(Song: Comeback by The Score )
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I wake up with the sun. I crack my eyes open and find the makeshift fireplace next to me and the fire inside still letting off a bit of smoke. I sit up and rub my eyes, feeling the lines from my bag on my face as well. I look around, and everything is how it was when I went to sleep, luckily. After all that has happened, the last thing I need is something happening when I'm in the middle of nowhere. I look at my foot, and it looks as if the bleeding has stopped, nothing coming out overnight, so I put my boot back on and lace it up tighter this time and move both legs underneath me, so I'm sitting cross-legged. I down what's left of the water bottle from last night and eat the last protein bar and a granola bar, taking my time as I'm still trying to wake up. I finish eating and stay sitting for a few minutes, now fully awake and trying to distract myself from the questions that plagued me last night, trying to keep them from resurfacing.
When I feel that I am distracted enough, I uncross my legs and scoot closer to the hole on my butt and, using my good foot, stomp on the ashes, sending some bellowing up toward me but still snuffing out the few remaining orange embers. When the smoke finally subsides, and the ash stops spreading, I fill the hole with the dirt I dug out last night and pack it down as tight as I can to try and suffocate any remaining embers that I might have missed. I grab some nearby leaves and throw them over the hole, trying to hide any evidence that someone was here while chucking the remaining bark toward the log into the woods behind me. I scoot back and push myself up, trying to keep all the pressure off of my left foot until I'm standing straight and can mentally prepare myself for the pain.
I put my left foot on the ground, and to my surprise, the pain was still there, but it was much better than before. I throw on my bag and take the smallest step. I feel pain, but the cut feels secure in the makeshift wrap like it won't tear open again. I take another step, a little longer this time, and another after that, taking step after step, walking forward or I guess more like limping, but getting to the other side of the clearing. I can't walk fast, and it will take much longer than I had thought; even though I have no idea how long it will take or how much farther I have to go but I can feel that I'm close. I'm holding out hope that I'm close.
I keep walking, and the Counter keeps ticking down. After a while, the questions come back and start running around my mind again, and the more the Counter ticks, the louder the questions get. I stop for the third time since this morning and rest for a few more minutes, digging out one of the two bottles of water I have left, and taking small swigs to try and conserve it. I have no idea what day or time it is, but the sun is at its highest point, so I want to assume it's close to noon, if not a little after.
My foot has held up so far, and I have gotten a little used to the pain by this point though there are moments where I swear it would start bleeding again. I take off my boot and sock, this time, the gauze has rolled from walking on it, and two of the band-aids have come loose with rubbing and sweat; however, the cut hasn't bled. I replace the two band-aids with one this time, in between where the other two had been, and put on new gauze tighter than before, hoping to avoid it rolling. I put stuff back on and shove the bandages in my jacket pocket before shoving the jacket into my bag. I get back to my feet, let out a sigh, and keep going.
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The sun has gotten lower in the sky since I redid the wrap but not so low that I have to worry about losing light anytime soon. I want to say it's maybe 3:30. I have been walking for a long time, but it's hard to say how accurate that is; this cut makes me so slow, so I guess it could be three hours, but it also could have been five. Either way, the number on the Counter has been cut close to half of the previous reading, now 0680969. I'm so much closer than this morning; however, each time I check the Counter, it gives me such a good feeling then soon after, that feeling is replaced by something else, something...darker. It could be doubt, desperation, disappointment, or hopelessness. I really can't pinpoint the exact emotion, but each time, the questions plaguing me come back louder. When I look at the Counter, they make their way to the surface, and my mind starts racing. New questions start to form as well, and soon I'm stuck in a spiral. Is he working with them? Are they setting me up? Did they know about the dream thing? Will they hurt me? If we are soulmates, will he even accept me? What if he already has a partner? What if the dreams were just that, dreams? What if this is all my imagination, none of this is real, and I went on this whole journey for no reason?
That last question keeps circling in my mind, and it overtakes me, making me crash to the ground, elbows on my knees and head in my hands. My breathing has picked up, my body is shaking, and my head spins more and more. I sit staring at the ground for I don't know how long when my vision starts to blur. I blink to try and clear it, and tears start to stream down my face. I fall back on my butt and draw my legs against me, burying my head. I would love it if I were crying over one thing, but I know that the truth is this whole experience is draining me. The pain in my foot. The cuts. The bruises. The bug bites. The constant questioning of whether or not this whole thing is worth it. The ticking down of the Counter that gives me hope again when I hit that low point, exactly where I am now. The tears that flow are a combination of all of these, and the realization hits me hard, making me cry harder. If all of this is just my imagination, I just want this whole thing to be over with and get out of this stupid forest, but if the guy in the dreams is real and I'm not crazy, I just want to meet him. Even if I were stuck in this forest for the rest of my life, just give me someone else to talk to, or I swear that I'm going to go crazy.
My thoughts keep mixing, I'm still slightly shaking, and my head is still spinning, but my breathing has slowed, getting closer to normal, and my eyes have finally dried. Only when I notice the sun has lowered a little more, do I get up and shake everything off, brushing dirt from my pants and heading forward again. I clear my mind of everything, trying to keep the questions from rushing back again and focus on going forward. I ignore the pain in my foot as best as I can and try to walk at a normal rate, succeeding for a little before having to go slow down and going back to limping.
I feel like I have been walking forever, and by the time I decide to stop for the night, the sun has almost completely left the sky, and a few stars have started to appear. I sit down near a tree and close my eyes for a second and let my heart rate and breathing slow, now feeling the throbbing in my foot. I wiggle my toes, and it doesn't feel as though the cut has opened again, but it hurts like crazy. I leave it alone for now and lean back against the tree and dig out my water, suck down what was left, put it back in my bag, and close my eyes one more time. I am on the verge of sleep when a thought occurs to me; I have been so busy trying not to think that I haven't even checked my Counter.
I rub my hands across my face, trying to drag the sleep away from my eyes enough to read the number before I pass out from exhaustion. I let out a sigh, feeling defeated at this point but look at my wrist and let out a small laugh: 0003578. I'm close, so close. I'm awake now. I stand up and throw my bag back on and keep walking using the bright light of the full moon to try and make my way across the land. I trip on a log that must have been hidden in the shadows and hit the ground with a loud thud, hitting my shoulder squarely on the ground. I roll onto my back and lay there, waiting for the pain to subside even slightly. I sit up when it does and move backward against a rock. Sitting there, my eyelids become heavy and slowly fall until everything is dark. Sleep is about to overtake me again when I hear a noise in the distance, making my back straighten.
I fumble to get the pocket knife out of my bag as my hands shake and my heart rate picks up again. I get a hold of the knife when I hear the sound again, and this time, I'm sure of what I heard. I stand up and turn toward the noise, hiding behind the rock as much as possible, praying it gives me some protection. Sure enough, the noise sounds for the third time, and I see where it comes from this time. About 100 feet in front of me, I see light leaking from some building.
No, from THE building.
It's the same one from my dreams, it has to be. The noise I was hearing is someone's laugh, I'm sure of it. Someone else is out there. I look down, and I swear my heart and my breath stops. My Counter reading: 0000945. This is it, I found them.
I found him.
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