Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 62695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“Who is the strongest?”
“Obviously us,” Linda calls. “We would have beaten them in the raft contest if they hadn’t cheated, and that was from sheer strength.”
Pipe down, Linda.
Nobody cares.
Lake’s eyes move to her. “Great, then you get the excellent job of dragging in logs for the fire.”
Linda’s eyes widen. “Logs?”
“Yep.”
“From in there?”
She points to the trees.
Lake’s grin gets bigger and the other guys all stand, smirks on their faces, arms crossed, looking like a pack of wild mountain men.
“Yep.”
“What if we get eaten?”
I snort.
Linda glares at me.
That’ll teach her for having a big mouth.
“Dante will escort you,” Lake waves them off.
Dante gives him a look, but reaches into a pack, pulls out a gun, and then waves the ladies on. They look terrified and I can’t help but smile, mostly because I was going to put my hand up before Linda opened her big mouth, and now I’m glad I didn’t.
“Okay,” Lake goes on. “You two can start clearing a space on the ground of big rocks, logs, anything that’ll be uncomfortable under our sleeping mats.”
He points to Chev and Alice. They immediately get to work.
“You two —” he points to us “— can build a fire right in the middle of the clearing. Make it high on the sides with large stones and fill it up with small kindling so it’ll start easy when the time comes.”
I smile, happy to do that task.
Faye and I get to work. We help Alice and Chev clear and area, and then we all build a large, round fireplace that is high enough on the sides that the fire won’t escape but low enough that it’ll generate heat and light for any animals who might want to pop in and say hello at any point. Then, we go and gather small twigs and leaves and place them beside the fire so they’re able to start it later.
Once we’re done, we’re all handed a small rolled up mattress, a blanket, and nothing else. We’re really going rogue alright. We find a spot beside one another and roll out our beds, lay our blankets down, and place our packs beside them. I’m glad I packed an extra jacket now —I’ll use it to sleep on. I don’t like sleeping without a pillow. Even though these mattresses are quite a dense foam, it’s still on hard ground.
The guys busy themselves starting the fire, setting up any supplies they brought with us, mostly water and things to cook with, and then it’s time to fish. Only, we don’t have a fishing pole. We get a line and a hook, and we’re told to make our own. It’s part of the task. I actually don’t mind this task and quickly get to work, I find a sturdy stick and carefully tie the line on a little fork at the end of it so that it doesn’t come undone.
Proud of myself, I strut down to the river and throw my line in.
The first fish to bite snaps my stick right in half.
Linda starts laughing as she reels in a small, flapping fish.
I want to go and stab her with the now broken stick in my hands.
Enzo walks over, handing me another line and hook, trying not to laugh.
“If you laugh I’m going to gouge your eyes out with this damned stick,” I mutter.
He grins. “Those fish are strong.”
“No shit.”
He chuckles. “I’ll help you.”
“One thing,” Rhett calls, joining the group, “what you catch is what you eat, don’t catch, don’t eat. We’re in the real world now.”
I blink.
He can’t be serious.
“Is he joking?” I ask Enzo.
“Nope. Here, try this. Feel how the stick has a bit of give. It’s because it’s still partially green inside and not fully dried out, which means it won’t snap when pressure is put on it.”
He hands me a long, thinner than I would have picked, greenish-brown stick. I take it and bend it with my hand, and he’s right, it’s far more flexible. Even if I don’t want to admit it. I tie the new line and hook on, and then I take myself for a walk farther down, away from everyone.
I catch a fish within the first ten minutes, and it’s a really good size.
I whoop happily and carry it all the way back to camp, right past Linda who hasn’t caught another one since the tiny first one she got.
I grin at her. “I’m eating tonight.”
She glares at me.
Take that, Linda.
11
“It’s nice out here,” Lei says while sitting beside me, fishing pole in her hand.
We’re still fishing, and between us, we’ve caught four fish. I’m catching a few extra, because I’m not going to let anyone go hungry on my watch. Lei joined me a little over ten minutes ago and I’m glad, because I’ve been wanting to chat with her since I got here but haven’t had a great deal of chance.