Chapter 17

Not all goes as planned; Angela being lost in the woods made her more independent and fearless. She won't forget this experience; as a survivor, her only survival was the flames; she was cold, tired, and hungry.

If she is going to spend days out here in the woods, she would have to get enough resources to survive. And there is no giving, or else the perpetrators would get away.

Darkness reveals its deepest secrets, which could be a question of life or death. Being cautious, Angela stood up and started collecting wood, anything higher than a meter; she then built a fence around her with a two-millimeter spacing; this was not to protect her from snakes since it was not solid fencing. Any animal could get through it; however, it would give her sufficient time to escape and keep her out of sight of the wild animals in the world. "I would have to go hunting first thing in the morning," she thought since there was no radiance of light. There was no sign of life. She looked up at a tall tree; maybe if she could climb that tree in the morning, she would be able to see where she was and not go deeper into the forest.

The night felt long, and the later it became, the darker it would get. She had drifted off to sleep when she heard something around her. She quickly reacted, holding the sharp point of the spear in front of her. "I am not scared." The planks being only a meter higher, she could see what was on the other side, but because it was so dark, whatever it was, she could not know; she could see eyes, and then closed it got, the more visible it became.

It was a black panther, and it saw her. The panther exposed its razor-sharp teeth. "I'm not afraid." She kept the spear in defense mode; just as the panther was about to attack, it heard something, and the panther looked back. The dark shadows revealed a bear; as it moved towards the fire, Angela stepped around it, holding the spear.

"Look, you better go because I will hurt you." She repeated.

The panther moved closer as she stepped away, holding the spear in front of her.

The panther looks at the woods as if something is creeping from behind the dark woods.

It then ran off and disappeared Into the woods. Angela saw this big bear coming towards her. The fence she had to build will not be able to hold out any animals, but it will give her enough time to prepare herself.

The bear moved in closer; she stabbed the bear with the spear as it aggravated.

Angela grabbed stones and threw them at the bear, "go away!" She screamed hysterically.

The bear grabbed hold of the spear, tossing it aside. Angela has to make a run for it. She ran as fast as she could into the forest.

When she came to a stop, the bear was a meter behind her; feeling exhausted, she was catching her breath, looking around as the bear closed in on her.

She heard something from behind her; it looked like a pack of wolves was standing right behind her.

Angela had nowhere to escape.

The wolves ran towards the bear, attacking it, jumping and biting the bear in its neck. The bear tried to escape, but the wolves kept him in one place.

Angela had to do something, think fast as she watched the wolves feast off the bear. Her skills as a scout girl in the early years paid off. She climbed the tree, looking down as the bear became a feast to the wolves. "How am I going to get out of this mess?" She said to herself.

Hours have passed, and the wolves have leaped into the shadows of darkness, knowing more wolves and other dangerous animals are out. Angela had to leave now; the wolves would come back. She climbed higher, trying to see her surrounding; with it being so dark, it would be hard to find her way around.

She could see a narrow path but not where it was leading. Angela climbed down the tree and ran down the narrow path as fast as she could. She had listened for sounds as she slowly climbed down the tree; reaching the bottom of the tree, Angela had looked around. Angela saw a yellow t-shirt lying on the ground, stained with blood and mud. She recognized the shirt. Why had she not seen this earlier?

She remembered seeing someone wearing this, but with everything being blurred out, she couldn't exactly say who wore the t-shirt.

Angela took the top and ripped it apart, tying it around her sore, bruised feet to walk on; the pain in her feet had eased.

She firmly grabbed the tree's bark, steadily holding it up in front of her as she paced slowly through the woods. Ready to fight back whatever came her way, this was a matter of life and death. The temperature was minus one degree, and she was freezing; it amazed her how quickly the temperature had changed.

The path felt endless; it was like running blindly in an unknown direction. Whispers came from the darkest shadows of the woods. "There is no way I am dying out here!" She said to herself as she closed her eyes for a moment. Angela told herself she would get out of this; whatever it was, it would go away. That's when she saw the light underneath her closed eyelids. She opened her eyes and saw a light that seemed far, but if that were her only means of escaping from all these animals, she would have to get to that light.

Her feet were severely hurting, bruised, and broken skin, making her feet bleed, which was caused by the cuts on her feet—leaving dry blood stains on the tree's bark. Her arms were bruised from climbing the tree, and the temperature dropped. Angela felt dehydrated as the skin of her lips started to peel off.

She safely made her way to what appeared to be a cabin with outside light. She questioned how she could see this tiny light for that distance. Angela looked back in the direction she came from; she looked up and could no longer see that tree. Her finding the cabin could signify she was meant to find this. She walked around it; there was no sound coming from inside as she placed her ear against the cabin. Walking around, she found a white sneaker with blood stains.

This sneaker was also familiar but could belong to anyone since it was popular.

If there is one, there should be another, she walked and looked around, and something white caught her eye from behind a rock three meters away. That has to be the second sneaker; it was her size, also size seven.

Angela heard a growling sound closing in on her. She pushed open the door and quickly closed it behind her, leaning against it. The cabin inside was dark; she had looked for a latch to lock the door. To her surprise, there were no locks on the inside.

Angela looked around and saw something shiny as she reached down to pick it up; it was a torch. Someone had been here before. By the looks of it, someone had stayed here for a while. There were dirty clothes and blankets on the wooden floor and sealed cans of beans.

But if someone had been here, what would have happened to the lock? Angela shined the torch on the door and saw the locks were broken off. There was a door stopper; she had pushed the door stopper underneath the wooden door it held the door closed. Angela had then shined the torch around and saw a sharp knife, a box of fire starters, and a drum in the corner with wood.

This cabin has everything she needs to survive. Angela lit the wood to warm up and opened the can of beans. This should stop her hunger. She had to eat the beans with her hands. She saw a book with what seemed like a diary. She stopped eating and walked over to the diary; slowly opening it, she saw a photo on the corner of the page. It was Nicole; she was the person who lived here. These were her sneakers, and she closed the diary. The blood stains were hers. What had happened to Nicole? Angela continued eating her beans when she heard growling outside the cabin. The stopper wouldn't be strong enough to hold the bear out of the cabin if it were a bear. Angela looked around and saw nothing in sight. She had sat with her back against the door, eating her beans and looking through the diary. That's when she had an idea.