Brave New World Chapter 11: I Gave up!👽

[Some time in the Past]

"Ann, didn't you say you already had lunch?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, so?" I asked in turn.

"Then, how can you finish a large pizza all by yourself?" She looked at me like had grown horns on my head.

"Well, I didn't want to. But you said you didn't want any, and I can't keep it in my car until I go back to the dorm. It'll go bad by then." I shrugged.

"Oh my God, Girl! You could've ordered a medium-"

"So, you said you wanted to tell me something?" I changed the topic and it worked as she sat up straighter in excitement.

"Oh yeah, so you remember I told you my nona was coming over for the weekend, right?"

I nodded focusing on my final slice of pizza as she continued, "Well, last night we were all sitting together and one thing led to another, and guess what?"

"What?" I raised my brows.

"Apparently, the reason why my mom is an only child and why nona was a single mother was because her husband was abducted by aliens."

"Aliens?"

We looked at each other and instantly burst into laughter at the absurdity of the older people's tales.

#

[Present Time]

The walk was quick as I needed to find shelter. I walked back to the place Herbert had brought me to that was now in ruins. But the netting could still be utilized along with some of which I had in the backpack.

I managed to create a covering sheet that could probably stand the upcoming storm and then I climbed a nearby tree to stay in as the storm passed. The clouds thundered again and I picked pace. I had to get settled before the first raindrop fell.

I managed to climb a few meters and get cozy on a fork of branches coming out of the tree trunk. I covered myself and my belongings thoroughly with the sheet of netting as the wind picked up the pace. I didn't know the strength of thunderstorms in tropical forests or wherever I was. The last time when it had rained, it was a quick light drizzle without thunder and gushes of wind.

I managed to tie the netting so no wind could tear it off of me and even used extra precaution with humongous tree leaves. As I sat under the shelter Herbert had knitted, I felt nostalgic and ready to cry again. My eyes had swollen from all the grieving since yesterday and my head was aching due to all the crying I had been doing since I came here, but it didn't seem enough. My heart was still heavy with regret.

But I had made a promise to Herbert. To make my life count, to make his sacrifice count and I was going to keep that promise.

So I sat there, under the netting he knit, and waited for the storm to pass. The winds got stronger as the thunder grew louder and rain started in a heavy downpour. My eyes wandered to Herbert's backpack that now I carried and instinctively reached for it.

Sitting there during such horrific weather, I opened the bag of my savior and rummaged around. I hadn't eaten anything since the night before yesternight and my stomach was complaining now. I found a small wrapping of leaves within which was a strange bunch of Thick and sticky strips. Having no idea of what to do with those I put them aside and suddenly I noticed the book I had seen yesterday,

I picked it up and opened it to see so many labeled drawings and jottings. I went from page to page to realize the book was like a handwritten guidebook of surviving this very forest that was hellbent on finishing me off.

Flipping it over to the last page I noticed the cover was worn off at a corner. I peeled it off, out of habit, only to be astonished to find a photograph in there. The picture was old and had clearly been handled a lot. Some parts of it had totally faded but one could see who the people in the picture were. There was a handsome young couple with an adorable baby girl holding a rattle in a pram. I wondered who they were and got my answer when I flipped it over to see a date in the corner, '1953'. That's when it dawned on me, that the book belonged to the old man whom Herbert had met before me. This must be his family before he got here. I felt a sudden sadness overwhelm me as I pictured the tiny baby not knowing where her father went and why he left her to be brought up alone. The poor man never saw his daughter grow up into a woman and never got to tell her how much he loved her.

This rose so many questions in my head. But I did not want to accept the obvious. Admitting it to myself would make it real and I might lose all hope. The worst of it was, that a part of me became afraid that what if I end up the same way this man did. Alone on, probably, subterrestrial land. But I won't say it, I won't accept that I was abducted, I won't accept who or what abducted me, even if a part of me knew. Acknowledging the fact made it terrifyingly real. So I won't acknowledge it.

Instead, I started reading the book here and there and then decided, since the storm seemed to be taking its time, to read from page one. The book contained so much information about what to eat and what to avoid and where to look for what and how to obtain it. There were drawings with markings on what parts of plants and animals were useful and which ones were harmful.

Among those pictures, I saw the same serpentine I had encountered on my first day here, on the corner of which was written 'Beware of the body fluids that cause allergy to skin'. And I nodded, that part was true, I couldn't use my hands for the better part of the day after the allergy started. But then I noticed an arrow pointing its fangs and said 'Drinking the venom produces immunity against burns of rain but causes nauseating side-effects'. That part surprised me because I was under the impression that the venom might be the death of me. The book further gave instructions on how to immobilize the reptile and extract the venom and how to store it. Though I wasn't sure if I wanted to come face to face with that ophidian again any time soon. But it did feel nice to know that it was possible to keep going even in this weather if the venom was ingested, like a vaccine.

Moving on, I kept reading and sometimes getting fascinated other times getting disgusted by what the book had to offer. Soon enough I reached the portion of edible plants and how to preserve them for long. There I found the thin sticky stripes that I had discovered in Herbert's belongings. As it were, they were edible barks of a tree, preserved in those leaves. I quickly searched for them and began gobbling them up. I felt famished after the days that I had. Herbert had some water left in his bottle so I quenched my thirst as well and went back to the book.

I was always a bookworm so it wasn't hard for me to want to finish this gospel in one sitting. The information I had gotten was invaluable. It was going to save me from being prey to so many seemingly harmless beings and could be my guide to getting out of that hell of a forest in one piece.

In no time I sat there writing my own experiences. By the time I was finished with the book I had reached two conclusions,

The storm was finally over but I needed to stay put till morning.

And, If the book had so many detailed accounts of so many things, most of which I had no idea about yet, then did that mean the old man was here for longer than Herbert and I?

If my latter conclusion was correct then, how long had that man stayed alone? Or had he encountered anyone else? and if he had stayed that long and ended up dying here, do I really stand a chance of ever getting home?

My head had started to pound and so after rummaging through Herbert's stuff and getting familiar with weapons, preserved packets of food, and other stuff, I finally decided to rest my eyes and start my once again lonely endeavor of survival towards the civilization at dawn.

The day started badly.

I woke up to find myself almost slipping from the branch I was on. Then came the task of packing the netting and carrying it with me all the time to avoid another storm. The task alone made me feel thirsty, adding that with the rising heat of the day and I was parched. My water source along with Herbert's supply was gone. I needed to find water and I needed to do it fast. Perspiration was rapidly dehydrating me but the water seemed scarce. How did Herbert manage to keep both of his water bottles filled?

Soon thirst overwhelmed my hunger.

I could swap all my food for a few sips of water but everywhere I saw, there were puddles of scorching rainwater. I was running out of options as well as energy and will, to keep looking. For someone like me, who always had more than needed, scarcity, especially of water, was a severe problem. I wasn't built for this, and my lack of stamina was over-powering my need to survive. It took all that I had in me to keep my eyes open and feet walking, hoping in vain to find any water source.

By nightfall, I didn't have enough energy to even climb a tree. Maybe it was me, or the day was particularly hotter than the rest of the days. The evaporating powers worked exponentially faster than usual days before the storm. Thus, even rainwater puddles were gone by the time, I desperately decided to drink from them.

I was alone and scared and extremely thirsty in a strange forest at night with no energy to either climb a tree or keep walking.

I dropped to my knees and screamed into the night, not bothering about the roaming predators who might be ready to pounce on me at any moment.

I heaved a helpless sigh and gave up.

**Author's note:

Do you think you can last as long as Anara did? Or would you be able to survive even longer? Or maybe given up earlier than she did?