In Too DeepㅣJENLISA

Chapter 8

Hours passed slowly. The sun had already descended under the broad horizon, taking the twilight along with itself and leaving their world completely emerged into the shadows. The only light coming from the small fire they were currently seated around danced over their faces with the rhythm of the calm cool breeze that glazed their skin.

The difference in the temperature levels started to get drastically noticeable. The burning daily heat had now been replaced by the chill air, and given that the sun had left them not so long ago, it was a clear indication that the real challenge was yet to welcome them into its glacial embrace. Jennie wondered how were they supposed to sleep through the night given that they barely had any cover to shield them from the midnight coldness.

The leaf blanket that wrapped their small shelter didn't look very promising in its abilities to contain their body heat throughout the long hours of darkness but it was better than having to sleep in the open with absolutely no protection whatsoever. Everything was going to be okay, Jennie thought to herself.

She took in the jungle's night scenery surrounding her, her eyes registering nothing but the complete lack of light. The red squirrel climbing up a nearby tree she noticed earlier, the small bundle of yellow forest flowers that grew in a tiny grounded bush just behind their hut, and the bright blue sky were all now swallowed by the gloom.

Looking up at the hidden stars, small snippets of the white moonlight peeked through the tiny spaces between the green leaves in the tree crowns but it was barely enough to make anything visible. They were sorely left to the will of their small campfire, to protect and keep and them safe from the dangers of the wildness.

"I'm thirsty" Jennie whined softly. Having spent all day losing liquids in every way possible under the blazing heat, mostly from the thick sweat that covered their skin, they already could feel their bodies' urgent need for hydration.

"Me too, Jennie. But we drank the last drops of it hours ago. We don't have anything left" Lisa answered as she pushed the burning wood of the fire around in the pit with a thin stick.

She watched as the tip caught up in a small flame, illuminating it into a bright shade of vibrant orange. She brought it up closer to her face, her eyes observing as the color pulsated, burning under the unbearable melting heat that slowly but surely turned the wood into a useless pile of gray ashes, leaving it dead and to the will of the judge.

Lisa wondered if that awaited for them too. Would they make it out alive, or would they be thrown somewhere random, laying completely beaten up by the nature's force, left to bow down to the gods of the jungle, accepting and acknowledging its unbeatable powers, begging for mercy, for forgiveness, and a second chance to live their lost lives? Would they make it through the burning fire of the forest before they turned into a pile of ashes and be taken by the winds, long forgotten by everyone and everything they have ever known?

Possibly.

But that didn't mean that would happen without a ferocious battle for survival.

"Well, we need to take care of that as soon as possible. I don't know about you but my mouth feels like I'm chewing on a tasteless piece of sandpaper" Jennie complained and learned her body back on her hands that were planted against the dirt, softly biting her dry tongue.

"We didn't find any water sources along the way which will greatly worsen our situation. For tonight, I don't know if we can do much about it, but tomorrow morning I will walk around the perimeter to look for a stream or at least something useful"

Jennie groaned. "Our plane got taken down by a fucking storm, Lisa! Is there no way that water could be stored somewhere around here? Can't we dig up the ground until water appears or drink off of leaves or something?" she said sarcastically and threw her head back hopelessly, thinking that the science fiction movies she had watched have brainwashed her mind into creating such absurd scenarios.