No Good Direction
Zac walked through the forest, where there was supposed to be extremely dense fog was a clear sight of everything around him; he could see far beyond just a few feet in every direction. Not only that, but the temperature outside was much warmer than before. The sun beamed through every gap between the trees and their leaves. It didn't light up the entire forest, but it defiantly made a difference. Even though Zac had grown accustomed to seeing things in shades of gray, this new environment was refreshing. He felt like his senses were being sharpened again after having been dulled by the dark clouded mind for so long.
...
Passing every tree and every bush, things start to look familiar. It was hard to recognize a tree. But after passing the same one many times, it became apparent that there were things he had seen while trying to make his way out. "Hey, Galen. Are you sure this is the way out?" Zac asked. "What do you mean?" Galen replied. "Well, are we close to the exit?" "I've been following you this whole time. I didn't know we were leaving?" Zac stopped in his tracks, staring at Galen with a confused look. After thinking about what he said, he realized how stupid Galen was. Or maybe it was Zac that was stupid for expecting that Galen would realize what they were doing without a word said about it. Maybe both of them were just plain dumb for walking like they didn't have a mind.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE JUST BEEN FOLLOWING ME!?" Zac yelled. His voice echoed throughout the forest, loud enough to be heard for miles away. "I was following you!"
"Well, that isn't my fault; you just started walking without a word. How was I supposed to know what we were doing? I thought you were the crazy one, wandering throughout this forest without a sense of direction."
Zac sighed loudly as he shook his head and looked down at the ground. "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that, but I guess neither of us knew anything until now." "Well, now that we are on the same page, can you lead me to the exit?"
"What do you mean? I don't know where the exit is." Galen said without hesitation. Zac stared blankly at Galen for a moment, like, 'this prick just seriously said this?' "Why wouldn't you know?"
Galen shrugged his shoulders. "I never saw an exit, so why should I think something exists if I haven't seen it yet?" "Are you serious? Didn't you say that you lived in this forest?" "Well, I only lived in the foggy area. I never once left it, and never have I even seen the forest that gets cut off from the fog."
After hearing those words spoken, Zac's face went pale. They were trapped inside a circle that kept leading them back to the same place, and not only that, the only hope Zac had at getting out of the forest without getting lost was tossed away. All because of some stupid excuse of a reason. If Galen hadn't said he didn't know where the exit was, Zac might have still believed there was an escape route. Now, all he has is the feeling of hopelessness filling his heart. He tried to hide it behind anger towards Galen, but deep down, he couldn't help but feel like crying. Tears formed in his eyes and fell onto the grass beneath him. This wasn't fair! Why did life have to turn into such a cruel joke? What kind of sick game was this, anyway? Was this God playing with them?
He took a deep breath, wiping his cheeks dry, and turned back to Galen, who stood waiting patiently beside him. "How am I supposed to get out then? You said you only lived in the fog. Could you at least lead me to where the exit of the fog was?"
Galen raised his head with his index finger and thumb on his chin in thought. "The fog was all I ever knew. I would be like taking you from one tree to another if the fog was around." Hearing Galen's words, it sounded like there was no hope. "But, I can still try. I could probably find us the path if I discover something I recognize." There was hope. Zac's anger subsided, along with his thoughts of never being able to leave.
They continued forward, searching for any sign of familiarity. Zac had also put effort into finding the footsteps he was previously following before he got lost in the fog. Maybe if he could find the tree that Kane and his men had slept in, he could start from there.
...
They traveled for days, and Zac was no longer hungry because Galen knew everything about the forest, including what was good to eat. Skeptical at trusting a former man-eating beast to tell him what was 'good to eat,' he couldn't refuse because his stomach would've started eating itself from the inside out if he had starved for any longer. And besides, he didn't really care anymore. Eating was overrated anyways. They took breaks often due to Zac's broken ribs. Galen helped as much as possible by making him eat certain herbs and other plants. But it didn't taste bad, or, at least, to Zac, who only ever really lived off disgusting food his whole life. His ribs slowly healed, but that did not mean they would laze around and not do anything.
After eating his medicine, he pushed himself to immediately get up and get going to find their way out.
It seemed like they walked forever, but eventually, Galen finally recognized something he had seen near the exit of the fog. "There!" He pointed ahead toward a small hill. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than just a bump in the ground, but when they got closer, Zac remembered from his memories of when he and the bandits entered the forest that they had to cross over a hill. Maybe that was the same one? It was a bet Zac was willing to take. His hopes have risen once again. Being close to the hill meant being close to getting out. But there were still weeks ahead of him before fully being able to leave the forest. That thought brought him back down to reality quickly. Still, he held onto his optimism. With each step, he grew excited, and there was no stopping him now!
When they saw the hill off in the distance, it was their time to give themselves rest. It was earlier than any other time that they slept, joyed with the discovery they were rewarding themselves by taking a break. Once again, Galen stayed awake to watch while Zac rested his body and mind. When he woke up, Galen was already asleep, snoring loudly.
They promised themselves to set off very early every morning, but Zac gave Galen his morning's rest then it was time to head off. They walked straight through the day. Zac was feeling better with his ribs healing and the adrenaline leaving. He could walk faster, which was great news considering the amount of energy he needed to keep moving. Galen, at times, caught glimpses of Zac's settled smile of achievement. Galen felt glad; he didn't know what the feeling was; maybe it was the bond of friendship he had always heard about before tearing he tore into their bodies. Whatever it may be, it felt nice.
Zac also glanced at Galen, but with no restriction, Galen was just lost in thought, drooling down the side of his mouth. Remembering eating humans like it was the 'good old days', Galen's thoughts were filled with images of how easy it was to kill someone and how delicious their flesh tasted. Although unable to read minds, Zac could read Galen's mind very clearly. Images of murder flashed across Galen's mind, and he found himself wanting to kill more people. To him, killing humans was the most fun thing he had done as an animal. Killing them made him feel alive. He could have quickly decided to kill Zac at this very moment. But he didn't. He stuck true to his pact of friendship, which gave him no desire or thought to do anything to Zac. Besides, Galen wanted to see the outside world for so long, being a part of the humans. There was no way Galen would miss an opportunity to leave this place.
As night came upon them, they camped under the stars in silence. Both of them were exhausted from walking all day, but sleep eluded either of them. Zac kept thinking about what he would do once he got out of there, and Galen couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful it would be to taste the variety of different human flavors.
The next day, they finally reached the hill. Zac tried to find any similarity to the hill he had to climb when he was out of his mind with drugs. How far of a walk it would be to pass through the hill, any footprints he could find from everyone has been there, and even any food that the bandits would have tossed. Nothing gave Zac the impression that this was the same hill, although Galen mentioned it was also something similar to him. Was he sure that it wasn't just another hill? There were no footprints, which there should be with that many people that had come with them. His excitement dwindled when he started recognizing signs that this may not be the hill that would lead them to the exit.