Untamable Resolve: The Witheridge Witches

Ch. 4 - The First Two Hours

Delia follows closely behind me, as our cabin group is led to a wall with an opening that will spit us out to a vast evergreen forest. A group of werewolves, all in matching uniforms with clipboards held handy, instructs us to stand in one line as they quickly check our armbands. It's disgusting that they are releasing us like a bunch of animals to be hunted. But nothing is right anymore in this lost world of ours.

Delia stands next to me, and all of us girls are quiet except for one from yesterday who still won't stop sobbing. The werewolf from the first day, which at this point I have named Matron, checks our armbands.

When they have all been checked, Matron stands in front of us. "Do not worry, they will not hurt you. You are perfectly safe. Now, remember, you have two hours to prepare yourself. When the gun is fired into the air, you may begin."

Something in me doesn't believe her.

Seconds later, the gunshot is fired with a bang. It dawns on me what this is. We are prey. Easy pickings. The thought of it is almost paralyzing as Delia says my name trying to get my attention. Many of the girls start to run, which was a mistake. They will lose their energy and slow down within 30 minutes, making them easy targets.

I walk at a quick pace, leading Delia to the barrier that keeps us inside of the forest. We will follow it until we find a safe hiding spot. I look back to see the once sobbing girl following behind us. That will be fine for now.

The forest has always scared me, even when I go out alone behind my little cottage. My trusty dog was a welcomed companion when I was a child. I am to be that for these two young women. I may not be able to keep them safe, but I will be there to guide the way, even if I don't know where to go. I am not scared like them, though. Or maybe I am, but it has yet to kick in. So much has changed in the last 48 hours, and my body is probably in shock. Is it denial? All I have to protect myself is the silver of my watch and my garnet ring. Or is that a myth? They haven't confiscated it from me, so my bet is with the latter.

We are silent, except for a few sniffles from the girl trailing behind us. I can hear the crunching of leaves under our feet. Good. That will help us, if we make it through the night away from the beasts. We are at least a mile away now, so we stop and go over our plan. I whistle twice to get the other girl's attention, as I motioned for Delia to stop. Silence will be our friend.

When the girl reaches us, she whispers, "My name is Claire."

She is small and mousy, just like Delia. I guess we all are. I am only a little older and play the part of an older sister to them.

"Nice to meet you, Claire. I'm Jo, and this is Delia. Now, I'm going to ask you to stop sniffling," I say sternly. She stops and takes a deep breath. I don't enjoy being so severe, but this is not a time for gentleness.

I continue. "We will have to be very quiet now, until this is all over. Do you guys remember how I whistled to get your attention?"

They both nod, looking at me.

"Good. That is what we will do to make sure we know where we are. We are going to be in three separate quadrants from one another."

Delia and Claire look at each other nervously.

"We are not splitting up. This is just till the gun is fired after the second hour. We are looking for good places to hide. I have a watch and will whistle ten minutes before that. Okay?"

They both nod in agreement, looking more comfortable.

"We also have to ditch our food. I assume that they will be able to smell it on us."

I pull out my sandwich and look for a distinctive tree right next to the wall that keeps us in. Delia and Claire do the same and hand me their food. I ask them to start gathering rocks. I find one I can commit to memory and put the food in my backpack. I climbed the tree and put the sandwiches on top of the wall. Then, I climb down and put the rocks they've gathered in my pack. I continue up the tree again and place the stones on top of the food.

After climbing down, I say, "Now, I'll be able to remember where this tree is, but you guys need to really try right now, before we move on, to remember where it is in case we get separated."

I hesitate as I say the word "separated."

"So, these three quadrants, then how will those work?" Delia asks.

"We will walk for five minutes into the forest away from the wall, and then we will take 500 steps away from one another, walking in opposite directions. I'll be in the middle, Delia to my right, and Claire to my left. I will whistle every ten minutes, and you will whistle back. When it is time to meet back up with one another, I will whistle ten times. Any questions?"

"What if I get lost?" Claire asks, almost crying. I grab Claire's face. "You won't get lost because, if you need to reset and make sure you know where you are, you will walk as many steps to the right as you need to, even if it is all 500 steps until you hear or see me. Okay. But you will not get lost. Understood."

"Understood," she says with a nod.

I let go of her face, and I grab both of their hands and squeeze them before we start to walk.