Almost But Not Quite Human

In The Birch Trees

At first, both Sapnap and George put on a brave face for the other, but after less than fifteen minutes of walking through a birch forest in the middle of the night they stood close together and held hands as they walked. Neither boy spoke as they walked under the canopy of leaves.

The threat of encountering mobs increased the further they got from town, it was inevitable they'd encounter one eventually.

George was a naturally jumpy - if not paranoid - person, so walking through the forest was hell for him. He turned at every noise, jumped at every movement. It didn't help that George's goggles enhanced every detail of the world around him. He would take them off and be content with his poor eyesight but... He'd trip or something. Yeah. That was the only reason he didn't want to take them off.

Sapnap was afraid too, but from a young age he'd learned to hide his fear well. He'd had to. Fear meant being teased, fear could be taken advantage of. Sometimes fear meant an extra bruise or hungry night. So Sapnap walked slightly ahead of George with a straight face and confident aura. The tight grip on George's hand gave his true feelings away, and he only held tighter as they night wore on.

The sun had fully set by now, taking the stunning reds and oranges of the sky with it. Somehow that made everything feel more real.

They walked for about three hours more. The plan was that they'd travel solely by night, to avoid being ambushed by mobs as they slept, but so far both boys were having a hard time staying awake - it had been a long and taxing day. Almost simultaneously, George and Sapnap decided to make a camp for the rest of the night.

The camp was hardly expert, more of a makeshift rest stop if anything. George asked Sapnap if they should make a fire, but Sapnap reasoned that it was warm enough without it and the light might draw mobs' attention.

Neither could get to sleep for a long while, but eventually George heard Sapnap's breathing slow and then he was alone in consciousness. George buried deeper into his sleeping bag as if he could escape from the terrors surrounding him.

It's probably just the wind, there's nothing out there, if it was a mob it'd have attacked already.

When George finally did sleep, it was restless and broken.
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Time passed, as it so often does, and George had a sense of deja vu as Sapnap shook him awake. It must be morning already because of how bright it was.

"Uh George? Did you do this?"

"Do what-?"

George finally took in his surroundings and saw that the light did not come from the sun, but torches stuck in the ground in a circle around their camp.

"No, I- hey what's that?"

George spotted a piece of paper fluttering where it was stuck on the branch of a nearby tree.

"What's what?"

George walked over to the tree, realising it was a little farther than he originally thought, and retrieved the paper.

"Dude how did you spot that?" Sapnap snatched the paper out of George's hand and noticed a note written on it. He read it aloud: 'The mobs are afraid of light'

"George man you better not be messing with me, this is creepy"

"I swear it wasn't me! You're the one that woke me up in the first place."

Sapnap frowned and stuffed the note into his pocket. "Okay. But let's just hope whoever wrote this knows what they're talking about."

"Well we weren't attacked last night, it could be true"

"It could also be a coincidence"

"Yeah, good point. I guess we're not that far from home yet"

Sapnap's last words hung in the air. Home.

A painful reminder of a wound that was still fresh.

The sun was going to rise soon so Sapnap and George began to pack up camp, no longer wanting to rest here any longer then they needed to.
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Ǎ̷̙͖́͋͗r̵͚͙̓̊̏̌͠e̷̬̝͇̔̐̎ͅ ̸̘̖̌t̴̙͠h̴̨̬̠͌͐͗̕͜͝e̴̢̛͕̘̙͐̓͠ͅý̶̳͉̹̟͐͊̇ ̴̧̻̫̲̋ḽ̷̰̆̓͌e̴̱̹͈̊̇͆a̸̤̜̭͌͝v̶̦̹̳̓̌ḯ̶͇̝̹͙̍ṋ̸̯̰̦̫̎̏̑̈́̕g̶͍̹̎̾̇͘?̸̭̘̺̉͊̒͠ͅͅ ̴͎̰́̊͊Ẅ̷̺͇́̅̐̃h̵̡͖̞͊ͅy̴̛͙̝̺̜̦̌͂͂?̴̧̬̼̩̱͌

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Another chapter down mi amigos, how did you think this one went? If the text at the end is too hard to read just say and I'll tone done the glitchyness.

Also I don't know if it's too early to ask but any theories yet?

Sincerely, a red-nosed reindeer