31. Journey

Gently folding your hands on your lap to keep them still you finally ask him, "Can you at least tell me your name?" His dark eyes stare deeply into yours silently and you do your best to maintain eye contact. You don't like the uneasy feeling you get whenever he looks at you, his gaze reminds you of a wolf staring down it's prey. Still, the faster you can get him to warm up to you the sooner you can try to get out of this situation. When he doesn't reply you try offering him your name first. His eyes scan down your face and stop at the nape of your neck before he finally offers up the name "Gage." You raise a skeptical eyebrow when you hear this and his head nods subtly towards one of the sleeves his jacket you're wearing. You tilt your arm inward, and look over, sewn on is a very faded patch with that word stitched across it.

He doesn't offer any other explanation and turns back to face the fire. It seems as if you're going to have to be more patient than you thought. While he stares ahead you gently run your hand up the sleeve of the jacket. The worn, faded, leather feels rough and cracked under your skin. Your hand reaches the patch and you run your finger over the stitches. This jacket seems pretty old, and given how it looked slightly over-sized on his frame earlier, you get the feeling it wasn't originally his. While you're still examining the patch you see Gage stand up. He looks down at you and asks "Have you rested enough?" You frown slightly at the question but eventually nod yes. "Good, it's time to go."

"Go?!" You exclaim jumping to your feet. "But we just got here." You turn and look back at the forest where you came from. You already spent most night walking away from the cabin. Now it appears that he's about to add even more distance. He doesn't answer you as he walks away and begins packing the tent up. You open your mouth to protest but quickly realize it won't do you any good. You wait a moment before slowly walking up behind Gage, he pauses when you hears you approach, then goes back to packing. When he's done he turns and hands you a a small satchel. He then slings the backpack he had earlier one over his own shoulder and throws the duffel bag he packed the tent in on the other. You look down at the satchel and see the opening has been secured with a small padlock. You stop yourself from frowning when you see this and instead put the bag on your shoulders. When you look up at him you see him scanning the area in front of you, his eyes look intense and calculated. When he's done he turns around and goes to put the campfire out. You watch curiously as he drags the fallen tree over on top of the ashes of the fire. It now looks as if the tree had just fallen there a long time ago and you can no longer tell anyone was every camped out here.

It seems as if this man's survival skills are more advanced than you had anticipated. He returns to your side and places a hand on the small of your back pushing your forward. "Let's go." Sighing after taking one last look behind you, you place your hand on the strap of the satchel to readjust it, and step ahead into the unknown. The brush is even thicker and harder to make your way through. On your way to his makeshift campsite you had thought that he didn't have a way to clear the path ahead. Now you assume he just doesn't want to leave any trail behind. Slipping under and around the large branches and shrubs that block your path is challenging. You're thankful to have been lent Gage's jacket as you feel sharp branches graze across it's sleeves as you climb over a fallen tree. Your legs on other hand aren't quite as fortunate. You've already sustained a number of superficial cuts and scrapes on them. You swing one leg over the thick trunk of a fallen tree and reach out to grab a branch to steady you. The tree must have been here for quite sometime, and sustained dry rot, because the branch snaps off as you try to use it to pull yourself up. You audibly gasp as you feel yourself slipping backwards off the trunk. Closing your eyes, you brace yourself for your body to hit the ground. Instead you feel yourself crash into Gage's arms below. You stare at him wide eyed for a moment before he quickly puts you down and scowls. "You need to be more careful."

You bite your tongue and don't reply as you turn back and begin climbing up the trunk again. As you're making your way up you feel Gage's large hands curl around your waist and help lift you up. You balance on the top of the trunk for a moment before jumping down below. You glance over your shoulder and see that Gage isn't over the tree yet. You wonder if you can try making a run for it. Even if you got away you have no idea which direction to head in to get back home. You also have no idea if there are any usable resources in the satchel he gave you. When Gage jumps down and lands next to you, you see him shoot you a somewhat approving look. It seems that not trying to run has won you a little favor in his eyes. He makes you continue walking ahead of him as you keep making your way forward. Eventually, the sun reaches it's highest point in the sky, it's growing quite warm so you slip the leather jacket off. When you turn to hand it to Gage you see a distracted look in his eyes. He brushes sweaty curls out of his eyes before taking the jacket from you. While he's putting it in the backpack you look down at your bare legs and wish you had more than just a flannel on. Your hiking boots have held up surprisingly well over the time and even though your feet are sore from walking you don't think you have any blisters. You lean up against a tree and take the canteen of water Gage hands you when he's done. The water is warm but you drink some gratefully before handing it back to him. You lower your hand and run your fingers along the rough tree bark behind you. It's dry and as your fingers run down it you feel a piece snap off and fall to your feet. Gage is in front of you in an instant and grabs your hand off of the bark.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." His eyes flashes angrily as he pulls you away from the tree. You don't think telling him it was an accident will do any good so you keep your mouth shut. He sighs and runs his hands through his messy hair. "Just don't do it again." He warns you as you bends down to pick up the fallen bark. He looks around for a moment before walking over to fir tree. When he returns he has a large stick in his hand and you frown as you watch him rip a wooden knot off of it. Thick sap oozes out where the knot had been and Gage wipes some of it off onto the piece bark. You can't help but admire his ingenuity as he uses the sap to stick the bark back in place. The tree looks completely undisturbed now and Gage takes a step back to observe his work. Seeming satisfied with the results he takes your arm in his hand pulls you along. You walk for a few more hours and you feel yourself growing weaker as you. You realize you haven't slept in two days straight and have walked for nearly half a day. Your legs quiver as you walk and moments later you feel one of your ankles roll. You gap in pain as you drop to your knees, you don't think you broke it, but your ankle is now throbbing. Gage walks up behind you and grabs your arm to pull you to your feet. You wobble on your good leg for a moment before trying to place weight on your rolled ankle. You grimace as pain shoots up your calf when you do and quickly raise it back up. Gage grabs your arm again to steady you as you try to regain your balance. You hear him exhale sharply and can tell he's not happy.