You, Me, And The Jungle

Day Two- Part Two

Ethan's P.O.V.

For the remainder of the day, we decided to sit down and drink water from the stream. I felt a little sick after drinking it, but I sure don't plan on dying of dehydration while I have the chance to take in some liquids.

The sun was readying itself to disappear. If I had known any better, it was somewhere near four 'o'clock. I peer over my shoulder and see Liam sitting down. As I approach him, I could see he was holding something in his hand. "What's that?" I ask, looking over his shoulder. "It's a locket..." He replied. I chortle. "Ain't lockets for girls?" I reply, and he glowers at me on cue. "It's for holding the people you care about the most, close to your heart." He tells me, and looks down at it. He opens it and shows me. There was a picture of a kid, a mother, a father, and a little girl. "That's you?" I ask, pointing to the little boy. "Who else would it be?" He murmured. He didn't sound as sarcastic as he usually sounds, so I sat down next to him. "Well... You have a nice family." I say, while slowly sitting down next to him. "But, on a serious note... Are you ok?" He looked away. I guess Liam wasn't the one to be really open about his feelings. I couldn't blame him. After all of this, I'm sure he just wants to sleep, get through the night, and make it back to camp before something goes horribly wrong.

"I'm fine... Why would you want to know?" He questions and turns away. I see his lip curve down. Hastily, he closes the locket and puts it around his neck. "I don't know, it's just, you seem to be very poignant about everything so far." I reply.

"Po-- what?" He asks me.

"Poignant... You're showing signs of regret and sadness." I reply.

"Once again, I'm fine."

"See, that's the thing! You say you're fine, but you're not!" I rebuked, my eyes narrowing. I never really understood why people were so closed off when it came to feelings. If they just let them out, they'd get a lot off of their chest and feel better right? "Are you sure about that you are actually fine? I'm your friend, you can at least tell me something," I continued. He rolled his eyes, as usual.

Finally, Liam opened and his mouth and said, "I just want to get out of jungle. Everything reminds me about how my father and I bonded through a nature..." He had just started and I could already tell the story was going down a dark road.

"My father, just a couple of years ago, was in a car accident. My older sister was in the back seat of the car. She's in a coma, and hasn't woken up ever. I miss him, that's all..." He said. Nodding my head with understanding, I give him a concerned look. "So that's why you want to get out of here so badly... But, if nature reminds you of your dad, why did you come?" I ask, pushing on more with the questions.

A light breeze flies pass the both of us. I roll down my sleeves and shove my hands into my pockets-- which were still wet from earlier. "I didn't want to come, I felt sick to my stomach about the whole trip. However, when Abby invited me, I was excited. I like Abby, so that's why I came on this trip because I figured that this would be the perfect opportunity to show my knowledge of surviving in the wild to her. I wanted to show her that I wasn't that kid that just socially awkward, or that kid that she doesn't remember, yet we have every single class together. I never got the chance though, to show her my skill..." He paused for a second, and then added, "Why did you come on this trip?" I rub the back of my head and give the most down to Earth, honest answer I could give. "I heard that there would be a large BBQ, so I decided to take Abby's invite and come along."

Liam stared at me, and then he laughed. In between his laughs were snorts, he sounded like a pig! "You came here for the BBQ?" He inquired, wiping a small drop of tear from his eye. "Wow, following your stomach only got you into trouble." I nod my head. He did have a point about that. "Well, I came here for the BBQ and because my father wanted my ass outta the house for a change. He even called me a lazy bum." I hear Liam chuckle. "Oh really..." We sit there for a bit.

The cool air passed us. The sound of the stream falling down the hill was pleasing, especially after a long day. There we were, Liam and I, sitting side by side. 

By around, what seemed like six 'o'clock, the temperature started to drop.

No fire...

No heavy clothing...

We had nothing. My hoodie, which I had thrown at the tiger back when we were being chased, was gone. I had only a long sleeved sweater. Liam had only a short sleeved shirt. My sweater was barely keeping me from freezing to death, so I don't know how he was still up and runnin'.

"We sh-should find some cave and take c-cover...." I heard him say. The rain poured down even more as thundered lit the sky and broke it in have with a white light. "Yeah, but where?" That seemed to be the question when we always had to find cover. Where? There were no caves nearby. Every time we had made one of those little campfires, it was out in the open where all the animals of this jungle could just come and pounce us both.

"We'll just have to build a lean to." Liam says, and walks over to a couple of bushes. I walk over with him. My lighter flickered as I shield it with my hand. It was the only thing keeping us from going blind in all of this darkness.

"We can't build a lean to in this weather. What if it's not good enough? It could end up crushing us." I protest, looking at Liam like he was crazy. His face was blank, but weary. His skin had lost nearly all color, and his clothes were torn. He didn't care anymore. He was the cautious one, the one that would take precautions before doing anything. The one that thought about something before doing it.... He didn't care, he lost all of it.

I hold the lighter and sigh. "It's just not safe Liam." I restate, standing there. He sits down and nods. He had given up. I could see it on his face. "We have to keep moving though." I yell over the uproar of the wind. "Why should we continue?" He asks, looking at the grassland.

"We're in this jungle, together. You can't lose hope, it's not an option!" I continue.

"Why not, no one is coming for us." He was starting to lose interest in the conversation.

"Yes they are! If you lose hope, you DIE!"

"Well then... That means I'm already dead." He says.

My eye widens at his words as I shake my head.

Before I could reply, the wind blew my lighter out, descending us into darkness.