Trying to sleep

"Nate, you looked at the system pretty close right? Does it say what time is it?"

"Matter of fact it does. Why?"

"Because If the time's the same as back on Earth we only have a couple hours to try this before it gets dark."

"Oh my gosh, you're right. We need to get started!"

"Go grab some sticks, and DON'T leave the barrier." Eric said as he looked around again. "I'll grab the other stuff."

With that said the two boys started searching for anything that might be dry enough to catch fire.

They weren't too concerned with their environment right now because they had one focus, and that was to get the fire started. After all they knew at the very least there were plenty of trees around.

After a short while of stacking various sticks and stones in the middle of the barrier Eric began placing the few rocks he could find in a circle on the ground.

"You think we have enough stuff?" Nate asked as he brought more sticks over.

"No, I just wanna get it started as soon as possible. I found some dry grass but we still need more twigs to make it burn long enough to catch the bigger logs."

"I'll grab the twigs but you better make sure this works."

"Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Do you remember-"

"Alright alright, just go get the sticks." Eric interrupted sarcastically.

Nate laughed a little and walked off again before Eric started building a teepee out of some thicker branches in the newly finished fire pit.

By the time he was done, Nate came back with another armful of sticks and said. "Looks pretty good."

"Thanks man." Eric replied as he finished putting the dry grass and twigs into the teepee.

After a small break he took his belt from his waist and grabbed his buckle sternly.

"Now, all I gotta do is get lucky." And with that Eric started hitting his belt buckle against the rock closest to the dry grass in the pit.

Chh-

Chhh-

Chh-

Nothing..

A couple swings later Eric started to sweat, and a few after that he started getting furious. Thinking he'd come up with a bad idea he turned to his friend with a look of disappointment on his face and said. "It's not working man."

"Don't worry about it. I can see the sparks now so it's just a matter of time right?" He replied as he opened the global chat.

"I guess you're right."

But just as he turned around to try again.

"Pwahahaha!"

"Jesus Christ Nate! You scared the shit out of me!"

"Hahaha, sorry but you've gotta see how funny some of these guys are."

"So you're not trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No way dude, without you I'd have to do all the thinking." He said before turning his system panel towards him.

[Does anyone have any food?]

[Are you crazy?]

[The sun is setting already. Who could possibly have any food?]

[Yeah! Didn't the system take everything but our clothes anyway?]

"What's funny about this?" Eric asked as he looked back at Nate.

"Keep reading."

[Haha, my leather belt got brought with me! If I get hungry I can eat it like jerky!]

[Lucky! Mines made of some flimsy plastic..]

[Mines leather too!]

[Quiet down! Are you all idiots?]

[Even if you could eat the leather you'd have to process it first and get all the chemicals out!]

[My belt was made of fabric so I used it to tie some small pieces of bamboo together and formed a tent.]

"See what I mean Eric? Without you, I'd be doing the same thing as those bozos."

"Hahaha, that is kinda funny. I wonder where they got those ideas."

After their conversation, Eric went back to striking his belt buckle against the rock and eventually..

Hiss-

Crack-

Crackle-

Fwoosh!-

"I- I DID IT!!" Eric screamed triumphantly.

"Jeez guy, you're gonna blow my eardrums." Nate laughed as he moved closer to the fire.

"Well, we can see and we're warm, but where do we sleep?"

"What's the matter Nate? You never sleep outside before?"

"You have?"

"I did when I was younger. My parents would take my siblings and I camping at the lake but we only had one tent so when I got old enough I slept in a big blanket outside."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I am. Although there were ants all over me the next morning."

"Ants!?"

"Relax big boy, I don't even see a mosquito in here."

"In here?.. Oh!" After realizing the barrier kept even the bugs out Nate was pretty happy for a moment, until he realized Eric didn't answer his question.

"Hey! We don't have any blankets, what are we gonna do?"

"You've got a hoodie and pants on too right?"

"Yeah?"

"So put your hood on and find a nice patch of grass that isn't too close to mine or the fire pit."

"Hmph." He groaned unsatisfied. "Well I'm glad someone's enjoying themselves."

"Are you kidding me? You know I wanted to study animals and stuff right? What better place to do all that junk than in the wild. Not to mention I've always wanted to live outside."

As the sun set, the moon rose higher into the sky and the boys grew more and more tired, until they finally fell asleep to the sound of the fire popping and crackling next to them.

A couple hours later however, a deafening sound rang throughout the trees around them.

"Uwaah Ahh Ahhh!!"

This mysterious and horrifying sound woke the boys from their sleep in a panic.

"WHAT THE F**K WAS THAT!!!" Nate screamed as he looked at his friend "Eric!?"

"I'M UP TOO AREN'T I!?"

"Uwaah Wahh Ahh!" The noise sounded again.

"Jesus! What kind of animal can make such a terrifying sound!?"

"Nate!"

"Oh, Sorry.."

"Just stop being so loud. That thing out there sounds kinda like a monkey, but who knows what else could hear you around here."

"A monkey? What the hell is a monkey doing in the middle of the night!?"

"STOP. Yelling."

"Sorry.." Nate said sincerely, as he finally lowered his voice.

"So big guy, you wanna go see what that monkey's up to right?" Eric asked with a sinister smile on his face.

"Dude.. I can barely see, but that.. that is scary lookin."

"Shut up meatball! Are you coming or not?"

"I dunno.."

"What's there to be afraid of? If it's dangerous we'll scare it off with fire." Eric said while pointing at the flame next to them.