With the man behind me now, I venture deeper into the woods. My stomach screams at me to eat but I have to wait it out. I have the jerky still but I can’t eat it yet. I know I can last at least until the end of the day, so I will wait, no matter how vocal my insides get. I can’t tell if the sun is starting to set or if the woods are just getting thicker. As I walk deeper and deeper into the belly of the oldest and most unforgiving beast there has ever been, the canopy of leaves and branches above turn into hands. They reach for me, blocking out what little sun is left, and leave me without any sense of time. The smell of rotting leaves surrounds everything and, somehow, freshens the air around me. I want to stop and relax for a moment, since it feels like a knife is stabbed into my stomach, but I can’t. I have to keep moving especially since the night times are almost here. I’m nowhere near the town now but I fear there may be more people out here or dangerous animals lurking around, waiting for someone like me to be careless, ready to make their move. The thought quicken my pace.
Eventually, I came to, what appears to be a small hunting shack. Most of the walls were broken. It was obvious that no one had been here for quite some time, or at least it appeared that way. I decided to search it before moving on. As I climbed over the fallen boards, careful not to rub against them, I found that I was right. The inside was destroyed by years of rain causing rot and decay to take over. This is the world now. There was no longer any furniture inside and was the skeleton of what once was. The skeleton of a time when people would hunt for fun, rather than out of necessity. I decided to look around anyway.
I couldn’t believe it but I actually found something. It wasn’t anything to keep me alive but to keep me sane. I found something of Kai’s. It was the plaid button up shirt she had been wearing when she left. It was underneath a fallen beam from the roof. She must’ve tried to find some shelter here. I picked it up and held it close to me. It still had her smell and for that I was very grateful. This was all too much for me and I started to cry. This meant that she could still be alive. The tears fell, cutting through the dirt caked on my face, leaving little canyons on my cheeks. She could still be alive. Then I saw it. There was a large red stain on the sleeve of the shirt and I could feel my stomach gain about ten pounds. I felt like I was going to puke.
“I can’t do this without you, Kai,” I said aloud, to no one but myself and the birds flying above. It was too much for me. I jumped out of the building the same way I came in and started to run. My chest moving rapidly with each breath and the tears fell almost as fast as my heartbeat. I needed to get away and fast. This couldn’t be happening.
After running, for what seemed like forever, I stopped suddenly. I heard something and it was coming from the bush to my left. I could hear whatever or whoever it was. Kai’s shirt was still in my hand and the thought of a bear smelling the blood on it and coming after me exploded into my head. This is it, I thought and almost immediately, I started, slowly and quietly, to back away. I don’t know what that is but I’m not going to find out. I refuse to die today.
