AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shook my head. “I’d rather starve, then.” My stomach rumbled again in protest, but I would stand by my statement. I wasnoteating something we had just killed in the bush. I had standards!
“Come on,” Lorenzo said with a chuckle. “We have to keep moving. We should get as far as we can, see if we can find something that will lead us back to civilization before nightfall.”
“What if we don’t?” I asked, dread settling in the pit of my stomach.
“Then we have to find shelter for the night,” Lorenzo said simply.
“Sleep in the forest again?” I asked, horrified.
Lorenzo turned to me. His face was serious, but his tone gentle.
“I know this is hard, Celine. I know it’s not what you’re used to, and all things considered, this is a hell of an introduction to camping for you.”
“Yeah, not my favorite so far,” I said bitterly.
“We have to do what we need to survive. I know this isn’t your thing, but you’re going to have to push all your wants aside, and we have to focus on what we need. We’ll get back home, and you can go back to being a princess again, but right now, we have to do whatever it takes.”
I bristled at that. I hated it here! I was filthy and hungry and sick of walking. We didn’t have a choice, though. I knew that.
“Okay,” I said, because Lorenzo had a point, and I was being a brat about it. It wasn’t his fault we were here, and he was doing everything he could to get us out of here.
We continued walking, following the river. We’d reached a ravine when we’d followed a trail before, so we’d had to double back. Lorenzo was convinced we would find something if we just kept following the river downstream.
I hoped he was right.
After another couple hours’ walking, my legs screamed at me and everything in my body ached. The cuts on my arms itched and stung, and I had to fight not to scratch them.
Lorenzo’s expression was grim. Things weren’t looking good for us—he tried to be upbeat when he talked about the next step we had to take, but the further we walked with nothing but wild forest around us, the grimmer he became.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing into the trees.
“What?” Lorenzo asked, looking in the direction I pointed.
“That… it looks like a roof.”
“A what?” Lorenzo frowned, and then his face lit up. “Oh, my God, it is!” He hurried forward through the trees. I tried to keep up, but my legs were dead.
When we came closer to what I’d seen, Lorenzo’s face lit up.
“It’s a hunting cabin,” he said. “If we’re lucky, someone will be in.” He hurried forward, and I followed behind. Lorenzo hopped lithely onto the porch—his excitement had given him a burst of energy—and he knocked on the door.
I eyed the porch as I neared it. Dried leaves lay scattered across the silvered wood, and the windows, although still intact, were dusty.
“Lorenzo,” I said.
He didn’t answer me. He knocked again, and the door swung open by itself.
“I don’t think—” I started.
“There’s no one here,” Lorenzo said, finishing what I’d tried to say. “Fuck!”
He shook his head. “It’s not hunting season.” He looked around. “By the looks of it, no one has been here in a while.”
His face fell, and he looked so dejected.
“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s shelter. We can stay here for the night, right?”
“Right,” Lorenzo said dully, and I watched him pick himself up again. “You’re right.” He checked his phone, clenched his jaw and tucked it away again.
