05: Peek-A-Boo

"Well? What now, Skyler?"

I always had something in my room for background noise: music, the ceiling fan, or just even the hum of my PC. Now, the world around me was too quiet. The silence just gave me something else to hate. Talking to myself was better than nothing.

"Where do I even start? What am I supposed to do?"

My family went camping when I was a kid, but only once. We had the usual supplies: sleeping bags, a tent, the public restroom for… other necessities. Even then, it was practically a disaster, but the experience left me ill-equipped for my current predicament—stranded, alone in the wild. I had no real world survival skills to speak of.

"This… This is how I'm gonna die, isn't it?"

There was nothing useful in the church's rubble to help. Rocks everywhere. The pedestal I was leaning on was the only object that looked unscathed. A perfect, undamaged jewel sat embedded on the top of it. What good was that going to do? I left it and staggered over the remains of a collapsed wall. The only choice I had left was to explore the rest of the ruins for resources.

My search through the damaged buildings included faded murals, remnants of statues, partially standing archways, and other broken decorative structures. The forest was possessively claiming each one, bit by bit. The ruins might have all been fairly impressive back in their prime, before becoming a shell of forgotten memories from a time long past.

The temperature rose during my search. The sun beat down on me and the bleached stones under my feet. The more I sweat, the more dehydrated I became. My mouth was so dry.

"Water." It was definitely something I needed to keep a lookout for. Not wanting to be forgotten, my stomach growled. "Yup, food too, but what's safe to eat around here? Animals maybe? I don't think I can actually… kill…" My stomach continued to growl, arguing with my concerns. Without knowing the rules of that thing's game, it was impossible to know if it sent me to these ruins to starve.

The never-ending scavenger hunt in and around the abandoned buildings refused to show any worthwhile results. There was nothing left to help me survive. I found the odd ceramic jar, or pot made of stone, but even if they once held food, that wasn't the case anymore. Everything was dirty, dusty, dry, and in shambles like the ruins themselves.

When afternoon rolled around, the sun played peekaboo with a growing number of clouds. Some were darker than others. I wished for, yet cringed at the thought of rain without the prospect of any real shelter. Most of the buildings had no roofs to speak of, and those that had anything covering them didn't look sturdy.

Walking on the hard stone left my feet sore. Tired and lightheaded from a futile search, I needed to call it quits on exploring. I'd been gathering some of the more intact jars and containers in an emptier section of the ruins. I figured they might make capable rain catchers.

My collection was next to a stone bench, or small wall, in the shape of a semicircle that connected to a wall swallowed by plants. A massive bramble of vines and roots expanded outward, filling the space between it and the bench.

I sat down to give my feet a break and clean out the potential water jugs. I hadn't realized how filthy they were. Some only had dry leaves or branches inside, but others held the remnants of nests from things that once lived in them. They were filthy, but those were the only containers that still seemed usable. I had to stop more than once from the smell and dry heave. I'd never wanted a shower more in my entire life, or to at least rinse off my hands.

As I finished my self-imposed task, the potential for rain seemed less and less. The clouds in the muted sky above me broke apart, clearing a path for the sun to continue on its way to some mountains in the distance.

"Of course." I let out a sigh. "I should've known better. All that… effort… time well wasted."

The birds from before had returned without me noticing when. They sang their songs freely, stopping only when an occasional bark from that squirrel-fox thing or something like it, interrupted them. Branches swayed from something scurrying through the treetops.

My eyes drifted down from the sky, back to the forest of dancing shadows. Water and food had to be out there somewhere. Any wildlife in the area needed it as much as I did. The danger from before, the howl that threatened the animals, must have passed. I shivered at the thought of what it came from.

"And run into that? Nope. The ruins are safe… safer, for now."

My task left me sweaty, gross, and far from eager to return to the futile scavenging for resources. I moved closer to the wall of plants connected to the bench. It looked comfortable enough to lean against, plush, for lack of a better word. Anything had to be more comfortable than the slab of stone I slumbered against the night before. I leaned into the leaves and vines, cool and comforting on the back of my neck. A soothing chill grew behind my head, spreading down my neck and trickling between my shoulders. I pressed my back deeper into the plants. A cold drop traced a path along my spine, and wetness seeped into the fabric of my shirt.

"W-water?"

I considered my options. Would I stand up to investigate, or just let a possibly vivid hallucination wash over me? Indecision led to my decision. I stayed put, enjoying the moment for a few minutes longer, until my hair and shirt soaked up more of the refreshing embrace. It thoroughly soaked my shirt before I finally moved again, returning to my aching feet.

The green veil hid the mysterious water source, but I reached in and discovered a section of wet stone behind it. I tugged at the vines and roots with both hands and an unfortunately slippery grip. I had to know for sure if I actually found a possible water source. A few pieces snapped and fell, but I needed faster results. I braced my feet on the bench for leverage and heaved with a handful.

Thud!

"Why…?" I groaned. I made progress, but at a cost I didn't want to pay. Falling after the voice shoved me into the ruins was more than enough. If that was the new normal, my body and morale might not have been capable of paying the toll for very long.

Back on my feet once more, I tore at the vines. Another snapped, then a few more. I'd find out what was behind them soon. "Who the hell—?!"

I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw it. Actually, I just tripped over my feet.

"Oof!"

Klutz!

Back on my ass. Again. I blinked and stared up at the vines. Above me, it peeked out from its hiding spot, and looked directly at me.

Run, dumbass! RUN!