He was breathing heavily, she wasn't. He was out of breath from all the exercise, she wasn't. He was struggling to keep up with her, she..., she was running ahead like a bat out of hell. Through the sunny spots and shady edges to the forest canopy, the sun had been going down for the last half hour. It was seven o'clock, nothing but the sounds from the forest could be heard. The two of them had been play fighting and running around for a little while. She had the energy like one of those Duracell Bunnies, forever going, he did too but was starting fade. He after all was two years younger than her and was struggling to keep his breathing under control. Even though he was two years younger, he was four inches taller than her.
Through the forest, back towards where they had come from, their camp site was set up. They had intended on looking for fire wood to keep themselves warm. In the depths of the forests that border Slovakia and the Czech Republic it was known to get cold even in the height of summer. Plus they needed something to cook the fish on. Having run out of food they had brought with them, they'd shallow buried their waste and marked it for when on return. The aim of the trip was to live in the wild as best as possible. However, Alec had caught a cough and Hannah was keeping an eye on him for any worsening symptoms.
They'd planned to go for two weeks, and for the last two days survive by nature. They'd caught some fish and had spotted some fruit during the day. They're energy levels were incredibly high for not having had much to eat all day. They had finished they're last packed food in this morning.
As they began to run, Hannah tripped over a log and came to a halt on the ground. Alec finally caught up with her, only being twenty metres behind, but in amongst the forest that can be quite a distance at times. A true forest it was, actually a woodland in British terms, tall firs rose out of the ground in some places and well dotted deciduous woodland was amongst them. If it had been a garden at any time in the past it was planned for the highest owner of the land.
Crack
The sudden noise made them both stare at each other then at where the noise had come from.
Thud
Whatever it was, it had come to the ground swiftly.
A tree had split and a large branch had come down. Parts of the forest were over 300 years old and were showing signs of age.
Alec and Hannah knew that with the dry weather, the log might be just right to set they're evening meal on. They turned back and started heading for where the sound came from.
Alas, when they arrived they realised it would be easier to move the campsite to the log than the log to the campsite. However, neither of them knew exactly where they were. The trails had all started looking the same. Only one thing stood to save them from a cold night, the bright emergency light that flashed on the top of the tent which was activated by a key fob in Alec's pocket.
Collecting some kinderling, they headed back to the campsite a whole mile away, and set to heating the fish they had caught. They would need all the energy they could find for the next day, for lurking in the forest was more than a few wild animals they'd prefer not to meet and would vacate the site quite quickly in the morning.
