The Forest Part 4
Chapter One
The fog was getting thicker. I could barely see five feet in front of me. The shadow of the mountain seemed to have trapped all light from being able to breach the thick whiteness. Like a wave of water, it crept into the cave. William looked almost as white as the fog and didn't say anything.
"Can't we just go through it and maybe make our way back?" I hopefully asked as I looked at him.
We were just standing there. I could see him trying to figure out what we should do and I felt the feeling of dread build up in my stomach.
"We can't... If we go out in this fog, we will get lost." He replied. He sounded off, unsure of helplessness.
"I mean... I think we might be able to retrace our steps, but I haven't come this way a lot in the past and we can get separated in the fog. If you wander off in the wrong direction, you won't ever find your way back." He added while sitting down with his legs upwards. His face buried on his arms as he tries to figure out what to do.
I felt a sudden drop in temperature as a small amount of cold wind made its way inside. The realization of not being able to get back was setting inside me. What will we do? My dad will skin me alive knowing I went so deep in the forest without any provisions. I sat down next to William not knowing what to say.
"I'm sorry Liam... I should have made sure about the weather and I brought some water or food with for the day." He said sounding remorseful.
I placed my right arm over his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it. It's not like we died or anything. So-what if there is some fog and we can't make it back? Worse things have happened in life." I replied while trying to hide the fear in my voice, by sounding optimistic.
He looked at me while I smiled at him. He moved closer to me and I felt his lips touch mine. He kissed me softly. It was like a sudden surge of willpower sparked through his body and he pulled away. In one fluid motion, he was up on his feet with a determined look on his face.
"We can hold out for a night here. There is a small wooden shed on the other side of the railroad track. Just pass the wooden logs." He said while looking to his right as if seeing the shed through the dense fog.
I quickly got up as well and we made our way towards the blinding white fog. He was leading the way while I tried to see where I was going, but this proved more difficult than it sounds as I could barely see my feet. We climbed over the small piles of logs and found ourselves standing in front of a wooden shed like building.
With a loud bang, William kicked open the door and it flung forward with a loud "Swoosh" noise while the old rusted lock fell down to the floor.
The shed was actually a small cabin of sorts. Inside was a small wooden table with a candle, some rusted pots and a type of rocking chair. On the left side of the wall stood a small wooden single bed with a very thin mattress. It looked as if the place hasn't been touched in over eighty years. William went inside and I followed suite while we both examined the place.
There was some light coming in on the side where a small window was placed above the bed. The most shocking thing about the room was the lack of dust. There was hardly any dust on the floor or furniture inside. The floors creaked as we walked further inside.
"This will have to do. It's better than being outside as it will get cold tonight. There must be a cold front moving over. That will explain the fog hanging over the forest." He said while turning to look at me.
"I should have checked the weather last night. I would have known there would be fog if I knew about the front moving in." He added and I could see the anger in his face.
"Let's just make it through the night." I replied and felt a sudden churn in my stomach.
I could feel the hunger build up inside me. We haven't eaten since the morning. William sat down on the bed and gave it a few small jumps as to try and feel the softness of the mattress.
"It's going to be a rough night on this thing." He joked and got back up again as I made a small chuckle.
"I need to go and get us some water." He said while looking at some of the metal cups on the table.
"Er... Sure... But where?" I asked turning my head as if looking for a tap.
"There's an old water pump outside that you manually have to push to pump water out the ground. I'll go and fill some cups for us." He said while quickly grabbing two of the tin cups.
He opened the door and entered the white sheet waiting outside. I could hear the loud screech of the pump as he pushed on the handle a few yards away from the cabin. I gave the small cabin one more look over and walked towards the bed. The mattress felt soft, but thin. It was stuffed with feathers that had been worn out from years of use. There was no pillow or blanket in sight.
William entered the cabin with the cups filled with water.
"Hope you are fine with some contaminated water." He said while placing the cups on the table.
"Contaminated with what?" I cautiously asked.
"Heck knows... I drank some, but it tasted brackish. Probably means it just sat in the pipes for a while." He said and shrugged.
I got up from the bed and felt a shiver go down my spine. The cold air from outside was making its way through the cracks and spaces between the wooden logs in the wall. Neither of us had any jackets with us, but thank the Lord we had sweat pants on. William tried to close the door entirely, but it seems he displaced the door from its hinges when he kicked it open.
