Dweller
Chapter 7

I slowly open my eyes. Wincing as I open them, I quickly shut them. The bright sun had shone directly into them, making me be blinded by the light. This time I slowly open my eyes letting my eyes adjust to the looming ball of fire.

Once fully adjusted, I looked around at my unfamiliar surroundings. With the sun now high in the sky, it proved that I was out for over half of the day.

Above me slowly loom the branches covering my face. Making leaves fall, I slowly get up. As I try getting up I hit my head on a few branches. Chasing pain to erupt in my body, only then did I realize how injured I actually was.

My sleeves and pants were full of holes and other missing cloth. Blood had stained all over my shirt and pants, whether it was mine or somebody else I didn’t know. Nothing seemed to be broken. My ribs were slightly hurting but that was most likely from when I was kicked in the earlier fight.

However, I was severely cold and was covered in scrapes, scares, and a small bump forming on my head which would most likely later cause some sort of problem. However, I was not concerned about it right now and that would just be a future me problem.

My bag that was laid out next to me had a forming of wet sloppy ground which was now caked the bottom of my bag in dirt. I was no longer in the same area of the forest as when I fell unconscious.

I was hoping that Quarry would have found me. But looking around there was no-one in sight. There was only me.

I slowly got, stretching my aching muscles. I looked in my bag to make sure everything was still there. My notebook, emergency clothes, food and water, and some weapons. Everything was still there. I put on my bag, not even worrying about the mud. If it was Quarry that had found me he would have never left my side.

Whoever had found me left as soon as I woke up. The hot burning embers of a fire showed proof of that. The coals were still hot and the smoke still hung in the air. I was ready to get out of here. Whoever they were didn’t want to be seen by me, and I was fine with that.

I swung my backpack over my shoulder then put the strap on the other and started my hike. I didn’t know where I was headed but I knew I had to get out of this area. Standing and waiting around for whoever rescued me was not in that plan at all.

Whoever saved me didn’t want to know it was them so I granted their wish and left. As I walked I took in the scenery, it was quite immaculate. Everything was gorgeous. It looked like a beautiful garden.

Animals were hurrying along, not even paying attention to me. Flowers were in full bloom and the trees looked like they could touch the skies. The trees were the most beautiful redwood trees I have ever seen.

The animals scurried under thick bushels and climbed the huge trees. The calming scent of floral rose to my nose. Making everything seem so quiet and peaceful. I was hoping this peace would stay in this forest forever. However I knew I could not stay.

I still had to meet up with Quarry, then I would figure out what to do from then. But before all of that I had to figure out where the hell I was.

This place was gorgeous, but hell was it a maze. Everything looked the same. The trees were too big for me to climb so the only choice I had was to randomly choose a direction and start walking.

I continued to walk, the forest only slowly thinning out as the sun started to set. The ground was slowly slopping up. And the tall redwood trees were becoming smaller and smaller, but still too big for me to climb. My feet were sore and everything was aching.

My stomach grumbles signaling the stop of today's walk. I went over to a nearby tree and put down my bag. I collected sticks and other resources so I could eventually have a fire before dusk ended. Once the fire was blazing I pulled out a bar and started chewing down.

I didn’t pack a lot of food and I knew I was going to quickly run out. This was the only thing I ate all day. I was missing my nice warm bed and tense meals, but most importantly I was missing my brother.

The stars started to poke through the slowly dimming sky. And the nocturnal creatures were starting to awaken. I took out my journal and slowly wrote down today's events.

Dear Diary,

I believe today's date is 9/18/1978. A lot has happened. When I woke up I realized I was no longer by the river, I didn't want to meet whoever pulled me away and quickly ran off into the nearby rid forest. There were so many fascinating creatures that I thought I would never see, for example I saw a family of foxes! They were so cute.

It was a lot of fun though I am starting to miss my luxurious life back at home, even if I don't miss the inhabitants of the house. It's really waiting for me at night to be able to see my brother. I hope he's okay. But Knowing him he's doing just fine.

Tomorrow I plan on getting a head start and getting up early so I can start the walk. I realized that we are slowly going uphill so I'm expecting we're going to be seeing a mountain range soon. Not a lot has happened today! I'll write back tomorrow!

Sincerely,

Quincy

After I wrote in my diary I called it a night. I figure the fire would eventually burn off and let it be. I laid my back against the tree bark, and with my dagger in hand I closed my eyes. Trying to rest my body up for tomorrow's adventures.