CHAPTER 13 INTO THE UNKNOWN

"Ahhh!!!" The girls' screams went out loud in the holy jungle. The cat also started to weep. Seeing that, teachers were dumbfounded looking at the girls.

"Would you please finish?" Begged Martha.

The girls' slowed down their volumes.

"What's gonna happen to us, now?" Sobbed Sarah.

"Nothing! We're going to make it work out." Replied John

"It's raining so hard, and the jungle is now filling up." Worried Alana

"Not all places." Comforted John

"Some places are at high level so they won't be drowning."

"What do we have to do then?" Asked Sarah

"Find them by ourselves until this rain stops…" replied John

"What? How will we move in this rainy night with this **** car?" Asked Sarah.

"Let's see."

John took a raincoat from the girls' bag and wore it. He jumped off the car.

"Ughuah!!!" He shivered

The rain was pouring down, hitting the car like bullets. The windshield wipers were working furiously, but they could barely keep up with the downpour. The girls in the backseat of the car were shivering and huddled together for warmth, while Martha, sat in the front passenger seat, looking worried.

"We should have never gone on this camping trip," said Sierra. "I knew something like this was going to happen."

"Come on, Sierra," said Alana, trying to sound optimistic. "We just need to keep our spirits up. We'll make it through this."

John was concentrating hard on trying to get the car started. "I don't understand what's going on," he blabbed. "The car was working perfectly fine earlier today."

As he turned the key again, the engine made a sputtering noise before falling silent once more. "Looks like we're stuck here for the night," he said.

The girls groaned in unison. "What are we going to do?" asked Athena, the group's leader.

Ms. Martha reached for her phone to call for help, but she had no signal. "Looks like we're on our own," she said.

As the night grew darker, the girls became more and more frightened. The rain showed no sign of stopping, and the cold was beginning to seep into the car. Sarah suggested that they huddle together for warmth.

"Good idea, Sarah," said Ms. Martha. "We need to conserve our body heat."

They formed a circle in the backseat, each girl wrapping her arms around the person next to her. The warmth of their bodies was comforting, and they began to relax a little.

As they sat huddled together, they heard a sound outside. It sounded like footsteps. They all froze, listening intently. Suddenly, there was a knock on the window.

The girls screamed, and here! John. Sarah quickly rolled down the window to see who was outside.

"I've checked out everything" he called out. "Turn on the key again and again" he suggested

"You startled us!" chuckled Martha

"Sorry to startle you," he said. "I couldn't help but work on the car. Please pray…"

"We are…" Alana crossed her fingers.

John breathed a sigh of relief and he went to work on the car. After a few minutes of tinkering under the hood, he managed to get the car started.

"Thank you so much, God!" exclaimed Ms. Martha. "We were getting really worried."

"No problem at all," said John sitting in the car. "I'm just glad I could help. But before we go, I should warn you that the road ahead will be blocked.maybe…so PLEASE stay calm!"

"Blocked?" asked Sarah. "What do you mean?"

"Can't you see the rain?!" Alana slapped Sarah's head.

"Where are we heading now?" asked Athena

"Campsite."

"What if the campsite is closed?" she continued.

"We'll manage it." John raced the car and it went way too slowly.

The girls looked at each other, unsure. They didn't know this man, and the sentence didn't sound very safe.

"It's okay," said Ms. Martha, sensing their hesitation. "It seems like a trustworthy plan, and we don't have any other options."

They reluctantly HAD to agree, and soon slowly steadily they were on their entrance to the site.

Girls took out coats from their backpacks and got them on.

"Steadily…" said John while opening the door of the van for girls.

The lightning tore out loud through the sky and startled everyone.

"Hurry up this way" said Martha pointing towards a shed and not trying to stand under a tree this deadly night.

John parked his car, locked the doors after taking out important stuff such as the tent and made it to the shed. Here they saw a big lock on the rusted metal gateway.

"Hell…" muttered John, putting the bags aside.

"What now? Where will we go?" asked martha.

Suddenly the crying baby started working

"oh…GOD!" sighed Athena. Sarah started weeping-but actually HARDLY WEEPING

"This sucks…" offended Alana.

"Shut your mouth, girl!" whispered Sierra.

"We'll figure it out," said Martha.

"How will we go home now?" Sarah cried badly.

"Lets see…" said John, thinking of something to solve the puzzle. He observed the lock and noticed that it was of cheap local quality.

"Gotcha!" he smirked and took a piece of broken rusted metal and hit the lock so badly that it went out.

They opened the gate and went to look out, with their flashlights. The good factor of the site was there were no trees in that area - a special, prohibited, area that holds the river and trees was far away. Near the gate was a wooden cabin - I think it was made for guard, but no one was there at all. Conclusion is that now the cabin was theirs. The cabin was small and cozy, with a wood-burning stove and a few cots in the corner.

"Make yourselves a home," said John leading everyone inside. "I'll start a fire and make some hot cocoa for everyone."

As he set about making the cocoa, the girls and Ms. Martha began to relax a little. The warmth of the fire and the sweet scent of the cocoa made them feel more at ease.

"Thank you so much for helping us, if you werent with us we'd be dead." said Athena, as she sipped her cocoa. "We were really scared out there."

"It's my pleasure," said John, with a smile. "I'm just happy to be able to help."

As they chatted, they got worried about mom.

"Mom should be worried about us…" said Alana sadly.

"Don't worry, we'll connect satellite phones and leave them a note. So dont worry."

"This is a bit good…" replied Alana.

After a while, the girls began to feel tired. They had been through a lot that day, and the warmth of the cabin was making them sleepy.

"Okay, girls," said Ms. Martha, with a yawn. "It's time for bed. We'll be up early to try and make the next day good."

As they settled into their cots, the girls felt grateful for the warmth and safety of the cabin. They knew that they will make things go all right and go back home safely - but maybe…nature wants something else?