Untitled

Untitled III

III.

     Bryn calmly knelt by Julian. She was still confused with what happened, but she had a fuzzy feeling in her head that told her that she had known who the person was. Looking at Julian, she could see that he was saddened by the death of whoever he was carrying. She placed her hand on Julian's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

     "Who was he?" She asked.

     "That's Daren." Julian said. "He was a friend of ours."

     "Well, who killed him?" Bryn asked curiously. "And ew, why would they eat him?"

     "That's what I'm trying to find out." Julian said angrily. "Once I find them, I will rip them apart for what they did to my friends."

     "Wait, what friends? Who else died?" Bryn questioned.

     "Ah, that's right, you forgot. So basically, we went out camping and these creatures killed two of our friends. Their names were Daren and Jack. That wasn't the best explanation, but I think you get it."

     "Yeah, I think I got it. How are we supposed to get out of here? Do we have a car or something?"

     "Well, you see, our car kinda got obliterated by the creatures. We have no choice but to hunt them down or they will hunt us down. We have to become the predators, not the prey."

    "Oh, ok." Bryn simply said. "So, what do we do now?"

     "I'm going to find those devils." Julian said as he stood up. "Come with me. But first, we need to bury Daren."

     They set off digging the grave, digging in silence. After an hour, they finished the grave. They picked up Daren's body, said a final goodbye, and set him gently in the earth. Bryn found a scrap of metal to substitute as the tombstone. Julian started to pour the dirt back into the grave. Once he was done, Bryn shoved the piece of metal into the ground, marking Daren's final resting place.

     They said their final goodbyes right then and there. There was a somber mood around, and they hardly talked. It simply wasn't the time for words.

     After they had finished, Julian realized that he hadn't eaten in more than twenty-four hours. After that strenuous labor, digging the grave for Daren, he was starving.

     "Is there anything to eat?" He asked Bryn. "I haven't eaten for a day now!"

     "Well neither have I! And I don't know, maybe you can go find some yourself!" Bryn replied, a hint of annoyance creeping in.

     Julian first searched his backpack, finding nothing but a box of matches, five bottles of water and some sleeping bags. He then scoured the area, finding only a pack of gum that survived the crash.

     "Well, this is all we have." He stated, walking back to Bryn. "Here, you want a piece?"

     "Yeah, sure, thanks." Bryn said, accepting a piece of gum from Julian. "Well, let's go find that creature or whatever then!"

     They trudged along, following the trail of blood that they left after gorging on Daren's body. The path was obvious, a trail of black blood accompanied by destroyed undergrowth. Julian and Bryn walked along this path for hours. At points Julian would get paranoid that something was following them, tightly gripping Bryn's hand, but it always turned out to be a rabbit or an owl. Bryn would then proceed to laugh it off and call him an idiot. At times like this, Julian began to relax. He had always enjoyed talking to Bryn.

     But he had to focus. An attack could happen at any time. After walking for a few hours, he started to focus on everything, from the way the leaves rustled in the wind to how there were no animals around anymore.