We trotted along the edge of the road. We thought it was weird that the road was so long and was made out of something other than asphalt or concrete like I was used to seeing. If we were this far from any roads that cars took,

How are we going to get home? What if I don’t get to use my PC for a long time?

I shuddered at the prospect. After what seemed like an eternity of walking, mom suggested we find some shade in the forest edge and rest. By that point we had about 5 miles under our belt. I wanted to find some food and water for us, but I had no idea how to hunt or forage. I mean how could you tell what’s not poisonous unless you could look it up in a search engine or been the victim of something before?

We walked to the edge of the forest past the main road to the left and rested under the shade of a large oak tree. Still none of us felt like talking much. Our feet hurt and I was starting to get anxious about having to sleep in the forest tonight if we didn’t find civilization.

As I sat, my eyes were glued to the main road. I wanted something to come on it. Someone to tell us that we’re not alone and that we would find help soon. And very shortly after, I started hearing footsteps from a bit further back on the road. They were faint but getting louder. Someone was coming this way! No, it sounded like more than one pair of footsteps.

At last the two travelers came into view. They were wearing tattered clothing and seemed poor. A man and a woman, both quite pale and short and carrying a few sacks of something. Probably potatoes.

We were overjoyed at seeing other humans for the first time since we woke up hours ago. Mario and I got up and started jogging up to them at a moderate pace. We were careful to not look like we were running so as to not give them the spooks.

When we caught up to them, however, something was off. They gave us strange looks and immediately seemed on guard. I put my hands up like when someone is pointing a gun at you and tried to alleviate their suspicion.

“Please, we’re lost. We have women and children with us. Could you tell us where we are?” I asked. I lowered my hands and put them together as if I was praying.

They looked at us puzzled. They started whispering to each other.

“…speak our language… seem lost…” a few hushed words. “…but we can’t trust them.” He pointed to the stick I was carrying.

Finally the man stood in front of the woman, as if to protect her, and faced us.

“You get away from here now. Your kind isn’t welcome here. If you keep walking down this road, there’s going to be trouble. Stay away from us.” he barked softly.

They started picking the pace to try and get away from us.

“Wait, please! We’re friendly, I swear!” I shouted.

“We only need to know where we are! Please say something.” Mario shouted.

Finally the man looked back and said:

“You’re on the road to a town. If they find out what you are there’s no telling what they’ll do to you. Turn back.” He shouted back.

Mario and I looked at each other, unsure of what had just happened.