Follow The River

Chapter 2

They had been walking for about 20 minutes, although they hadn't been able to cover a great deal of ground on account of the large rocks and logs that littered the riverbanks which forced them to slow their pace. Till felt thankful that whoever had placed him there had given him hiking boots. Nobody had spoken yet. Due to the enormity of the situation at hand, Till feared that trying to engage in small talk would only feel forced.

Doug was the first to break the silence.

"What was the last thing any of you remember happening before you woke up here?"

"Walking back to my aunt's place from this bar," Aaron replied.

"Heading back home after seeing a friend," Till answered.

"I was down by the pier taking some photos," Kate responded.

"Damn," Doug shook his head.

"Hey, Till," Aaron asked, "How many sandwiches and granola bars exactly do you have?"

"One sec," he took off and opened his backpack. "Looks like...20 sandwiches. The box says 24 on the side and...yeah, there's 24."

"So how are we supposed to split those between the four of us?"

"I guess if each meal is one sandwich and one granola bar, we can stretch that for almost two days."

"That's asking quite a lot," Doug interjected, "Each of us only having three sandwiches and three granola bars a day."

"Well, we can use Kate's fishing net. Or at least try to use it."

Till put his backpack back on and the four of them resumed walking.

"What if we end up being in here for longer than two days?" Aaron asked.

"I guess one of us is going to have to be eaten then," Till responded, thinking a bit of humor might help the situation.

"I volunteer to sacrifice myself if that ends up happening," said Doug, which garnered chuckles from everyone. Kate even smiled a bit, Till noticed.

"Surely we've got to come across something before we end up having to do that," Aaron said.

"We definitely will. I know this forest, it's not too far from Astoria. I've hiked it plenty of times before Haven't you guys?"

"No, I'm not from here originally," Aaron said.

"Me neither," said Doug and Kate simultaneously.

"Neither am I, but I guess I just hike a lot," Till chuckled, "Where are you guys from?"

"Santa Fe," Aaron said,

"New Orleans," said Doug.

"Boston," said Kate.

"I've visited two out of those three," Till nodded, "Sorry, Aaron."

"None taken," Aaron said, taking off and opening his backpack. "Let me drink some water real quick," he pulled out the filter device.

"I'm a little thirsty too, I might as well have some," said Till.

"We should all probably have a drink. We need to stay hydrated." Doug suggested.

"Good idea," Aaron replied, "So it looks like you just fill up this little pouch, put the top on, and squeeze it out. Simple enough."

Aaron filled it up, and each of them took a gulp of water from it, after which they continued walking.

"You think maybe our memories were messed with?" Till asked.

"What do you mean?" Doug replied.

"Well, since none of us remember anything weird happening, maybe whoever put us here wiped our memories or something."