@infused-science
Charlie should’ve known that burning her map to make a fire was a bad idea. Sure it had been useful at the time and barely filled in at all, but it still could’ve been even more useful to help her gather her bearings when she got lost. And look at her now, wandering all alone in a feeble attempt of spotting something familiar, anything that might help guide her back to her own camp.
She had wandered too far this time, the prospects of more food to satisfy an empty stomach pushing her far outside of the bounds of familiarity. All she even had to show for it were a few berries and some measly seeds. With any luck they could hold her over for a short while, but even if she did manage to find her way back now she’d just be hungry again by the time she got there.
Surviving had turned out to be a whole lot harder than she imagined.
A heavy sigh escapes her, and Charlie takes a moment to stop and reassess her surroundings. Of course, it was all foreign, not that it had ever been easy to make sense of the wilderness anyway. A sound catches her attention then, the small snap of a twig, and her head raises towards the sound. There, through the trees, was another survivor. Her first instinct was to stay back and out of sight, but Charlie quickly shoved the idea away in favor of a better chance at survival. She jogs a little bit to catch up, calling to him so that she doesn’t scare him by accident. Only when she comes to stand before him does she stop.
“Hi there! I’m so sorry, do you maybe have a map I could look at? I’m a little lost.”