Mara awoke with a start. All of her muscles were tight and sore. She sat up in confusion and looked around the sun dappled forest floor and bushed around her. She was wondering where she was when the events of the previous night flowed back to her. Her stomach growled and her mouth was dry, she reminded herself that she had to stay out here. We'll need to find some provisions, she decided. Tess woke next to her, and Mara was frightened at how she looked. Her hair was tousled and full of leaves, her face was dirty and her clothes were torn. Mara realized she must look like that too, and ran a hasty hand through her hair, and wiped her face off on her shredded clothes. She stood up and stretched, before pulling Tess up next to her and setting forward again. "We need food and water," she explained to Tess as they walked. The sun rose steadily as they pressed onward away from the city, and the pair grew thirstier. Mara was beginning to drift off as she walked when she hit a strange bump in the road and fell face first. She scrambled to her feet and shook her head. She looked toward her feet to see the cause of her trip. She saw a metal bar peeking out of the leaves, and she hastily cleared the surrounding leaves away to reveal two parallel metal bars laid over rows and rows of thick wooden planks. She noticed a clearing that surrounded the strange trail and how it stretched both ways for a long way. "Tess," she called. Tess came over and observed the strange trail."I say we follow it," Tess suggested. "As we have no other ideas." Mara nodded in agreement, and they followed the trail in the direction that lead out of the city. The trail was much easier to walk on, the planks were always in the same pattern, and there was never a root to trip them.Eventually, the tracks crossed a stone bridge. Under it flowed a stream of water over a bed of rocks. The water was as clear as any Mara had ever seen in her home, and she decided to stray from the trail to drink some. She slid down the slope from the track to the water and splashed some on her face with joy. She slurped some from her hands and laughed in relief at how fresh it tasted. Tess joined her and sipped water and cleaned her face. Mara slipped off her boots and lay in the water, letting it clean the dirt away from sleeping on the ground. The deepest point was only up to Mara's shins, and she could see her toes at the bottom it was so clear. She ducked under the water and gazed up at the distorted sky and held her breath. This is what we are missing, she thought. She resurfaced and looked at Tess, who was still washing herself off like a civilized person, her eyes on the ground. Mara sighed and left the water. She dried her feet on the green spongy stuff that grew around the water, and pulled her boots back on. The sun was beginning to set, and there was no real point in actually starting to walk again. "How about we stay the night here?"Mara suggested. "We can wash up again tomorrow and set off." Tess nodded, and they stayed next to the gurgling sound of the water all night. Mara stayed up to look up at the white lights again, but she was more tired tonight,and she could hardly keep her eyes open.~~~~~~~~After washing in the water the next day, Mara and Tess set out on the trail again. They were both starving after a day and a half without food.The water made them feel better though, and they began to trek on, farther down the tracks. After a couple of hours of stumbling away from the water, Tess stopped. She swayed for a moment, then crumpled onto the ground. Mara swayed and sat down next to her. She shook her weakly."C'mon,"she mumbled. "Get up..."She herself lay down next to Tess and gazed up at the trees. Her stomach clawed at her from the inside with hunger. She had never been hungry like this before, she could hardly even make herself get up. We have to keep moving, she thought blearily. But why are we moving? It's not like we're going to find food just sitting in the woods, she replied to herself. There's got to be something, she reassured herself, and pushed herself off the tracks. She realized that she was probably going crazy, having conversations with herself in her head. As she stood up, her head spun and the colors around her blurred. She grabbed Tess's shirt and heaved up with all her strength. Tess jerked up and tried to fall over again. "Stomach..."she doubled over in pain. "Aggghh..." Mara fought to keep her old mentor up."We've got to keep..."she pushed Tess forward,"going." They stumbled forward another twenty minutes, then sat down again.Tess groaned,"I've never felt like this before."Mara nodded, neither had she. The sun was already setting, and now she was thirsty too."Maybe we can sleep here," Mara suggested, she was already closing her eyes. They were sitting on a pine needle covered slope right next to the tracks they had been following, and all she wanted to do was sleep. However, when Mara closed her eyes, she couldn't sleep. Her stomach aches and her head was pounding. She had never felt hungry like this before, food had always been there exactly when she was hungry. The realization that she had nothing to eat struck her like a punch to the stomach. She hated herself for missing the society that had lied to her. She squinted her eyes shut and curled into a ball as another wave of pain hit her. Her thoughts slurred together and colorful lights erupted behind her eyelids. Mara felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, but she didn't have the strength to stay awake.
~~~~~~~~~
Mara felt a rough surface beneath her, and shifted in discomfort. Her clothes felt soft and clean, and her stomach didn't ache as much. She kept her eyes closed, scared at what she might find when she opened them. Her memory was hazy, and she couldn't quite remember where she had been last. She strained her brain, trying to remember where she had been. The woods returned to her, and a stream, but the memories didn't feel fresh. She pushed forward and remembered walking, walking...a pang wracked her stomach and everything flooded back to her. She hadn't eaten in days, and she must still be passed out. Then why are my clothes clean? What am I laying on? Mara wondered blearily, but she didn't feel like she had the strength to open her eyes and see where she was, she felt unconsciousness claiming her again.
