trying anymore.
He could walk around the forest all day, calling out for her, searching. And he might never find her. He was also putting himself in danger.
He didn't know what to do.
*
Before he made the decision to stop, Adam walked out of the back of the forest. He stood at the edge of a field that stretched out in front of him. Aside from grass, he couldn't see much else.
Jane wasn't there.
"Jane!" he called out. "Are you out here?" He had hoped that maybe she had fallen asleep in the grass and would lift her head at his call.
Nothing.
"JANE!"
He turned back to look at the forest . Should he go back?
He decided against it.
Just a little further , he told himself . He owed Jan e tha t much.
*
Adam walked through the field. The sun was much hotter out here than it had been in the forest. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead and wished that he had had some water.
Though there was nothing he could do about that.
*
It wasn't long before Adam came to a road. There were a few cars crashed into one another in the middle of it. He walked over to them.
He kept his gun ready, just in case he was attacked. But he couldn't hear anything that gave him cause for alarm.
He looked into one of the cars. There was a dead couple in it. He could see that they had attacked each other, ripped at one another's face. There was blood spattered everywhere. It had covered the seats, had dried in a pool on the floor.
Adam went to turn away. Yet, before he did, he saw something that caught his attention.
"Water!"
There was a bottle sitting in between the dead couple. It too was covered in blood, but that didn't stop him from reaching over and taking it out of the car.
He twisted the cap open and rubbed the the edge of his shirt against the nozzle. He put the bottle to his mouth and drank. He could taste something metallic, something salty, and was sure that some of the blood was getting onto his lips.
He tried not to think about it. He was thirsty . That was all that mattered.
He took a few more sips.
*
When Adam lowered the bottle, he looked around again. There was still no sign of Jane, but that didn't mean that she wasn't close by. If anywhere, he figured that Jane would have come to the road. She probably even stopped at the cars.
"Jane?" he called out, gun readied.
There was a rustling from one of the other cars. His eyes shot toward it, the gun following suit.
"Jane, is that you?"
There was no reply, but he heard more rustling.
He took a step toward the sound. Then another.
"Jane?"
He stopped and tried to look around the back of the car. Something was definitely there. He could hear it. But it wasn't responding to him.
"Jane?"
He took another step closer.
The rustling stopped.
He held his gun out in front of him, expecting to be attacked by whatever was there . He took a deep breath and readied himself.
He waited.
Then he heard the pitter-patter of feet as fox scurried out from underneath the car and ran off into the field.
*
Adam turned to look back in the direction toward the school. He had lost the little confidence he had had of finding Jane. He also didn’t have much more time to search before the sun set.
"Jane!" he cried out. "If you're here, answer me!"
As he had expected, there was no reply.
He sighed, defeated.
"Jane," he called a final time.
This time, his voice wasn't all that loud. He wasn't really trying to reach her anymore. He was apologizing for not being able to find her, for not helping her when he had the chance. He was asking for forgiveness.
Chapter 3
By the time Adam got back to the school, there was a slight orange haze filling the sky. No one was outside waiting for him. Though he hadn't really expected them to be. Regardless, he had to admit that it would have been a nice welcome if they were.
Several thoughts continued to pass through his head as he got closer to the side door. None more so than the fact that he hadn't been