Chapter 482: A bed of my own making
Kellen knew he was on a time limit. He needed to go further than they had done on the first time into the denser forest, but still make it out before day began to break. Thankfully, he’d been able to guess how long the night lasted. He knew how much of the night he had left if he was able to keep track. While unfortunately he wasn’t going to be able to see the night sky with the densely packed tree line, he had a watch, and he could set an alarm.
So, he did that.
Kellen marked the trees in a straight line going east every five trees. There weren’t as many obviously poisonous plants around like the pitcher plants and other carnivorous plants around. That only made Kellen stay on higher alert. He wondered what the Boss would be in this kind of environment.
It would be great if he could get to the Boss area, touch the core, and then they could all run away to the would be open gate. It was a damn pipe dream, but Kellen still had it. He hadn’t lost hope, not yet.
Kellen kept that thought in the back of his mind as he continued to trudge through the dense, poison-thick forest. It was getting darker and darker, the leaves unable to cast enough light to illuminate the area around him.
Kellen had to pull out his flashlight at one point, using it to see in the darkness. It felt a little strange to do so since he hadn’t had to use it this whole time, but here he was, wandering through a poisonous forest with his flashlight on for the first time.
It was hard to breathe, and each step felt laborious, but he was doing his best. At one point he thought he saw something reflective in the forest, but when he swung his flashlight back over the spot, it didn’t reflect again.
Kellen kept moving, hoping he’d be able to make it to the other side with the time he had left, but when the alarm went off, he let out a heavy sigh. That was shitty. He was going to have to come back tomorrow. Another damn day in this damn place.
Kellen marked the tree near him, did one last scan, and then turned and began to make the way back to the others.
He did worry that something might be behind him, especially after he might have seen something reflective in his flashlight, but he kept his eyes open, watching for anything strange.
Nothing jumped out at him, nothing targeted him, and he didn’t even hear anything follow him either. Kellen was utterly alone, nothing around him, and he made good time coming out of the forest as well. He thought it would take him longer to get out of the denser forest, but when he checked his watch, he made it out with about half an hour to spare.
Kellen wandered slightly, trying to find his sister and the others and for one terrible, long moment he thought he had lost them, but he found them again.