Echoes of Yesterday

Part 20 - The Light of Hope

We all walked together, the thick, damp air clinging to our skin as we trudged through the forest. The once comforting sounds of rustling leaves and distant chirping were now unnerving, amplified by the darkness that seemed to stretch on forever. It was hard to keep our minds off the situation—what we had seen, what had happened to Tristan, and the suffocating fear that we might not make it out of here.

As we walked, Theo broke the silence. "Do you think Tristan knew... knew this would happen?" 

His voice was low, filled with sorrow and guilt. "I feel like there were signs, you know?"

Eric scoffed, his tone sharper than it should have been. "Signs? Like what? He didn't tell anyone if there were."

Theo's steps faltered, and he spun around to face Eric. "You think I don't feel guilty enough, Eric? You think I didn't see him struggling?"

Eric shook his head, clearly frustrated. "I'm not blaming you, but what's done is done. We need to focus on getting out of here alive."

Theo clenched his fists, and for a moment, I thought they might actually start fighting. The tension between them was thick, their shared pain surfacing in bursts of anger. But just as quickly, Eric sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry, Theo," Eric muttered. "We're all hurting. It's just—this whole thing, it's messing with my head."

Theo's shoulders relaxed a little, and he nodded. "I know. I'm sorry too."

They exchanged a brief look, one of understanding. Whatever anger had flared between them, it was quenched by their shared determination to survive.

After an hour of walking, the conversation shifted to survival. "Remember those evenings when we'd find fruits on our way back from the waterfall?" Maya said, her voice tinged with nostalgia. "Now, we can't even see if there are any fruits hanging on the trees."

"Yeah," Eric sighed. "It's like nature's turned against us. If we don't get out of these woods soon, we're going to starve."

My stomach growled at the thought, a painful reminder that we hadn't eaten anything for hours. The hunger was gnawing at all of us, and the fear of not finding anything to eat was starting to sink in.

As we walked further, we came across a small river. The water glistened under the moonlight, a calm in the middle of our chaos. It wasn't more than three feet deep, and as we prepared to cross it, Eric suddenly stopped, his eyes lighting up with an idea.

"How about we eat fish tonight?" he said, his voice suddenly filled with hope.

"Fish? Seriously?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Impossible," Theo added. "We don't have anything to catch them with."

Eric ignored our skepticism and turned to Maya. "Hey, Maya, that cardigan you're wearing. It's netted, right?"