AllFreeNovel
Share Us
4
Brett and Ellie were the last cadets left on the bus waiting for their drop-off point. The rest had been dropped off at various locations around the woods and on the river.
They’d reviewed their supplies—each team of cadets was given pouches of food—and, as they’d already decided, they split up their rations so they would each carry half. They couldn’t hunt or fish, since there was no way to tell if creatures they encountered in the wild were natural animals or were actually shifters—due to the park not being certified hunting land—so the rations were to ensure no mistake was made and the cadets didn’t starve on their journeys.
Brett wondered if Grayson gave some of his classes assignments in certified land, where shifting was prohibited. In those areas, no shifters were allowed to be in animal form. Otherwise, they would risk being killed by others who enjoyed hunting as a pastime—in season, of course. While as a sloth, Brett wasn’t exactly a target during open season, he much preferred the challenge of needing to ration their food to getting into a situation where heneededto shift, but that meant facing the possibility of being mistaken for something thatwasbeing hunted.
Brett carefully folded up the map he had been studying. “Here,” he said, offering the plastic-coated chart to her.
Ellie gave him a curious glance, raising one eyebrow before plucking the map from his fingers and cramming it into her sack.
“I was going to make us a copy, but when I was in the library, Albert was helping me on the big photocopy machine, and he pointed out that a non-laminated version wasn’t going to last for long out there. So, instead, I just memorized it.” That, and the laminated surface kept reflecting in places whenever they tried to copy it, and though Brett had been determined, eventually the owl shifter had decided he’d wasted enough paper and nearly kicked Brett out of the library.
Ellie cut him off. “We arenotgoing to get separated.”
He smiled and shook his head. “I think nature does what it wants.”
“All right, cadets,” Grayson shouted from the front of the bus, the urgency in his voice making Ellie jump. “Grab your gear. We are at your drop-off point.” He hopped off the bus before them—just as he’d done with each other group—and waited impatiently for them to follow him.
Ellie stood, grabbing her backpack without a second thought. It weighed heavily in her arm but felt more bearable after she slung it over her shoulder. Brett had urged her to carry the tent, saying that if they were separated, she would be miserable without it—especially if it rained.
When she’d attempted to protest, Brett explained that he would be content sleeping in a tree in his sloth form. The feeling of someone looking out for her was foreign and uncomfortable for some reason. She racked through the volumes of memories, neatly categorized in her books, but found nothing useful that could explain. She would just have to get used to Brett’s chivalry.
Ellie squinted in the hot sun as she stepped off of the bus, grunting slightly as she adjusted to the weight of her pack. She couldn’t argue with Brett’s logic, though. He was right. If she had to sleep without a tent and it was raining, she would be beyond miserable. The thought alone threatened to allow anxiety to take hold of her, but she pushed it down, focusing on the lush natural world that opened up before her.
Grayson had charged ahead across the white, rocky, and uneven shore. Ellie took her time choosing her footing, careful to select the stones that felt sturdy and wouldn’t twist under her weight. Brett was not as surefooted. She paused when she heard rumbling behind her, and she watched his arms stretch out as he struggled to keep his balance as the rocks shifted and rolled under his boots.
“Tap the ground and then place your foot if it feels sturdy,” Ellie instructed with a patience that even she was proud of. She pushed at a rock with her toes; when it shifted, she chose another spot that didn’t move to place her weight.
“They never taught that trick in class,” Brett exclaimed, trying it out and beaming when it worked. His smile shone brighter than the sun. Ellie found it was infectious, and her heart sang since Brett hadn’t become upset with her for explaining how to walk. He appeared to be soaking it all in and enjoying every second of it. He even threw his head back and laughed when he almost fell after choosing the wrong rock.
“You learn it with experience,” Ellie explained, remembering a brief snapshot of herself as a child walking along a creek bed on wobbling, algae-covered rocks. Wherever she was and who she was with remained a blur in that memory. She had been working on coming to terms that the gaps might never be filled in. A deep sadness tugged at her. She sighed it out as they approached their raft. Sadness would have to take a number. Ellie had a course to ace.
Brett never imagined that walking on the large stones that framed the river would be more difficult than trudging across a frozen pond in dress shoes, but it somehow was. Every step threatened to twist his ankle until Ellie had offered him some lifesaving advice.
Now he put partial weight down to see if the rock would shift before taking a full step. Brett just hoped that he would be able to do more than his part on this project. He didn’t want to hinder Ellie’s progress. He was relieved when she joined in his laughter as he nearly tumbled over.
The large, inflated raft perched at the edge of the smooth, greyish water. Grayson stood next to it, ready to give his last bit of instruction. “Do you both know where your extraction point is?” he asked, his brow stern. Grayson hardly cracked a smile the entire time Brett knew him as his instructor. Brett imagined there wasn’t much time to joke when you taught a class about survival and life-or-death situations.
“Yes,” Brett stated as Ellie nodded her head, staring at the glassy waters that flowed quickly before them.
Beautiful yet dangerous.
“Good,” Grayson said, picking up a wooden paddle. “This water may be smooth here, but it’s fast. And there’s an undertow.” He looked back at them, stone-faced. “What do you do if you fall out?” he quipped.
Ellie turned slowly toward him, face pale. With a soft voice, she said, “Keep your feet up and lean back. Let your life jacket do its job.” She shuddered, clearly thinking about how unpleasant it would be to her.
“Right.” The corners of Grayson’s mouth threatened to turn up in a smile and break his frigid expression. Was he enjoying the cadets' fear? “It will prevent you from getting stuck under debris and drowning. Wear your lifejackets and helmets at all times when in the raft”—Grayson pointed to them—“and if there are no questions, I will leave you to it.”
They both shook their heads in response to his question and then thanked their instructor before Grayson marched off, gliding over the uneven stones as if they were no obstacle to him. Brett widened his eyes in amazement. He could only dream about being so surefooted in his lifetime.
Nervousness bubbled up in Brett’s stomach. He wondered if he was ready for this test. This felt like a first mission, where he was on his own. But he wasn’t alone. Ellie was at his side, ready for anything. Aside from wet feet. She had made that abundantly clear.
The bus revved its engine, and Brett heard it crawl along the dirt road, leaving them completely alone. Soon, all he could hear was the lapping of the water on the rocks, and the realness of their assignment set in. Could he really do this?
One thing that put Brett’s mind at ease was knowing that his sloth had innate survival skills that he could listen to when he felt stuck. Then, there was Ellie. If she was anywhere near as comfortable in the wilderness as she’d been walking over the rocks on the shore, then he believed he could count on her.
“Shall we?” he asked, keeping his voice confident and bright while stuffing down all his uncertainties. Brett knew that, aside from skill, a good attitude was essential, and he was determined to at least do that part of the assignment right.
