And that is pretty much how their life settled for the following week. Each day was about surviving another day. Not that they had some sense of familiarity with their surroundings, now that they knew they had a way to survive, the idea of exploring further seemed far less appealing. The fear of the unknown was growing stronger as they were developing a sense of safety, however faint, in this little camp they had created.

In a week, they managed to find food every single day, to maintain an acceptable level of hygiene even if not being able to change clothes would eventually become a problem, they stayed warm, wet, and safe… And, more than anything, they managed to remain optimistic. Trying to turn the yard of some half-destroyed castle into a nice place to live did occupy their days and they did everything they could to stay busy because pausing would give them time to think and that would just open the gates for fear, sadness, and potentially madness.

So they kept moving forward without looking back. Metaphorically, of course, because they would not wander too far from the castle.

But even through the haze of false positivity, Tom was already seeing the cracks in their system. If he had taken time to think about it, he would have been able to find many more problems just waiting to arise, but a few were already trying to make themselves heard and he was pretending he could just wish them away.

First, in just a week, they all lost some weight. He wouldn’t really tell that much on others, but he could see it on himself. His skin was already starting to show traces of that. It wasn’t really surprising: they were finding food, sometimes enough to feel satiated, but it was not a balanced diet by any means.

There were also the noises they heard in the forest, especially in the denser parts. Nothing particularly scary, just enough to know that there was life in there, animals they hadn’t been able to spot yet apart from a few birds, and that they couldn’t know yet if they would end up being an issue or not. Like… were they rabbits or wolves? Surely, they would have heard wolves, right?

Tensions between people would eventually become a problem too, right? Or maybe they could grow together. Tom didn’t want to be too pessimistic there. He knew he would never get on with Lizzy but it didn’t mean they couldn’t keep working together, surely. It’s just… six days were hard enough, what if she was literally a sixth of his social life forever?

The weather could potentially become an issue. They had been very lucky up till day six but then it rained for pretty much twenty-four hours straight. Pouring more than raining, even, and whatever they had tried to do to their roof would probably have kept them dry for a drizzle or a few showers, but it did not keep the water out that time. It wasn’t too bad and the original parts of the roof still there kept doing their job, allowing them to keep the fire alive and to sleep in a dry corner, but puddles were also forming around them.

It made Tom – and others most likely – wonder about what might come next. Did this land have winter? And if so, when would it start and how bad would it get? Could they prepare for it? How would they even get their hands on warmer clothes? Would food get harder to find then? Tom was slightly terrified at the idea of winter and, like others, just kept burying it as deep as he could.

The other issue was that they did not have any access to medical help. To any kind of help, actually, but not being able to get to a doctor if they needed to was more and more at the front of Tom’s mind. Sure, Claire climbing that tree and potentially falling was somewhat worrying, but they could all decide to stop doing reckless things if they wanted to – one cannot avoid accidents altogether but it is possible to reduce the risk of them happening. What they could not control, however, were the other ways this world could hurt them. The water was apparently safe to drink but it could have poisoned them. The food they had found was edible but it could have made them sick. And even without all of that, what if they got ill?

After the torrential rain, Tom developed a headache. Nothing bad, but definitely something, and he remembered the last time he had the flu, and how awful that would have been without painkillers and such. How would they deal with any of that in the middle of an unknown forest?

And if Tom stopped lying to himself, he would admit that this fear had nothing to do with his headache but all to do with how tired and flushed Jamies had looked all day. He had not complained once but what if he was coming down with something? What would they do then? What could they do?

Tom sighed and looked up. He did not want to think about any of it. Not only was it depressing, any moment spent thinking about those came with the risk of finding out something else that was about to go wrong. Tom didn’t want that, even if it was in fact easier to cope with than having to think about the world and the people – one in particular – that he left behind.

Yes, it was much easier to look at the sky than think about his father.

The sky was clear that evening and Tom could look up at the stars and moons. These two were as exotic, scary, and beautiful as they were the first time he saw them. Although they had been the terrible wake-up call they all needed to finally admit that they were further away from home than they thought, Tom couldn’t help but find them soothing and enchanting.

He sort of made a ritual of looking at them every evening and letting their beauty wash away the stress of the day.

“This sky is insane,” Claire whispered, joining him.

“It is.”

“It almost makes it worth it all.”

“Almost,” Tom tempered.

“Hey, the kids went to bed but we were going to see if the purple apple thingies can be roasted and have a sort of midnight snack. Do you wanna join?”

Between people and scenery, Tom would always pick people. He liked laughter and conversation more than contemplation and raw beauty, probably. Besides, he was getting on better than expected with John, so if he could find a way to bond with Lizzy, or even just make her stop despising him, that could solve one of the potential problems before it even had a chance to arise.

So… all of that plus a snack? Of course he was in!