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The first half of the trip was a success, as you and Heather find fruit trees, several animal holes, and a few varieties of non-poisonous snakes. You even locate a beehive and collect a few ounces of honey before being chased away. Given that the forest has been lacking food in the last few months, it seems it restocked in time for this excursion. The sun hangs high overhead, and the woods seem to trap in the heat like an oven. You and Heather stop for lunch under the shade of several linden trees, which are rare in these woods. Their tall, plumy leaves provide a blanket of shadow in which you sit. A soft breeze flows through their leaves, a sweet smell that offers some comfort on such a physically rigorous day.

As you have lunch, Heather strikes up a conversation and after discussing the recent weather and the trip so far, you decide to…