Unravel

Chapter 8

Finally, after she had swum for what felt like an eternity, the river turned shallower and she got on the surface. The forest was dark and creepy now, but at least she didn't see flashlights or hear voices.

However, it was scary. Everything was dark and Cassandra was afraid to turn on her flashlight, fearing that maybe some guard would notice from far. So, she used her phone's dim light and opened the map to orient herself. As she saw the map, she was far from the facility but also far from the city. At least, her phone worked. It was waterproof.

"Oh, God. Now what," she whispered, begging to walk through the way shown on the map. Her movements were quick and restless, and the environment made it worse. The tree benches were curved and strange and even the slightest sound of a twig snapping, made her flinch.

She had been in forests before, but not in the middle of the night.

Suddenly, something else startled her. She heard the sound of a static radio. But then, she realized it was coming from her satchel. She retrieved the radio, realising it was water proof. The worst, was that she could hear voices and that meant that she wasn't really really far. Or maybe the radio's signal was broader.

"....what happened to the target? Did you find her?"

"Nope. That rat isn't anywhere."

"Holy crap. They're gonna be mad if we lose her. Search the perimeter."

"We already did. And it's dark everywhere. I can't fucking see anything," the guard replied, annoyance clear in his voice. "What if we say she died in the attempt?"

Cassandra's heart skipped a beat. To say she was dead? That was a good thing... sort of.

"And you think they're gonna believe that?" the first guard replied. "They're gonna think we let her go. Either way, we're fucked."

Cassandra listened intently as their voices grew more distant. They were heading back to the facility. She had to keep going and get out as fast as possible from that damned forest.

As she walked on, her mind ran with all kinds of thoughts. What were they doing down there? It was already clear that their facility was an experimentation lab, but what kind of experiments? She shuddered at the thought. And the fact that it was a military base made everything even more dangerous. Maybe they were working on some kind of weapon, or a new kind of technology with these animals in tubes. Whatever it was, it was scary. She couldn't believe she got herself in all that without initially thinking it was that serious.

The radio went silent and she quickened her pace to the way out. She was glad her phone had the battery on, otherwise she would be totally lost. The forest was eerily silent but then she heard a howl of a wolf in the distance.

"No wolves....no wolves around here..." Cassandra muttered, knowing too well that there were wolves but being terrified at the thought of coming across one. She wasn't really armed, she had only a knife and a radio. Well, a knife wasn't much use against a wolf.

The map was working well, showing the way through the forest. Cassandra followed it with determination, her heart racing at the thought of being seen by a guard. The howls of the wolves were there, but she kept going, trying to step lightly and quickly on the ground. Her throat was burning, and she remembered she had a small bottle of water in her satchel but was too scared to stop and drink. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins, making her shake.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she came across an opening in the forest. There was a fireplace in the side, and a few wood logs scattered around. Cassandra remembered her bicycle, it was long gone now. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the final stretch. She glanced around, making sure no one was watching, then sprinted across the clearing and into the darkness of the trees on the other side. Her heart was racing, her lungs burning, but she kept going.