Run From Your Troubles

[KingKamor†]

(Ridley Landon, continued from The start of something truly absurd)

It had been months since Ridley had run like he just did. He didn't let the shifty sand of the beach stop him, he powered on through until he knew that that insane Michelle girl was nowhere near him anymore. His duffel bag smacked against his leg with each step he took, and his hand remained on the gun his pocket no matter how fast he ran. The chunks of mud that had dried on his clothes fell off en route, but dark brown stains and wetness still remained underneath where they were. His shoes were the worst, though. The once-gray cross trainers had turned into twin masses of dried mud and hardened sand on the outside from the sun and warm moist sponges on the inside.

With one last vault over a large rock that was placed in his way, he staggered to a stop, spun around on a heel, and let himself fall back onto the sand, exhausted. He really was out of shape.

As he gazed upwards at the clouds in the blue backdrop of the sky, it did not take long for him to think on what had happened back near the dock. He put a hand over his eyes in shame. What the fuck was I thinking back there? I'm not some hot shot plan maker, so why was I acting like I was the one in charge? He groaned. "Damn it, why can't I have foresight instead of hindsight? Foresight's just so much better in this situation..."

With a fair amount of exertion, he sat up and got to his feet. Stop thinking about things that don't matter! They're on their own now. Stop thinking about them. You don't even know them, Rid. Just walk away. His reassurances sounded fake even to himself. "Just concentrate on getting a new map." With a look down the long coastline, he said under his breath, "This is going to be a long... long day..."

[Casey the Undead†]

(Rena Peters continued from Droplets)

Rena wasn't sure how long she'd been running, and she had no idea where she currently was. She wasn't even sure if she had managed to escape the girl with the gun, or the boy who'd tried to take her weapon. Her leg was injured. She could feel the blood trickle down it, from where the bullet had grazed her, but she wasn't going to look. She was biting her lip, trying to ignore the pain.

She felt her foot slide into mud. Rena looked at her surroundings, suddenly very aware that she wasn't in the beach-side forest anymore. With a grunt, she pulled her foot out, and saw the wound.

She hadn't meant to look. She really shouldn't have, what with her squeamishness. It wasn't really all that bad, considering. The bullet had just grazed her calf, leading a gash along it. But the blood, oh God the blood. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough. She could feel bile rising in her throat.

Rena swallowed, her heartbeat becoming audible in her ears. She was spinning around. There had to be a place where she could sit, where she could catch her breath.

She saw him, her eyes narrowing slightly. Was he saying something? She couldn't hear. Rena paused, considering running straight towards him and begging him to help her. But the incident with gun-girl, and the wound on her leg were painful reminders that not everyone was to be trusted.

Rena didn't know what to do. Turn around and leave? Ask his name? Attack? Her head was reeling, her leg was biting, and the bile was rising again.

Before Rena could formulate a plan, her body did it for her. She leaned over and vomited, emptying whatever was left of her stomach and her nerves.

[KingKamor†]

(Early morning, second day)

The screech of the announcement system woke Ridley with such a start that he almost hit his head on the tree he had propped himself up against for the night. Whatever rest Ridley managed to get was due in part by the gentle rhythm of the ocean, though he only received one or two hours of real sleep. He had always stayed up to all hours of the night online, chatting with strangers, watching videos and posting obscene comments. After doing that until four in the morning, he would have gone to sleep and woken up at seven to start his day. During the night, every little sound made him jump and jerk his head in every direction to see if the wind that made it was actually an enemy.

He listened to the announcement-- sometimes getting vivid flashbacks to the auditorium-- and ground his teeth at the sound of Danya's voice. Several of the names mentioned sounded familiar, but he couldn't put faces to the names. He tried his best to remember where the danger zones were, but could only recall from looking at his map the day before that he was far away from the Lighthouse at least. Everywhere else was lost to his memory. As the announcement ended with another crackle of the speakers, he let out a sigh of relief. Nobody he knew very well had died...

He placed a hand over his eyes. Crap, I shouldn't think like that. People are still dying... and there's a fucking bear on the island. Of all things, a bear?! His hand fell to the moist ground and he looked up at the leaves of the tree above him. At least this means that it's okay to kill some of the people here, since they're the ones doing the killing, righ-- He punched himself across the face as hard as he could. Whispering to himself, he said, "Fuck! Stop thinking stupid things! Don't make anymore stupid decisions like yesterday!"

Ridley stood up and checked his belongings. Gun? Check. Bag? Check. Food? His stomach grumbled. With a chuckle, he unzipped the duffel bag and took out some of his bread. His mouth watered as he took a bite out of the crusty, stale goodness.

Footsteps from deeper in the forest echoed between his ears, and he whirled around to see who it was, a hand on the butt of his gun. The only thing he saw was a girl covered in filth vomiting at her feet.

"What the-- hey!" He let go of his gun, leaving it in his pocket, and rushed over to her. "It's okay, I'm a friend." He wanted to help someone, he didn't care who. As long as they were innocent, he wanted to help his peers as long as he was alive. No more stupid mistakes.

[Casey the Undead†]

It was probably a mix of exhaustion, from running for hours and no sleep, and dehydration, and her squeamishness at the sight of her own blood and the fact that people were dying and being killed that had Rena doubled over, heaving. She barely recognized that the boy was at her side now.

When the vomit stopped, Rena clutched her head, tears spilling out of her eyes. She'd barely listened to the announcements, and only deep down in her mind was she aware that no one she knew was dead. More of her mind was still desperately trying to convince herself that none of this was real.

She looked up at the boy, furiously smacking her own tears off of her cheeks. He didn't remind her of that boy, Alex, in the slightest. This kid seemed nicer, calmer. And instead of trying to steal her weapon, he actually seemed like he was trying to help her.

"I'm a friend." The words rang through her mind. Was it even possible? In a place like this, where the only people she'd met had tried to steal from her and shot at her, was it possible that someone was trying to be her friend?

"I'm sorry" she croaked. Her voice sounded terrible, thanks to the vomit, tears, and dehydration. She didn't really want to know how she looked right now. "It's just..." Another wave of tears filled her eyes. "I'm Rena..."

She looked back at him. "I don't even recognize you. Isn't that horrible? Here we are...killing people and shooting at people, and we don't even really know each other? We went to school together for God knows how long and...and I don't even know you!" She was crying full out again. "I just feel so pathetic. I mean, I wake up on an island in the middle of nowhere and the first people I meet...and I got shot and..."

She couldn't carry on anymore. A sob ached in her chest and she was bawling again, burying her head in her hands. Her leg hurt, and her throat hurt, and her head hurt, and she hurt. Whoever this kid was, she felt bad that she had run into him, and now he had to deal with her.

"I feel so pathetic." She barely noticed that she'd actually said the words aloud. "I just want to go home."

Deep down, she knew the probability of that happening was very, very slim. And that fact only made her cry harder.

[KingKamor†]

His eyes were swollen from the lack of sleep, so he wasn't exactly able to make out the girl's face immediately. She was only slightly taller than himself, though her being hunched over hid that fact, and seemed to be rather thin. He wasn't able to see her face very well, but he didn't really want to see someone vomiting, so he looked away while she did so, nervously placing a hand on her back to see if it would help.

"I don't even recognize you. Isn't that horrible? Here we are...killing people and shooting at people, and we don't even really know each other? We went to school together for God knows how long and...and I don't even know you!" She was crying full out again.

For whatever reason, Ridley didn't expect the girl to start crying. "Oh! Jeez, uh, come on, we'll be okay." Even he knew that those words meant nothing, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to protect as many non-playing students as he could.

"I just feel so pathetic. I mean, I wake up on an island in the middle of nowhere and the first people I meet...and I got shot and... I feel so pathetic." She barely noticed that she'd actually said the words aloud. "I just want to go home."

"Shot...?" Ridley said. A sudden swelling of sheer cold spread throughout Ridley's body from his fingertips to the balls of his feet. His hands began to shake, and his eyes widened as he searched the girl's body for some kind of entry or exit wound. It didn't take him long before he found it; a bleeding, crusted gash on one of her legs. He almost sighed in relief that it wasn't something serious, but held it back in favor of looking calm to the girl. From his experience, if other people in a situation are calm, then he generally followed suit.

"Okay, uh, we should get out of the mud and use the first aid kit that they gave us. That should work... right?" The last bid was mainly directed at himself. He didn't want to use the wrong cotton swab or something stupid like that and end up hurting her further. After setting down his bag, he said, "Here, let's get you somewhere less disease-infested, huh?" and lent her is shoulder. He prayed to the God that he didn't believe that this was his chance to make up for his stupidity from the day before.

[Casey the Undead†]

"Okay, uh, we should get out of the mud and use the first aid kit that they gave us. That should work... right? Here, let's get you somewhere less disease-infested, huh?"

Rena looked back up at the kid. She took in a large gasp of air, wiping the last of the tears off of her face. She was going to be strong. She had to be strong. She shakily pulled some water out of the duffel she still had slung around her shoulder. She took a small sip, clearing her throat slightly.

Shakily, Rena took the shoulder he offered and pulled herself upright. She was working furiously at trying to clear her head. When was the last time she'd cried this hard? It must have been back at the library with Harun.

Rena hadn't seen him since that day. The strange thought occurred that she might never see him again. They barely knew each other, and yet...and yet only one person was going to live through this. She hadn't heard his name in the announcements. He was okay...for now. Would she outlive him? Would he make it to the end? Would she? She felt her head spin again. She shoved the thoughts away, knowing it would only lead to another breakdown.

She looked back towards the boy she'd come across. "Sorry. About all of this, I mean. It's just so..." Rena realized that she had no idea how to describe the situation they were in. Desperate? Terrifying? Horrible? All of those things were true. She shook her head again. No more tears. Be strong.

She took another look at the kid. He looked tired, to be frank, but she supposed it would be weirder if he wasn't tired. He had been dropped on an island, forced to play for his life, and had a hysterical girl vomit in front of him, after all. But he didn't look dangerous. "I'm a friend. A friend? She could use a friend.

"Where should we go? It's Rena, in case you missed it. Who are you?"

[KingKamor†]

Once they reached an area that rested between sand and mud, Ridley began to sift through his bag for the first aid kit. He had no idea how to use it, but he figured that any sort of bandage or disinfectant would be able to help her leg. Upon finding the little white plastic box, he set his bag down and opened it, looking inside to review its contents.

"Sorry. About all of this, I mean. It's just so..."

"Yeah, I agree. 'Just so.'" Not the best joke he had ever made, but it was worth trying to lighten the mood, especially after that announcement. It still felt like he had been punched in the gut by Danya himself.

"It's Rena, in case you missed it. Who are you?"

"I'm Ridley, I'm..." He didn't know how to continue to describe himself. His interests in anime, music, and internet memes didn't mean anything to anyone on the island. Not anymore, anyway. Even if he found Will, Sarah, or Peter they would all be busy trying to survive. Ridley let out a sigh, "I'm not too important... I do have a gun, though, so that's something. We're all defined by our ability to fight each other at this point."

While he spoke, he found a roll of gauze and some medical tape, but he knew that that wouldn't be enough, so he looked for something that looked like rubbing alcohol or ointment. There was a little spray bottle inside the box, so he took it out and examined it. It was indeed rubbing alcohol, so he gathered it up along with the bandages and tape. "Okay, could you sit down so I can see your leg?"

[Casey the Undead†]

Rena sat automatically when he asked her to. She had no reason not too, as he seemed to be pulling out something to help her leg. Which she did appreciate, really. It was just...

He had a gun. It was strange to Rena. Up until yesterday, she'd never even seen a real life gun. Now she'd been subjected to two gun wielders, one of whom had shot at her and the other who...seemed nice. Then again, gun-girl from earlier hadn't seemed too bad until she pulled the trigger, so Rena supposed her opinion on people wasn't really the best.

It wasn't even the fact that he had a gun, it was more the way he just casually slipped it into the conversation. It was probably the exhaustion and the migraine and the vomiting, she reasoned, but she didn't understand what Ridley was trying to say. It didn't come off as a threat, that much she was certain of. He wasn't playing the sadistic game they were trapped in, otherwise he wouldn't be helping her. Her weapon had been shoved into her duffel at some point during her sprint, so he had no idea what she had. She was useless to him, right now.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he was trying to prove that he wasn't worthless to her. He was fixing her leg, being nice, and casually mentioning a gun...he was offering her a truce? She looked back up at him. She had no reason not to trust him. She swallowed lightly. Whatever decisions she was going to make, she really had to make them. He said he wasn't important. Neither was she. It was an alliance she could use.

"Thanks...for the help. A gun is probably better than what I have. It's a...giant club thingy. I was never a weapons person." She laughed nervously. She was awful at making friends when she was just sitting in a classroom. Here she was practically doomed. "So Ridley. I guess...I guess we should stick together huh? Better to have friends than enemies."

An alliance. An alliance to keep her alive for as long as humanly possible. Rena felt a sudden spot of hope enter the previously very bleak world she'd awoken in.

[KingKamor†]

The gash wasn't nearly as bad as he had suspected; but all of the caked blood around it giving him the impression of it being bigger. Either way, he assumed that any sort of cut would have easily gotten infected on the island. Now that I think about it, I should wash it first. He dug around in his bag again and took out the water bottle. using a bit of the gauze as a makeshift wash cloth, he did his best to dab away at the dried and dirty blood. A sense of nausea began to creep up his throat and into his face. The gash wasn't as serious as it could have been, but he was still able to see the muscle and flesh that had been cut through by Rena's assailant.

"Thanks...for the help. A gun is probably better than what I have. It's a...giant club thingy. I was never a weapons person." She laughed nervously.

Her words snapped Ridley out of his trance from staring at the wound. "O-oh, yeah! It's no problem. You didn't attack me on sight, so I'm guessing you're not playing the game. And I doubt that you can throw up on command, so I doubt that you were acting or anything. I can't name a reason not to help you, given the circumstances." He couldn't tell whether or not he was talking too much. There was a slight tension in the air, but he attributed it to the fact that they might have to fight for their lives soon.

"So Ridley. I guess...I guess we should stick together huh? Better to have friends than enemies."

He applied a small spray of rubbing alcohol to another piece of the gauze and tenderly rubbed the borders of the gash, thanking God that it was just a big cut instead of a puncture wound. Common sense was enough to tell him how to deal with Rena's injury, but anything worse than what was in front of him would have left him helpless.

Friends, huh?He thought to himself. It had begun to feel like it had been forever since he had seen his friends and Raine. There was a friend right in front of him, though, so he couldn't help but accept. "That sounds like a good idea."

[Casey the Undead†]

Rena bit her tongue at the sting of the rubbing alcohol on her leg. She was thankful that she didn't have to do it herself, as the mere sight of her own blood might have sent her sprawling back into hysterics.

"I can't name a reason not to help you, given the circumstances."

Her mind wandered back to the situation near the beach. She'd tried to diffuse the situation, and everything had still gone to hell rather quickly. Why were people so adamant on playing the game? What do you get? It doesn't help your chances of winning, she guessed, as it would just make people mad at you. And, even if you did win, what would happen to you? Wouldn't the families of the people you killed demand justice? Wouldn't they at least be upset? How could you sleep at night knowing what you'd done? She couldn't wrap her head around why people weren't being more like Ridley, just helpful and kind.

He'd helped her, so she figured it was only right to return the favor.

"So, now what? Is there anyone you're looking for? Friends, girlfriends...or boyfriends. Not that you look gay or anything. And there's nothing wrong with looking gay, you know, I mean whatever you feel-" She stopped. "Sorry, I sometimes say things without thinking. Bad habit." Rena stopped. She figured this kid ought to know the whole truth about her. "I'm also incompetent with weapons and incredibly squeamish. Hence the whole vomit thing."

She paused and took a breath, carefully choosing her words. She'd only just befriended Ridley, it would be bad to annoy him already.

"My point is, is there someone you want me to help you find?"

[KingKamor†]

Next on the series of things to do with her wounded leg was tying the bandages around it. There was very little gauze given in the first aid kit, but there was enough to wrap around her leg about three times. He considered it worth the trouble and began to wind the softly rough material over the gash. It wasn't as if he hadn't noticed the little medical sewing kit, but... "If only I knew how to sew."

"So, now what? Is there anyone you're looking for? Friends, girlfriends...or boyfriends. Not that you look gay or anything. And there's nothing wrong with looking gay, you know, I mean whatever you feel-" She stopped. "Sorry, I sometimes say things without thinking. Bad habit."

He stopped what he was doing and stared at her for a moment. Beyond his control, he let out a stifled laugh. It was short lived, but it was the best thing that had happened to him ever since he was placed on the island. "Don't worry about it, it's no problem." What he was really happy about was that someone was more socially awkward than he was. But, someone he wanted to find?

"My point is, is there someone you want me to help you find?"

He didn't give it a second thought on who he wanted to find. "My girlfriend is my top priority right now. She's Raine Schwartz. Short, cute, has a German accent. Next, I want to find my friends somehow. Let's see, my friends are Peter McCue, Sarah Xu, Will... finding Acacia would probably be good, too. And... it might be good to find Eva. I doubt that she could handle these kinds of situations very well." In the end, he was mostly talking to himself, as if making a mental list of people to find and their priorities on that list.

After a little debate, he decided to use his teeth to tear off a piece of medical tape from the roll as he kept the bandages on Rena's wound with his other hand. Once it was secure, he decided that he should go all out and wrapped two long strips of the tape around the length of the strips of gauze. "Okay, I think that's it..." He knew that he was forgetting something, but he couldn't put his finger on it. In any case, he stood up and put the first aid kit back into his duffel bag. "How about you? Anyone you need to find?" He asked.

[Casey the Undead†]

Rena felt slightly embarrassed that she didn't know any of his friends. Raine Schwartz sounded familiar, but then again there probably weren't too many German students in the school. She racked her brain desperately, but found no memories of a Peter McCue or Sarah Xu.

She took a breath. She had no idea where anyone was on this island. She was in a swamp, and she'd come from the woods near the beach, but everywhere else seemed like a mystery. As Ridley wrapped gauze around her leg, she reached into her duffel and pulled out the map.

"Anyone you need to find?" Rena winced inwardly. Poor, unfortunate, loser Rena, with no German-accented boyfriends or "besties" that she needed to find. She knew the question was coming, it was only a polite thing to ask, but how was she supposed to answer it? No, sorry, I'm a social retard.

Her mind drifted to her family. What would they say, once they saw where she was? They must have known by now, it had already been a day. Knowing my parents, they won't know until three years after this ends. She pushed the thought away. Clara would offer her words of encouragement, tell her not to kill anyone or freak out. It was survival of the fittest not the craziest. Jake would laugh and tell her to kill everyone in sight. Ryan would agree with Jake, but probably in a more annoying voice, with a pretty lame insult tied to it. And Daisy? Daisy would ask if she could have Rena's room.

Gotta love family. The only friends I've ever got. It wasn't completely true, but Rena wasn't in a mindset to force happy thoughts on herself. She thought briefly of Harun, of their ironic conversation about death, and how Harun wasn't afraid of it, but Rena was terrified. She wondered if he was scared of death now. But she wasn't going to go out of her way to find a person she barely knew.

Rena didn't have answer to Ridley's question, so instead she ignored it outright, turning to the map and hoping he didn't press her.

"Alright. You know your girlfriend pretty well, right? Once she woke up and came to the gravity of the situation, where would she go? What would she do? We don't know where she started, but if we can figure out where she'd try to end up, maybe we can find her."

[KingKamor†]

A sigh of relief escaped his lungs once she took the map out of her bag. "Aw, thank God. I forgot mine at the last place I was, so I thought I'd be lost for the rest of the game." He wondered if she saw some sort of hidden meaning in his words, such as whether or not is sounded as if he meant to be the last one standing by that comment. Ridley was never good at speaking with others.

"Alright. You know your girlfriend pretty well, right? Once she woke up and came to the gravity of the situation, where would she go? What would she do? We don't know where she started, but if we can figure out where she'd try to end up, maybe we can find her."

Too bad Ridley didn't know the island as well as he knew Raine. "Well, she would either hide and wait for someone nice to come and team up with her, or she'll join some people right off the bat if they aren't playing. One thing that I can say for sure is that she'll never play this stupid game." He felt sure enough of himself that he put the first aid kit in his duffel bag and stood up as if ready to depart at that very moment. "But first, let's take a look at that map again. Also, where did you come from to get here?"

Going off of the knowledge that the north was a bust and that the west led into the swamp, he wanted to continue south a ways and then go through the forest before going around the more southern side of the island where the Gazebo and House of Mirrors were. "We just have to stay clear of the danger zones, right?"

[Casey the Undead†]

"Well, she would either hide and wait for someone nice to come and team up with her, or she'll join some people right off the bat if they aren't playing. One thing that I can say for sure is that she'll never play this stupid game."

It wasn't the best amount of information to work with. Rena could barely make her own way around without getting lost, how exactly was she supposed to find a total stranger who could be with anyone? It was like finding a needle in the haystack. Happy thoughts, Rena! Don't go around telling Ridley that the chances of actually finding his girlfriend are slim. No need to crush his hopes.

She could only hope that he was right, and that his girlfriend wasn't going crazy killing people left and right. Or, if she was, that she would spare her own boyfriend and the strange girl who stumbled upon him and then threw up.

"But first, let's take a look at that map again. Also, where did you come from to get here?"

Ridley looked like he was ready to go right now. Rena was at least glad that he had the common sense not to go randomly blazing into the wilderness, as she'd done the day before. She was lucky she stumbled upon someone nice. She doubted she'd be so lucky again.

"I came from here, the Coastal Woods." She pointed to the map. "At least, I think. There were woods, and a beach, so yeah. I wasn't exactly paying attention when I was madly sprinting. I didn't see too many people there, but it's a big area, so we could go back and look. I'm sure the people I met before are long gone." She wasn't that sure, but what would they gain from sticking around?

"We just have to stay clear of the danger zones, right?" Rena nodded, a little weakly. She didn't want to know what it felt like to have the collars go off. Gently, she grazed her fingers across hers. She was being overly cautious. She wasn't going to die because she was tampering with a collar, that's for sure.

"Right. They were the greens, the lighthouse, and some sort of hut, I think." She glanced back down at the map. "The groundskeepers hut? I'm sure she didn't stick around there though." She handed the map over to Ridley. "Take a look, pick a place. I'll follow." She was never the best leader. Always cracked under pressure. And there was never more pressure than when the situation was literally life or death. Besides, if Ridley was leading then she had a chance to slip away, should danger come about. She'd help him, of course, but...but if his girlfriend was playing, Rena was leaving.

So her brilliant plan was to follow some random stranger through a deadly island to find a girl she didn't even know? Always a smart one, weren't you Rena? Her brother was taunting her in her own head. Wonderful. She pushed away the thoughts of her family, the thought of them watching her getting shot at and have her breakdown. She could see her father's pursed lips of disapproval. She hadn't really thought about the camera's since her arrival. Weirdly enough, it didn't bother her that Big Brother was watching. It was like a strange reminder not to do anything she'd regret. That no matter what she did, there was someone out there who knew she was doing it. She had to maintain a certain image, because she was being watched. Even if it was the image of a socially inept, easily scared, a little pathetic, and almost unmemorable girl, at least she didn't look like a bloodthirsty killer. It was just enough to keep her in check.

She looked down at the bandages on her leg, before turning back to Ridley. What did this kid look like to the cameras? And did she really trust this kid enough to follow him wherever he was going?

She wasn't honestly sure. But right now he was all she had, so he would have to do.

[KingKamor†]

"I came from here, the Coastal Woods." She pointed to the map. "At least, I think. There were woods, and a beach, so yeah. I wasn't exactly paying attention when I was madly sprinting. I didn't see too many people there, but it's a big area, so we could go back and look. I'm sure the people I met before are long gone."

Ridley wondered if that was a good idea, what with the fact that Rena was shot before she arrived. Then again, the alternative option was going through the filth-infested swamp, and he wouldn't have that as long as Rena had that injured leg. As he contemplated, Rena spoke again:

She handed the map over to Ridley. "Take a look, pick a place. I'll follow."

Reluctantly, he took the map from her hands and spread it out before him on the dirt between the muddy swamp and the sandy beach. As he looked over the map, one path caught his attention. "Right here. South of the swamp and north of the woods you came through. It looks like we can avoid the swamp and that forest entirely and make our way further inland to the Inland Woods. I'm sick of water, and I'd rather go into a place that has a chance of nice people being there instead of a place where we know people are going around guns blazing."

With a glance at Rena, about to ask her what she thought of the plan, when his eye almost immediately snapped to the bandages on her leg. There was already a light red stain showing through them, and images of the gash flashed through his mind beyond his control. A lump rose in his throat, but he managed to swallow it. "Anyway, uh, if we lay low and take it step by step, we should make it to the Inland Woods in a couple hours."

He rolled up the map and handed it to her. After making sure that his gun was at the ready in his "holster" of a pocket, he checked all of his belongings to make sure he had everything. Thinking it a good idea, he also took a bite of some of his rations. They were dry and gross, but they managed to put a dent in his hunger. Lending a hand to pick Rena up from her seat, he said, "Okay, let's go."

(Ridley Landon continued Accidental Acrophobia)