The blazing orb in the sky was on its way of being covered by the milky white clouds drifting about in the endless blue sky without a care in the world. Even though they came unprepared at least they knew what time it was. One thing they would always remember to bring would be their cell phones.

On the phone screen, emitting its blue light in Junji’s face the clock showed 6:15 PM. This meant that the sun was preparing to set for the rest of the evening, leaving them with no more sunlight or warmth. It was still Summer so at least they didn’t have to worry about freezing to death at night.

Eventually, they’d have to worry about shelter. Would they be forced to sleep in the warm unforgiving dirt? Maybe the guys could handle it, but females can be difficult during less comfortable situations.

“So, we’re really looking for berries? Berries?” Junji was still not feeling the current scavenger diet. He repeated the word berries as if he was still in disbelief. When you’re used to consuming an unhealthy portion of meat and the like, switching over to a plant-based diet would be no doubt difficult for him.

“Not just berries. We might be able to find apples or something. Edible mushrooms, roots. Anything, really. Berries would be most optimal.” Claire responded to his question, as she peered around, scouting for any Berry bushes, or fruit trees. She seemed to be very knowledgeable of the situation, even if it was so sudden.

None of what Claire had said made him feel any better, just the opposite. Agreeing with him was his rumbling tummy which revealed a sudden kick of hunger which couldn’t have happened at a better time. A hand quickly moved to rub the growling beast as he groaned in discomfort. “You’re upsetting him. I can’t eat this crap. I’m basically allergic to vegetables and fruits. Oh man, why did this have to happen?”

“You'll be fine. They're likely nice and sweet, too. Besides, we have to eat what we can.”

She wasn’t wrong. Still, it’d be difficult for him. The people who came up with this test were sadistic, there was no reason for them to have gone this far.

This terrain was very annoying as well. It took extra effort walking through here because the ground was littered with tree roots of various sizes. All it’d take is one wrong move to stub your toe on the unforgiven bark.

Junji kept his eyes peeled, searching around the land untouched by humans until he spotted a few bushes near the riverbed. About time, it felt like it was taking forever to find any source of food. “Hey, look! I found some bushes!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Hearing Junji, Claire turns her attention to the bushes, which hosted a decent amount of red berries. Seeing this, she jogs over to the plants, to check them out. “Good scouting, Junji. These seem like they're edible.”

Taking his time as he caught up to the fiery little redhead, Junji scratched his head as he commented on the find. “You think so? Is this stuff really going to keep us full?”

“Well, I don't know about full, but this should be enough for all of us to have decent rations for the night.” Said Claire, as she lifted her shirt in the front a bit, creating a bit of a pouch. She'd then proceed to pluck the berries, dropping them in her shirt-pouch for convenient carrying.

He was prepared to do the same until he remembered that he was pretty sweaty. The least he could do was wash his hands in the lake before he went to possess the berries. “Hey, Claire, I’m going to wash up by the lake.”

Claire nods in response, continuing to collect the freshly grown fruit. “Alright.”

Now that they had food things wouldn’t look so grim. After tonight they’d still have two days left to complete this stupid mission.

Junji rushed over to the lake, finding it much easier to step on the mushy ground than the branch infested dirt back there. He crouched down when near the lake, hearing his joints pop as if he was an old man.

His hands clasped together as he allowed them to drift in the water, rubbing them together to create enough friction to hopefully clean some of those germs and sweat that were glued to his flesh.

The water was so peaceful even with all of this. It was cool to the touch and was refreshing to the skin. In his peripheral he noticed some object moving, but couldn’t quite tell what it was until he turned his head. What he saw came as a shock.

At first, he had a hard time believing just what it was, was his eyes deceiving him? The round object looked like a disfigured skull as if it was mangled in a blender. The skin was very pale, nearly the same complexion as metal. It was just as lifeless as the material as well. What really struck fear into the boy’s heart was the fact that some of the spinal cord was still attached to the neck. Along with her dirty blonde hair.

Junji reacted as if someone had pushed him, instantly falling down on his butt as he started breathing irregularly as if he had asthma. As much as he wanted to keep composed he couldn’t contain himself from taking in a great deal of air before… releasing a sound piercing yell which made birds flutter.

Hearing his scream, Claire would be startled into dropping most of her berries, before realizing where it came from. “Junji? What's the matter?” Trying to hold on to the rest of the berries, she began to make her way over to Junji, wondering what frightened him so much.

All Junji could do was slowly scoot back, the fear that head emitted was enough to constrict his muscles. Even though her eyes were closed it was like she was staring at him. It wasn’t just the head that was scary it was the fact that it floated from the direction where they were going to stay.

Getting close enough to Junji, Claire laid eyes on what he had seen, which in turn instilled a dose of dread within her as well. She'd subconsciously let go of her shirt, dropping the berries to instead cover her mouth, staring at the severed head with wide eyes. “What… in the world..?”

The head took its sweet time being pushed by the water. At the rate it was drifting, the fear wouldn’t leave its sight anytime soon.

With the arrival of his new friend, Junji managed to fight through that limp feeling in his limbs as he took a stand, the fear causing his arms and legs to wobble constantly as if they were restless.

“C-Claire… let’s get out of here…”

“Yeah… let's…”

Just like that the two skedaddled.