Joel looked around again. He was in the small cabin that he had camped in the previous night. It had stone walls and the angled roof was made from wood. There were a few empty shelves along one wall, and a single bunk in a corner to sleep on. It had clearly been abandoned for a long time. The dust that was on the floor when he had arrived had now been compounded by the falling particles from the roof. His pack was now resting on its side within arms reach of where he now sat. He had arrived late during the evening - leaving Ellie in Peters camp while he scouted the area. He and Ellie had seen the cabin on a previous hunting trip a week or two ago standing by itself in a man made clearing in the middle of the forest near to their camp. They had nearly missed it as the trees were so densely packed, and had not approached it then. They had been on the trail of a deer. This time out he had said that he wanted to go alone to clear his head. Recent events and everything that he had learned during that time had left him with a lot to think about. 'I'll be back in a day or two' he had said. Last night the cabin seemed like a good place to sleep at but now he just hoped he would stay alive long enough to make it through the day.
Joel looked up at the sky through the newly formed gaping hole where some of the roof beams had been. The sun was not directly overhead yet. It was still early. The shout came again through the silence, from one of the men who had trapped him in the cabin. Five of them had came up to the cabin only a short time ago. They had tried to break the locked door down whilst he was sleeping. Four of them were now still outside; the fifth having been shot dead through the door during those initial few moments.
Joel had no idea who the men were. Scavengers by the looks of it when he had stole a glance through the window as they had ran back to the nearby tree line surrounding the cabin. The voice from outside shook Joel from his thoughts, bringing him back to reality.