This choice: Eat one of your emergency food items and rest. • Go Back...
Chapter #4
The First Night
by: Unknown
You put down your rucksack and open it, reaching down through the various materials until your hand wraps around a tin can. Pulling it up, it's a can of chicken soup. You only have three cans and know you need to use them wisely, this first night is as good a time as any since you need to save energy until you can decide what your next focus will be tomorrow. You now need to make a small fire to heat the contents.
Leaving the tent, you walk away from the clearing into the jungle to grab dead pieces of grass off the ground. You make a pile of the dead grasses and then you go back to your rucksack and grab out a piece of flint. In front of the pile of dead grass you hold your flint to the pile and use your machete to slice into the mineral, producing sparks. It takes several minutes and lots of cursing under your breath but eventually you start up a small campfire. You pull the tab on top of the soup can and then cook it over the open fire. Soon the contents are warm enough and you dig your dirty hands into the can, stuffing the soup and chunks of chicken into your mouth. It feels kind of weird eating chicken as it is now something you could never hope of killing now, in fact, if you somehow stumbled into a farm you would make a very easy snack for such a creature.
You finish he can and toss it in the small fire. The flames grow fainter while you stay close to enjoy the comforting warmth. There is no point in keeping the fire going as it may alert predators to your position and with your weak shelter and weaponry such an assault would result in a humiliating early end. Your campfire becomes nothing but an ash pile as the embers fade and the sky is only faintly lit due to the sunset. The noises of grass brushing together, clicking, moaning and even the shrieks of unfortunate bugs start to fill the air as you know it is the time for the nocturnal predators of the backyard. You go to your tent and shut it closed, undressing from your sweaty camouflage and boots. Laying on top of a cut blade of grass is not quite the same as a bed or sleeping bag by any means. Your machete is tightly gripped in your hands, although practically useless as a weapon, it is the only thing you got and it provides some comfort as the sickening sounds of multiple legs moving and the sounds of the bugs and birds of prey only allow you small bursts of sleep throughout the night, waking up in sweats to the constant noises that feel particularly close.
You wake up for the umpteenth time but it is not to a noise, it is because you simply cannot sleep anymore. The noises of night have died down and you open the tent slightly to see it is mostly dark but the sky is partially light from the west, dawn is approaching. You get back in the tent; dressing back up and packing. The nocturnal creatures are either full from the hunt or getting drowsy and traveling along now will allow you to maximize the day.
Your fire making skills have increased. The strength of your machete is even weaker along with the blade being dull. The effects of little sleep make take a small toll eventually.
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