The cold mountain stream was a blessing that morning. The crisp, clear water was refreshing, washing away some of the exhaustion from the night before. We all took turns kneeling by the stream, cupping the water in our hands and drinking as much as we could. The chill of it woke me up better than any cup of coffee ever had.
"Gosh, this is freezing," Ethan muttered, shivering as he splashed his face. "Feels like drinking from an ice bucket."
"Better than nothing," Daisy said, standing up and adjusting her rifle strap. "Let's get moving. We've got a long way to go, and we don't know what's ahead."
Yabe, always polite, nodded in agreement. "It's beautiful here, but we shouldn't linger. Who knows what's out there."
We packed up what little we had left and set off on the trail again. The path wound through dense forest, the smell of pine heavy in the air. The trees here were taller than anything I'd seen back in California, their thick branches casting long shadows over the rocky terrain. It was quiet, peaceful almost—if it weren't for the constant sense of danger that followed us everywhere we went.
About an hour into our hike, we came to a sudden stop. Daisy, who was leading the way, froze in place, her hand gripping the strap of her rifle as she squinted at something up ahead.
"What the fuck?" she muttered, eyes narrowing.
I stepped forward to see what had caught her attention, and my heart skipped a beat. Standing in the middle of the trail, not more than thirty feet away, was a black bear. It was massive, its dark fur gleaming in the morning sunlight as it sniffed the air, clearly trying to figure out what we were. The bear stood still for a moment, its eyes locking onto us.
"Oh, shit," Ethan whispered, his voice barely audible. "That thing's huge."
Yabe took a nervous step back, her face pale. "Senpai… what do we do?"
Daisy's hand immediately went to her rifle. "I'm gonna shoot it. Stay back."
"No, wait!" I said quickly, holding up a hand to stop her. "I've got this."
Daisy shot me a skeptical look, her hand still hovering over her weapon. "You sure about that? That thing looks hungry."
I nodded, already feeling the adrenaline kicking in. "Trust me. Shooting it's gonna make things worse. Just… let me handle it."
She hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod. "Alright, but if it charges, I'm putting it down."
Without wasting any more time, I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I was about to do. Black bears were usually more scared of humans than the other way around, but you never knew with wild animals. I had to act quickly and confidently.
I grabbed my backpack, slung it off my shoulder, and raised it high above my head. The goal was to make myself look bigger, more threatening, like something the bear wouldn't want to mess with.
"Hey!" I shouted, my voice louder than I'd ever made it. "Get out of here!"
The bear's ears perked up, its head turning slightly as it looked directly at me. My heart pounded in my chest, but I didn't stop. I had to keep going, keep making myself look as intimidating as possible.
"Go on!" I yelled again, taking a step forward. "Get out of here!"
To my surprise, the bear hesitated for a moment, then took a step back. I could feel the tension in the air, the others behind me holding their breath. I didn't give the bear a chance to rethink its decision. I charged forward, waving my backpack above my head like a madman and shouting at the top of my lungs.
"Go! Get the fuck out of here!"
The bear startled, its massive body turning as it bolted off the trail and disappeared into the trees. The sound of its heavy paws pounding the ground faded into the distance, leaving us all standing there in stunned silence.
For a moment, no one said anything. The only sound was my own heavy breathing as I lowered my backpack and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Holy shit," Ethan finally said, breaking the silence. "You actually scared it off."
Daisy stared at me, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "I'll be damned. I thought for sure we were gonna have to shoot it."
Yabe let out a breath she'd been holding, her eyes wide with amazement. "Senpai… that was incredible."
I shrugged, trying to play it cool despite the fact that my legs were still shaking. "Bears don't usually want to mess with people. You just gotta show them who's boss."
"Yeah, well, remind me not to piss you off," Liza said with a smirk. "You're a lot scarier when you're yelling like that."
Daisy shook her head, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Alright, Bear Whisperer. You saved us some ammo today. Let's keep moving before we run into anything worse."
We set off again, the tension finally starting to ease. As we walked, Ethan couldn't help but crack a joke.
"So, Jake," he said with a grin, "I didn't know you had it in you. Maybe you should've majored in wildlife management instead of psychology."
I laughed, shaking my head. "Yeah, I'm starting to think I picked the wrong career path."
Liza chimed in, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yeah, 'cause yelling at bears is definitely a marketable skill in the apocalypse."
"Hey," I said, grinning back at her. "It worked, didn't it?"
Yabe smiled softly, her eyes full of admiration. "You were amazing, Senpai. I'm really glad you were with us."
"Thanks, Kohai," I said, giving her a quick nod. "Just doing what I can."
***
The days were starting to blur together, and exhaustion was our constant companion. Other than Daisy, none of us were exactly built for this kind of rugged hiking. Our legs ached, our backs screamed for relief, and we could barely manage six hours of hiking each day before we had to stop and set up camp. It felt like a slow grind, the miles dragging on with no end in sight.
After hours of trudging through the forest, our bodies screamed for rest. Daisy, however, seemed to thrive in this environment. She was always the first up, the first ready to move, and the one keeping us on track when the rest of us wanted to collapse. Today, like most days, was no different.
"Alright, we're stopping here," Daisy called out, surveying the small clearing we'd come across. "Get your asses in gear and set up camp."
I groaned, dropping my pack and stretching my sore shoulders. "Finally."
Ethan flopped onto the ground with a heavy sigh. "I swear, Daisy's secretly a robot or something. How the hell does she not get tired?"
"Years of living on a ranch, probably," I muttered, grabbing some sticks and ferns to set up another makeshift shelter.
Yabe quietly went about her usual tasks, gathering what she could from the surrounding area, while Liza made her sarcastic remarks but still pulled her weight. It was routine by now—everyone knew their role, and we were slowly getting better at this survival thing. Still, the exhaustion was wearing on us.
As we settled in, setting up what little shelter we could, Daisy suddenly called out from a short distance away.
"Jake! Ethan! Get over here!"
I turned to see her standing over something on the ground, her rifle slung over her shoulder. There was a satisfied look on her face, one I'd come to recognize as the kind of look she got after a successful hunt.
"What is it?" I asked, making my way over with Ethan following close behind.
Daisy grinned, her boot nudging the lifeless body of a deer. "Got us a deer. We're eating well tonight."
Ethan's eyes widened in disbelief. "Holy shit. That's a whole deer."
"Yeah," Daisy said, clearly proud of herself. "You two gonna help me drag it back to camp or just stand there gawking?"
I laughed, shaking my head. "Alright, alright, we're on it."
The deer was a hefty thing, its body still warm from the kill. Daisy had done it clean—one shot through the heart. She really knew her stuff when it came to hunting. Ethan and I grabbed the deer by its hind legs while Daisy took the front, and together we began the slow, laborious process of dragging it back to camp.
"Damn, this thing's heavier than it looks," Ethan grunted as we pulled it along the rough terrain.
"No shit," I muttered, already feeling the strain in my arms and shoulders. "But hey, at least it's gonna be worth it."
When we finally got the deer back to camp, Daisy wasted no time getting to work. She pulled out her hunting knife and started skinning the deer with the same precision she'd shown before. It was a messy job, blood pooling on the ground as she worked, but Daisy was methodical, cutting through the tough hide and setting the skin aside for later use.
"Is this gonna gross anyone out?" Daisy asked, glancing at the rest of us as she made quick work of the deer's insides.
Ethan shrugged. "I mean, it's not like we've got any other options. You do what you gotta do."
Yabe watched from a distance, her face a mixture of fascination and discomfort. "It's… a lot to take in, but I'm grateful. We need the food."
Liza, who had taken a seat on a log, made a face but didn't complain. "As long as I don't have to do it, I'm good."
Daisy continued gutting the deer, carefully separating the organs and removing the meat. Once she had finished, she cut off a portion of the meat for us to cook right away and set the rest aside.
"Ethan, grab some sticks and make a drying rack," Daisy instructed, not missing a beat. "We're making jerky out of the rest of this meat."
Ethan blinked, clearly not expecting to be put to work right after dragging the deer's carcass, but he nodded. "Yeah, sure. On it."
While he worked on building the makeshift rack, Daisy started cooking the portion of the meat we were going to eat that night. The smell of fresh venison filled the camp, and despite the exhaustion, my stomach growled in anticipation.
As the meat sizzled over the fire, Daisy strung up the rest of the deer on the drying rack, cutting it into strips to be turned into jerky. It was a crude setup, but it worked.
"Jerky's gonna be good for the rest of the journey," she explained, wiping the blood off her knife. "We'll have something to eat that won't spoil in a couple of days."
I nodded, grateful for her experience. "That's a hell of a catch, Daisy. We're lucky to have you out here."
She smirked, brushing off the compliment as she turned the meat over the fire. "You're damn right. Just don't get used to it."
Ethan sat back down beside me, stretching his sore arms. "Man, this is like some survivalist dream right now. Who knew we'd be out here living off the land?"
"Dream?" Liza scoffed, her eyes rolling. "Feels more like a nightmare to me."
"Could be worse," I said, shrugging. "At least we've got something to eat."
The fire crackled as the venison cooked, the smell of the meat making all of our stomachs rumble. When it was finally ready, Daisy served up portions to each of us, the warm, tender meat a welcome change from the canned food we'd been living off of.
"This is incredible," Yabe said softly, taking a bite. "I've never had deer before."
Ethan nodded in agreement, his mouth full. "This is the best thing we've had in weeks."
Daisy didn't say much, just sat back with a satisfied expression as she ate her portion. It was clear she took pride in what she did, even if she didn't always show it.
As we ate, the drying rack hung nearby, the strips of deer meat slowly turning into jerky in the cool night air. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep us going for a while longer. We were lucky to have made it this far, and moments like this—where we could eat, rest, and feel just a little bit normal—were rare.
"We'll keep moving tomorrow," Daisy said, breaking the comfortable silence. "But tonight, get some rest. You're all gonna need it."
And with that, we settled in for another night, the scent of venison still lingering in the air as the fire crackled quietly beside us.
Q: Do you personally do hunting?