Chapter 3 - Lost Inside and Out

I had been sprinting for at least 15 minutes straight. Sweat was everywhere. I was drenched in it. It clouded my vision. Beads of the liquid slid down my eyelashes. It dripped from my nose. I felt it at the bottom of my boots.

The sound of footprints had vanished about five minutes ago, when I entered this thin forest. It didn't even deserve to be called a forest. It was just a thin collection of trees. Giving in to exhaustion, I slumped against a tall birch, my sweat soaked shirt sticking to the bark. I closed my eyes. My mouth was paper dry. I needed water.

Now.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, and licked it off my fingers.

Ugh. Salty. But still, water is water, I guess. There just wasn’t enough of it on my damp and drying forehead. I considered drinking it out of my boots.

Okay, I’m not that desperate.

I looked around. No one was here in the “forest.” I was alone. I pulled my shirt off, and wrung it into my mouth and  squeezed my eyes shut. The salty taste filled my mouth and I swallowed the beads that I had managed to collect. Hopefully, that will stave off dehydration for the time being. Quickly, I pulled my top back on.

Now for the plan.

What are the problems in my life right now?

I am lost in a skimpy forest and have nowhere to go. I thirsty, and need to find fresh water.  Some of my cuts have glass embedded in them. I'm really sweaty. That’s about it.

Oh, yeah, and don't forget that Pitch Black has control of four of the six nations. And I'm supposed to save the world with them, along with five others who were Chosen.

And I still. Haven't. Found. Any. One. Of. Them.

Wonderful.

I carefully inspected each cut, and found multiple ones that had glass chips in them. On the first cut, I closed my eyes and tried to pull the glass right out. I ended up howling in pain.

Ok, my first objective is to find a hospital.

But how am I supposed to do that when I don't even know what NATION I'm in?

I could wander, and eventually I'd meet someone.

You know, probably.

Yeah, PROBABLY not.

I'm losing my mind. I'm having conversations with myself in my head.

I gazed past the patch of birches where an orange sun lazily slunk down the horizon. Sunset. Hours had passed since i had escaped. I smiled to myself. I hadn't seen a sunset it one hundred days. I had missed one hundred sunsets.

I won't miss another.

I rested my head in a patch of leaves and watched the sun disappear behind the mountains