Emma managed to find her way through the trees, and to the other side of the forest. She sighed. On the horizon, she could see a city. She just wasn't sure which one. It had to be London, but it looked so differently. Where was the London Eye? The Gherkin? All the big towers?
Her hands shook as she wiped them on her trousers. She was sweating. Her heart kept pounding. It can't be true, and yet this is more proof that things have gone very wrong.
Suddenly, she saw movement. She spotted it out of the corner of her eye. It was moving towards her. It took her longer than she'd like to admit, for her to realise it was a person. She groaned when she saw it was a teenage boy.
She took a couple of steps back, her eyes still focused on the unwelcome visitor. Suddenly the boy stopped, and looked up.
Emma quickly ducked behind the tree. She hoped he hadn't seen her. Her heart was beating fast. She felt ashamed. What was she doing, hiding behind trees at the sight of another human. She shook her head. How childish. But she couldn't help it. Something wasn't right. And until she figured out what that was, she had to be careful. This could be a dangerous place.
"Hello?"
Emma held her breath. She hoped the boy wouldn't come and look for her. She tried to stay as still as she could. She closed her eyes. She knew it was childish, but she couldn't help thinking, if she couldn't see him then he couldn't see her.
Emma waited until she didn't hear anything for several minutes. She wanted to be sure he was really gone. She took a couple of deep breaths and slowly peeked around the trunk.
Nothing. She saw nothing. No figures. No animals. No shadows. Only open fields and factories. She sighed in relief. Crisis averted.
It has gotten dark now. The last few hours, Emma had spent looking at the skyline, in the safety of the trees. Undisturbed. On the one hand, it gave her the peace and quiet she had been looking for. On the other hand, it gave her time to think.
She had been staring at the horizon. She had refused to think about her friends, until now. The edge of the woods reminded her at the park she used to play in. The place she frequented with her boyfriend. The place she said her goodbye. She forced her tears away. There was no point in crying. It wouldn't help her now.
Suddenly, Emma looked up. She heard the riffling of leaves and quickly stood up. Her heart was hammering in her throat. She knew how dangerous woods could be, and she cursed herself for not taking some sort of protection. She looked around herself, looking for a stick or something. Her eyes fell on a heavy rock and she picked it up. She held it tightly in her hand.
The sounds grew closer. Emma prepared herself, holding out the stone in one hand, ready to strike. And just in time, the sounds had reached the open area. Out of the bushes stepped, something. No, someone. A boy. The boy. The boy from that morning. He had come back.
Emma felt herself relax, but she still held on to the rock. You can never be too careful, after all.