The Runaways

Chapter 2

Dawn came, and I couldn’t stay laying down any longer. I got up and stoked the fire back to life. I wanted to make breakfast, but we had no food, and Cory would have to get up to hunt for it. Instead, I filled our canteens, purifying the water, washed our bowls and spoons, and sat, waiting for Cory to get up.

Cory decided to get up in late morning. My stomach was growling, and his was too. He got up, laced up his boots, grabbed the bow he had slept with at his side, and left. He didn’t greet me, just left, trying to get something to eat as soon as possible.

“One for each of us,” he said when he came back with two fat squirrels.

“Yum,” I said.

“They were all over,” he explained. “They were easy pickings.”

“Guess who gets to skin them now?” I asked rhetorically.

“Great,” he said unenthusiastically.

He skinned them up, taking out the innards as he did so. He finished, and we had the meat on the fire a soon as we could. It smelled extremely good as it cooked, and it made our mouths water and our stomachs rumble.

When it was finished, it was eaten like I had eaten my rabbit the day before; without letting it cool and fast enough to have us both mistaken as pigs.

“You want to go now or wait a while longer?” asked Cory when we finished.

“We’ll leave as soon as we’re done packing back up so that we can get as far as possible today too,” I suggested.

“Okay,” Cory agreed.

We packed up and set off again, following the stream once more. This time, we walked a bit slower, trying not to provoke our aching leg muscles. We made few stops, only to fill our canteens, and ate a bit more beef jerky around lunch time. The sky was covered in dark gray clouds, and the air smelled of rain, but it never did. The clouds were a blessing, however, because they provided shade from the awfully hot sun which we had endured the day before.

Once again, around late afternoon, we stopped. But this time, Cory made the decision.

“Let’s stop for the night,” Cory suggested.

“Are you going hunting, Cory?” I asked him.

“You can stay here and start a fire. I’ll go and get us some meat,” he suggested.

“Okay. Hurry back,” I told him.

“I’ll try,” he assured. He took off his backpack, leaving it for me to go through to get what I needed.

He left, taking his bow and arrows and a canteen but leaving me behind to start a fire and set up our temporary ‘camp’ for us to stay at. I took out both of our sleeping bags and set them out, along with our bowl and spoon that we used to eat with. I also gathered some dead wood for the fire.

Cory didn’t make it back before the sky was orange with sunset. He came back with one rabbit. It was a little bit repetitive, but food was food, and I was glad I would be able to satisfy my growling stomach.

“You know the drill,” I said. With a sigh, he started cleaning and skinning his kill. We roasted it and ate it as fast as before.

“That was good,” I said.

“Mhm,” he agreed, licking his lips.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Cory informed me. “You should keep watch, make sure that nothing is coming,” he suggested.

“Fine with me,” I agreed. He laid down inside his sleeping bag, falling asleep within minutes and snoring. I cleaned up from our measly dinner, and then sat down; keeping the fire stoked and listening to the rushing stream beside us.