AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The app crashed.”
“Oh,” she says, not sounding all that worried. I’m not either, really. Apps crash all the time, after all, and it’s usually an easy fix. “I’ve got the map pulled up on mine.”
I feel instant relief as she pulls the phone out of her pocket, but the reassurance dissipates when I see her visibly flinch. “My battery’s dead.”
“Mine’s running low as well,” I say when I look at the little icon in the corner that says I’m down to about 15 percent.
“That’s weird. Do you think the map feature on the app drains the battery?”
I shake my head, still not able to pull it up on my phone. Every time I do, it crashes.
“Did you bring a portable charger?” I ask.
“No,” she says. “I didn’t even think of it.”
“Neither did I.”
I let out a heavy breath when the app shuts down once again.
“It keeps crashing,” I tell Mila, feeling frustration run through me.
“So, what does this mean?” she asks, turning around in her spot, a full 360. We’re surrounded by foliage on every side. “Are we … lost?”
I swallow. “No.” I shake my head. “We’ll just stop here and go back the way we came in.”
“Okay,” she says, sounding relieved. “Let’s get out of here, then.”
GOING BACK THE WAY WE came proves to be more difficult than I thought. I headed toward where I was certain we’d find the stream and then figured we could just follow that down because surely it would lead to something. But it’s been over an hour, and we’ve had no luck.
We’ve both been pointing at trees or other landmarks and saying, “I think I recognize that.” But then, we’re in a rainforest around a bunch of the same things and now I’m starting to question if I’m really recognizing anything.
The crazy part is we haven’t seen anyone, not in a long time. With as busy as the path was up to the first falls, I figured more people would venture on to find more trails like we did. And we did see a few hikers as we went farther into the rainforest, but they became few and far between—and now, no one.
I think we might be lost. I haven’t wanted to say it out loud so as not to panic Mila, but as we keep walking and walking with no sign of anyone or anything that truly looks familiar, I can’t help but feel worried. I think, even without me saying anything, Mila is worried too, because we’ve hardly spoken on this trek.
“Grayson,” Mila finally says as we enter a clearing, after we’ve crossed over some fallen tree branches I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before. I turn to see she’s stopped in her tracks, her hands on her waist. She threw her hair up in a messy bun some time ago, and she looks tired and sweaty and worn out. “I don’t think we know where we are.”
I shake my head. “I think we just need to keep going.”
“Going where, though?”
I let out a breath. “I feel like if we just keep walking, we’ll find the stream or maybe someone who will know how to get out of here.”
She swats away a bug or something in her face. “Isn’t the first rule of thumb when you’re lost to stay where you are? So people can find you?”
I pull out my phone; I still don’t have service and my battery is now down to 7 percent.
“Maybe,” I say and watch the color drain from her face. I think she’d been holding out hope thatIthought we were okay.
“Oh my gosh,” she says, doing an upper body slouch. “This can’t be happening.”
I swipe my hand down my face. “I think we need to keep moving. We’re bound to come across something.”
“Probably the bones of someone else that was lost up here,” she says.
“I’m sure we’ll make it out. I just …” I stop talking as I look around. “Maybe I could climb a tree and get above all this. I can find the direction we need to go.”
“Okay,” she says. “That one looks pretty tall.” She points to a tree with large, sprawling branches that’s across the small clearing we’re in.
