A person in a mask

Jessica looked in and saw a person dressed in all black whose face was covered by a ski mask. The person stood up and flicked out a knife. Jessica immediately stepped back and held her hands up. “Look, just take what you want, I don’t want any trouble…” she said to him.

As Jessica backed up two other figures approached from behind. She was surrounded by a group of dark clad strangers. They stood around her silently. Jessica kept her hands up and stood in front of them awkwardly. “W… what do you want?” she asked.

The one brandishing the knife nodded to one of his compatriots and that one stepped into the tent. There was a commotion inside as the interloper ransacked the place a few minutes before coming out with Jess’ hiking bag. He nodded to the first and then the group took off. Jessica nearly dropped to her knees, shaking with fear. She checked her phone again to see that the robbers had gone in the opposite direction of Wesley. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her fingers were trembling. She wanted to see what had been stolen but was too afraid to move, so she sat there until Wesley found her.

“Jessica?” Wesley called out.

Jessica jumped at her name and looked over with fright.

“What’s wrong? What are you doing just sitting here?” he asked. Jessica was at a loss for words and immediately Wesley’s brow furrowed with concern. “What happened?” he asked as he rushed over to comfort her.

“These guys... “ Jessica started, “They came over and… “

Wesley’s eyes widened. What had Melanie done now?

“They took our stuff!” Jessica nodded to their tent.

Wesley went inside and searched around. He came out a minute later to share what he found. “Looks like all our gear is gone. They took all of it…” Wesley shrugged.

“Why would they do that?” Jessica asked out loud. Wesley could only shrug. “Listen, Wes, this whole trip has been a wreck. Maybe we should just pack it in and head home.”

“But we didn’t really get to do any camping,” Wesley said.

“And we can’t do that without any stuff,” she replied. “We might as well just go. We can try again another time…”

Wesley frowned. “Giving up just like that? I thought you told me that a knowledgeable survivalist could live off the land for weeks!”

“Yeah, but you’re not…” Jessica paused, remembering their argument earlier in the day.

“I’m not a survivalist,” Wesley say, finishing her statement. He pointed his finger at her, “But, you are. I’m sure with you in charge, I can survive two nights out here…” He gave her a warm smile.

Jessica smiled back. “Alright. We can do it together.” They embraced and shared a kiss.

“Do you feel safe staying here for the night?” Wesley asked, concerned.

“I don’t think we have anything else that they’ll want. We should be fine…” she concluded, still feeling a bit ****.

“Well, I’ll be around this time, so maybe they’ll think twice about coming back... “ Wesley replied with a smirk. Jessica chuckled and squeezed him again before they went back inside. “Dammit, they even took the sleeping bags!” she complained.

The two settled on the floor, curled up in a spoon to preserve body warmth. Wesley wondered if this was his opportunity. Melanie had told him before he would return that they were going to prime Jessica to be more receptive to putting out, but an experience like getting robbed felt a little ****. It also didn’t help that Jessica was right about the cold. He shivered as the wind hit the fabric of the tent, then held his girlfriend closer. She seemed content to snuggle for warmth, so he decided not to push it. It took a while but he finally drifted to sleep sometime during the night.