Agent Ez

Chapter 13 - The Rough Descent

“What do we do?” I ask, my mind sifting through information that could possibly help us get out of here.

Think.

He runs a hand through his hair, but says nothing obviously trying to figure out a way back.

Think.

“We can’t go back from where we came, because we don’t know where we came from. They could have feigned several turns and even double backed a few times. We can’t call for help as no one would hear us. I guess our best bet is to walk around, hope we catch up with some other team and use their map. What do you think?”

“Sounds like a plan. Where to?”

I shrug, “wherever.”

*

We walk like that until nightfall, unsure of whether we’ve made any progress or not. We have no idea how long we’re going to be here, so we divide our rations further, just enough to keep us nourished.

James has made a small fire, while I set up camp, I pull up my hood and zip up my jacket on top, as he unwraps a small foil like blanket. As soon as my head hits the makeshift pillow I’m out.

I awake at dawn, one of the downfalls of sleeping outdoors, a quick glance to my right shows that James is still asleep. Careful not to disturb him, I walk around to survey the area, drinking in the beautiful scenery and hear birds singing in the distance.

I walk towards the sound, ensuring to leave myself indicators to help me on my way back. As I walk I notice berries, potential food resource, but they didn’t look like the edible kind.

Hmm, if there are berries here there should be some sort of stream or water source that feeds this, right? I look up and notice the sun is getting higher and higher in the sky, I’ve been at this for a while now. I head back in case James has woken up and is looking for me.

It’s not overly cold during the day here, but at night the temperatures drop. I see James awake, taking out a few granola bars and dried fruit. I sit opposite him ad hand him a bottle of water, we eat in a comfortable silence. I’ve only known James for a day, yet I feel like we’ve become fast friends, despite him trying to chat me up.

“Did your walk give you any idea of where to head today?” James asks, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, I saw some berries that didn’t look like the edible kind but I don’t really know about botany. I thought that there might be a stream nearby. We could check that out.”

“I was thinking, we should look for smoke signals, just before it gets dark out, or even during the day. Might help us find them, but for now the stream seems like a good place to start. Lead the way.”

We reach the spot within minutes, my great expedition seems like not much of an adventure now. “Those are the berries,” I point out to the bushes near the stump of a tree.

He kneels down and examines them, squishing one beneath his fingers, “They look a bit too purple.” He declares.

I shrug, not knowing what else to do “Let’s not risk it then.”

“Let’s head this way,” James says walking downward. It looks like we’re on a hill. Or something that could be called a hill-mountain hybrid, not quite either.

“So, Ez. Why were Poppy and Ameila so mad at you for?” He asks.

“Honestly, I have no idea. They’re not usually like this. At all.”