Don't Be The Hero

Twenty Four

Nina pov

I was still standing there looking to where I knew Victor disappeared into the trees. I just couldn't believe he just dumped us in the woods, but I guess that was what he was suppose to do. Strong arms came around my waist and a head rested on my shoulder. "What do we do first?" Jack asked kissing me. I go into full on survival mode. "We're tested on our ability to successfully live for three days on our own with nothing, but we have those exceptions," I said thinking of our small pile of electronics. "What are the necessities for life in the wild?" I asked him, just to see if he remembers. "Shelter, water, food, and fire." He said into my neck. "What do you want to do first? It looks around ten, so we have until sunset to have everything set up." I put my arms on his and he answered. "I got water, be right back Muffin." He kissed me one more time, and then ran off to the stream. I might as well get started on shelter. Normally, I wouldn't even consider making one, but I have Jack with me, and it's bound to rain. I level the ground in front of a fat, tall tree, but I can't really be sure what it was. I back down a few skinny trees a bit taller then me and build a tent like structure, big enough for the two of us. I was in he middle of covering the structure with fern branches when I heard Jack's crashing footsteps. "Where do you want these?" He asked. I turned around and found him holding a few bottles filled with water. Vodka bottles. Potato vodka bottles to be exact. "Set them anywhere. Where'd you find those?" I asked. He shrugged. I found them on my way to the river. What do you want me to do next?" He asked these questions like I was a Boy Scout leader. "Firewood please." He saluted mockingly. "Can do." And he ran off again. My small hut looked kinda cute when I finished. Almost log cabin-ish but without the actual logs. The branches at my eye level supported the peaked roof and the sticks, or small trees, whatever you prefer, hold up the slanting side walls. And it was all insulated and water proofed by ferns I cut off of trees. I wandered down to the river to get some rocks to surround the fire.

The river was a crystal blue with the occasional fish swimming by, and sometimes a few sticks caught in the current. I load up my arms with rocks, worn smooth by the river and stagger back to the campsite. Dropping my load of rocks a few feet away from the hut, I sit down and arrange them in a neat circle. I dig out a shallow bowl shape in the circle where the fire would go. I could smell Jack coming long before I could see him. He dumps the dry wood a foot away from me, smiles, and goes to get more. I try not to laugh when he almost trips on a root. Arranging the wood into a small teepee form was harder then expected, but I managed. Every time Jack came back with more wood, he drops it in the pile and goes off in a different direction for more. When our pile looks more like a mountain, I stop him. "You know we're only living out here for three days, right? Not forever." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I think I went a little crazy." He sat across from me already knowing what I was planing to do and sitting with the vodka water bottles in tow. "I hope this works." I mutter under my breath. I unsheathe my claws, and slash them together until sparks flew, just like dad showed me. It took over ten attempts, but when the spark caught I sprung up in triumph. "Yes!" There was a slight breeze, and no, it didn't go out like in the cartoons. Jack set the water to the side and stood up too. I threw myself at him and he hugged me. "I think that was the least amount of tries ever!" I could feel him smiling. I bent up and kissed him quickly before going back to cheering.
"Careful, no more burns." He said. I nodded and sat down. Reaching over I grabbed the glass bottles and peeled off their labels before sticking them near the fire so they could boil. Safety tip number one: don't drink un sanitized water if you don't want to get sick with some type of germ or parasite. Not that it would really matter for me, but I have to look out for Jack. Speaking of Jack, he was organizing his wood mountain by size into cute little stacks. It took him thirty minutes to finish. Thirty minutes of poking fire with my claws. Thirty minutes of sheer boredom. By the time he announced he was done, I was flat on my back looking up at the clouds. He dragged me up, while I went through my checklist. "We have a shelter, water, water source and water containers, fire, and extra fire wood. All we need now is food. You hungry yet?" I ask. He shook his head. Ok then, no food till later. "What do you want to do then?" It was a little past three by now and we had a good four to five hours of sunlight left. He shrugged. "Whatever you want to do."