Free No Service by Susan Luciano Page A

felt.
    “I’m so happy you’re awake,” Jess said from her seat on the ground. “I couldn’t sleep and I absolutely hate being out here at night. This is not at all my cup of tea.”
    Chris reached out to help her up. She still put most of her weight onto the log with her other arm, not wanting to stress his back, but he provided balance as she stood. “Still no signal? We walked so far.”
    Jess lit up the screen again. “We just aren’t getting anything out here. It’s really starting to piss me off. We pay our phone bill, but one little trip to the lake and suddenly the whole place is practically a dead zone.”
    “It’s the way these old-fashioned small towns are. The companies don’t put cell towers where everyone is so spread out. I mean, how many people you really think camp here at any given time? Two hundred? Three? Plus, a lot of these people are looking to disconnect.”
    “So what do we do though? Right now?”
    “I guess, we probably shouldn’t head out in the dark,” he replied, not thrilled with the idea any more than her.
    “We’re staying here then? Tonight? All night?”
    “We have to.”
    Jess scooted in closer. “Do you feel like sleeping?”
    “Not anymore.”
    “Me either.”
    Jess turned off the phone’s light and pocketed it again. They held each other, a tangle of arms. After a while, Chris suggested they could maybe try to nap. Sleep would help. Genuine, deep sleep. He wasn’t sure they’d get any, but the less exhausted they felt the better they would be at walking in the morning.
    Pressed tightly together, they laid in the dark latched onto one another. It had cooled down significantly in the late hours. Jess felt a little chill, but she could also feel the blood and sweat plastered to her skin. It was uncomfortable and itchy and she could only imagine the shower that she’d have had if they’d made it back in the evening. She could practically smell her shampoo with a hint of mint. A trip the hospital didn’t even feel as important as the need to be clean.
    Their surroundings smelled heavily of pine and damp earth. There was a little dew on the ground, but only just enough to give the soil a vigorous earthy scent. It was a good, natural smell that on any other given night, they would have loved, but instead it only served as a reminder of their failure to escape.
    Without realizing it they each dozed off into an unsettled slumber. It had been an exhausting day and it had been topped with dangerous injuries. With nothing to focus on besides their partner’s breathing, it was deceptively easy to fall into a mental trance and then slip into unconsciousness. Without visual stimulation, their eyes had closed to shut out the fact that they were completely blind.
    Jess and Chris each fluttered their lids open at the sound of movement. It was like a shuffling. It was unusual for either to be a light sleeper, but their survival depended on it and their minds had been careful to keep them just barely aware of the world.
    The shuffling stopped and there was perfect silence in the absolute dark. Jess gripped Chris with a fervor as he put his arms around her more securely. She put her forehead to his and began to take a phone from her pocket. She wanted to turn it on, see the world around them, and deal with the situation accordingly. At the same time, she didn’t want to know. Man’s primal instinct has always been a fear of the dark and she was more than in tune with those ingrained genetics than she ever had been.
    Speaking in a nearly inaudible whisper, she said she was going to turn the light on. His nodding moved her head the same way, as if syncing their agreement. The flashlight was active and blindingly bright. The beam shook with the movement of her hand. It passed over the ground, then the base of the trees.
    At first, she was certain it must have been an animal and they had scared it off. A deer could have been walking through, maybe a raccoon prowling the night, or