Chapter 16: Chapter 16

The narrow lined bushy path slowly paved way to a wide green space. Sunlight lit the surrounding green fields as they passed through. Thick thorns struck out once in a while in their path, but they ducked around manging to avoid them. They walked in a single line, each of them engaged in their own thoughts. Once in a while, sounds of chirping birds filled the silence. Jameela turned, looking at the wide expanse of fields’ behind them. The camp was nowhere to be seen now. In its stead, tall trees swayed in the bright sunlight. They walked mostly in the shades, avoiding direct sunlight upon them.

“A bit longer,” Graham announced after a while.

Thank God. They had been walking for more than an hour and Jameela wasn’t feeling excited about this anymore. Her knees threatened to buckle underneath her, her toes ached. Exhausted, she brought out one of her water flasks and sipped. The water felt refreshing and cool. Then she brought out a snicker and chewed. She turned towards Dmitry who was now walking besides her. “Here,” they shared the snicker while walking in silence.

“Do you have any idea where we are going?” Dmitry finally asked her. He was always quiet and in Adriana’s clique all the time. So Jameela didn’t really know anything about the boy. She guessed he was from Russia though because of his name.

“Not a clue. But...”

“But?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know, but it seems he knows where we are going, don’t you think?”

“Exactly. I thought as much. I think he must have been around here sometime before.”

Jameela chewed on this. She thought as much. But how could he have? She remembered clearly the conversation they had on that second day by the campfire. Graham had told everyone that he wasn’t much for adventures, unlike his brother who was a tourist, travelling to dozens of countries. “I’m a stay-at-one-place kinda guy. That’s why I guess, I became a guide.” He had said.

“Wow. Personally, I love travelling.” Joanne laughed, “have you been around here then? As a guide for some other students? I think this would make a perfect camp site.” She looked around.

He shook his head, rather vehemently. “Nope. Not even once. This is my first time here.”

Now that Jameela thought of it, he had seemed on edge when Joanne asked him whether he was once here or not. She looked ahead of the line, where he was walking with no sign of tiredness. Who was this guy? Something didn’t seem right with him.

“We rest here, guys.” He finally announced.

They let out loud breaths, flopping on the bare grass. They had arrived at a wide field, empty except for the tall trees surrounding it. She shivered, wondering where they would hide if it began to rain. Hide indeed. Something else bothered her. This graham guy was their guide and they would be required to stay with him for 3 days in a row at times. If this guy was hiding something, wouldn’t they be in danger? Or maybe she was imagining the whole thing. They dropped their bags and formed a circle, with Graham at the head. He smiled at them, taking a moment, looking at each of them. “Well, here we are. So,” he took out a paper and pen.

“Let’s start. Today’s topic is on our mental health. What do you feel scared of? Something you haven’t told anyone yet? A secret perhaps?”

They looked at each other, no one daring to speak first. Jameela lowered her eyes to the ground. She could feel Graham’s eyes on her, and prayed he wouldn’t call her. Luckily, he didn’t. “Dmitry.” He called. “You go first.”

Dmitry stammered, wiping his hands on his shorts. He was a tall chubby guy with fluffy cheeks. Pushing his round glasses back up, he smiled nervously. Jameela smiled at him encouragingly when they made eye contact. He reminded her of Piggy from Lord of the flies. If Piggy had grown up, this would be him. “Well, I, um, I’m scared of death.”

Silence.

Then, Graham let out a crackly laugh. “Okayyyy, could you explain?”

Dmitry sighed, “I have seen death up close. You know, not like in the movies, when you just see something coming up close and you think, oh well, this is it. And booom. You survive and get on with your life. It’s not the same in real. I saw them.”

“Your parents?” Graham prodded on.

Dmitry nodded, swallowing hard. “Our car tumbled on the outskirts of our town. We had visited for Christmas and were going back. Mom had promised to buy me a new game box. A surprise, she had said. All of a sudden, things changed. Somehow I got out. Or well, I was thrown out. I saw it as it caught in flames. It was awful.” He was shivering now. “I saw death with my eyes. After that kind of thing happens to you, I thought you would feel immune. Kinda like not scared of death anymore. But it just gets worst. You see death in every corner, you feel it. It keeps following you everywhere you go. You get paranoid. And it just gets worse with time.”

Jameela looked at him in a different light this time. She had known his parents died a few years ago and he was now living with his aunt, but she never got to know what really happened. Hearing his story felt like a sharp thorn pricked at her side. Now she understood why he was always so timid and quiet. Even when he was in the midst of Katie, Adriana, and the others, he was drawn away. Almost like in his own world. She thought back to all those times their paths had crossed. Had she done anything bad to him? No, she had always smiled to him, even though they never truly talked. Her heart went out to him, and she touched his shoulder, reassuring him she was there for him. He smiled, his face lighting up.

Graham cleared his throat, “I’m very sorry, Dmitry. But you’re alive and that’s all that matters. Death can occur anywhere and at any time. You have to be ready when it comes. But don’t forget to live your life to the fullest. Because this world is wide. Huge. You have to be learn to be happy. No one’s going to do that for you. Follow your dreams. That’s what your parents would have wanted. Okay?”

Dmitry nodded, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

“I think we have had enough for the day. Don’t you think? Let’s eat and start going. I think it’s getting late.”

Jameela looked up at the clouds above. It was indeed getting late. There was almost not a cloud in sight, and the air was getting colder. She shivered, unpacking the snacks she had bought with her and putting them on a small picnic basket one of them had brought. Each dug in, indulging in small conversation. It looked like a real picnic then. Out of nowhere, a loud howl interrupted their happy moment. It seemed to be coming from around the trees. They froze. The sound came closer, loud and sickening. They looked at each other with wide eyes. What was what? Jameela felt her stomach churn as she sat with mouth wide open. Graham looked alarmed, as he stood up slowly. “Stay here. I’ll check it out.”

They waited with baited breath as he disappeared into the woods. “What if he doesn’t return?” Someone whispered.

Jameela shrunk further into herself. He will come back. He had to. He must. She had no idea what would happened to them all alone in the wilderness. Whatever made that sound would return and none of them had the capacity to maul it or whatever. Did the others even know where they were now? Where the hell were they even? No one knew. Not a soul. She closed her eyes praying vehemently for Graham to return. There was no way out for them. Without Graham who knew the way back to camp, they were done for. A collective sigh and murmuring around her made her open her eyes just as Graham was jogging his way back. “It’s nothing. Just a small animal.”

Duh

“I think we better start going.” And with that, he began shoving his items into his bag.

“But we haven’t eaten…”

“Eat on the way then.”

And that was it. They shoved their food and followed him this time making small conversation amongst themselves. The way he had looked after returning from checking the ‘animal’ had scared her. Something happened there. What had he seen? It must have been something awful for him to look scared. But what? She shivered inwardly. She was beginning to think what Ibraheem had said was true. Something was indeed going on here. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out what.