Shifters

Chapter 30

WILL

When I woke up, I wasn't sure I was really awake because I couldn't see anything. The sun had apparently set while I was out cold. The air still smelled of smoke, but I couldn't see any fire. I spread my hands out along the ground and shoved myself up into a sitting position. My eyes focused a little bit more and I could vaguely see the outline of trees around me. There was one tree right next to me (surprisingly I hadn't face planted (ahaha tree puns) into it when I tripped), so I leaned on it as I carefully stood up.

I took a random guess about which way I had been running and set off in that direction, this time at a much slower pace. I carefully tested each step before I shifted my weight, using trees for balance when I could. My whole body was still sore, but it was just a continuous muted ache.

I had no way of tracking how much time passed because though faint moonlight came through the trees, I couldn't see exactly where the moon was. The forest was almost silent. I made plenty of noise and every so often there were noises I assumed to be creatures I had disturbed running away, but other than that everything was still. There was no wind and no owls or any other creatures vocalized.

Then, ahead of me, barely visible, I started to realize that the trees were illuminated by a faint warm glow. I sped up, curious and extremely hungry, hoping whatever was there would somehow include food.

By some miracle, it did. It was a campfire. I didn't see any people, but there was a makeshift tent made out of a tarp and a large tree branch near the fire, so I assumed whoever's fire it was was sleeping inside. There was a pile of bags under another tarp right next to the tent, so I immediately crept up to those.

I unzipped the bag on top of the pile as quickly as I could. I shoved my hand in and grabbed the first thing I found. The wrapper crinkled loudly as I removed it. My unspoken prayers had been answered: it was a granola bar. I ripped it open slowly, cringing at the noise it made.

I took a huge bite and chewed it quickly. I swallowed the dry bite and barely kept myself from coughing as it scratched my throat. I had just opened my mouth to take the next bite when something from behind me slammed into the back of my head and I slammed to the ground. Something heavy fell on top of me as I hit the ground, pushing the last bit of air out of my lungs.

I gasped, unable to pull more than a puff of air into my lungs. I felt a sharp pain at the base of my skull.

"You're going to explain yourself completely right now or I'm gonna make a few painful adjustments to the contents of your head, alright?"

A/N: Dedications: @theageofawesomeness @amberwaller0 @jeanlovesbooks2016 @skyelife12