“I need to stop,” Faye asserted. Her feet were nothing but two stumps of blazing pain from running through brush, twings, sharp stones and nettles all day. They’d been on the move nearly the whole day and survived only by the skin of their teeth, keeping hidden from sight as much as possible. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the luxury to cover their tracks, and Faye was fairly certain she’d left the occasional smear of blood in their path.

That said, she doubted the goblins could move much faster than them, and even if they managed to gather their nerves back together after she had killed Hob. Somehow, she felt their fear far outweighed their need for revenge, but the look she’d been given by the small one still stuck in her mind.

She sat on a rock while Owen stood guard nearby.

“Can I see?” Emma asked, gesturing toward Faye’s feet.

Faye nodded, then lifted the sole of her foot toward the girl. “I’m afraid to look,” she admitted.

Emma picked some splinters out of her foot, causing Faye to wince in pain. “Size five?” she asked.

Faye nodded. “Small feet. It’s great for the clearance rack. Wish I’d worn sneakers yesterday, though.”

“Could be worse. Mine are eights. I’d let you use them but they’re going to be more a hindrance for you I think,” she explained. “Other foot.”

Faye lifted her other sole and braced herself for the sting of things being plucked from them. After a moment, Emma set the foot down and then leaned over, rummaging through the camera bag. She pulled out the knife.

“Whoa,” Faye protested.

“Owen,” Emma called. “Can you take off your shirt?”

“My shirt?” Owen asked. He was still wearing his button-up short sleeve, albeit a bit messier than he would have preferred. The light of understanding dawned in his eyes, and he swiftly took it off, leaving himself with a white tank top.

Emma took it and started to cut off the sleeves. She wrapped one around her foot, and Faye felt immediate relief, leaning her head back.

“It’s not perfect but it’ll protect your feet from thorns and twigs for the most part,” Emma explained.

Faye suddenly let out a sharp laugh, then quickly covered her mouth. Emma shot her a concerned look.

“Fucking goblins,” Faye exclaimed. “Dragons and goblins and God knows what else.” She shook her head. “We’re not prepared for this at all.”

“Who is?” Owen asked.

“We’re not going to survive if all we’re doing is running for our lives. We don’t even really know where we’re going anymore. We lost the creek, for all we know we’ve been moving in circles,” she argued. “We could go through those trees and stumble across a bunch of hungry dragons, or run into Cthulhu or something.” She stood on her now-bound feet. They did feel better. “We’ve been blundering through these woods all day. We need to stop and think about what to do next.”

There was a pregnant pause between the three of them before Owen spoke out. “We’re going to need weapons,” he explained. “We don’t know how long the taser’s going to last, and that knife’s only useful as a tool.”

“Where are we going to get weapons from?” Faye asked.

“The same place our ancestors did,” he gestured toward the surrounding area. “We can sharpen sticks. Break off sharp chunks of rock. Nature is abound with resources for the plundering.”

“We can turn what’s left of your shirt into a sling,” Emma offered.

“Yes! Exactly. I support that plan,” Owen added.

“We’re going to need food as well,” Faye said. She looked to Emma. “Emma, you said your dad taught you to hunt, right?”

“Faye…” Owen said, shaking his head at her.

Emma looked from Faye to Owen. “What?”

Owen could only look at her silently.

“No, don’t look at me like that,” Emma said. “Don’t pity me.”

“Emma, your father--”

“Died doing what he had to do,” Emma spat. “Just like I will, and just like the both of you will. You don’t know me. You don’t know my family. I was raised to do what needed doing. I can’t be mourning him right now, nor would he want me to. He’d want me to keep my head in the game, and I can’t do that if I’m a mess.” She looked back to Owen. “I’m devastated,” she added. “But we’re surrounded by men with swords, wild animals, and goblins. My father and your friend are both dead. We almost died three times since yesterday. Would you prefer sad Emma, or an Emma you can actually count on?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Faye had to smile at the kid. She was feisty. “The girl’s got a point,” she added. She gestured in Emma’s direction. “But don’t fault Owen. He’s always been the type to look out for Dillon and I. He’s just trying to look out for you as well.”

Emma sighed. “Right,” she said. “Sorry.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Owen said. “Stressful times.”

“Anyway, yes. He taught me to hunt, but with a rifle. I think the closest rifle is an entire world away,” Emma stated. “But I’m pretty sure I’ve already seen some edible plants. Stinging nettle and--”

“Hold up,” Faye asked. “Stinging nettle?”

Emma nodded. “It’s edible, and it’s easy to avoid the thorns if you know what you’re doing,” she explained.

“We can’t just live on nettle though,” Faye mentioned.

“We might be able to catch a fish if we find our way back to that stream,” Owen added. “We can start a fire--” he trailed off. “Wait, is that smart? Starting a fire?”

Emma thought about it for a moment. “On earth, animals will avoid fires.”

“So it stands to reason they will here as well,” Faye added. “But what about… other things?”

“We won’t last long out here without heat. Last night got pretty cold,” Emma mentioned. “But I think if we start a fire during the night we stand a better chance of not being noticed.”

“So our basic needs right now are defense, food, and shelter?” Owen asked.

“Yeah, then we should start thinking about how to figure out our cardinal directions,” Faye mentioned. She looked over to Emma. “I don’t suppose you know that leaf-in-the-puddle trick do you?”

Emma cocked her head. “The leaf in the--- what?”

“I saw it in a movie,” she said. “The leaf turns into a compass or something but--”

“Hey,” Owen said. “Hey, I think there’s a compass in the phones.”

Both Emma and Faye looked at him. “Doesn’t that require a signal?” Emma asked.

“No, there’s a magnetometer installed in all those phones,” he explained. “Dillon went hiking all the time, there’s got to be a compass app. And as long as this place has poles, it should tell us which way is north.”

Faye pulled out Dillon’s personal phone and flipped it on. After a few moments, it sprang to life and she started to flip through his apps. She stood up as she found the compass app and loaded it up. She turned in place, staring at the screen until she was satisfied.

She looked up. “That’s north,” she said. “At least, whatever passes for north in this place, but that’s where it’s pointing me.”

“We still need to figure out which direction we came from,” Owen said. “We should focus on the weapons, then scout the area for that stream.”

Due to the situation with Faye’s feet she remained in the clearing while Emma and Owen wandered around looking for suitable resources. Owen found a long stick with a knot on the end and gave it to Faye. She could use it both as a crutch and a blunt-ended club. It was light enough she could swing it a few times, but solid enough that it would be a threat to anyone on the business end of it.

Faye carved a pointed end into two thinner, longer sticks. Emma strapped one to her back and carried the other, while Owen was content to find a weighted club he could swing without much effort.

Faye already felt safer having more to rely on than the taser.

Faye wondered how much daylight was left. When they’d woken up that morning, the time on Dillon’s phone had said it was just after seven. It was around noon when they’d fought Hob, and now, at least at earth, it was dinner time. They agreed to share a protein bar and set about on their next tasks, finding food and setting up a temporary shelter. During the night they would sleep in shifts, and in the morning they would scout the area seeking out the stream.

Faye did not look forward to spending another night in the wilderness. She almost wondered if things might have been better had they not escaped, but she put that out of her mind almost entirely. She’d rather be exhausted, frightened and lost while free than comfortable in captivity.

Before too long, they had several neat piles containing sticks, stones and grass. Faye started to weave the grass together to make usable lashings. Her first attempts weren’t so great, but over time it became easier. Owen proceeded to sharpen some of the sticks on a rough stone jutting up out of the ground.

With the completion of the lean-to, Emma started to forage for food. The area was rife with mushrooms, but none of them knew how to identify poisonous mushrooms or berries. At worst, they’d all die. At best, they’d have the trip of a lifetime. Faye didn’t exactly relish either option.

Emma took the time to show them how to eat stinging nettle raw-- she grasped it by the underside, where there weren’t as many of the tiny, pain-inducing thorns and folded the leaf over itself, pressing it against itself vigorously.

To Faye surprise, Emma was right. The thorns were easy to avoid once crushed. She chewed on it and found it tasted just like spinach.

Eventually, the sun started to dip beneath the treeline, and the first signs of night began to fall. Faye was hungry, but not starving. They each shared the last of the protein bars and filled up on nettle and whatever wild vegetables Emma managed to find.

The next day, however, they needed to focus on finding food. Their options were scarce. Either hunt, fish and forage-- or try to find some semblance of civilization and steal some.

Either way, at least the goblins didn’t seem to have followed them. After they killed the Hob, she suspected they would keep their distance. But there were still bears to contend with, along with whatever else might be out in the night. Mountain lions? Regular lions? Did they even live in the woods?

Emma volunteered to take the first shift keeping watch, and had found a well-protected area she could sit and keep watch while the others slept. Owen would take the second, and Faye would take the last shift. The way they figured, there were going to be at least seven hours of night before morning.

Faye managed to tuck herself deep under the lean-to and shared the camera bag with Owen as a pillow. She had been worried she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but the exhaustion of the day eventually caught up with her, and she drifted away to sleep.