Out of the Blue

Chapter 6

Our lack of survival skills was starting to show, and we hadn't even made it to the campsite yet. "What do you mean you don't know where the turn off is?" Sascha's panicked voice filled the car.

"I mean the internet dropped out a kilometre ago and the GPS on my phone is no longer tracking us." What else could it mean? I paid attention to the roads we passed since the connection cut out and was matching what I saw with the map that no longer functioned on my phone. I was quite certain our turn off was the next one on the right.

Sascha shook her head. "Maybe this was a bad idea. We are so not cut out for camping."

"We're going to be fine," I reassured her. "We have everything we need, I think, and once we're there, I'm sure Dale can help us with whatever we panic about next."

I looked into the backseat of Sascha's little Toyota. We went shopping on Thursday night to get sleeping bags and had come home with a few extra things. We now had an esky, which was currently filled with alcohol and snacks, as well as a camp light for inside the tent. Our pillows and overnight bags were there as well. I'm pretty sure we overpacked, but we wanted to be prepared for anything. Besides, we would leave our second bags in the car and no one would be the wiser.

"Turn right up here," I instructed when I spotted the small gap in the tree line. We were driving through a dense area. Luckily, it was only midday, and we could see everything clearly. When Sascha made the turn, I started getting some seriously creepy Wolf Creek vibes.

The bush was incredibly dense and there were dilapidated wooden signs with the faded names of bushwalks and their distances. There was also an empty car parked to the side of the narrow dirt road.

As if she read my mind, Sascha asked, "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"Mhmm," I mumbled, not wanting to formally admit it in case I was wrong. "Just keep going. I think it's at the end of this road." I hoped it was at the end of this road.

Thankfully, it was. A group of cars was parked at the end, just outside an open gate. We drove through that gate, not sure what to do, and just to stay safe. We spotted Dale almost immediately and a wave a relief ran through me.

"You made it," he greeted proudly as we stepped out of the car. Sascha ran straight into his arms.

"Barely," I muttered.

"Let's grab your stuff and put it in the tent. Justin set it up for you earlier."

Of course he did. At the mention of Justin's name, I felt my usual heart phenomena start up, but I didn't pay as much attention to it now. After our little coffee date on Tuesday, or whatever it was, he managed to catch me off-guard a second time. Yesterday, he brought me another coffee and we spent an hour sitting and talking by the soccer field watching the EU team train. We didn't speak about anything major, but it was nice. He also took it as a chance to hype me up about camping in the bush. It made me a little nervous, although I'm sure he was joking about most of it.

After that, I was fully prepared to see him today.

Everyone else arrived yesterday, so I wasn't surprised to see a completely set up campsite. To ensure I could come over the weekend, I had to swap my Saturday shift with a Friday one. The others didn't have that problem and Justin told me they were heading here on Friday afternoon for an extra night.

There were five tents set up in a circle, plus a swag, which I learned at the camping store was a one-person mini tent that you couldn't even sit up in. It didn't look very comfortable. There was a river about fifty metres away and I could hear the hum of a loud engine.