What was once a comfortable and bearable temperature, was now sweltering; the heat exhausting my body as I trudged on. Birds singing from the tree tops, swooping low to catch bugs in the tall grass. Rustling came from the leaves and brush underneath my feet, pebbles kicking up into my boots. My tongue begged for water, just a drop even, but my hands were occupied by a large map, marked in red ink with directions and unknown pathways. Unfortunately I knew my resources had to be conserved, for it would be a long journey ahead. I wouldn’t dare do it alone, though, my long time co-worker trailing behind me looking just as sweaty and drain as I felt. Stopping quickly in my tracks, eyes squinting at the map, a realization set in. We’d been going the wrong way. Cursing myself for my carelessness, I turned to my friend to break the news.
“Uh, it seems that I’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere and-“, I began, but was soon cut off with a scoff. “How long have you been taking us the wrong way?” My friend asked, his tone sounding anything but thrilled. I was hesitant to answer his question, being that we were about an hour behind schedule. How long the trip would take us we not of importance, but instead the uncomfortable heat, and soon to be bitter cold, was beginning to get to the two of us. "If we start up this hill," I explained as I pointed in the direction of a short, mossy hill just in front of us. "Then we can cut our time down significantly, so it'll be as though we never got off course at all." I finished triumphantly. Positivity was crucial during this mission, for a lot of men had gone mad here from the conditions. My partner sighed, silently agreeing to my short cut and traipsing up the marshy land while I followed close by him.
Directions leading up the hill and onto the original trail proved my management of time correct; only a half an hour behind the ideal goal. At this point, the air began to cool, signaling the approach of the winter stage. Snow and blistering winds were the main hardships, and were what most often end the missions and careers of those venturing out, but their fate relayed all on how far in they needed to go. See, the deeper into it you go, the more intense the weather will get, including blizzards and temperature way below negative. Being under conditions such as these played the biggest reasoning there is for no one finding The Cure, an antidote so powerful it could help a person cheat death. It is rumored to lay in the deepest bone chilling heights of the mountains, an expedition I know I am not ready to embark on yet. For now, my mission was for only something of much lesser importance than The Cure.
Staring down at the watch strapped to my wrist, indicated that we'd been going on for a few hours now, which meant soon the earth, that was currently beginning to brown and die from the cold approaching, would be covered in a flurry of bright white frost. Making a decision for a well-deserved break, my partner and I stopped ourselves by a couple boulders, resting on the cold rock and passing a water bottle between us. Every mission made me think why I even brought my co-worker to tag along every time. It was never required to bring others on a search with you, but somehow we’d taken a liking to one another, comfortable around each other’s silence. Words were exchanged very often, mostly when I screwed up the directions, but I think we work best that way; always having a helping hand but without the annoying presence of working with another. Snapping out of my last thought and back into reality, I jumped up smiling down at my friend next to me and offering a hand out, pulling him to his feet.
“Ready?” I managed out of my unused vocals, only another grin followed by a nod in return. The map was marked with arrows pointing in a clear route, showing that our next check point would be second to last before we could head back with our item. I tucked the wearing paper into my back pocket, focusing on the ridge of snow topped mountains that we needed to follow. Noises of frozen ground crunched beneath our feet once again, heat gradually escaping the air surrounding us. Opting for a jacket to protect from the icy air and untangling the clothing tied around my waist, my arms swung the coat around and slid through the sleeves, my co-worker reciprocating my actions right after. Bundling up was the right move, snow starting to swirl around and cluster together on the ground.
