When We Drown~Finnick Odair {Book 1}

Chapter Eighteen

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Autumn woke up to the noise of birds chirping. She saw that the sun had risen, but by the looks of its position in the sky, it was still early in the morning.

"Tyson," Autumn whispered to the boy in the tree across from her. He didn't wake. Autumn groaned, taking a pack of dried meat out of her backpack, which was strapped down to the branch with her, and threw the package at him. It hit him in the chest and fell into his lap.

He sat up with a jolt, looking down at the meat sitting in his lap. He then looked across the way and Autumn, looking confused.

"Did you just throw beef jerky at me?" He asked. Autumn nodded as she untied her rope and put it back in her backpack before throwing the bag over her shoulders and climbing down the tree.

Tyson met her down on the ground, hopping the last few feet off of his tree and landing on the leaf covered ground.

As they started walking, Autumn began to feel how parched she was. She needed water. And she was sure Tyson did too.

They walked for hours, barely talking as they hoped to hear the sound of a river or stream. But to no avail.

Another hour passed before Autumn took another step, hearing a squish under her foot. She looked down. It was mud. She then looked around, seeing moss on the trees next to her. There was water near by.

"Tyson, come on," Autumn and Tyson began to run, both suddenly hopeful.

Autumn and Tyson broke through a line of trees, finding a small stream running across the forest ground. Tyson and Autumn sprinted up to the water, cupping their hands and plunging them into the water, drinking it.

Neither Tyson nor Autumn thought about the possibility of the water being poisoned as they continued to drink from the stream.

Autumn and Tyson sat out next to the stream, letting the sun dry their clothing after they both washed off. They did not take their clothes off, however, for two reasons. The first being that they were together, and the send being that someone could ambush them at any moment.

Autumn was able to rest her eyes for a moment, letting the calmness of the woods surround her. Meanwhile, Tyson was laying down next to her with his eyes closed.

"I'm gonna go pick some berries," Autumn told him, standing up. "I should probably be useful for once," Autumn joked. Tyson nodded with a smile.

"Should I be useful too?" He asked, opening a single eye to stare up at her. Autumn shook her head while pulling her vest of knives on.

"Nah," she zipped up the vest and smiled at him. "One of us has to be the lazy one." He let out a small laugh before closing his eyes once again. "Just make sure you're aware of your surroundings."

Autumn walked into the trees, going deeper and deeper into the woods. She had to retrace her steps, finding the fruit bushes she had seen earlier when they were tracking down the water.

Before, she had gone past them without so much as batting an eye because water seemed like the most important thing on her mind. Although the fruit did contain juice, it wasn't enough to quench her thirst.

Autumn began picking, feeling the sun stream down through the trees onto her back. She picked one of the berries and saw a bird peck in it, which made her wonder why the woods were so abnormally quiet. Not a single bird chirped. This meant danger.

Autumn looked at the direction of the river. She let out a nervous breath. That's when she heard the screams. It sounded like sound had yelled her name, but it was hard to tell as if something was blocking the person from fully getting a word out. As if they were being strangled.