In Their Domain

Chapter 2

"How long has it been since we saw someone else?" Arlo pulled his phone out of his back pocket to save Chris the task of checking the time.

"Seen or heard?" Chris asked as he took the tiniest taste of water from his bottle. It was near empty, and he didn't want to finish it off just yet. "Because I heard a few people talking a while back."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, same."

"You did? Why didn't you say anything?"

Chris's brow furrowed. "I figured we all heard them."

"No! I haven't heard shit besides us walking and leaves or branches. We could've called out to them or something," Arlo reasoned, exasperated. "Instead of still being lost."

"Dude, chill." Chris tucked the plastic bottle back into his bag.

"Honestly, we need to figure out something, though," Dean said. "He isn't the only one getting angry."

"Well, I really gotta take a leak, so..." Arlo grumbled, tugging off his bag and fishing out the pack of wet wipes he had with him.

"We'll hang tight," Dean reassured as Arlo trudged off towards a slightly thicker grouping of trees.

It had really been Arlo's bladder screaming at him more than his stomach that'd tanked his mood. It wouldn't even be a thing if he could just relieve himself as conveniently as the other guys, but it was a distinct disadvantage of being trans. Sure, he could've brought his STP, but he'd found in the past that it was more work than it was worth when they were camping.

As he rounded a tree, checking to see that he was mostly out of sight of the guys, he squatted down, pressing his back against the trunk to support his light frame. He kept glancing around, senses on high alert. With his luck, this was exactly when they'd find someone else.

"Do you really think we're lost, lost?" Chris asked.

"Man," Dean shook his head, gathering up his braids into a ponytail that he fixed with a long elastic. "I keep thinking we gotta be getting close to finding a landmark or something... Something we've been by before."

"Yeah," Chris said, fussing with his own hair, not that it was really necessary. They hadn't filmed anything in what felt like hours aside from the occasional nature shot.

Dean turned his attention to the direction Arlo had gone. "Where's he at?"

"Right around that tree right there," Chris said, pointing. "Take your time, Grandma," Chris called. "No rush."

"Fuck you," came Arlo's response, though there was no malic behind it. In fact, Chris could practically hear the smile in his best friend's words, but his own grin melted away when he took in Dean's ashen face after he'd placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What?"

"I swear I just saw someone," Dean whispered.

Chris whirled around to look, his pulse quickening. "For real?" He would've been overwhelmed with relief if it wasn't for how creeped out his friend looked. " ...Where?"

Dean pointed, but Chris still didn't see anyone.

"The ducked behind that tree," Dean mumbled before calling out, "Hey! Who's over there?"

"Hello?" Chris gave Dean a sidelong look.

"If y'all are just trying to scare me," Arlo said from the opposite direction, "Then you're both assholes!"

Dean let go of Chris's shoulder and pulled off his backpack, weighted with their cameras and equipment, handing it to Chris, before taking a few steps forwards. "Yo, this isn't funny. If someone's over there, come out!"