Natural Chemistry

Chapter 13: Light in Darkness

"What is this?" Vince questioned, running a hand through his hair.
"I-I don't know. I never expected him to stoop so low." I was on the verge of tears. How can Brandon be so childish? I can't believe he left us stranded in the forest without any means of survival for what? A few moments of glory?

This was the wild, for god sake. We both could get lost.

"I'm sure Daniel will come for us as soon as he realises we aren't there. And when we get back, Brandon will be sent to jail for attempt of murder and everything will be alright. He is so stupid. I can't believe-" Before I could continue my rant, Vince caught hold of my shoulder and shook me.

"Relax, Jinx." He had bent down to be eye to eye with me. His blue eyes bore into mine, and calmed me down though the heat from his hand on my shoulder started to cancel that affect.

"We'll find our way back." He reassured, understanding my reason of panic.

"We will." He repeated.
I sat down on the ground. The straps of my backpack slid off my shoulder as I cursed my luck, all of the evidences leading to this staring back at me. His smirks, countless threats and unending stretch of underlying words all made sense now. He had been planning this for a while. It made me wonder if being partnered with Vince was also just a part of his plan.

"I'm so sorry." I mumbled, embarrassed by how Vince who had done nothing was pulled into my mess.
"It's not your fault, let's just get going." He shrugged offering me a hand to stand up.

"I think we should stay here till someone comes to get us. Do you have Daniel's number? We can call him." Upon remembering the electronic device resting in the backpack a little hope sparkled in me.

I looked impatiently as Vince fetched out his phone not wanting to point at how my hand was still in his.
"No signal. I think if we move a little over to that side, we will be able to get some. I don't have enough charge and it's already getting a little dark." I hadn't noticed until Vince spoke up that it was getting darker, he let go of my hand in a jerk as I felt myself miss his warmth.

I glanced at my watch, concluding it was already six in the evening.

"How are we going to stay alive?" Usually the wild always caught my attention for the good. The smell of fresh soil and birds chirping brought a small smile on my face. But now, the chirping had changed into creaking of crickets and howls of the suspected wolves which didn't sound too far away.

"Okay, let's start with the most important thing." Vince said, stopping and facing me.
"How much of food do you have?"
I looked into my backpack and counted the amount of energy bars and packed food I had.

"To last me a day or two, if I eat really less every time." I replied, "What about you?"

"One with me eating a birds diet."
We both looked at each other and one thing was clear.

"We really need to get back." We both said in sync. There was no sure short answer to when we'd be rescued so we had to prepare for the worst.

I had no training in killing a wild animal with only minimal knowledge from watching man vs wild.

"Well, I had gone to a survival camp when I was younger. They had taught me how to hunt. But they carried heavy equipment with themselves. I guess we have to figure out how we'd do it." Vince didn't seemed too happy when he mentioned his time at the camp and it got me curious.

Vince kept walking into some direction and it set alarms off in my head.

"I really think we should stay here till they come to us or wait till tomorrow so we can retrace our steps back to campsite." I said, loud enough for him to hear and strong enough to show my dominance.