No Turning Back [REWRITTEN]

Chapter 3

[302 hours, 4 minutes]

[Blake]

"Blake! There you are!"

I was immediately greeted by Malachi running over to me as I left the border of the woods. He stopped a few feet in front of him, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Where the hell were you?!" He exclaimed.

"Hey, relax, it's okay!" I said, trying to think of a reason I was gone so long on the spot. "I... went on a walk and got a little lost. It's fine."

"A little? Blake, you were gone for two hours."

"And now I'm back," I pointed out. "Everyone else is back at the houses, I guess?"

"Tyson came and helped me look for you," Malachi said. "He was checking the woods."

"Has he been gone long?"

"I mean, ten-ish minutes. I'm sure he'll come out soon."

"Here, I'll call him real quick," I said, taking out my phone.

Almost immediately I realized the problem with my plan. As I'd discovered earlier... there was no signal in the woods. The call went straight to voicemail.

I left him a voicemail, telling him I was alright and that he could come back. Hopefully it'll go through.

"I hope he doesn't get lost," Malachi exhaled. "Then we'd have to go find him."

I chuckled a little. "Yeah, that'd be a little ironic. But he knows his way around these woods. He goes hunting around here all the time. He'll be fine."

Malachi's sleep deprived brain took a minute to process that, before he nodded. "Yeah, yeah. You're right. He'll come back soon."

"Yeah. Come on."

-

[Tyson]

Blake, what the hell, where did you go-?

I stepped through the crowded undergrowth, careful not to trip over stray branches or stumps below my field of vision. The trees led off in every direction, looking like some kind of infinite maze, to most unnavigable. but I knew this place like the back of my hand, I wasn't too worried about getting lost here.

"Blake!" I called out. "Blake, you there?"

This wasn't like him. Going out into the woods? He spends ninety percent of his time in a workshop, whether at work or at home. Where the hell'd he get a bright idea like this? Just a walk, maybe? Why off a trail?

Maybe he's not even here. Maybe he's back at the houses, wondering where I am. That'd really make me look like an idiot, but at least Blake would be back there.

He has been acting kind of weird. He doesn't notice, but I've seen the stray glances he's been casting at the woods since we got here. It's really weird. I've been wanting to ask him what it's about, but he disappeared before I could. Maybe he's been seeing something and came out to investigate? What would he have seen? What could possibly be so interesting that Blake Loris decided to venture out into the wilderness unacknowledged to find it?

I worry about him sometimes. Now more than usual.

I perked up at the sound of talking to my right. I turned my head, exhaling a sigh of relief as I began to head that direction.

God, Blake, why are you so far out here?

I wasn't insanely far from home, but I was far enough out that, if you didn't know how to get back, you'd struggle finding something recognizable. I pushed my way through the bushes, and made it close to where the voices were coming from.