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Chapter Four

I hit the tree line running and I don’t stop, dodging trunks and branches and not really caring what direction I’m heading in, so long as it’s away from Jacob’s ‘sanctuary’. I only stop when I find myself at the edge of an old road. I stand in the shadows of the trees and stare at the road while I get my breath back. I have to make a decision, follow the road or continue through the woods. The road will be faster and anyone tracking me won’t be able to follow my footprints, I’ll also be able to see clearly in both directions. I’m about to take a step out towards the road when a memory hits me from nowhere. I’m sitting on our old couch on the farm back home, watching one of my sister’s favourite scary movies with her. My heads shoved under a pillow and I’m screaming at her/the T.V. “WHY ARE YOU STAYING ON THE ROAD?? GET OFF THE FUCKING ROAD YOU TWIT!!” as the character runs terrified down the middle of a dark, deserted highway with a serial killer hot on her heels. “Everyone knows you DON’T RUN DOWN THE ROAD! Kelly!” I half yell at her “Why is she running on the road still???” Kelly just laughs at me and continues shoving popcorn into her mouth. “Well, fine, she’s going to die and it’s her own stupid fault!” I rage at the character.

The last image from the memory is my sister’s smiling face as she shrugs her shoulders at me in a ‘what are you gunna do’ sort of way. My heart starts to hurt, and I realize I’m crying. I quickly scrub the tears away and turn back into the woods. I’ll be damned if I’m not going to follow my own good advice.

I move through the trees with a lot more caution this time, slipping from trunk to trunk, listening intently for any signs of pursuit or the dead. I walk downhill, hoping to find water and I don’t stop moving until the sun starts to lighten the sky above me. My earlier fatigue starts to pull at me so I stop to take a small drink from Ben’s stolen water, but I can’t rest for long, I need as much distance between me and the settlement as possible, because when Jacob realizes what I’ve done, he won’t stop hunting me until I’m dead. I’ve seen it before.

The thought of Jacob spurs me on, and I heave my tired body from beneath the low bush that sheltered me during my brief rest. I consider eating some of the candy bar I stole from Ben’s things but decide to keep it for later, when I’m really hungry. Right now, I’m just thirsty, so freaking thirsty and I know Ben’s water won’t relieve my thirst for long, it’s already starting to run out. I struggle on, moving slower and slower as my body starts to really protest the abuse I’ve put it though. My head starts to get so heavy; I can barely lift it as the morning wears on. It’s so hot, I need water, but when I try to take another sip, the bottle is empty. By the time I hear the sound of water rushing over rocks, I’m sure I must be hallucinating, but I stumble in that direction anyway and when I come to the happily bubbling little stream fatigue pulls me down next to it. I collapse, sinking my face into the cool water. I don’t even bother to cup my hands, I just plunge my face in and gulp water as fast as possible, only coming up when I run out of oxygen. I roll to my side and breathe deeply before getting to my knees in the damp soil and looking around at where I am.

It’s a small clearing deep in the woods and I’m surprised to see the sun high overhead. I check my watch and notice it’s well past midday, I’ve been stumbling along for a lot longer than I realized, likely leaving tracks for anyone to follow. I look up at the tall trees surrounding me and decide I need to find a place to rest, before fatigue causes a mistake I can’t fix. I hurriedly fill my empty water bottle and wash off most of the dirt and grime on my face and arms, paying particular care to the reasonably fresh wounds from my knife fight with David and letting the cool water soothe my swollen face. I decide to use the stream to cover my tracks and head in the least likely direction, upstream, back towards the settlement, hoping to confuse any pursuers. Sure, I haven’t heard anything, and I might be paranoid, but I am certain there will be pursuers. Sooner or later.

I follow the stream for an hour or so, until I find a rocky patch of bank to climb out on. With my thirst momentarily quenched, my fatigue has taken a back seat and I’m able to think straight again. I move cautiously through the woods, ensuring I leave as little trace as possible, until I find what I’m looking for. A huge oak tree, with massive branches and thick leaves to hide me while I sleep. I’ve never thought a tree could be so beautiful. I study it carefully, moving fully around the massive trunk to find somewhere to climb up. Even the lowest of branches is easily out of my reach, though. I stand directly beneath that low branch and contemplate all the ways I might get myself up there, finding that my options are severely limited. I frown as I mentally search through the gear I stole from Ben and my thoughts snag on the length of rope, hopefully it’s long enough to loop over the branch. I quickly rifle through the contents of the makeshift bag and pull out the rope. I snatch a smallish rock from the base of the tree and tie one end of the rope around it, then I stand back and toss the rock over the branch, it takes a few tries, but I get there. Once I feed the rope over the branch a bit more, I’m able to grab hold of the rock again. I remove the trusty rock and make a sturdy loop in that end, then I proceed to thread the other end of my rope through the loop and pull, tightening the noose on the branch above and leaving me with a long single length of rope that doesn’t quite reach the ground. I tie the dangling length securely to my make-shift pack and give it all a hard tug, just to make sure it’s going to stay in place. I’m not going to be winning any boy scout awards, but it all seems sturdy enough. I can’t help but to groan as I stare at the gently swaying rope I have to climb. My limbs already hurt just thinking about it. I never made it to the top of the rope in gym class, but then again, I was never climbing for my life, either.

I spend a couple seconds lamenting terrible decisions as I shake out my arms, then I launch at the rope, grabbing as high as I can and proceed to laboriously haul myself up. I have no real rope climbing technique, so I just use my arms, and they are on fire . It feels like an eternity as I stubbornly muscle my way to the branch above. Eventually I claw my way onto the branch and spend an embarrassingly long time laying on my chest, gasping for air. Once I’m fairly sure I’m not going to die from what feels like a heart attack, I pull the rope and my pack up to me. I untie the pack and jam it between myself and the trunk so it won’t fall, then I get to work loosening the noose around the branch. Once I get the rope off the branch, I loop it around my body in a manner where I can tie the pack to my waist. It looks ridiculous and throws me off balance a bit, but I need both my hands to climb. I start slowly upwards, moving from branch to branch, until I get to a large limb about three quarters of the way up, and I decide it will do. I’m high off the ground and mostly obscured by leaves. I settle in against the trunk and unwind the rope from my body, using it to loop around my waist and the branch, so I won’t accidentally tumble to my death. I thread my arm through the granny knots holding the pillowcase closed, so it won’t drop out of the tree. Taking a deep drink from the water bottle I try to relax my body as I listen to the sounds of the forest and watch the sunlight shine through the leaves of my new bedroom, making the shadows dance in the breeze.