Give it to me!" Nicolas snatched the map out of Katie's hand and turned it back into the correct side. Alex stepped up behind Nicolas to study the map.
They studied the map for a while, and then they looked at each other with confused looks.
"What!" Max asked impatiently.
"Y'know, we're on the right track, but then, it suddenly stops here, there's no direction. Are you sure this is the correct map?" Nicolas explained.
"Yeah…are you sure it's not the incomplete map?" Alex asked.
"Lemme see again…" Mike said while stepping forward to look at the map.
"What the-" Mike almost swear.
"What!" All of them asked in unison, their hearts beating very fast.
"This is not the map we were briefed on earlier!"
"Then, what is it?"
"I don't know…it's like a modified version of the original one." Mike explained.
"Okay…so what are we going to do now?" Nicolas asked.
"It's getting very dark…we can't find the way out now, we'll probably go deeper into the wood. I suggest we find a place to rest for the night and tomorrow we can find the way out or we wait for the rescue team to come." Mike said and led them to a river bank near by.
"Okay…all we've got is the emergency food…biscuits, water, canned stuff." Mike emptied his bag.
Mike and Jennifer started preparing the food, since Alex warned them not to let Katie touch the food unless they didn't want to survive. For Nicolas and Gina, they wouldn't even bother to offer help.
"Hey…" Alex gestured Katie to follow him away from their camping site.
"What?" Katie asked
"Do you think the map thing is a bit strange?" Alex whispered
"You mean that the maps happened to be similar but the wrong map led us to be lost in this wood? Duh…" Katie answered sarcastically.
"So…why are you so calm?" Alex asked angrily.
"What can we do? We practically walked into the trap…we don't even know who's our attacker…or do you want me to start screaming for help?"
"Fine…just be careful…they might strike at night…"
"Yeah…sure…" Katie promised.
"Hey! Alex! Let's go and get some twigs for the fire!" Max called from the campsite and started walking toward them.
Alex looked at Katie meaningfully.
Take care…
Katie smiled and nodded lightly
I'll be fine…
"Well, I better help Mike with the cooking! I feel so useless…" Katie said evilly and walked toward Mike.
Alex stood rooted to the ground, shocked.
I think the ones who should take care of themselves are the us…Alex thought
Katie managed to convince Mike to let her help in the cooking but she was only allowed to stir the soup. Guess Mike took Alex's advice seriously.
"Hey…Katie…have you seen Nicolas?" Jennifer asked.
"No…why?"
"Erm…just wondering…'coz I haven't seen him for a long time now, and it's getting very late."
"Just forget about him, that spoilt brat won't survive on his own, he'll come crawling back for the food." Katie said mildly.
"Katie!"
"Fine fine…I'll go and find him…you take over me for the stirring then." Katie gave Jennifer the spoon used for stirring.
Katie grabbed one of the flashlights and headed away from the campsite.
Y'know, like some traces that this path has been used before.